Ki Teitzei – The Two Battles We Fight

Parshas Ki Teitzei begins with war and ends with war. But they’re not the same war.

At the start, Chazal tell us the Torah speaks about the inner battle—the war with the yetzer hara. At the end, it speaks about the outer battle—the war with Amalek.

Inside, the yetzer whispers: “It’s just you. Do what feels good. You’re in control.”
Outside, Amalek shouts: “Life is random. Hashem isn’t here. Everything is mikreh — just chance.”

That’s Amalek’s ideology: korcha baderech—they “happened upon you on the way.” Their whole message is: nothing has meaning. G-d is absent.

But the Torah pulls back the curtain. Earlier, in Beshalach, we meet Amalek and see Moshe’s response: hands raised to shamayim, hands of emunah. When Moshe’s hands were lifted, Am Yisrael prevailed. When they fell, Amalek advanced.

Here’s the key: Moshe couldn’t keep them raised alone. His arms grew heavy. He needed Aharon and Chur to hold him up.

That’s not just history. That’s the blueprint for our lives.

Every day, we face the inside war—the yetzer hara trying to drag us down. And every day, we’re bombarded by the outside war—a society that leaves Hashem out of the story. The headlines don’t mention Him. The world tells us it’s all “cause and effect.” It’s all “up to you.”

But Shaar HaBitachon teaches us: that’s the greatest illusion. When we put our trust in “nature” alone, Hashem says, “Fine. I’ll leave you to it.” And then life feels random, heavy, exhausting. But when we place our trust in Hashem, He lifts us above that chaos. We start to see His hand in everything.

And that’s the avodah: to keep our hands raised. Not once. Not just for a flash of inspiration. But ad bo hashemesh—steady, consistent, until the end of the day.

And not alone. Just like Moshe needed support, so do we. We need our Aharons and Churs—our friends, mentors, and communities—to strengthen our emunah when our arms grow tired.

The two wars—the inner yetzer and the outer Amalek—are really one war. It’s the daily struggle to keep Hashem real in our lives. To remember that nothing is mikreh. Everything is from Him.

Victory doesn’t come by chance. It comes by lifting our hands in faith—together.