Fighting the Inner War: Abuse, Trauma, and Healing in the Parsha

Have you ever carried something around for so long that it started to feel like it was a part of you? Maybe it was shame. Maybe it was somebody else's voice telling you you're not good enough. Maybe it was a wound that you just stopped trying to heal because you learned to live with it. In this week's para, the Torah reminds us that you do not have to keep carrying it. The para opens up with when you go out to war against your enemies. But Kazal explained this is not just talking about a physical war. This is actually more about the inner war. The war against the parts of yourself that were shaped by pain. The parts of you that want to give up, that tell you you're stuck. The parts that say you'll never change. Keyates means get up. Fight back. Take your next step even if you're still bleeding. Anyone who survived abuse, addiction, trauma, or mental health issues, they know this war all too well. and it's not visible. It's the battle that happens in silence in your head in the middle of the night during a therapy session in your car when no one else sees your tears. The Torah doesn't ignore that war. It names it. It honors it and it tells you you're not crazy. You're a warrior. Ravosha Weinberger had said, "The greatest wars are the ones that nobody sees, but Hashem does." and he never lets a single tear go to waste. This war is sacred and it's worth fighting. If you're in the middle of a battle right now, whether it's spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, don't mistake the war for failure. It's proof that you haven't given up. The famous psychologist Carl Young had said, "I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become." Kaiti doesn't say if you go to war. It says when because Hashem knows it's coming and he's already fighting it with you. Wishing you a pleasant and peaceful Shabas. Thank you.