Shame That Conquers Yetzer
אמו"ר זקני ז"ל פירש כי תצא כשיש קצת חירות מיצה"ר אז יהי' למלחמה כו' והוא כמ"ש והי' בהניח כו' לך כו' תמחה כו'
My revered grandfather, master and teacher, of blessed memory, explained the verse "When you go out (to war)": when a person has gained some measure of freedom from the yetzer hara, only then is he ready to wage war against it, and this is like the verse "And it shall be, when Hashem your God gives you rest from all your enemies… you shall blot out (the memory of Amalek)" (Devarim 25:19).
The Sfas Emes cites his grandfather: the Torah's command to "go out to war" against the yetzer hara only applies once a person has already attained some freedom from it. Real battle begins from a place of relative calm, not in the heat of sin.
וזה סימן שהוא שונא מוחלט ליצה"ר כי בשעת החטא אף רשעים מתחרטים מיד רק כשיש חירות והשנאה כבושה
This is the sign that a person is an absolute foe of the yetzer hara: for at the very moment of the sin, even the wicked feel immediate regret, but true hatred is only when there is freedom and the hatred is firmly suppressed and held within.
Regret felt mid-sin proves nothing, since even the wicked feel it instinctively. Genuine hatred of the yetzer hara shows itself only when a person is free of its grip and his opposition to it is deep and steady.
עי"ז ונתנו ה"א בידך וכן פי' בזוה"ח מלחמה זו על היצה"ר
Through this, "Hashem your God will deliver him into your hand," and so too the Zohar Chadash explains that this war is the war against the yetzer hara.
When a person fights from that place of suppressed hatred, Hashem helps him conquer the yetzer hara, as the Zohar Chadash reads this whole war as the inner battle against it.
ואמר שהמלחמה בכח התורה וכ"א בראתי יצה"ר בראתי תבלין
And he said that this war is waged through the power of the Torah, as Chazal said, "I created the yetzer hara, and I created the Torah as its antidote" (Kiddushin 30b).
The weapon in this war is Torah, as Chazal teach that Hashem created the Torah as the very antidote to the yetzer hara He created.
וברש"י לא דיברה תורה אלא כנגד היצה"ר
And Rashi comments, "The Torah spoke only in response to the yetzer hara."
Rashi's comment that the Torah "spoke only in response to the yetzer hara" means the Torah's words are tailored to counter the yetzer.
פי' כי התורה נעלמה מעיני כל חי רק נתלבשה התורה בדיבורים הללו לתת כח לאדם נגד היצה"ר כי היצרים שבאדם אין להם יסוד קבוע והיצה"ר בדמיונות שוא מבלבל האדם
The explanation is that the Torah is concealed from the eyes of all living, and only became clothed in these words of Scripture in order to give a person strength against the yetzer hara; for the various yetzer drives within a person have no fixed foundation, and the yetzer hara, through false imaginings, confuses a person.
The Torah in its true essence is hidden from all creatures; it dressed itself in the words of Scripture to arm a person against the yetzer. The yetzer drives have no solid grounding and unsettle a person through illusions.
ויצר מלשון ציור ודמיון
The word yetzer is from the same root as tziyur (form) and dimyon (imagination).
The Sfas Emes roots the word yetzer in tziyur and dimyon, showing that the yetzer's power lies in false mental images and imagination.
אבל הנשמה שבאדם יש לה יסוד קבוע ובכחה לברר האמת מדמיונות ב' היצרים
But the neshamah within a person has a fixed and enduring foundation, and it has the power to clarify the truth out of the imaginings of the two yetzer drives.
Unlike the unstable yetzer drives, the neshamah has a firm, lasting foundation, and from that anchor it can sift the truth out of the yetzer's illusions.
ובעבור היצר נתלבשה תורה בלבושים וציורים לעזור להאדם בעה"ז השפל
And it was on account of the yetzer that the Torah became clothed in garments and forms, in order to help a person in this lowly world.
Precisely because the yetzer operates through images, the Torah too clothed itself in tangible garments and forms, meeting a person on his level in this lowly world.
ושבית שביו פי' שם שיחזור האדם ניצוצות הקדושה שנשבה מאתו ית' בחיצוניות וקאי על ה' אלקיך הנזכר לעיל ע"ש
"And you take his captives captive" (Devarim 21:10) — Reishis Chochmah explains there that a person must restore the sparks of kedushah that were taken captive from the Holy One, Blessed is He, into externality, and this refers back to "Hashem your God" mentioned earlier; see there.
Citing Reishis Chochmah, "taking captives captive" means reclaiming the sparks of kedushah that fell into externality, returning them to Hashem, who was named just before in the verse.
שצריך האדם להבין מזה שנברא בעוה"ז בב' יצרים שהכל לכבודו ברא ודרך האמת הוא שכשזוכה אדם לצאת קצת מבלבולי היצר אז צריך לחול עליו בושה ממה שעבר עליו זמן זמנים בדברים בטלים ולא לבא לידי גאוה ח"ו
From this a person must understand that he was created in this world with two yetzer drives, for Hashem created everything for His honor, and the way of truth is that when a person merits to emerge somewhat from the confusions of the yetzer, then shame ought to descend upon him over the time and times that passed over him in empty and worthless matters, and he should not come, Heaven forfend, to haughtiness.
A person should realize Hashem placed both yetzer drives in him for His honor. The proper response to emerging from the yetzer's confusion is shame over the empty time wasted, never pride.
רק אדרבא לפי תיקונו יבוש יותר
Rather, on the contrary, in accordance with his rectification he should be all the more ashamed.
On the contrary, the more a person rectifies himself, the deeper his sense of shame should become.
ועי"ז הבושה יכול לשוב ולתקן כל אשר עבר עליו וזהו ושבית שביו
And through this shame he is able to return and rectify all that passed over him, and this is the meaning of "and you take his captives captive."
That very shame becomes the engine of repair, enabling him to go back and rectify his whole past; this is the inner meaning of "taking his captives captive."
ובימות החול שקשה לאדם למצוא מנוח מבילבולי יצה"ר צריך להתבייש מהש"י עי"ז שרחוק הוא מבחי' השבת
And during the weekdays, when it is difficult for a person to find rest from the confusions of the yetzer hara, he must feel ashamed before Hashem yisbarach through the fact that he is far from the aspect of Shabbos.
On weekdays, when calm from the yetzer is hard to find, a person should feel ashamed before Hashem at how distant he is from the level of Shabbos.
והוא בשת שבא משבת וביטול הזמן, וע"ז נעשה בחי' שבת אח"כ וכדכ' בזוה"ק בראשית ירא שבת בשת כו' ע"ש:
And this is the boshes (shame) that comes from Shabbos and from the nullification of time; and through this the aspect of Shabbos is afterward formed, as is written in the holy Zohar on Bereishis, "yarei Shabbos — boshes (the awe of Shabbos is shame)"; see there.
This shame born of Shabbos and the nullification of time itself builds the aspect of Shabbos, as the Zohar links yarei Shabbos with boshes — the awe of Shabbos with shame.
Summary: Building on his grandfather's reading, the Sfas Emes explains that one only goes out to war against the yetzer hara once he has gained some freedom from it, for hatred proven in the calm after sin — not the reflexive regret felt mid-sin — is true hatred. The weapon in this war is the Torah, which in its hidden essence clothed itself in the words of Scripture and in tangible forms specifically to counter the yetzer, whose entire power is false imagination, while the neshamah's fixed foundation lets a person sift truth from those illusions. "Taking his captives captive" means reclaiming the sparks of kedushah that fell into externality and restoring them to Hashem. The proper response to escaping the yetzer's confusion is not pride but shame over wasted, empty time, and that very shame becomes the means of rectifying one's entire past. Especially on weekdays, feeling ashamed before Hashem at one's distance from Shabbos is itself what builds the aspect of Shabbos, as the Zohar links the awe of Shabbos with boshes.