Strength Within Spiritual Battle

כי תצא כו' סוס ורכב ע"ר ממך כו'

"When you go out (to war against your enemies and you see) horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you (do not fear them, for Hashem your God is with you, the One who brought you up out of the land of Egypt)" (Devarim 20:1).

The pasuk that opens the parsha of going out to war is read by Chazal not only literally but as a hint to the inner battle against the yetzer hara.

פי' ז"ל על מלחמת היצר

Chazal, of blessed memory, explained this as referring to the war against the yetzer hara.

Chazal teach that the 'enemies' and the 'horse and chariot' allude to the yetzer hara that a person must do battle against.

ובאוה"ח כ' ממך שכל הכחות של הסט"א הוא מהאדם עצמו כו'

And in the Ohr HaChaim he writes regarding the word "than you" (mimecha) that all the powers of the Sitra Achra come from the person himself.

The Ohr HaChaim reads the word 'than you' to mean that the strength of the Sitra Achra is actually drawn from the person himself - it has no independent power.

אעפ"כ ה"א עמך המעלך כו'

Even so, "Hashem your God is with you, the One who brought you up (out of the land of Egypt)" (Devarim 20:1).

Despite the yetzer drawing its strength from within the person, Hashem is with him to help him prevail, just as He took Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim.

כי יצ"מ הי' הכנה לכל הגליות בכלל ופרט

For Yetzias Mitzrayim was a preparation for all the exiles, both in their totality and in their particulars.

Yetzias Mitzrayim was not merely a one-time event but the groundwork that enables every later redemption, in the general galus and in each individual's private struggle.

ונמשך גאולה זו בכל עת עד לעתיד דכתיב לא יאמר עוד כו'

And this redemption is drawn down at every time, until the future, as it is written, "It shall no longer be said (Hashem lives, who brought up Bnei Yisrael from the land of Egypt, but rather Hashem lives, who brought up Bnei Yisrael from the land of the north)" (Yirmiyahu 16:14-15).

The redemptive power of Yetzias Mitzrayim is renewed in every era, reaching forward all the way to the final geulah, as Yirmiyahu foretells a future redemption that will overshadow the Exodus.

ולכן מזכירין בכל יום יצ"מ כי כפי הזכירה יכולין לעורר בחי' הגאולה

Therefore we mention Yetzias Mitzrayim every day, for in accordance with the remembering one is able to awaken the aspect of the geulah.

We recall Yetzias Mitzrayim daily because the act of remembering it awakens and draws down that same power of geulah into our own lives.

והירא מעבירות שבידו פטרתו תורה

And "the one who is afraid because of the transgressions in his hand" - the Torah exempted him (from going out to war).

The Torah sends home from war the one who fears his own sins, teaching that a clean conscience is what gives a person the standing to fight.

נמצא שכל שיש לאדם מלחמה מכלל כי יש לו כח להלחם

It emerges that whenever a person has a war to wage, that itself proves that he has the strength to fight.

The very fact that a person is given a battle to fight is itself a sign that Hashem has equipped him with the strength needed to win it.

וכתי' אם תקום כו' מלחמה בזאת אני בוטח

And it is written, "If (an encampment) rises up (against me, my heart shall not fear; if) war (should arise against me, in this I trust)" (Tehillim 27:3) - through this very war I place my trust.

Dovid HaMelech's declaration that even when war rises against him he trusts shows that the war itself becomes the source of his confidence.

שע"י המלחמה עצמו רואה שיש לו במה לבטוח כנ"ל:

For through the war itself a person sees that he has something upon which to rely and place his trust, as explained above.

The struggle a person faces is itself the proof that Hashem has placed within him the means to overcome, so the battle becomes grounds for bitachon.

Summary: The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk of going out to war, which Chazal apply to the battle against the yetzer hara, and brings the Ohr HaChaim that the very strength of the Sitra Achra is drawn from the person himself. Yet Hashem is with us in this battle just as He took us out of Mitzrayim, for Yetzias Mitzrayim was the preparation and source for every redemption - general and private - and its power is renewed in every era until the final geulah. This is why we recall Yetzias Mitzrayim daily, since the remembering itself awakens the aspect of geulah within us. Building on the halacha that the one afraid of his own sins is exempted from war, the Sfas Emes derives that whenever a person is summoned to a battle, that itself proves Hashem has given him the strength to win it. Thus, as Dovid HaMelech teaches, the very war a person faces becomes his grounds for bitachon, for it reveals that he has been equipped to prevail.