It was the first day of school. During recess, the sixth grade buzzed with excitement as girls in groups exchanged their summer experiences. Leah, Nechamah, and Rina had become good friends at camp.

"I'm so happy we were put in the same class this year," said Leah.

"Me, too," said Nechamah. "Especially after being in the same bunk at camp."

"We even ended up on the same team in Color War," Rina reminded them.

"Oh yes, Color War," Leah said dreamily. "That was the best part of camp."

"Remember our marching song," asked Nechamah. "It was the greatest! We had tremendous team spirit. I knew we would win."

"And we did!" exclaimed Rina.

Mrs. Klein had just finished writing in her roll book. She looked up at the girls and smiled. "Excuse me for joining your conversation, girls. I could not help overhearing it. You just gave me an example for our parshah class."

The girls looked at their teacher questioningly.

"It's the spirit of the marching song," Mrs. Klein explained. "You see, in Ki Seitzei, Jewish soldiers go out to war. The Torah says: Ki seitzei lamilchamah al oyvecho, 'When you go out to wage war against your enemies...' We translate al (kg), as 'against,' but it literally means 'above.' When a Jew must fight in war, from the very start he should feel that he is above his enemies.

"Because a Jew's neshamah is a part of HaShem, anything or anybody which tries to hurt him will not succeed. Knowing this will fill him with the spirit of victory, which will lead him to win the battle."

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The Torah is not speaking only of outdoor battlefields. Each of us has a personal battle to wage with our yetzer hora. We have to rise "above" our enemy, knowing that the yetzer hora has no chance against us. This will fill us with the spirit of victory and will help us win these battles.

(Adapted from Sichos Parshas Ki Seitzei, 5749)