Something was eating my mother’s flowers. The day before, blooms proudly lifted their heads. The next day they were headless stems. When I was cutting the grass, I saw rabbits scurrying away. Bunnies are cute, but the pesky animals can mow down a garden of flowers in minutes.
I wonder, might there be “intruders” shearing off the
blooms of my character in my life? Proverbs 25:28 says, “Like a city whose
walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” In ancient days,
the wall of the city protected it against invasion from enemies. Even a small
opening in a wall meant that the entire city lay open to attack.
This week’s Torah portion Ki Teze continues this line
of thought as it begins: “When you go to war against your enemies.” (Dt. 21:10)
Commenting on this verse Rabbi Zelig Pliskin writes: “Rabbi Simcha Zissel of
Kelm writes that the greatest enemy that anyone has is one’s evil inclination (yetzer hara). He constantly wants to
ambush you and capture you. (Growth through Torah, page 434) The book of
Proverbs provides a battle strategy of self-control to defeat our yetzer hara. “If you find honey, eat
just enough,” (25:16). Self-control guards us, protecting us from losing ground
to impatience, bitterness, greed, and other pests that can intrude and destroy
our lives Self-control is a healthy-mindedness that watches for the holes in
the walls of our lives and keeps them patched.
The month of Elul is the time to inspect the perimeter
of our lives so that we can see vulnerable holes. A spot where we give in to
temptation over and over. An area of impatience. Now is the time we need
healthy-minded self-control in our lives to repair the breaches and to guard us
from such intruders so that our Commander-in-Chief (God) will scribe us in the
book of life in the New Year.
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