Two Wars — And Who Is Left Behind? Ki Tesse

This morning’s Breakfast & Class on Parashat Ki Tetze began with a curious question: Why does the Torah introduce two different sections, almost back-to-back, with virtually the identical words — “Ki tetze la-milchamah al oyevekha”,“When you go out to war against your enemies”? And why does the mysteriousepisode of Eglah Arufah, the unidentified murdered traveler, stand between them?  We discovered that the Torah may actually be describing two wars and one great responsibility: the war against the enemy outside us, the far more personal war against the enemy within us, and the obligation never to forget the person struggling behind us. And that brings us to the final words of the parashah — Zakhor et asher asah lekha Amalek. Amalek specifically attacks the tired, the weak and those left at the rear of the camp. As Elul begins, perhaps one of the most important questions we can ask is not only, “What do I need to change?”but also, “Who have we left behind?”