Battle Plans: How to Fight the Yetzer Hara

by Tziporah Heller, Sara Yoheved Rigler

We've all met the yetzer hara, the inclination to do evil that is wired into every human being. We've been tempted, we've fought - and sometimes we've fallen. Acclaimed author, lecturer and educator Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller and Sara Yoheved Rigler, bestselling author of Holy Woman andLights from Jerusalem, join together to offer a remarkable collection of strategies to defeat the yetzer hara as it tries to defeat us. Drawing upon the eternal wisdom of Torah sages throughout the ages - Rabbi Yehudah Lowe, the Maharal; Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, author of Mesillas Yesharim; Chassidic masters and great Mussar personalities - the authors combine profound scholarship with a deep and insightful understanding of our lives to give us effective, practical strategies to defeat the enemy within us. Battle Plans offers us a stunning combination of Torah wisdom, practical advice, true-life stories, and more than fifty "strategies" of war. As we implement these strategies, which have been recommended by our Torah sages, we will see that we can beat the yetzer hara!

Genres: Jewish, Judaism

280 pages, Hardcover

First published April 27, 2009

About the author

Internationally renowned as an outstanding scholar of Jewish Studies as well as a gifted lecturer and author, Rebbetzin Heller has been a full-time faculty member of Neve Yerushalayim College in Jerusalem since 1980. Her areas of expertise include textual analysis of Torah, Biblical literature, and Jewish philosophy with an emphasis on the teachings of Maimonides and Maharal. She is also particularly well known for her classes devoted to the role of women in Judaism and analysis of the lives of women in the Torah, Bible.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember my husband telling me once that the Gemara says every enemy of the Jewish people who appears in Tanach is actually a voice of the yetzer hara. I kept thinking about this as I read Battle Plans, by Rebbetzin Heller and Sara Yocheved Rigler.

The book identifies subtle and not-so-subtle techiniques that the yetzer hara - the desire to serve our body rather than our soul, the drive to choose death over life - uses in its battle against our yetzer tov - the desire to choose soul over body, life over death. The authors break each of these "voices" down and then counter them with tools culled from a wide variety of sources: Mesillas Yesharim, Chassidishe books, 20-th century Mussar works by Rabbi Dessler and Rabbi Wolbe, and more.

The friendly tone ("We're not perfect either, and we're all in it together," the authors seem to say.) and detail make the book both useful and uplifting despite the seemingly gloomy and esoteric topic.

The book is not for newcomers to Jewish thought. Its references and language require a certain amount of background knowledge. But for those who do have that background, I highly recommend it.

[Kressel Housman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect book for Elul and the Aseres Yamei Teshuva: easy-to-digest mussar. Ironically, though, even though it’s about battling the yetzer hara, I wasn’t altogether successful in battling mine, and therefore, it took me many months to finish. I may have a stronger attraction to more fun books, but nobody can eat dessert all the time, and this is one mussar book that I can take in small portions and definitely apply to my life.

[Chava · Rating 4 out of 5]

A down-to-earth book on how to deal with situations which press your buttons. The most productive parts of the book were the stories where Rebbetzin Heller and Sara Yocheved Rigler told stories about how they dealt with certain situations - have to practice the ideas set forth in the book.

A worthwhile read for anyone who is working on their character traits.

[Danielle Litt-Halpern · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has the potential to help make you into a better person. How many books can you really say this about?!

[Jim George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book written about some of the beliefs found in Classic Judaism. In truth we are continually in the middle of a raging war, we are at war with the Yetzer Hara. (Sort of the devil - sub conscious - bad mind part - whatever?) The war must be waged every day, there are no truces and no cease fires. We must be brave enough to pursue victory and humble enough to admit defeat. The Lord is with us at every moment, in every situation, and all that happens to us comes from him. We must accept everything, good or bad, graciously. It is not for us to understand, it is for us to accept, regardless, with love, thanks, and humility. The authors offer examples, and battle plans for fighting the Yetzer Hara. We are literally fighting for our spiritual survival, we are fighting for the YH's defeat!