Shoftim - Preparing for the New Year

When you go out to war against your enemies, and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them, for HaShem, your G-d is with you Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

כִּי תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל אֹיְבֶיךָ וְרָאִיתָ סוּס וָרֶכֶב עַם רַב מִמְּךָ לֹא תִירָא מֵהֶם כִּי ה’ קלקיך  עִמָּךְ הַמַּעַלְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם

Devarim 20:1

The Slonimer Rebbe raises two questions on this verse: 

• Why does it say 'תצא' (go out) when talking about war, shouldn't it say 'תלחם' (go to fight)?
• Why does it say 'תצא' (go out) in the singular, shouldn't it say 'תצאו' (go out) in the plural?

Shoftim - Inside and Outside

And it will be, when he sits upon his royal throne, that he shall write for himself copies of the Torah on a scroll from [that Torah which is] before the Levitic kohanim.

וְהָיָה כְשִׁבְתּוֹ עַל כִּסֵּא מַמְלַכְתּוֹ וְכָתַב לוֹ אֶת מִשְׁנֵה הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת עַל סֵפֶר מִלִּפְנֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים הַלְוִיִּם

Devarim 17: 18

What are these copies of the Torah?

Shoftim - Fighting the Eternal War

Who Is the Or HaChaim HaKadosh

Rabbi Chaim ben Atar (Sale, Morocco, 1696 - Israel, 1743), was the Rabbi of Sale  and spent the majority of his time engrossed in Torah study, His saintly way of life gained him the name Ohr HaCaim HaKadosh (The Light of Life). Rabbi Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai (The Chida), a student of the Ohr HaChaim, wrote the following: “Atar’s heart pulsated with Talmud; he uprooted mountains like a restless torrent; his holiness was that of an angel of G-d ... having severed all connection with the affairs of this world.”

He established a major yeshiva in Israel, Knesses Yisroel Bais Midrash (~1742), after moving there from Morocco. Chassidic tradition holds that the main reason the Baal Shem Tov twice tried so hard (and failed) to get to the Holy Land was that he said if he could join the Ohr HaChaim there, together they could bring Moshiach. The Ohr HaCaim HaKadosh is buried outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Due to his extensive knowledge, sharp intellect, and extraordinary righteousness, he was received with great honor everywhere he went. (Source)

Shoftim - Fighting the Real Battle

When you go out to war against your enemies, and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them, for the L-rd, your G-d is with you Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

כִּי תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל אֹיְבֶיךָ וְרָאִיתָ סוּס וָרֶכֶב עַם רַב מִמְּךָ לֹא תִירָא מֵהֶם כִּי ה קלֹקיךָ עִמָּךְ הַמַּעַלְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם

Devarim 20:1

• What war is the Torah referring to in this verse?
• Why does it say "When you go out..." and not "When you go to fight..."
• Why does it start in the singular "Taytzai" and when the intention is for the entire group (should be plural)?