Parshat Ki Teitzei begins with the Mitzvah of Eishet Yefat Toar, the Halachot of how to treat female prisoners of war according to the Torah. The Torah states [Devarim 21’ 10’]:
"If you should go to war against your enemies, and Hashem, your God, puts them in your hand, and you capture prisoners from them…"
On its simple level, the Torah is issuing commands as to how the Torah expects captives to be treated in a humane and dignified fashion. Rokeach adds, that the laws and details of this Mitzvah apply only when Am Yisrael would do battle with members of other nations. When civil war would take place between the Jews themselves, as unfortunately would be the case many times over our history, Hashem expects that any captives will be completely unharmed and treated exceptionally. Such was the case during the reign of King Pekach Ben Ramalyahu, one of the later kings of the ten tribes of Israel, who, in battle with the tribe of Yehuda, captured 200,000 prisoners [See Divrei HaYamim II 28’ 6’]. Oded the prophet came and warned the victorious army of the ten tribes that these prisoners were members of Am Yisrael, and must not be harmed in any way. To the merit of the 10 tribes, the 200,000 captives were released without any restrictions immediately.
Chida, however, in Nachal Kedumim, offers that the “enemy" referred to in the Torah here is actually the Evil Inclination; the Torah is alluding to what is written in the Gemara [Yoma 69B]:
Rav said, and some say it was Rabbi Yoḥanan who said: Woe, woe. It is this, i.e., the evil inclination for idol worship, that destroyed the Temple, and burned its Sanctuary, and murdered all the righteous ones, and caused the Jewish people to be exiled from their land. And it still dances among us, i.e., it still affects us. Didn’t You give it to us solely for the purpose of our receiving reward for overcoming it? We do not want it, and we do not want its reward. We are prepared to forgo the potential rewards for overcoming the evil inclination as long as it departs from us. In response to their prayer a note fell to them from the heavens upon which was written: Truth, indicating that God accepted their request…In response to the indication of divine acceptance, they observed a fast for three days and three nights, and He delivered the evil inclination to them. A form of a fiery lion cub came forth from the chamber of the Holy of Holies. Zechariah the prophet said to the Jewish people: This is the evil inclination for idol worship, as it is stated in the verse that refers to this event: “And he said: This is the evil one" (Zechariah 5:8). The use of the word “this" indicates that the evil inclination was perceived in a physical form. When they caught hold of it one of its hairs fell, and it let out a shriek of pain that was heard for four hundred parasangs. They said: What should we do to kill it? Perhaps, Heaven forfend, they will have mercy upon him from Heaven, since it cries out so much. The prophet said to them: Throw it into a container made of lead and seal the opening with lead, since lead absorbs sound. As it is stated: “And he said: This is the evil one. And he cast it down into the midst of the measure, and he cast a stone of lead upon its opening" (Zechariah 5:8). They followed this advice and were freed of the evil inclination for idol worship.
The above Gemara is obviously extremely esoteric, however, the gist of the presented anecdote details that the great Sages were able to negate the desire for idol worship [of course, this is the reason why idolatry, for the most part, is no longer extant]. The Gemara [Sanhedrin 102B] recounts that the desire for idolatry was so intense, that one of the Kings of the tribe of Yehuda, Menashe [see Melachim B, Chap. 21], informed the great Rebbe Ashi, transcriber of the Talmud:
“…Menashe said to him: Had you been there at that time, you would have taken and lifted the hem of your cloak and run after me due to the fierce desire to engage in idol worship…"
Clearly, ultimately, the temptation for idolatry was reduced to the point of almost complete nullification through the prayers and spiritual powers of our great Sages. However, this success did not come without cost, for ultimately, because Hashem arranged the forces of purity and impurity to work in tandem, with the removal of the desire for idolatry, the Jews then lost the ability to prophecize; and so it was, since that time [around the time of Alexander the Great-see Seder Olam Rabbah 30], believing members of Am Yisrael have been forced to ascertain Hashem’s will through the power of Torah Study, rather than reliance on direct communication from Hashem [See Sefer Chassidim chap. 544]. May we merit to see the coming of Moshiach, when prophecy will return along with the full glory of Israel!
Dedicated in memory of all those who have perished and sacrificed for Am Yisrael.