"When you go out to war against your enemies…and you see amongst the captives a beautiful woman…you shall take her as a wife." (Deut. 21:10-11)

Rather than allowing the experience of this world to drag you further away from G‑d, consecrate it to G‑d's service….

The Maggid of Mezritch explains that allegorically, this refers to an individual's temporary loss of divine consciousness and how he can restore it:

"When you go out…" means when you leave your state of oneness with G‑d….

"…to war" teaches you will assuredly have to contend with your evil inclination and the enticements of the physical world.

"…and you see amongst the captives" - "the captives" refers to all the materiality of the world, in which there are captive sparks of divinity....

"…a beautiful woman" means if you find yourself beckoned by the external beauty of physical reality, its sensuality, and the pleasure it promises…

"…you shall take her" teaches you must not succumb to this aspect of what you see, but rather you should take it….

"…as a wife" - the word for "wife" in Hebrew ("isha") is cognate to the word for "fire offering" ("isheh"), which infers that you should elevate the divine sparks in the materiality you confront to their divine source; rather than allowing the experience of this world to drag you further away from G‑d, consecrate it to G‑d's service and use it to enhance your relationship with Him.

"…she will shave her head and trim her nails…." (Ibid. 21:12)

The excess hair on the head allegorically signifies the residual life-force of the intellect….

The captive woman, as we have said, allegorically signifies the aspect of our consciousness that had been trapped in worldly materiality. Redeeming this captive occurs on two levels: the intellect and the emotions. Both the intellect and the emotions must be cleansed of their material orientation in order to be restored to full divine consciousness.

The excess hair on the head allegorically signifies the residual life-force of the intellect, the unnecessary intellectual indulgences in the culture of decadence and vanity. Similarly, the excess growth of the fingernails allegorically signifies the superfluous emotional indulgences in the same.

"…and she will cry for her father and mother for a month…." (Ibid.)

Allegorically, this month refers to the month of Elul, the month of preparation for the High Holy days, when we prepare to renew our relationship with G‑d on a level higher than it had been the preceding year. In this context, simple renunciation of the excess materialism in our lives - alluded to by shaving the head and cutting the nails - is sufficient for the rest of the year, but the intensification of this process that is supposed to occur in the month of Elul obliges us to intensify our desire for divine consciousness accordingly.

Our soul must "cry for her father and mother", for the divine awareness it knew before it was captured. The "father" signifies the consciousness of Abba, i.e. chochma, the soul's experience of selflessness in the presence of its radical awareness of G‑d. The "mother" signifies the consciousness of Imma, i.e. bina, the soul's experience of G‑d's intellect.

Adapted from Sefer HaMa'amarim 5745, p. 255-6; Likutei Amarim 20; Ohr Torah 174
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