Bereshit
This week we are introduced to a remarkable foe who greets us upon our entry into this world and attempts to accompany our every action throughout our mortal existence. He is known as the Yetser Harah, the Evil Inclination. In Bereishit 2:15 it says that Hashem placed Adam Harishon into Gan Eden with the charge to work it and to guard it. Rashi says that the language of the Pasuk “VAYIKACH” indicates that hashem had to seduce Adam with pleasant words and convince him to enter Gan Eden.
Imagine Hashem offering us a place that was rent free, obligation free, with angels at our service feeding us, fanning us, and taking care of all our needs. Would we need to be convinced? Would we need to be seduced? Rashi makes it sound like the Almighty had to do a real sales job on Adam to get him to agree to go into Gan Eden. What is the meaning of Rashi’s comment? Chazal explain that it is the life goal of the Yetser Harah to prevent a person from doing whatever he is supposed to do in this world. A person may have to do something that is sweet, delightful and enjoyable. But if it is something which ‘must be done,’ the Yetser Harah invariably counsels him against doing it. It is the power of our Yetser Harah to be able to convince us that anything that we MUST do, is in fact the worst thing in the world for us to do. The Yetser Harah can blind us, fool us, and convince us that the greatest thing in the world for us is really not good for us at all.
There are so many things in life that are really enjoyable, but people somehow are convinced otherwise. We may sit down to study Gemara, or attend a Torah class, or learn a Mishna. Torah is sweeter than honey. It is the ultimate enjoyment; it is the closest we can approach to Divine Insight. It is the greatest thing in the world!
But we know how life works. It is the time for the shiur, and I begin asking myself, “should I go?” “Should I get out of the house?” it’s cold outside, it’s raining. This excuse…. that excuse…. The Yetser Harah can make sitting and learning a task, a pain, and a burden. Such is its power.
This is the insight of the previously quoted Rashi. Gan Eden itself, the most beautiful and pleasurable existence can me made unattractive by the Yetser Harah. Adam did not want to go; he needed encouragement, persuasion, and even seduction before he would consent to enter.
Later in the Parsha (Bereishit 4:7) a similar insight is found. After Kayin has an inferior offering rejected, he is very upset. Hashem talks to him frankly about the nature of his act and the hidden beast that undermined our good intentions, the Yetser Harah.
“Surely if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin crouches at the door, its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it.”
This reminded me of the following famous story that may be quite applicable to the lesson we are trying to learn.
Rabbi Shalom Schwadron had noticed that one of the students at his Yeshiva was missing on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday morning, he approached him, inquiring as to the reason he missed those two days. “I know you for two years. You have never missed a day of yeshiva. I am sure that something important is happening, please tell me what is going on.” The young man did not want to say at first, but he finally blurted out. “I would tell, but Rebbi you just wouldn’t understand.” “Try me,” said Reb Shalom, “I promise I will try my hardest to understand what you are telling me.”
“Here goes,” the young man responded, “I missed Yeshiva because I went to watch the soccer finals. In fact, he added in embarrassment, “I probably will not attend Yeshiva tomorrow as well. It’s the final day of the championship.”
Rabbi Shalom was not at all condescending. Instead, he asked, “tell me, how do you play this game of soccer? What is the object? How do you win?
“Well,” began the student with enthusiasm, there are eleven players, and the object is to kick the ball into the large goal. No one but the goalkeeper can move the ball with his hands or arms!
Rabbi Shwadron’s face brightened! He knew this young man was a good student and wanted to accommodate him. “Oh! Is that all? So just go there and kick the ball in the goal and come back to Yeshiva!”
The student laughed. “Rebbi, you don’t understand! The opposing team also has eleven men and a goalkeeper, and their job is to stop our team from getting the ball into the goal!” “Tell me,” Rabbi Shwadron whispered. “These other men from the opposing team, are they there all day and all night?” “Of course not,” responded the student, “They go home at night!”
Rabbi Shwadron got closer to him and in all sincerity continued with his brilliant plan. “Why don’t you sneak into the stadium in the evening and kick the ball into the goal when they are not looking! Then you can win and return to Yeshiva!”
The boy, all frustrated, replies, “Oh Rebbi! You don’t understand. You don’t score if the other team is not trying to stop you! There is no kuntz to kick a ball into an empty net if there is no one trying to stop you.” “Ah!” cried Reb Shalom in absolute victory, “Now think a moment! Listen to what you just said! It’s no kuntz to come to the Yeshiva when nothing is trying to hold you back! It is when the urge to skip class is there, when the Yetser Harah is crouching in the goal that it is most difficult to score. That is when you really score points. Come tomorrow, and you can’t imagine how much that is worth in Hashem’s scoreboard.”
Needless to say, the young man understood the message and was there the next day-first in class.
The Torah tells us not only about the nature of the Yetser Harah as an adversary, but rather as our ultimate challenge. Our obligation is to realize that we must overcome him to remover the mirage that he paints for us and to do what we are supposed to do. In short, we have to “fight it and beat it.”
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Gad Bouskila
