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In the beginning of "Machshivos charutz," R' Tzadok Hacohen of Lublin explains the deepest secrets of milchemes hayetzer. He explains that there are two "drachim" in milchemes hayetzer that are both legitimate but only when used together. IE: Although some people have more of a connection to one way and some to the other, neither one is enough by itself.
One way is the way of Yoseph Hatzadik whose concentration was on constantly building himself up to be an "Adam Hashalem." He, therefore, concentrated very much on building up his self-control.
The other way is the way of Malchus Yehudah, where the concentration is totally on living with Hashem and relying on Him to save us from the yetzer.
{Chazal say that the way of Yoseph is more dangerous because if you c'v fall, you can lose everything. R' Shimshon Pinkus Zt"l used to talk about this a lot. He kept on saying that what's going to bring the geulah is the "Yehudah way" and he brought many proofs to this.}
R' Tzadok explains that the holy sons of Yaakov Avinu had a very small imperfection. While Yoseph excelled in his way and everyone else excelled in Yehuda's way, each side felt that the other way is a contradiction to his way: How can I fully rely on Hashem, if I am working on my self-control? The shevatim felt that such a focus on self-improvement and self-control is a complete contradiction to their way of bitachon in Hashem!
This, he says, was the root cause of "Mechiras Yoseph."
It was also the reason that Klal Yisroel did not fully except the Torah willingly by Har Sinai. They had experienced "Yetzias Mitzrayim," which was the greatest manifestation of the Yehudah way. The Jews in Egypt had fallen extremely low, and they were so desperately dependent on Hashem that Hashem broke all the laws of nature for them. The last thing they wanted was to build themselves up to be a Mamleches Kohanim, because that would seem to make them less dependent on Hashem and they wouldn't be eligible for such Divine intervention.
R' Tzadok goes on to explain that when the meraglim gave their report about how great and frightful the giants of Eretz Yisroel were, the Jews said: "How in the world could we be expected to fight forces that are so much greater than us? Let us return to Egypt" - let us go back to being totally powerless and desperate and have Hashem fight our battles.
So the obvious question is: Didn't they have a mighty good point?
The answer is - says R' Tzadok- that if you understand that הקב''ה לבן של ישראל then the question doesn't start. Yes, of course, we need Hashem, BUT HE'S RIGHT THERE INSIDE OF US! Yes, we need to take responsibility; yes, we need to build up our self-control; yes, we need to turn ourselves into holier and holier people; yes, we need to fight our own battles - but all this is done only through the power of Hashem.
By the great miracle of Purim, Klal Yisroel was finally able to grasp this and that is why we willingly accepted the Torah. This was because we saw that we don't need "Yetzias Mitzrayim" style miracles - we don't need Hashem to break the laws of nature. (In fact, it was all only meant to be a one-time occurrence.) We don't need Hashem to "take over." We don't need it because Hashem is with us - within nature. We don't need to be powerless and passive, we just need to tap in to our inner core. When we realize that everything we do is only with the power that Hashem is constantly giving us, then there is no limit to our power.
כלב בן יפונה tried to tell it to us 1000 years earlier: "עלה נעלה וירשנו אותה כי יכול נוכל לה", but we didn't want to listen. That was the root of all golus - אתם בכיתם בכיה של חינם. And therein lies the key to the ge'ulah- both the general ge'ulah (יחזקאל ל''ז) and also our personal ge'ulah from the clutches of the y'h.
That is (very b'kitzur) what R' Tzadok says, and today Hashem gave me an important insight. I realized what it all has to do with Amalek. We know that Amalek caused the Name of Hashem to be "incomplete" by attacking Klal Yisroel. How does attacking the Jews affect the Name of Hashem?
Everything in creation - on all levels - works with the concept of guf and neshomoh or Kli and Ohr. There must always be both. The guf or kli of the Shechina in this world is Klal Yisroel, as it says ושכנתי בתוכם. Amalek is the enemy of the Shechina Hakidosha, he can't stand Hashem's presence in this world (he actually wrote about it in "Mein Kampf" - he calls it conscience). That is why he attacked us, and by injuring us, he greatly damaged the vessel for Hashem's presence in this world.
Now, we have learned from R' Tzadok that the very thing that Amalek is out to destroy is precisely the key to our success. Amalek has no problem with Hashem as long as He's not over here. But הקב'ה לבן של ישראל is what we are dependent on. It's no coincidence that at the same time with the nes of Purim there was a great weakening of Amalek AND the new and complete Kabolos Hatorah.
So this Shabbos Zachor and this Purim, let us all make our personal internal michiyas Amalek, let us drill into our hearts that Hashem is within us - right here and right now! לא בשמים...בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו - Hashem is in our hearts, and our power of speech can be used to awaken the connection.
Once we bust our personal Amalek, we will reach the highest level of simcha -עוז וחדוה במקומו. This is the ultimate meaning of נכנס יין יצא סוד - the deep secret hidden inside can come booming out in its full glory.
A FREILICHEN PURIM AND A FRELICHEN LIFE! |
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