Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Reb Hillel Particher- Outflank the Yetzer Hara!

"I heard from the son of the Maggid, the Malach Reb Avraham, that Kaiser Fredrich used a new tactic, that instead of charging the enemy, they would run away, circle back and surround them, so that they must surrender.
Sometimes, a person can be overwhelmed and ecstatic about Hashem and fight the yetzer straight on. By meditating on the love and of Hashem, we can fight against and defeat the yetzer Hara. But this is something which is higher amount of accomplishment. The rest of us who cannot defeat our Yetzros Hara, we need a new strategy. The strategy, is to circumvent the yetze hara by meditating on secrets of torah, the inner light of mitzvos, and memaileh, surround him, such that he has to give up."
R Hillel says that this is the idea behind Pesach Sheni, that there is still Chametz in the house with you. The Chametz, the yetzer Hara is still with us. But we have matzah! Chochma,Bina and Daas! Pesach Sheni, our second chance, gives us an alternate way to serve Hashem and fight the Yetzer with a different strategy.

Out flank the Yetzer Hara!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Rav Kook- torn souls

Years ago I heard Rabbi Weinberger quote this piece from Rav Kook-
I had never found it. Until this Shabbos, in Rav Tzuriel's Peninei Reiyah- p384-
It was never written down by Rav Kook, he said it once to Az"ar- Alexander Zuskind Rabinovich:

"The one that said about me that my soul is torn, spoke correctly-of course it is torn. It is impossible to conceive of someone whose soul is not torn. Only inanimate matter is whole. But a person... is made of so many contradicting desires, and there is an inner battle which rages constantly within him. The entire divine service of a person is to connect the opposing sides within his soul through an all embracing thought, one so great and so uplifted that it incorporates everything within it and brings all to total harmony. It is understood, this can only be an idea which we all look toward, but to actually achieve it is outside of the reach of a mortal. But through our strivings, we move closer and closer. This is what the Mekubalim refer to as Yichudim-unifications."