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By Rabbi Gedalia Fogel
Hi! This is Rebbe speaking.
Where has the summer gone? I’m sure all you children enjoyed your summer vacation and are well-rested and ready to start a fresh new school year.
This week’s parsha, Parshas Ki Seitzei, speaks about the laws that apply to going out to fight a war.
Every day, every minute, each and every one of us fights a battle. We go to war all the time.
Who knows what type of war? How can it be?
We fight against the Yetzer Hara, the Evil Inclination. The Yetzer Hara does not give up, each and every minute the Evil Inclination tries again to get us to do an Aveirah, a bad thing. He has all different ways that he uses to try to trick us into following what he says.
But we are strong enough to fight against the Yetzer Hara. Each of you has the power to fight against the Evil Inclination and WIN!!
Someone came to the great Rabbi, the Shpola Zeide and asked for advice on how to fight the Evil Inclination. The Shpola Zeide related the following:
The Yetzer Hara decided that he would pay a visit to the, Avot, (Patriarchs) Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.
First he went to Avraham Avinu. He came well-prepared with all sorts of weapons ready to fight his battle. Knock, knock!! “Please come in. Have a seat I’ll be with you in just a moment.” Avraham Avinu quickly prepared a huge meal and started to serve the Yetzer Hara one course after the other.
The Yetzer Hara was so busy eating that when his time was up, he realized that he had wasted his time eating and did not accomplish what he had come for.
Before the Evil Inclination set out to go to Yitzchak Avinu, he made sure to eat a meal. He was quite stuffed when he showed up a Yitzchak Avinu’s home. Knock, knock!! “It’s you!! You’d better find yourself someone else to start up with. I will not allow you to enter my home.” Yitzchak Avinu came with all his weapons and might to fight against the Yetzer Hara. It did not take long for him to win over the Evil Inclination, since the Yetzer Hara did not come with his weapons. He assumed he did not need them since he did not use them when he went to Avraham Avinu.
Before the Yetzer Hara went to Yaakov Avinu, he made sure to have eaten a good meal and this time he was sure to come with all his weapons too.
Knock, knock!! Knock, knock!! KNOCK KNOCK!! “Is Yaakov Avinu home? I will look into his window… He sure is home! I see him sitting at his table reading a book.” KNOCK, KNOCK!! The Yetzer Hara kept on banging on the door, but Yaakov Avinu did not even look up from his Sefer. He was learning so diligently that he was oblivious to the knocking. Seeing that he was not getting anywhere with Yaakov Avinu he went on his way.
“We must always try new ways to fight the Yetzer Hara.” concluded the Shpola Zeide.
There is no right or wrong way to fight against the Yetzer Hara. Every one of you can come up with a plan, a strategy of your own, that you will use to fight against the Evil Inclination.
We must realize that often the Yetzer Hara tells us to do an Aveirah by convincing us that it’s really a Mitzvah. We must not listen to him and we must follow our Yetzer Tov, Good Inclination, and do what’s right.
The Yetzer Hara is compared to someone who walks around with a closed fist and announces “Guess what I have in my hand? You’ll never believe what I’m holding?” With these words he gets everyone excited and has everyone’s attention. But really he has nothing in his hand. He is just tricking everyone. The Yetzer Hara entices people to do the wrong thing but covering it up and making it good, but really it’s just one of his tricks.
There was a rabbi that wanted to make Baalei Teshuva, bring people back to Judaism. The Yetzer Hara tried to stop him. This time it was his turn to trick the Evil Inclination. He convinced the Yetzer Hara that he was going to do business with these people, but really his real reason was to teach them Judaism.
My Rebbe, The Skolya Rebbe, let us in on a secret. He said that if someone has a desire to do wrong, it’s a good idea to wait it out a few minutes. Usually the desire does not last more than two minutes. Another good idea is to keep busy. If a person is kept busy than they won’t have time to sin. |
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