THE BATTLE EVERY JEW MUST FIGHT
The Midrash (36:1) brings a verse from Yirmiyahu (11:16) that compares the Jewish People to the olive tree. Why the olive tree? asks the Midrash. Other trees are more beautiful than the olive, and most fruit-bearing trees produce sweeter fruits.
Explains the Midrash, Jews are compared to the olive tree because just as the olive is pressed, crushed and ground before it produces oil, so too the gentiles push the Jewish People from place to place, jail them and crush them and then the Jews produce their “fine oil,” i.e., they do teshuva.
This comparison is troublesome, as it depicts the Jewish People as a nation that does teshuva only in response to suffering. Is this the case? Aren’t there many Jews who do teshuva out of their own good sense and piety, without being forced to?
Moreover, Midrashim are expected to have a lesson for us. What is the lesson here?
Rav Yechezkel Levinstein answers that even though the Midrash mentions afflictions of the gentiles, a Jew does not have to wait for this. He can “crush” himself instead. That is the real message of the Midrash.
Everyone has a yetzer hara, as the verse states that the “impulse of man is evil from his youth” (Bereishis 8:21). Nevertheless, it is our job to free ourselves of the yetzer hara. This is what brings out the “fine oil” within us.
Even if we are unaware of it, the yetzer hara is a part of us and will mix in to our actions, even our mitzvos, if we don’t take steps to uproot it. Even tzaddikim must take such steps. Mesilas Yesharim (16) warns us to be attentive. As we do a mitzvah, perhaps our motivation is that others will see us and this will gain us honor. Conversely, people may compromise on mitzvah observance because they prefer to focus on financial gain or other desires. Just as the olive’s good taste only comes about through crushing it, so too, the true beauty of a Jew only emerges after he succeeds in crushing his yetzer hara.
A Jew should take the steps needed to break his yetzer hara without external forces such as gentile persecution arousing him to this, as the Midrash describes. The Midrash mentions persecution by gentiles because if we don’t combat our yetzer hara, Hashem may have to bring afflictions upon us to elicit our proper behavior. Of course, it is better if we do this by ourselves.
How can we “crush” our yetzer hara? If a person is not careful about shemiras einayim (guarding his eyes), should he put on a blindfold? If a person focuses a lot on money, should he crush this desire and stop working altogether? Aren’t these necessary parts of life?
Rav Yechezkel Levinstein explains that what the Midrash means by “crushing” is that one not let these parts of his personality control him. You must be in charge, not them. If a person has difficulty with shemiras einayim, he should treat this with the utmost seriousness. Every time he leaves the house he should beg Hashem for help. As much as possible, he should try to control where he directs his gaze.
If a person wants money so much that he is willing to consider less than honest business practices, he should seek out a Rav who can teach him the severity of such actions, and clarify for him what is permitted and what not. As hard as it may be, he must submit himself to the halachic rulings he is given. If a person makes consistent efforts to resist his yetzer hara, with Hashem’s help he will slowly but surely free himself from it.
Another way to combat the yetzer hara is to build ourselves up in avodas Hashem. The more we love Torah study, gemilus chassadim or any other aspect of mitzvah observance, the less our desires will encumber us. The more we appreciate our avodas Hashem, the weaker our desires will become.
I found in my father’s diary an entry that reflects this strategy of fighting the yetzer hara. He wrote to himself that when it comes to enjoyment of the material world, one should try always to keep things to a minimum. One who gives in to his desires will not assuage them for long. He will very soon want more, and the more he indulges, the greater his desires will grow. Instead, my father advised that one should direct all of his interest to Torah and mitzvos. Whatever energy might have gone to pursuit of desires should be channeled into avodas Hashem.
I know a Rav who has a yeshiva for boys who went off the derech and were steeped in their desires. Many have done exceptionally well in his yeshiva. I asked him what his secret is.
“It’s no secret,” he answered. “I take the bachurim to an out-of-the-way place where they are far from city life. There, they can learn and have recreation and exercise, but the taavos (desires) they were steeped in are hundreds of miles away. As they say, ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ There, little by little, they get into Torah and avodas Hashem until they develop a taste for it. Once they get a love for Torah, no taava—great or small—can stop them.”
May we be zoche to crush our yetzer hara and produce “fine oil!”
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