Constant Chizuk

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In this week’s parsha, Moshe Rabbeinu encourages Yehoshua as he prepares himself to assume the mantle of leadership of the Jewish People. “Chazak ve’ematz,” Yehoshua is told, first by Moshe (31:7) and then by Hashem (31:23), and Hashem says these words again to Yehoshua several times at the beginning of Sefer Yehoshua (1:6,7,9).

Why was Yehoshua told so many times that he should be strong and not weaken? Such repetitions are very rare in Tanach. Yehoshua had been Moshe’s dedicated talmid for decades and merited prophecy of his own. He later commanded the sun to stand still. Did he really need so much chizuk?

Closer to our times, a similar question arises about Rav Chaim Vital, the closest talmid of the Ari Zal. At the end of the Ari Zal’s life, he gave his talmid chizuk in advance of the challenge that awaited him as the prime disseminator of Toras Hanistar in the world. After the Ari Zal passed away, he returned to Rav Vital in a dream every few nights and urged him to continue in his holy work and not to give up or slacken. He did this for the next twenty years, and even after that, the Ari Zal’s spirit still came to Rav Vital about once a month with the same message that he not slacken.

This is hard to understand. Was Rav Vital so close to giving up that he needed such frequent encouragement from his rebbe? Was it really necessary for the Ari Zal to have to come back from Olam Haba just to tell him not to slacken, and so many times?

Rav Yitzchak Ze’ev Josef answers (in his sefer, Achas Sha’alti): The reason these great men needed such chizuk was because of the great tasks they had accepted upon themselves. Since they were pushing themselves to their utmost level of perfection, they needed that much more chizuk. If it seems exaggerated to us that the Ari Zal had to give a talmid such as Rav Chaim Vital such regular chizuk, it’s only a sign that our own she’ifos (spiritual aspirations) are not what they should be. Indeed, if a person contents himself with a level of avodas Hashem that has become easy for him, he feels no need for chizuk in order to maintain it. The question is: Is this really where he should be holding? Much more may be expected of him.

My father was another example of a man who saw the need to receive constant chizuk. Although he concealed much of this work to himself, after he passed away, people told us that even as a bachur, my father would write notes urging himself not to slacken in his work to perfect his middos.

“You have to love every Jew,” “How can you feel fear? Hashem runs the world!” “Never feel anger, not even in your heart,” “Never eat more than you need,” etc. These and many other messages filled several notebooks that we found after my father’s passing, and there were probably many more notebooks that we did not find. When I first held these notebooks and read these messages, I remember thinking: “Did my father really need to push himself like this? Why did he need to write all of these notes to himself?” Then I realized that when a person is working on himself constantly and wants so much to reach perfection, constant chizuk is the only way to do it.

In Pirkei Avos (5), the sages instruct us to be “courageous like a leopard and light like an eagle” in our avodas Hashem. The Yaavetz explains that it is up to us to be mechazeik ourselves and be courageous when it comes to mitzvos, even if they seem impossible to accomplish. For example, the mitzvah of kibud av ve’eim can seem overwhelming when a parent is unable to take of himself. For others, simply davening with kavana and not daydreaming may seem impossible. The sages are telling us that we must not give up. We must develop the courage to take on these mitzvos, with the bitachon that once we’ve done our absolute best, Hashem will make us “light as an eagle,” meaning he will give us the siyatta DeShemaya to succeed. (The eagle symbolizes capabilities beyond one’s nature — it can fly across vast distances in a short span of time). The bitachon that Hashem will give us siyatta deShemaya serves as the basis for our courage in avodas Hashem.

For many of us, the mitzvah of teshuva seems impossible. How many of us have given up? Teshuva is a mitzvah year-round, but during the Aseres Yemei Teshuva it is critical. The Rambam (Laws of Teshuva 3:3) writes that if a person possesses an equal level of mitzvos and aveiros, if he fails to do teshuva in these days, he will not be inscribed in the Book of Life!

We therefore must do teshuva, and we can be mechazeik ourselves with the promise of Rabbeinu Yonah at the very beginning of Shaarei Teshuva (1:1): “Hashem assists those who return to Him in teshuva when they are limited by their nature, and implants in them a spirit of purity.” If a person does all he can, and by natural means can do no more, Hashem will change his nature and enable him to do teshuva! The initial teshuva process requires only an honest resolution to improve oneself (even if it involves only a minor change in one’s behavior) and regret for one’s errors until now.

I know an avreich who teaches the highest shiur at a small yeshiva. Recently, a man who lives near the yeshiva asked him if he was a baal mofes (miracle worker)!

“How do you do it?” he asked the avreich. “At the beginning of the year, the bachurim can barely stay in their seats and focus on the Gemara instead of chatting. They also seem to be not the most gifted in natural abilities. At the end of the year they come out lamdanim! How do you do it?”

“I don’t do anything,” answered the avreich. “I teach the Gemara. Once they develop the will to improve, Hashem gives them the means to succeed. It’s between them and Hashem. I have nothing to do with it.”

May we develop she’ifos in avodas Hashem and be mechazeik ourselves to achieve them!

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