Sometimes, we’re faced with a situation that seems to be reality.
This reality dictates what will happen. There’s a phenomenon of “the reality,” and then there’s the Ribbono shel Olam. Yes, the sefarim teach us to believe that מלבדו עוד אין, there’s nothing but Hashem. Yes, the Reishis Chachmah speaks of Gan Eden and Gehinnom. But... “Come with me, and I will show you actual reality. Reality is what I see with my own eyes.”
Because this person looks at the world this way, he becomes beholden to this order of the world. He submits himself to the mehalech of teva. This is all there is. What we see is all there is. Even if the sefarim speak of a different reality—the things we cannot readily see—he sticks to his “reality.” He may not say so outright, but when you dig down a bit, this is what he believes. The reality that he sees with his own eyes is far stronger to him than anything he may believe. And this is something we must be keenly aware of.
Splitting the Sea
This phenomenon is a levush, an outer layer in creation that obscures the truth. The “reality” looms so large and imposingly, and it seems as if there’s nothing we can do to change it. There’s a concrete wall, a Yam Suf in front of us, and it cannot be shattered. It’s the same with the yetzer hara of a person. He tried countless times to change it.... This is his weakness, his Achilles’ heel. He even has a signed diagnosis from an expert stating that this is his problem—and some people will use this excuse even in regard to the worst aveiros, R”l:
“Listen, this is who I am. Perhaps I shouldn’t do these aveiros in public—but I can’t abstain from them altogether.” This may (or may not) be true in the order of nature—but nature isn’t the truth! Yes, there’s a reality of nature. But when the Torah instructs us to go against teva, this means that the Torah is telling you that you can break it. The reality that we can break our natural urges is the true reality, greater than any other reality. This never changes.
