דברי תורה לכבוד שבת קודש פרשת נח - י' מרחשון - מברכין בה"ב

One day, I was davening for the amud and a very powerful thought struck me. I mentioned it to a few Talmidei Chachomim afterwards and they appreciated the observation. If we look carefully at the different Brachos in Shmona Esrai, which one describes or gives over the greatest urgency? To me it seemed that the Brocha of V’lamalshinim expresses an extraordinary sense of urgency. Perhaps we can even call it a crisis. Regarding destroying the wickedness in the world, first we daven that it should be “k’rega - instantly” and then we say meheira - speedily three times. We should definitely focus on the positive and always see the good in everything. Chaza”l, however, want us to be aware of the power and spirit of wickedness in the world, and to try to get rid of it for once and for all. This is the way to bring out the good in the world and hopefully bring the complete Geula.

Perhaps Parshas Noach is an extra opportune time to reach this goal because the Parsha describes the bad being destroyed. Also, on the Yomim Noraim we davened a lot for the destruction and removal of רע from the world. We said וּבְכֵן צַדִּיקִים יִרְאוּ וְיִשְׂמָחוּ, וִישָׁרִים יַעֲלֹזוּ, וַחֲסִידִים בְּרִנָּה יָגִילוּ, וְעוֹלָתָה תִּקְפָּץ־פִּיהָ, וְכָל הָרִשְׁעָה כֻּלָּהּ כְּעָשָׁן תִּכְלֶה, כִּי תַעֲבִיר מֶמְשֶׁלֶת זָדוֹן מִן הָאָרֶץ. (The interesting thing is that on the Yomim Noraim we first speak about the Tzaddikim rejoicing and then the destruction of the Reshaim, while the whole year the Brochoh of ולמלשינים comes first and then the Brochoh of על הצדיקים. It seems that on the Yomim Noraim the day alone has enough Kedusha for the Tzaddikim to rise, while the rest of the year we first need to cut down the קרני רשעים and then תרוממנה קרנות צדיק.) V’yehi ratzon that we should all be zoche to see the rise of the good and the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days, amein.

Since we are speaking about this topic of the good and bad in this world, we would like to share a thought which has been on our mind for a very long time. The topic itself is very deep and intricate, but we will try to keep it as basic and understandable as possible, B’ezras Hashem. There is a rule which is based on the Possuk in Kohelles that גם את זה לעומת זה עשה האלקים. Hashem created the whole world balanced. The Seforim say that as much good as there is, that is how much bad there will be. (See the Orach Chaim Hakadosh in Parshas Haazinu ל"ב, ה', and many other Seforim.) For every Koach of Kedusha, there will be a corresponding Koach of the opposite. According to this, there are a few questions one could ask. One question is obvious, will any person who does good in this world, also be causing there to be more bad, because there must always be a balance? Another question is that Chaza”l say that כל הגדול מחבירו יצרו גדול הימנו. This fits in very well according to the rule of זה לעומת זה, but how can a person ever become great if he will always be creating a greater Yetzer Harah to fight him and knock him down? Another question is as follows: we are all familiar with the terrible decree against בני תורה in Eretz Yisroel. The Reshaim in the government want to draft the בני הישיבות and close down the Yeshivos, Rachmana Litzlan. The Gedolim and Roshei Yeshiva tell the Bochurim to learn Shtarker and to become bigger Masmidim. The question is that if they learn better, the Yetzer Harah will become even stronger and the Gezeira could become worse, Chas V’shalom? And finally, Chaza”l say that מצוה גוררת מצוה - one Mitzva brings another Mitzva. How does this work? If a person does one Mitzva, the Yetzer Harah should become stronger not to do the Mitzva? How exactly does this work?

We spoke to many Rabbonim and Talmidei Chachomim about this topic and these questions. One person said that only Rav Dessler Zatza”l can answer these questions, and another person said that each question itself is not related to the others and can be answered independently. Others said that the matter required further thought. We worked on this for a very long time, and with great Siyata Dishmaya, perhaps we can suggest a solution. The Seforim say that there are two types of Yetzer Harah. There is the Yetzer Harah inside a person - מבפנים, and there is a Yetzer Harah on the outside - מבחוץ. Based on this we would like to say that there are two ways that the Yetzer Harah can affect a person. Let us give a Mashal. A person is sitting comfortably - warm and safe - in his home during a raging vicious storm outside. Will he be affected by the weather? If he stays inside, he is safe, but if he dares to go out, he will be in danger, Chas V’shalom. So too, there is the Yetzer Harah that actually creeps into the person and tries to harm him. If a person learns Torah and does Mitzvos, he will be protecting himself from that Yetzer Harah - בראתי יצר הרע בראתי לו תורה תבלין. He will be safe inside his home during the storm. One Mitzva brings another and the person will have more strength than ever to do more Mitzvos. At the same time, there is an external force, a כח הרע מבחוץ that gets stronger. This is in order to keep the balance of טוב ורע in the world, but it will not actually affect the person who is safe in his home during the storm. If he opens the door to the outside, then there could be greater problems, Rachmana Litzlan. Perhaps we can add that it is possible to reach the level that even if there is a blackout and everyone loses power, Rachmana Litzlan, the Talmid Chochom has a generator which will give him power as if there is no storm.

Let us give another Mashal: if more people learn Torah, they definitely create the greatest protection. At the same time it is possible for the Yetzer Harah to create destructive technology. The protection is there and the כח הטוב will be amazing, and at the same time the כח הרע will also be equally developed, but it will not affect the בני תורה who are שקוע in their learning and דבוקים בהשם. This is why the Gedolim are encouraging the בני הישיבות to increase their סדרים and be Mechazeik their Limudim. A person who learns Torah not only helps himself, but also helps every Yid. Learning Torah and doing Mitzvos creates tremendous כח הטוב מבפנים. There is also a כח הרע מבחוץ which is created to keep the balance in the world, but that is not really relevant to the person who is serving Hashem properly.

Now let us return to the Brochoh of ולמלשינים in Shmona Esrai. There are many versions to this Brochoh. In Nusach Ashkenaz, this is what we say: וְלַמַּלְשִׁינִים אַל תְּהִי תִקְוָה, וְכָל הָרִשְׁעָה כְּרֶגַע תֹּאבֵד, וְכָל אוֹיְבֶיךָ מְהֵרָה יִכָּרֵתוּ, וְהַזֵּדִים מְהֵרָה תְעַקֵּר וּתְשַׁבֵּר וּתְמַגֵּר וְתַכְנִיעַ בִּמְהֵרָה בְיָמֵינוּ. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' שׁוֹבֵר אוֹיְבִים וּמַכְנִיעַ זֵדִים. Perhaps we can say that we are mainly asking for two things in this Tefilla. First we speak about the מלשינים, and at the end we speak about the זדים. These are the Reshaim who bother Klal Yisroel - this is a כח הרע מבפנים. In the middle we speak about the רשעה and אויביך, which are the enemies of Hashem, the כח הרע מבחוץ. We daven to Hashem to get rid of all of the wickedness - all the forms of רע - from the world, and it should be כרגע and במהרה מהרה מהרה בימינו.

Another lesson from Parshas Noach is that we learn how to survive when the world is going through a storm. We need to build ourselves a תיבה - a secure place, protected from harmful, negative elements. All of the Seforim say that our Shuls, בתי מדרש and our homes should be insulated with special materials in order to keep out all of the bad influences, Rachmana Litzlan. Learning Torah, doing Mitzvos with Simcha, Yiras Shamayim and Ahavas Yisroel should permeate our homes and our whole life. This is the greatest protection from the Mabul and the greatest Zechus Kiyum possible.

Have a gutten and zeesen Shabbos,
רבי גארפינקעל