“Listen here,” the doctor tells the patient. “You have two options. Either you are hospitalized for two months and get injections five times a day, or you go home and take an orange-flavored pill every day.”
How, in your opinion, would the patient react? He’d prefer the pill, correct? It’s much easier, and it’s even tasty.
We can understand this rationale regarding illnesses of the body, but when it comes to illnesses of the nefesh, things are much deeper and more complex. We are accustomed to thinking that only aveiros for which an explicit punishment is mentioned in the Torah can hurt a person, but the Ari reveals to us that even “light” aveiros can blemish our souls, and in order to erase the blemish they caused, a person needs to exert himself greatly!
How do we repair an outburst of anger? With 151 fasts!
The Baal Hatanya (Iggeres Teshuvah 2) goes on to cite the words of the Ari: And even regarding Rabbinic prohibitions like stam yeinam, he should fast 73 times. Likewise, regarding the annulment of a positive Rabbinic commandment, such as tefillah – he should fast 61 times....
And this is only a small part of the list. How can one deal with this? How many years must we live in order to actually get to all this fasting? And is it really not possible any other way?
Along comes the heiligeh Reb Meir of Apta zy”a, who composed the famous tefillah, “Ribono shel Olam, I know that I am in Your Hands alone...”; in his sefer Ohr Lashamayim he teaches a tikkun that we can carry out even with our limited abilities.
He writes (Parshas Bo) that in previous generations, their tikkun nefesh was through suffering, in order to break the kelipos and to get rid of the blockages that hamper the neshamah, but today, in the generation close to Moshiach’s arrival, our tikkun is easier and does not require excessive suffering. Our tikkun is through emunah. Through emunah our generation will live.
Yes, you heard correctly. Not 151 fast days, not 73 fast days. You can eat and drink and be happy, but simply believe! Believe in the Master of the world, a simple, pure emunah, an emunah that gets stronger day by day. Repeat again again: I believe with complete faith that Hashem controls everything that has happened, that is happening, and that will happen. Everything the All-Merciful One does, He does for the good. No one can help or harm me without the Creator’s permission.
This type of emunah repairs and purifies the nefesh and brings a person closer to the Creator of the world.
Gut Shabbat
Pinchas Shefer
Parshs Noach - Lech Lecha 5785 ■ Issue 150
