“This shall be the law of the Metzorah.” Reb Aharon of Karlin, author of the Bais Aharon writes: The true purpose of Torah learning is to become a Ben Torah, that the Torah becomes part of your behavior and you are able to refrain from doing Aveiros, and unfollow your bad desires.
r ̈xŸv §O is in essence two words: `i ¦vŸe §O ,r ̈x to extract the bad and evil from a person, which refers to sins and bad desires. This is what the Posuk means: z ©xFY d¤i §d«¦Y z`Ÿf, what is the true way of learning Torah, and having the Torah become part of you? When you are able to r ̈x `i ¦vŸe §O, refrain from sin and bad desires, after you learn the heilge Torah. The Rebbe says in Parshas Lech Lecha, how does one know if his saying of Krias Shema is with Kabalas Ohl Malchus Shamayim, (acceptance of the rule of Heaven), if afterwards he can withstand and refrain from his greatest urges that the Yetzer Harah puts before him, that is zekln ler zlaw miny (ihkrte irvt ,hc).
Pirkei Avos 2:13 another way to win the battle of the Yetzer Hara
l ©` ,l¥N ©R §z ¦n d ̈Y ©`¤W §kE .d ̈N ¦t §Y ©aE r ©n §W z ©`i ¦x §w ¦A xi ¦d ̈f i¥e¡d ,x¥nŸe` oŸer §n ¦W i ¦A ©x x ©n¡`¤P¤W ,`Ed KEx ̈A mŸew ̈O ©d i¥p §t ¦l mi¦pEp£g ©z§e mi ¦n£g ©x ` ̈N ¤` ,r ©a¤w L§z ̈N ¦t §Y U©r ©Y i ¦d §Y l ©`§e .d ̈r ̈x ̈d l©r m ̈g¦p§e c¤q¤g a ©x§e m¦i©R ©` K ¤x¤` `Ed mEg ©x§e oEP ©g i ¦M (a l`ei) L §n §v©r i¥p §t ¦A r ̈W ̈x : (dh vban c erp ,uct) Rabbi Shimon said: Be careful with the reading of Shema and the prayer, And when you pray, do not make your prayer something automatic, but a plea for compassion before God, for it is said: “for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, and renouncing punishment” (Yoel 2:13); And be not wicked in your own esteem. There is a difficulty in this Posuk which would be suffice to say “And be not wicked”, Why does the Posuk add “in your own esteem”? Also what does this Posuk have to do with the words of Rabbi Shimon regarding Krias Shema and prayer? In order to explain this we see in the Gemarra Berachos 28b
Eq§p §k¦p i`©M©f o¤A o ̈p ̈gŸei i ¦A ©x d ̈l ̈g¤W §kE ` ̈xŸen `¥d §Y¤W oŸev ̈x i ¦d§i" :m¤d ̈l x ©n ̈` .Ep¥k §x ̈A ,Epi¥A ©x :Ÿel Ex §n ̈`Ÿex §T ©a §l ei ̈ci ¦n §l ©Y ,i`©e §lE :m¤d ̈l x ©n ̈` ?o` ̈M c©r :ei ̈ci ¦n §l ©YŸel Ex §n ̈`."m ̈c ̈e x ̈U ̈A ` ̈xŸen §M m¤ki¥l£r m¦i ©n ̈W ."m ̈c ̈` i¦p ©` §x¦i `ŸN¤W" :x ¥nŸe` d ̈xi¥a£r x¥aŸer m ̈c ̈`¤W §M Er §c ¥Y When Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai fell ill his students entered to visit him. His students said to him: Our teacher, bless us. He said to them: May it be His will that the fear of Heaven shall be upon you like the fear of flesh and blood. His students were puzzled and said: To that point and not beyond? Shouldn’t one fear God more? He said to them: Would that a person achieve that level of fear. Know that when one commits a transgression, he says to himself: I hope that no man will see me. If one is as concerned about avoiding shame before God as he is before man, he will never sin. Rabbi Yochanan is giving his students a powerful lesson how to refrain from sin when you are in seclusion and no human soul sees your doings! The answer is by knowing that Hashem is looking and sees all your actions “If one is as concerned about avoiding shame before Hashem as he is before man, he will never sin”. The Navi Yirmiah 24:23 says If somebody enters a hiding place, Do I not see them?—says Hashem.
This can be the meaning of the Posuk “i¥p §t ¦A" r ̈W ̈x i ¦d §Y l ©`§e L §n §v©r the word L §n §v©r means when you are by yourself, and no one can see your doings. If so why do people sin? The answer is that they are not attached to Hashem. With this introduction we can enhance the meaning and the flow of the Mishna: The reason we recite Shema is as the Mishna in Berachos 3 states m¦i ©n ̈W zEk §l ©n lŸer eïl ̈r l ¥A©w§I¤W i ¥c §M So that one will accept upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, the awareness o Hashem and Hashem’s unity, and afterwards we pray to Hashem. The Rav Bartenura explains the words- "do not make your prayers fixed" - like a man who has a fixed debt and says: "when will I unload this debt on myself?" Alternatively, "fixed", like a man who is used to reading one chapter or one parsha. He reads it unthinking not in a humble, earnest petition manner, like one who seeks mercy.
The fix to this is with saying Shema, and accept the yoke of Hashem, bringing yourself closer to Hashem, and when you pray in an earnest sincere manner, and realize you are standing in front of Hashem a ©x§e m¦i©R ©` K ¤x¤` `Ed mEg ©x§e oEP ©g i ¦M d ̈r ̈x ̈d l©r m ̈g¦p§e c¤q¤g Who is merciful and loves you dearly, you pour your heart to Hashem and become closer to Him. The closer you are to Hashem and the more Kavana and intentions you have in davening, the chances are greater that the prayers would be accepted.
This is what the Mishna is referring to: “Be careful with the reading of Shema and the prayer”, as these two actions would bring you closer to Hashem. When you are close to Hashem and realize that He sees all your actions, it is beautiful the connection to the end of the Mishnah “L §n §v©r i¥p §t ¦A" r ̈W ̈x i ¦d §Y l ©`§e when you are by yourself, and no one can see your doings: since you will be attached to Hashem you are never in seclusion as Hashem sees everything, and this would save you from doing evil, and only do the will of Hashem. (Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
