What Reality Is
Sometimes, we speak to someone who has indulged in forbidden pleasures, and he is sunk knee-deep into these pursuits. He will tell you, “Listen... the body wants what it wants. A person is a person. You want to fight with reality?!”
But the truth is that we’re not fighting reality! This man is mistaken on two fronts: First, when a person fills himself with Torah and with Hashem’s love, his reality isn’t one of lust and desire for what is forbidden. He lives in a different reality. It is this other man who is a great rachmanus—for he is empty. He has nothing. The reality of the world is that when a person is filled with good things, he doesn’t need anything else.
Second, we know the principle of השורה את מקלקלת אהבה, love conquers all. Love knows no bounds. We know that there are trees whose roots are so strong that they can lift concrete as they grow. Roots are very strong things. Love is deeply rooted inside a person, and this is why it pulls him so much and awakens him so much. Thus, the love a Yid feels toward Hashem—and from Hashem—causes him to overcome other “realities” of nisyonos.
Love Conquers All
When a person draws upon this love of Hashem, it has the power to overcome any other “realities.” One may say, “There’s an order of nature... the body has its needs.” Yes, yes... but love is far stronger! When a person feels and experiences this love, life is good. And for this reason, we are commanded to love the Ribbono shel Olam.
For the strongest resolution that a person can make is ואהבת, to love Hashem. Any mesirus nefesh that a person may exhibit is rooted in that love (to a great extent). And therefore, we tell a person: Ensure that your love isn’t lacking, verify that your mind is open to the love, make certain that you remember it and feel it—for if you feel it, you will be protected. And for this reason, we must do things that will arouse our love for Hashem.
