שיר השירים
On Pesach, we learn Shir HaShirim, which Rashi tells us is a metaphor of the love between the Ribbono shel Olam and Klal Yisrael. Here, we analyze the pasuk האהבה את לכבות יוכלו לא רבים מים as it relates to the love and the chiyus that we must invest in our relationship with the Ribbono shel Olam:
The Many Waters of Lust
The Sefarim HaKedoshim teach us that מים corresponds to the התאוה כח, the power of lust in a person. It is the source of ta’avah, the source of love, the power of being drawn after things. The meaning of the words מים האהבה את לכבות יוכלו לא רבים, many waters cannot extinguish the love (Shir HaShirim 8:7) is that when a person feels strong emotion toward the Ribbono shel Olam, when his emotions are immersed in being drawn after the Ribbono shel Olam, then the מים—the forces of love and lust—cannot overcome it.
That is, the Ribbono shel Olam created the world in which there is a very strong force of fire, and yet, the nature of fire is that water can extinguish it. This is true when the fire is small. When there is an enormous blazing fire, no amount of water can extinguish it. We see that there are wildfires that it takes months to put out. People pour on enormous quantities of water—of which there is no shortage—and still are unable to control the fire. Water is effective only when the fire is small.
When the Fire Is Great
Says the pasuk, in This World, one struggles with ta’avos... the מים רבים that threaten to sweep him away—in this way or that way. He battles the yetzer hara—sometimes more successfully and other times less so. Every person has his nisyonos, every person fights his unique battle.
But the pasuk tells us the important principle that when the fire is great, it cannot be extinguished. When the fire of connection to the Ribbono shel Olam is blazing within a person, no water in the world can overpower it. The fire dries up any water that attempts to overtake it. As it relates to our avodas Hashem, the pasuk explains—and the ways of chassidus are established on this premise—that the true way to be successful in this fight against the waters of ta’avah is not to battle so much directly, but rather to introduce a koch, a fire in avodas Hashem. And when we stoke these flames of ahavas Hashem and avodas Hashem within ourselves, then the “waters” suddenly don’t take up as much space. The fires of טוב עשה cancel out the waters of מרע סור.
Struggling in the Darkness
Some chassidim of Rav Uri of Strelisk came to Ruzhin following the passing of their Rebbe. They complained that while Rav Uri guided them on pathways of avodas Hashem, providing them with eitzos and strategies to withstand their yetzer hara and serve their Creator, they didn’t find that as much in Ruzhin.
Hearing this, the Heiliger Ruzhiner related the following mashal: Once there were three people who sat in a dungeon, deep underground. Food was supplied to them by way of a pail that was suspended above, and the warden would lower food to the inmates through this pail. The difficulty was that if one didn’t grab the pail immediately as it reached the dungeon, it was in danger of spilling all the food to the ground—and the inmates would go hungry. Two of the three inmates knew how to hold the rope in such a way that the food wouldn’t spill, but the third one was a shlimazel... he couldn’t figure it out. Every other day, his food would spill out.
One of the others took pity on the hapless man and began to teach him the art of holding the rope in just the right way, so that he too would obtain his food. But the third man took no interest in helping out. Turning to him, the second man said: “Why don’t you lend a hand here?! Don’t you see that we’re struggling here?!”
Working to Bring the Light
And this is what the man answered: “While you’re busy working in the darkness to help this man cope with the rope, I am working to broaden the small opening that brings us light! Once there is more light, everything will be fine. He will be able to reach his food and to hold onto it. “
Said the Heiliger Ruzhiner, “Until now, you were busy in the darkness, struggling and groping your way forward... searching for ways and strategies to contend with your yetzer hara. I am working to illuminate the darkness for you so that you don’t have to struggle in the first place! You will no longer need any eitzos to grope your way in the darkness.”
The Necessity of Light
This yesod must be studied and internalized. We can work all our lives to cope with the darkness—to find eitzos and solutions to the רבים מים that threaten to sweep us away. And it is true that a person must strategize and establish guardrails and boundaries against his yetzer hara. But there is no better eitzah for a person than adding just a bit more light!
This means that a person who understands that he must be able to become emotional and excited in his avodas Hashem: this must happen—not because he is seeking some lofty madreigah or because he wishes to become a great oved Hashem—but because he needs to be ehrliche Yid on the most basic level! If not for excitement in avodas Hashem, he doesn’t stand a chance against the רבים! מים For what is his plan? How will he deal with the draws, lusts, desires, yetzer hara, ta’avos, and nisyonos?
Our Very Lives Depend on It
There is one eitzah, and this is what we’re learning here in Shir HaShirim: האהבה! את לכבות יוכלו לא רבים מים If there’s an ironclad love, nothing can wash it away—all these forces become dried up by the heat of the fire! The excitement of a person must be employed in the endeavor of avodas Hashem—and a person must be preoccupied with activating this force of excitement.
A person must be consumed with finding the right environment for his davening—awakening and evoking the fire of this love and excitement, for if he doesn’t, he will, chas v’shalom, fall prey to the worst of the worst.
Excitement for Hashem Is Our Basic Need
Suppose we would say about a Yid that he’s mamash complete, a מושלם, perfect in his avodas Hashem. But there is one thing: His middos are atrocious. This is the one area that he’s lacking. Everyone understands that this is a sad joke... for how can the Shechinah rest upon such a person—even in his Torah and tefillah—without middos? This aside from the fact that such a person generally becomes angry, which is akin to worshipping avodah zarah.
Similarly, it is a sad joke to suggest that one can serve Hashem properly in all areas, but lack only in the area of excitement, fire, and fervor in his avodas Hashem. Take the concept of feeling a taste in Shabbos Kodesh as an example. Some may think that attaining this taste, a ta’am in Shabbos, is a lofty level, but the truth is that without a ta’am in Shabbos, a person is not only not in the Heavens—he is deep in the ground! He eats, he sleeps... he doesn’t work.... So, what is his Shabbos all about? Can we say that he had a basic Shabbos?! Of course not! There is no middle. We need the אהבה and the fire to dry up the רבים! מים
Your Heart Should Be in It!
Thus, a person must search for ways to invoke this love... he must speak to the Ribbono shel Olam... he must take small steps... and he must meditate deeply about what may be impeding his excitement and fervor. Sadly, in many cases, a person can go for dozens of years without getting to the bottom of what is robbing him of his fervor in avodas Hashem.
A reflective person thinks about these things. Where are the “holes” in my Shabbos Kodesh? What precisely is robbing me of chiyus? And the same applies to Torah. Chazal tell us חפץ שלבו מה אדם ילמד לעולם, one should always learn what one’s heart desires. This isn’t providing us with a leniency, stating that a person should stick to learning only what he likes. Chazal were telling us, “We don’t want you to ‘just learn’; rather, we want your heart to be in it... חפץ! לבו Your learning should be bringing you love for the Ribbono shel Olam—and if this isn’t happening, close your Gemara, and find something that does work!
What Your Heart Wants
The holy Maggid of Mezeritch said in the name of the Ba’al Shem Tov that the yetzer hara cannot tell a person not to learn Torah at all—but he will do everything possible so that a person will learn only things that won’t change him for the better. You want to learn? Okay. But don’t learn things that will arouse your heart to the Ribbono shel Olam. Which Torah works best as a תבלין, a potion against the yetzer hara? The Torah that is חפץ לבו—that which arouses your heart to Hashem.
When we implore the Ribbono shel Olam on Yom Tov, אלוקינו ה' והשיאנו מועדיך ברכת את, to bequeath to us the blessings and the aura of the Yom Tov, we ask Hashem, בתורתיך חלקינו ותן, give us our portion in Torah. What does it mean to have a portion in Torah? A portion in Torah means that this aspect of Torah speaks to your heart and arouses it to Hashem! A place where you can enjoy learning! A person pleads with the Ribbono shel Olam: Please don’t let me depart from Yom Tov without this memento to take along. I am looking ahead to frightfully ordinary and mundane days! How will I contend with the רבים מים that I will encounter? And the Ribbono shel Olam says, “Of course I will give it to you to take along.”
If this is what we ask of the Ribbono shel Olam, He will surely give it to us—and it will surely work to inspire and warm our hearts with all the fortitude that we will need to extinguish the רבים מים, the many waters that threaten to sweep us away.
