Amazement Brings Change—in Both Directions
Having established that the ability to be moved, emotive, or excited is a gift given to mankind—we must understand that there’s a great danger to us when we’re excited by negative things, for these have the ability to move us completely in the wrong direction. When a person stumbles in matters of shemiras einayim, he has derived excitement from the most moving entity that exists. This excitement penetrates the person in the deepest way, and it changes him. He may think that he long moved on, but the excitement and the connection to what he saw remains with him, as does the change that was effected within him. Every excitement that comes from a negative origin makes a change in the person, and little by little—if he isn’t careful—he changes drastically in the wrong way.
Thus, the nature of the creation of excitement, amazement, and emotion is a good and necessary thing. It was created so we should become moved to become holier and more elevated. We become moved by holy things so we will enter new vistas of spirituality and holiness.
If We Lack Excitement, We Will Seek It Out
Now we can understand why the yetzer hara does everything in his power to prevent us from experiencing excitement in matter of kedushah—because he knows that if we’re devoid of excitement, we will seek it out in other places. The nefesh is constantly seeking excitement and emotion—and it doesn’t get it from Torah and tefillah, it will look for it wherever it can get it.
We see this in a boy who is home for bein hazmanim. One might expect that if he doesn’t learn so much, he’ll just sit back and relax. But it never works this way. Either he, chas v’shalom, gets into trouble, or he goes to war with his parents—usually both—and there’s a very simple reason for this: You cannot stop the nefesh of a person from seeking experiences and excitement. A nefesh that doesn’t experience excitement become sick, and such a person will have complaints against the whole world, eventually connecting with people and entities that will provide these for him.
Guardrails and Barriers Are Important—But Excitement Is Necessary
Thus, when a person experiences excitement from matters of holiness, it is the surest and more assure way to be an ehrlicher Yid and, indeed, a normal person. Conversely, if a person doesn’t draw his excitement from kedushah, it is almost impossible to remain rooted in ehrlichkeit—even if we erect all sorts of barriers and guardrails to safeguard us.
There’s no question that these are extremely important for basic Yiddishkeit, but if there’s no excitement from kedushah, a person will not remain holy and pious. The וסייגים גדרים are important tools—warning systems like those we install in a vehicle to inform us when we’re veering out of our lane or coming too close to another car. But this doesn’t mean we can go to sleep or drive while impaired—despite all the warning systems.
The וסייגים גדרים, barriers and guardrails, are a wonderful and important tool for keeping us in line—for we’re not always on the same level of yiras Shomayim, and we need barriers to keep us in check. But if a person doesn’t feel satisfied and excited by matters of kedushah overall, nothing will be able to keep him on track.
Excited by Nonsense
For this reason, the yetzer hara invests so much effort intending that we draw excitement from בטלים דברים, foolishness and frivolity. He works with a precisely calculated cheshbon, and it tends to work for him. He pushes us to draw pleasure and excitement from mundane matters—things are that aren’t necessarily forbidden, but there’s nothing holy or meaningful about them. He ensures that we will draw chiyus and pleasure from those things.
The incredible number of high-quality plays, concerts, and performances that exist today are perfect examples of this. Our children are consumed with excitement long before and long after these events.
One may ask, “In our world?! With all the terrible nisyonos and spiritual problems?! These are what you’re concerned about?!” There may be truth to this, but the point remains that these are a very great source of excitement from matters that have nothing to do with kedushah. This is what the yetzer hara wants: for us to derive pleasure and excitement from matters other than kedushah. It’s somewhere in between... but it’s not kedushah.
The yetzer hara has lots of patience; he plays the long game. He’s not necessarily aiming for the person to stumble in big aveiros through this. He wants one thing: Don’t get your excitement from kedushah. This is enough for him as a start.
A Battle in Our Generation
This is indeed a great battle in our generation, and it affects the older ones among us even more than the youth... for we’re more susceptible to drawing stimulation and excitement from news, politics, jokes, and so forth.
The primary goal of the yetzer hara is to impel us to experience excitement from mundane matters so we won’t even feel the need to derive it from matters of kedushah—not to even realize that we’re lacking something. “I’m not committing any aveiros... what’s wrong?!”
But the moment we do this, the yetzer hara says: “Phase one accomplished.” Now, one of two things will happen: Either this person will become so emotionally suppressed that he’ll become ill and thus unable to serve Hashem in any case, or he’ll slowly abandon his guardrails and barriers, and eventually stumble with the worst of the worst.
Excitement Is a Medicine
For this reason, ehrliche Yidden always sought to minimize their excitement caused by mundane matters. It’s not easy, and it’s a constant battle to push away these sources of excitement, but we must try.
When we do experience excitement from matters of kedushah, it is a medicine and a balm for the nefesh—and it is the greatest eitzah to retain our holiness. But in addition to this, even if a person could retain a high level of kedushah without this excitement—which isn’t possible, but let’s assume that it is—this excitement is in and of itself the greatest form of avodas Hashem! This is the purpose of avodas Hashem! The entire purpose of our existence in This World is that we experience excitement in avodas Hashem. When we experience it a little bit, we will automatically want more. We taste it... and this awakens a desire to want more of it. And in this way, we slowly become filled with דקדושה חיות. Conversely, if we do not experience excitement from matters of kedushah, we’re likened to a dead person, R”l, who doesn’t express the essence of his nefesh.
