Ways of the yeitzer hara and the strategies one must use to overcome him. When the yeitzer hara wants to trap a person in its clutches it “grabs onto his beged (garment)”. This means that whenever a person wants to learn, daven or serve Hashem, it reminds him of his “begidos” – all of the times that he sinned and rebelled against Hashem. By grabbing onto the sins of the past, it discourages a person from trying to improve and convinces him that he is not worthy of serving Hashem.
By doing so, the yeitzer hara tries to seduce a person to “lay with me”. It attempts to convince him to lay down with the yeitzer hara and immerse himself in all the pleasures of this world, as it claims that his Torah and mitzvos are not worth much anyway and he might as well enjoy himself.
The way to fight back is to “leave the garment and flee.” One should run away from his past sins and leave them in the hands of the yeitzer hara. He should then start anew and begin serving Hashem properly, with a clean slate.
A Tefillah Amidst Confusion:
Sefer Otzros Hatorah relates the story of a wealthy man who lost all of his money and came to pour out his heart to Rav Yitzchok Zelig of Sokolov zy”a. The man cried that he had lost all of his sources of income and said that he was so disconcerted that he couldn’t concentrate on anything and he couldn’t even daven!
The Rebbe showed him the Gemara (Sanhedrin 92B) that says that Nevuchadnetzar, king of Bavel, wanted to say shira to Hashem for granting him success in conquering Eretz Yisroel but the Malach Gavriel came and slapped him on the mouth. Rav Yitzchok says that Gavriel poured boiling gold into his mouth. The Gemara adds that if the angel had not slapped him, he would have said so many praises to Hashem that he would have put to shame all of the shiros that Dovid Hamelech said in Tehillim.
The Kotzker Rebbe zy”a asks how it was acceptable for him to be slapped on the mouth. If he wanted to praise Hashem, why wasn’t he given the opportunity to do so?
He answers that Nevuchadnetzar only wanted to say shira “with his crown on his head” and while he experienced no discomfort. That is not so hard as it’s easy to praise Hashem when everything is going well. Therefore, the angel struck him in the face in order to determine if he would praise Hashem even when he was in a bit of pain.
Dovid Hamelech, on the other hand, praised Hashem even when times were difficult. This is seen from the verse (Tehillim 101:1) wherein Dovid say that he praises Hashem both in times of “chesed” and in times of “mishpat”. The Gemara (Brachos 60B) explains that even in difficult times of judgment, Dovid never stopped praising Hashem.
The Rebbe concluded, “Hashem has already heard you daven to Him in easy times. Now He wants you to daven to Him in difficult and confusing times.”
He Prayed for the Sar Hamashkim to Forget Him:
Rav Yisroel of Chortkov zy”a (Sefer Yismach Yisroel on Chanukah) explains this pasuk with a story that occurred with his grandfather, Rav Aharon of Titiov zy”a, a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov zy”a. Before he became well-known as a tzadik, Rav Aharon lived in the city of Old Konstantin, and he would sit in the bais medrash between the furnace and the sink. No one paid much attention to him and he was extremely poor. Tzadikim of his generation said about him that at that point in his life, he was on the level of Odom Harishon before the sin.
One day, his povery reached such an extent that he couldn’t stand to watch his children suffering so much. After Maariv that night, he turned to those davening in the bais medrash and said, “There is a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov zt”l who lives in your town and he has no source of income. How is it that no one asks how he sustains himself?”
His words made a big impression and they immediately set up a system of support for Rav Aharon’s family.
When Rav Aharon got home that night, he started to regret what he had done. He thought: How could I place my trust in human beings? Where is my bitachon?
He decided that from then, he would rely solely on Hashem. He cried and davened all night that the people should forget about their promise to help him.
His tefillah was accepted and no one remembered the commitment to his family.
Yosef Hatzadik was also on this level of bitachon. He trusted only in Hashem. However, for one brief moment, he forgot to remain on this level and he asked the Sar Hamashkim for help. Immediately thereafter, he regretted what he had done and he asked Hashem to make the man forget. And this caused him to not remember Yosef.
