There was once a young man who used to come here to the lectures; he listened to the tapes sometimes too. And now he’s a meshumad. He’s baptized and he goes to a church in Brighton now instead of coming here.
How did such a thing happen? Well, he was working for a certain yeshiva—I’m not going to mention the name—and there was an argument over money. Now he was an American boy; he was very straight. The rosh yeshiva was also straight but there was a difference of opinion on how much was owed to him and he was arguing for what he thought was right. But the yeshiva couldn’t pay—the yeshiva was in the red already and there was no money to placate him, to make shalom.
And he was so upset by this incident, he became so angry that he was knocked over. Not only did he become hostile to the rosh yeshiva, but he became an enemy of the Jewish people. He became an oved avodah zarah who hates the Jewish people.
Now, if you would have told him beforehand the end of the story, that one day he’d be in a church praying to a mamzer, he would swear on his mother’s life that it couldn’t happen. In his wildest nightmares he never dreamed that he could travel so far. But it happened. A true story.
Eisav Escapes
Now that story illustrates for us an episode in this week’s sedrah. ... Eisav took all of his possessions that he had acquired in Eretz Cana’an ... and he went to another land because of his brother Yaakov (Bereishis 36:6). It means he packed up his whole life and ran away to what is now Trans-Jordan. And he did it ... because he wanted to get away from his brother, Yaakov.
Now Eisav claimed that it was ... because their property was too much they should dwell together; ... that the land couldn’t maintain both of them (ibid. 7), but that certainly was not the real reason. Because we know that there was plenty of room. If you go from Dan down to Beer Sheva, it’s plenty large to support both families. Even if their livestock would increase another tenfold, there would still be enough land for them.
The Real Reason
No, that’s not why Eisav left. Eisav went away because he was thrown off balance. His plan to get even with his brother wasn’t going as planned. Yaakov was back—with a big family too—and he knew that ... Yaakov is the one who is going to be blessed. Yaakov was going to be the leader of the family now. And so Eisav became flustered. “I can’t look at him! I don’t want to see his face!” That’s what the possuk means that he left mipnei Yaakov achiv. He gave a terutz to himself, to his parents, “I’m sorry but I must leave because it’s too crowded here.” But the real reason was that he panicked; he became flustered and he left.
Now, there's a certain possuk that our Chachamim, zichronom l’vrachah, applied to Eisav when they were discussing this story. ... The wicked one flees when there’s no one pursuing him (Mishlei 28:1). And they said like this: “Who is the ‘rasha that flees with no one in pursuit’? It’s Eisav” (Bereishis Rabba 84:2). No one is chasing you away. Yaakov is not complaining. Why didn't you think you could remain with your brother? You could get along with him.
Now Eisav wouldn't have done that under normal circumstances. He had too much sense for that. Even if he suffered a blow, a setback, so what? Remain with your family! It's a blessed family, and the Shechinah rests on them. And if it’s true that Yaakov is the bechor and ... so what? Life is not over. Wouldn't it be good enough to be even secondary in the family? You have to be the leader?
And so if Eisav would not have lost control, he could have remained. Yaakov would have treated him well. He could have been an auxiliary to the Jewish people. But because Eisav became confused, he made the biggest mistake of his life. He ran away.
When Eisav lost his equilibrium, his menuchas hanefesh, he became so upset that he thought that it didn’t pay to remain. Eisav pulled up his stakes and left for someplace else. It was for no reason, but ... the wicked one runs away from a situation even though it’s not really chasing him (ibid.).
Relax: There’s a Future Here
Don’t we see some people, they feel some anxiety—maybe they listen too much to the radio and they get nervous. “What's happening to Brooklyn?” they say. “It’s terrible! Let's pull up our stakes and go someplace else.” Or, “Look what’s doing in America with these meshugene politicians! Let’s move to another country.”
All types of situations can cause panic. I knew a rav from out of town who was very important in his community. He was a kana’i—he was zealous for Judaism and he was doing many good things. But he once did something against the missionaries and he was being sued. It was nothing, but he panicked. He decided to give up and retire to Eretz Yisroel. I remember when he left, rabbanim wrote to him and they said he made a mistake by panicking. It was a nothing lawsuit and once he left things began deteriorating rapidly in his hometown ruchniyus-wise.
The Sin of Discomposure
And that’s what Eisav did. In the time of confusion he was overwhelmed and he made a misstep of panicking and running away. And now he’s called a Yisroel meshumad. It ruined him. And he’s called a rasha for that.
When you lose your menuchas hanefesh, and nobody is chasing you, you are wicked.
So you’ll say, “Wicked?! How can you blame him for that? He was rattled! Isn’t that going too far to call him a rasha?”
No, it’s not going far at all. Because to be rattled by the circumstances around you is a wickedness, a rishus. To lose one's composure is a sin. Now to us it doesn't seem so because we have other ideas of sin—we have technical ideas of sins. But now we're learning something new; that anytime the seichel is not in full control, a man should know that he is already displeasing Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
The Dikduk of Wickedness
I'll tell you a little chiddush; that’s what the word ... means. The word rasha, reish-shin-ayin, is related to the word ra’ash, reish-ayin-shin. You have to know that in lashon kodesh words don't sound alike by accident. Whenever you see similar letters, you have to suspect that they're related. Sometimes it's hard to discover the connection but that's a klal gadol.
And so if rasha and ra’ash have the same letters it’s because they are related words. And the relation is that rasha is somebody who is in ra’ash, in turmoil. He becomes excited and loses control.
That’s what the navi said; he says that a rasha is like the waves of the sea being buffeted to and fro. Look at the water. The waves can't stand still. And the wicked are the same. ... They are like a driven sea, ... they’re not able to remain settled (Yeshayahu 57:20).
Keep Your Hands on the Wheel
Now, with that preface, let's get down to the business of our subject. One of the great stratagems of the yetzer hara is to make a person mixed up, confused; to throw him off kilter. People don't know about this—they think it just happens that way. No; it's important to understand that confusion is one of the tricks of the evil inclination. It’s one of the objectives of the yetzer hara against you.
How does it work? Why is ‘confusion’ such a yetzer hara? The answer is that a person expresses his greatness, his character, his free will, by means of his seichel. Your primary accomplishments are because of your seichel. But it’s only possible if your mind is in control—you must have your hands on the steering wheel of your mind.
Now, imagine a sniper wants to shoot a driver. So it's not necessary to shoot him through the head—he doesn’t have to explode the man’s brain altogether. If he can shoot him through his hands it's the same because now he can’t steer. The driver, if he loses control of the wheel, so he's finished. He’s headed straight to the morgue.
And so when a man loses control of his seichel then he has already lost the battle. He might do anything! Foolish things! A man can make very big mistakes when he’s unmoored even for a moment. Even the best people!
Plimo’s Guest
I'll give you an illustration from the Gemara (Kiddushin 81a) of such a frame-up. Plimo was a talmid of Rebbi; he was one of the chachmei haTorah. And he used to say words of scorn for the yetzer hara. ... “An arrow in the eyes of the satan” he said. “It’s nothing.” He mocked it.
And so the yetzer hara decided to make a demonstration to show that Plimo doesn’t know who the opponent is.
It was erev Yom Kippur and Plimo was full of holiness. He had prepared himself properly for Yom Kippur and now he was eating the seudah mafsekes with kedusha, with thoughts of repentance.
Suddenly there was a knock on the window. A beggar, an old man covered with boils and pus, was knocking; he wants something to eat. So Plimo handed him some food through the window.
So the beggar said, “On a day like this everybody is eating at the table and I should eat outside?”
Well, he wasn't an appetizing sight to look at but he was right and so they sat him at the table. What did this beggar do? When he was given a cup of wine, you'll excuse me for saying it, but he allowed the contents of his nose to fall into the wine.
Plimo was nauseated. Such bad habits! So he rebuked him. “Please! Please behave properly at the table!”
So this beggar acted like he was shocked. He had a heart attack and he fell dead. He fell dead!
The Chase is On
And then Plimo heard from outside somebody said “Plimo killed a man.” Somebody had looked in and saw, and now the town was in an uproar. Plimo is a murderer!
He forgot all about erev Yom Kippur. The fear of death was on him. He knew that if the authorities would find out they'd kill him—the Romans were looking for excuses like that. So he fled from his home and went to the forest outside the city to hide. He was hiding in an outhouse and he was trembling because he was imagining all types of things.
So here it was, erev Yom Kippur. All the Jews are eating the seudah hamafsekes and getting ready for the Yom Hakadosh and Plimo, a few minutes ago he was in a state of teshuvah, the heights of kedusha; and now he was in a delirium, a frenzy of fear, fear of death. It was a terrible experience that suddenly came like a storm upon him and who knows what he would do next.
The Big Reveal
And then that so-called beggar came to him in the outhouse and revealed himself. “Never again should you mock my power!” he said. “You should know who I am.” I'm adding these words as a commentary: “I'm a messenger of the Creator, a big force He set loose in the world and therefore don't underestimate me to upend your settled life and cause you to make mistakes in haste and confusion.”
Because that's exactly what the yetzer hara does with people, even good people. That’s a favorite trick of his, to make a confusion, to make people lose control. Because once your hands are off the steering wheel of seichel, anything can be.
