We know that Hashem created the yetzer hara and the Torah as its antidote.
But what about a Zevulun, someone who supports a Torah scholar but spends his day immersed in business, without the yoke of Torah study? He may find himself going out, chatting idly with merchants and laborers, and feeling spiritually vulnerable. He may feel, “the evil inclination overpowers me because there is no Torah to drive it away.”
To answer this, the Chida offers a novel explanation in the pasuk שמח זבולן בצאתך ויששכר באהליך (“Rejoice, Zevulun, in your journeys, and Yissachar in your tents”) based on the words of R' Chaim Abulafia. R' Abulafia, in his Eitz Hachaim, teaches that one who supports a Torah scholar is also saved from the yetzer hara—just like the Torah itself protects those who study it against the yetzer hara (as the gemara says that the Torah is the antidote for the yetzer hara). He continues further that the supporter merits something greater. A Torah scholar is protected by Torah only while actively engaged in learning. But Zevulun, who enables Yissachar’s Torah through his support, enjoys continuous protection against the yetzer hara.
In this vein, the Chida explains שמח זבולון בצאתך: Zevulun, be happy when you go out to work. Do not fear the influence of the yetzer hara even though you are not learning Torah. Why? Because יששכר באהליך. That is to say, the Torah of Yissachar that you are supporting is protecting you from the yetzer hara.
Kiddushin 30b.
Rosh Dovid, V’zos HaBerachah, s.v. u’le’daas.
Devarim 33:18.
