My good friend Rabbi Moshe Ginian told me he was trying to learn and complete a certain Gemara, but he found himself frequently distracted. So he went to the wine store and purchased an expensive bottle of wine to be opened only at his siyum of the Gemara. He left the bottle of wine on a shelf in his dining room. Every time he passed the shelf, it reminded him to keep plugging away and complete the Gemara.
Truth be told, whatever age we are, we all need incentives. Incentives are created to motivate us to do the right thing.
Parshas Eikev contains one of the paragraphs of Krias Shema. Hashem instructs us to love Him with all our heart. The word for heart, lev, is written here with an extra veis, levav. The Mishna says that the Torah is telling us that Hashem wants us to serve Him with both our hearts—with our yetzer tov, good inclination, and our yetzer hara, evil inclination.
But how is it possible to serve Hashem with our yetzer hara?
Consider the following Gemara: “If a person is being challenged by the yetzer hara, he should pull him into the beis hamedrash.” This seems an exercise in futility—how would the yetzer hara allow the person to enter the beis hamedrash?? That’s enemy territory!
The Gemara is telling us that the yetzer hara is a very strong force, and it’s not wise to engage it in head-to-head combat. Rather, we need to positively channel the yetzer hara by attracting the person to the beis hamedrash through incentives that speak the yetzer hara’s language, such as a good bottle of wine, a good dinner or an enticing prize. Whatever it takes. It may take cunning and planning, but overcoming the negative influence of the yetzer hara is possible.
The Gemara says that a person must always engage in Torah and mitzvos even shelo lishma, not for its own sake, e.g. for ulterior motives, because if he starts that way, he will eventually come to study Torah and observe mitzvos for their own sake. Rav Chaim Volozhin says the Gemara emphasizes the word “always.” That is the key. Always start performing Torah and mitzvos with a prize in mind (the yetzer hara likes prizes!), but deep down have in mind the intention to one day achieve your Torah goals lishma—for pure reasons. Rav Chaim says that if you follow this formula you will be successful, since the Gemara affirms that this approach will lead to achieving Torah learning and observance of mitzvos lishma.
There is a Gemara which quotes Hashem as saying, “I created the yetzer hara and I created the Torah as its “tavlin”—often translated as “antidote.” Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto says the more appropriate translation is “spice.” An expert chef is trained to properly spice each dish. The art of spicing is not to create artificial flavors or drown out the taste of the food, but rather to enhance the true inner flavors. A piece of meat is naturally tasty, but using the proper spices will enhance its natural flavors to make the meat taste delicious.
The yetzer hara is a very powerful force and it’s dangerous to handle. However, Torah learning is the spice which can unlock, channel and turn the yetzer hara’s energy into a positive form, such as the goal of enjoying a fine bottle of wine being the incentive to finish learning a Gemara.
As the summer is ending, we are planning our schedules for the upcoming year. Let us utilize this lesson regarding channeling the yetzer hara, and use incentives for ourselves and our families to further our Torah learning and our observance of mitzvos. Let’s especially focus on scheduling time for Torah learning, since this is a time-proven way to safely harness and channel the powerful force of the yetzer hara and propel us forward in our avodas Hashem.
Rabbi Baruch Bodenheim is the associate rosh yeshiva of Passaic Torah Institute (PTI)/Yeshiva Ner Boruch, where he leads a multi-level Gemara-learning program. PTI has attracted adult Jews of all ages from all over northern New Jersey for its learning programs. Fees are not charged but any contributions are always welcome. Beyond PTI, Rabbi Bodenheim conducts a weekly beis midrash program with chavrusa learning in Livingston plus a monthly group in West Caldwell. Rabbi Bodenheim can be reached at [email protected]. For more info about PTI and its Torah classes, visit www.pti.shulcloud.com.
