----- Forwarded Message -----From: "Rabbi Moshe Revah" <htcnews-htc.edu@shared1.ccsend.com>To: "mates57564@aol.com" <mates57564@aol.com>Sent: Thu, Sep 26, 2024 at 4:02 PMSubject: Dvar Torah from the Rosh HaYeshiva
Dear Yeshiva Family:
Adam HaRishon, the first human being, was created without an internal Yetzer Hara, or evil inclination; there was no desire within him to sin. Instead, his entire job was to simply sit and listen to Hashem's command not to eat from the "Tree of Knowledge." He had no internal urge not to listen, similar to us having no urge to stick our hands in a fire. His only adversary was outside of him – the snake, who unfortunately succeeded in convincing him to eat from the tree. Only after Adam ate from the tree did the yetzer hara, with all of its vices, enter into humans, and we've been fighting with it ever since!
The Meforshim explain that since Adam did not have any internal negative desires, his sin had to stem from a logical error. They explain that Adam reasoned that it would be beneficial to eat from the tree, because this act would introduce the yetzer hara into his being, making it harder to serve Hashem. And since it would be more challenging, his service would be valued even more by Hashem, and this would be a great way to demonstrate his deep love and desire to serve Him. Based on this faulty logic, Adam ate from the fruit, defying Hashem's decree, just so that he would be able to fulfill future commands in a much more potent manner. As mentioned, we have been suffering from this mistake ever since.
Some people question, how could Adam have made such a mistake? It does not seem to make sense.
In this week's parshah, the Torah says (30:6) "Hashem, your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring to love Hashem, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, that you may live."
The Ramban states on this pasuk that "When Moshiach comes, it will be our nature to choose good, and our hearts will no longer crave that which is not appropriate and will not have any desire for it at all. Man shall return to the spiritual state that existed before the sin of Adam HaRishon, where we did not have a Yetzer Hara, or evil inclination, inside of us and we will do by nature what we are supposed to do." The Ramban cites many sources to this approach and then explains that "in the time of Moshiach, there will not be credit earned for good deeds nor punishment for wrongdoing, for the earning of credit and getting punished is solely a result of man's choices he makes in his struggle with desire; however, since all desire for wrongdoing will be gone, there will not be any struggle for one to be rewarded with."
After learning this Ramban, one begins to wonder, why, then, do we want Moshiach? If Moshiach means we are going to live in a time of no reward, what is the point of us living? Of course, we can answer that we want it for the glory of Hashem, and indeed we should negate our own benefits, but the truth is that asking that question is making the same mistake that Adam HaRishon made!! The Ramban clearly says we would go back to being like Adam HaRishon, where earning merit will not be possible because there will be no real challenges, just like at the time of Adam HaRishon before the sin, and our first reaction would be, "then what is the point of living"! Now we can understand on a logical level what Adam was thinking when he ate from the tree!
However, we must still address what then is the answer to Adam's reasoning. Don't we want some level of challenge so we can earn reward and demonstrate our love for Hashem by serving Him, even under duress?
The answer could provide us with a good lesson for the upcoming Aseres Yemei Teshuva, the Ten Days of Repentance. We are under the impression that a person sins and he does teshuva, then everything is fine. However, this perspective fails to recognize the severity of sin. Before we appreciate the greatness of teshuva, we first must recognize how terribly destructive sin truly is. Sin actively and permanently destroys the very fabric of the universe. Our world is a manifestation of the spiritual state of the Jewish people. The more mitzvos we do, the better the world fares. The more sins we do, the worse off the world is. When we sin, it causes destruction. (When people say "it's the Jews' fault", they may be right, but not for the reasons they think!) The Chofetz Chaim used to say that if there is an earthquake in Japan it is a message to us from Hashem. Certainly, when things in the world directly affect us or our brethren around the world and most certainly in Eretz Yisrael as they have in the past year, we must realize that there are hidden messages everywhere.
Think about this: Chazal forbade blowing the shofar on Shabbos because of the slight possibility that someone might inadvertently carry it on Shabbos. As a result, for thousands of years, the entire Jewish people refrained from performing this mitzvah on Shabbos, just to prevent one person from potentially violating Shabbos! However, if we understand that sin destroys the world, this precaution makes sense. Just like we would understand that if a 4-year-old child dressed up as a pirate for Purim we would not give him a loaded gun to complete his costume no matter how authentic it would cause it to look, for the potential catastrophic consequences that are possible do not justify whatever there's to gain from giving him the gun. So too is the potential for destruction from one sin so catastrophic that it is not worth the value a mitzvah can bring us!
That is the power of sin. Now that we know that, we can appreciate how kind and generous Hashem is by agreeing to wipe away and rectify our sins year after year if we only feel sorry for what we have done!
We can now understand why Hashem created the ideal situation prior to the original sin and after Moshiach's arrival, where there is no internal desire for wrongdoing. Seeing as the risk of destruction from sin is so great, it is not worth the potential gain of serving Hashem, even if it's most of the time, under duress. As Koheles (7:20) says, there is no one who escapes sin in some form. That means as good as everyone is, there is still destruction happening. Therefore, Hashem prefers the service on a much smaller level, facing an external logical adversary, rather than an internal battle of emotions and desire, where everything is unclear, for although the potential for success is far greater in this case, but so is the potential for disaster. In Hashem's perfect world, the challenges we face are not internal, and according to the Ramban that is what will happen as soon as Moshiach comes any day now!
One final point to note: while it is true that based on the above, we should prefer a world where we do not have an internal Yetzer Hara, however, now that Adam made the mistake and internalized the Yetzer Hara, we may as well capitalize upon the situation that we find ourselves in and make the most of it. We are in this world where we are faced with constant challenges and threats to our spiritual success, but every time we overcome them, we are greatly rewarded. This opportunity will no longer exist once Moshiach arrives, so we should take full advantage of our current situation while we can!
May Hashem help us win as many battles as possible in this world and use all the opportunities that we are given so that when Moshiach finally does come, we will have already amassed quite the treasure!
Have a great Shabbos!
Rabbi Moshe Revah
Rosh HaYeshiva, HTC - Beis HaMidrash LaTorah
HTC
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and a partner with the Jewish United Fund in serving our community
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