“And Live by Them!”2 min read

While the yetzer hara most often appears in his recognizable form as a force which seeks to distance us from our mission of aligning our lives with the Will of Hashem, he sometimes goes undercover, disguised as a “positive” inner voice. One of his favorite tactics in this disguise is to make a Jew feel as if his or her avodas Hashem is full of blemishes and that the Master of the world has no pleasure from our crippled attempts at serving Him. Oftentimes, this inner voice rises upon the completion of a mitzvah, bent on convincing us that because we weren’t careful to act with this special intention or that chumrah (stringency), our efforts are entirely worthless. This is the voice of the yetzer hara, attempting to ensure that we do not feel a sense of fulfillment or satisfaction from yiddishkeit and lose interest in serving Hashem on the level we are capable of. In truth, this is the very opposite of what Hashem desires. Although we must always strive to do the very best we can, Hashem wants us to be proud, excited, and joyous over our efforts in our avodah – regardless of how blemished our service may be. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains that the verse “And live by them (the words of Torah)” (Vayikra 18:15) teaches us that each Jew must engage in avodas Hashem in a manner which brings him satisfaction, passion, and vitality. “Live by them – and do not die by them”, say our Sages: (Yoma 85a) If one’s Judaism, for whatever reason, becomes a source of sadness, frustration, anger, or despair, he can be sure that something is very wrong. (Likutei Moharan Tinyana 44)

Our parsha begins with the verse “These are the offspring of Noach, Noach was a righteous man.” Commenting on these words, Rashi states “The primary offspring of tzaddikim are their good deeds.” Listen to the sweet words of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt”l.

It is the nature of parents to turn a blind eye to the faults of their children and constantly look for reasons to praise them. While they are certainly aware that their son or daughter is nowhere near perfect, this realization does nothing to infringe on the unconditional love they feel and the pride they take in their child’s sweetness and goodness. Says R’ Moshe, when Chazal teach that the good deeds of tzaddikim are likened to their children, they are revealing that the tzaddikim reached their lofty level by treating their mitzvos like their children: they loved their good deeds unconditionally, focusing only upon the greatness of their effort and the purity of their desire to serve Hashem as best as they could, never paying heed to the negative outlook of the yetzer hara. It was this practice that enabled the tzaddikim to maintain a passionate, loving, and meaningful relationship with Torah and mitzvos throughout their journey and ultimately reach lofty levels of spiritual perfection.

This week, let’s be on the lookout for this yetzer hara in disguise, taking pride in our avodas Hashem and our effort to reveal His Presence! He is so proud of us!