“The entire assembly said to pelt them with stones, and the glory of Hashem appeared in the Ohel Mo’ed … (Bamidbar 14:10)
The generation of the Midbar is known as the dor dei’ah, a generation that was on a higher spiritual level than any of the generations that would come after them, whose actions cannot be judged in any context that we understand. Upon their return from surveilling the Land of Israel, ten of the spies gave a negative report to their brethren. Yehoshua and Calev, however, attempted to reassure the Jewish people that the Land could be conquered. The people could not be appeased and – without judge, jury, or trial – were ready to stone Yehoshua and Calev to death. It was only when the presence of Hashem was immediately manifested, that they restrained themselves.
Towards the end of the parsha we read of the mekoshesh eitzim, the individual who publicly desecrated the Shabbos in the Midbar by gathering wood, despite being warned about the laws. Nonetheless, Moshe did not rush to judgment; the mekoshesh eitzim was detained until his fate was declared by Hashem.
R’ Aharon Katzenelenbogen states that every parsha in the Torah consists of eternal lessons for the Jewish people. Here we learn of the tenacity and doggedness of the yetzer hara. Any child knows that Yehoshua and Calev were tzaddikim and they did not deserve a death sentence. However, the assemblage panicked when they heard the spies’ report and they lost all rationale. That is the moment when the yetzer hara swooped in and took advantage of the tumult and confusion. If one remains levelheaded, he cannot be provoked to oppose Hashem, and the yetzer hara cannot triumph.
In a similar vein, R’ Gamliel Rabinovich notes that it is specifically when a person is in trouble or faces a serious challenge that he becomes vulnerable to the yetzer hara. In fact, some of the commentaries assert that it was at the specific point when Yosef HaTzaddik was stressed by his adversity, and felt that his prison sentence was unending, that he succumbed and asked the Minister of Drinks to remember him to Pharaoh once he was reinstated to his former position.
The Talmud (Sotah 2a) tells us that whoever sees a sotah in her disgrace should abstain from wine. One would think that the mere optics of witnessing her punishment would suffice to prevent one from sinning. Why must he also abstain from wine?
R’ Zundel Kroizer answers that our sages did not really intend that only one who witnessed this scene should abstain from wine. Rather, every individual should abstain from indulging. The abstention from wine is meant to highlight the fact that when a person indulges in wine, it is very possible for him to lose all his rationale, making him vulnerable to the suggestions of the yetzer hara. Despite the fact that he is aware of what could happen to an individual who sins, that is not enough to save him when he is susceptible. Our sages therefore warn about the dangers of drinking, for the yetzer hara is known to morph his appearance and adapt to different situations in order to ensnare the individual, as Shlomo HaMelech describes the yetzer hara in Koheles (4:13), “an old and foolish king.” An individual must remain clear-headed in order to dominate and control the yetzer hara.
It was during the month of Elul, and one of the gedolei Yerushalayim, was asked to meet with a 16-year-old bachur who had fallen into “a deep pit,” as they say, and had strayed from the righteous path. Although he had been raised in a very religious home, he had lost his way when he, initially, caved by accessing a small device. That soon progressed until he was totally consumed and preoccupied. No longer interested in sitting and studying Torah, he had nothing to protect him from spiritual decline. The Rambam notes that in order for an individual to remain on the proper path he must distance himself from all distractions. More importantly, one must immerse himself in Torah knowledge so that subversive thoughts will be blocked.
The brokenhearted parents begged their son to speak to the rav. Perhaps he would be able to help. The rav tried many approaches bur the bachur was not receptive. “You don’t understand my situation,” he told the rav, “if you think I intend to change my ways.” He acknowledged that he was simply not interested in listening to the mussar of the rav. Any glimmer of hope seemed to be extinguished at that point. The bachur was obviously ensnared in the clutches the realm of evil and beyond anyone’s reach.
Desperate to find some way to penetrate the heart of the bachur, the rav prayed to Hashem, “May all the tears that have been coming from the hearts of his faithful family be accepted before Your Holy Throne.” In His consummate kindness, Hashem answered the rav’s prayers, and he said to the bachur.
“You know we are currently in the days of mercy and forgiveness, when we coronate Hashem as king over us and the entire world. One of the ways we acknowledge and accept the ol malchus Shamayim (yoke of Heaven) is by immediately performing a mitzvah. Why don’t you make one small resolution and whenever you have a desire to transgress you should delay doing so for five or ten minutes. Merely delay doing it; don’t transgress immediately. In that way you are ruling over the yetzer hara instead of allowing him to be king over you.”
For some reason the bachur accepted the challenge. He would not agree to distance himself from the yetzer hara, but he could agree to allow five or ten minutes to elapse before acting.
Indeed, the bachur followed the rav’s suggestion for quite some time, and it actually worked. It took time, but with those few minutes the bachur was eventually able to prevail over his yetzer hara and he became a loyal servant of the King of kings.
