The Power of Learning Halacha and Gemara to Nullify the Yetzer Hara
Lesson No. 199 | Thursday, Parashas Korach, 26 Sivan 5759 - Lesson at the Breslov Kollel for Young Men, Part 1 (Continued in No. 200)
In-depth study of Gemara and Halacha is the only tool to nullify the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) and the heresy in the heart, which destroy a person's spirituality and shalom bayis (marital harmony). By engaging in the "holy disputes" of the Tanna'im and the Poskim (halachic authorities), the gates of the intellect are opened for a person, and he merits to serve Hashem in truth.
Without Gemara, there is nothing. A person must have a minimum amount of time where he sits and learns; otherwise, he has no holy desires, and there is simply no one to talk to. The main problem is the internal struggle in the heart: the Yetzer Hatov (good inclination) tells a person to learn, while the Yetzer Hara incites him not to learn.
The Yetzer Hara can even mislead a person into thinking that it is possible to be a Breslov Chassid, or a Chassid of "Shuvu Banim," without learning Torah. It whispers to a person: "The less you learn, the more loyal a Chassid you will be." A person must know that this is a concealment in the heart. This concealment, which hides from you the knowledge that you lack knowledge, is simply heresy.
The Destruction of the Material and the Spiritual
When the Yetzer Hara takes control of a person, questions and heresy sprout in the heart. One does not need to be in a university to be considered a heretic; even one of our own, who does not pray with intention and does not learn Gemara, is tainted by this heresy. The Yetzer Hara hardens a person's heart in order to bring him down into evil.
The Yetzer Hara is a person's greatest enemy, and it damages not only his spirituality but also his materiality. It does not leave a person a drop of this world, and it prevents him from achieving wealth and success. If a person does not learn Torah, he cannot love his wife. He has no love in his heart; he returns home full of strict judgments, lacks patience, and immediately looks for ways to escape the house for other distractions.
Without learning, a person has no intellect, he has no Da'as (spiritual awareness), he has no soul—he completely loses this world as well and is incapable of being at home for even a single second.
The Root of the Yetzer Hara and Holy Disputes
The advice against the questions and heresy in the heart, and in order to begin building the heart and the intellect and rectifying them at their root, is the nullification of the Yetzer Hara. But how was the Yetzer Hara created in the first place? The root of the Yetzer Hara stems from the disputes that exist in Heaven—disputes among the angels, in the Heavenly Academy. From there, the matter cascades downward until the Yetzer Hara is formed, becoming the enemy of man.
The tikkun (rectification) for this is a "holy dispute." To rectify the Yetzer Hara that disputes the Yetzer Hatov, one must engage in a dispute of holiness—the disputes of the Tanna'im and Amora'im in the Gemara. Everything cascades from them: this one forbids and that one permits, sometimes a prohibition and sometimes a permission. When one learns all the different opinions on a single Halacha, it nullifies the Yetzer Hara.
Opening the Gates of the Intellect Through Halacha
The only way to nullify the Yetzer Hara and evil thoughts is through the in-depth study of Halacha. One must learn the final halachic ruling along with all the different opinions and the commentaries—the Shach, the Taz, the Pri Megadim, and the Pischei Teshuvah. The halachic ruling, which clarifies between what is forbidden and what is permitted, simply nullifies the Yetzer Hara.
When a person begins to learn the laws of meat and milk in depth, with all the opinions of the Poskim, he will suddenly see that he has no Yetzer Hara at all. Then he will be able to serve Hashem with all his heart, with both of his inclinations, and all the gates of the intellect will open for him. Because until the gates of the intellect are opened for a person, he remains empty of content.
Opening the gates of the intellect allows a person to respond to all heretics, and especially to the heretic within his own heart, and then he begins to pray with intention. This is the secret of the word "Shalom" (peace), which is an acronym for the words of the Mishnah in Tractate Avos:
"Know what to answer a heretic" (the Hebrew acronym spells Shalom).
Part 3 of 3 — Lesson No. 199