The Secret of Humility and Faith: How to Be Saved from the Control of the Evil Inclination

Lesson No. 103 | *Friday, Parashat Matot-Masei, 27 Tammuz 5757 - Yeshiva Ketana Shaarei Torah*

Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a explains that pride is the root of all spiritual downfalls, while true humility is the secret of the tzaddikim's protection. Through the figures of Moshe Rabbeinu, Yosef the tzaddik, and the righteous women in Egypt, it is revealed how complete self-nullification and pure faith draw open miracles into the world.

When the forces of impurity and the evil inclination realize that their end is near, they run rampant. It is written that there is no one as mighty as one who despairs; when a person or a force sees that it is going to lose everything, it says to itself: 'Now I will kill everyone, I am already lost anyway.' This is how impurity is taking over the streets today, exactly like before the Flood, because it knows that this is its end. But every person must know that it is within their power to bring the Geulah (Redemption), and right here the Geulah (Redemption) will take place.

There are people today who behave like animals, running away from every little thing and living without da'at (spiritual awareness). It is told of the Chacham Tzvi, when he was in Amsterdam, that a slaughtered chicken was brought before him which appeared to have been born without a heart. The rabbis of the city ruled whatever they ruled, but the Chacham Tzvi said: 'There is no such thing as a creature without a heart! The heart is simply swallowed up within the arteries, and therefore it is not seen.' He recognized that it is impossible to live without a heart. The parable in this applies to today: people think there are individuals born without a heart, who have no brain, intellect, or da'at, and they behave like cats or animals. But the truth is that there is no person without a heart – their heart is simply 'swallowed up' and hidden, and they do not see it.

The Root of All Blemishes

Why is it really so difficult for people to overcome? Rebbe Nachman explains in Likutey Moharan (Torah 230) on the statement of our Sages:

"Whoever is greater than his friend, his evil inclination is greater than his."

The evil inclination runs rampant like a lion specifically because of pride. A person thinks he is greater than the other, smarter, or understands more than him. Pride is the root of all impurities and all blemishes of the covenant. If a person had no pride, he would never have any blemish of the covenant. All forbidden thoughts and downfalls come only because a person becomes prideful.

Sometimes a young man thinks: 'I study in the best yeshiva, I am in Shuvu Banim, I am the most successful guy.' This is a grave mistake! A person needs to walk in earnestness, to honor his parents simply. If my father keeps Shabbat and puts on tefillin, I do so too, without thinking that I am elevated above the rest. The moment a person thinks even for a single second that he is the best and most important, the evil inclination immediately begins to run rampant against him, as happened to Yosef the tzaddik with Potiphar's wife, when the test came immediately upon his having some thought of greatness.

The Humility of Moshe Rabbeinu

The tests disappear only through humility. Regarding Moshe Rabbeinu it is said:

"Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth."

How is it possible that Moshe Rabbeinu, who took the Jewish people out of Egypt, split the sea, brought the Ten Plagues, and ascended to heaven, was the humblest of all men? How could he believe that he was the lowest of everyone?

The answer is that Moshe said to himself: 'I am not doing anything. I was born with talents, I was born with the power of prophecy and with the power of angels, but I myself have not yet done anything in life. I have not yet prayed truly, I have not yet made an effort.' He said to Hashem:

"You have begun to show Your servant" – everything is You. A person must know that if something bad happens - it is because of me, but the good things - only Hashem does. Moshe Rabbeinu took upon himself the blame for the troubles in Egypt, and attributed all the miracles solely to Hashem.

Forgetting "My Father's House"

So it was also with Yosef the tzaddik. When his firstborn son was born, he named him Menashe:

"For God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house."

How can a person give his son a name that means 'I forgot my father'? Rather, Yosef meant to say: I never boasted that I have an important father, and if a person thinks this way - it will lead him to all the blemishes. Yosef did not consider himself as the 'son of Yaakov' who is worthy of greatness, but rather saw himself as a baby born today, as a convert who converted and has not yet begun to serve Hashem. In the merit of this humility, that he never boasted of his lineage or his toil, his father was able to protect him from afar.

The Faith of the Women of Israel in Egypt

We also saw this secret of faith and humility among the righteous women in Egypt. When the decree was issued to throw the children into the Nile, Amram divorced Yocheved, and following him, all the people of Israel divorced their wives. The men said: 'Why should we bring children who will be thrown into the Nile?'. These divorces happened in the months of Tammuz and Av, which are the months of destruction, because the moment there is no faith in miracles – destruction arrives.

But the women said to their husbands: 'Why are you divorcing us? You will see that there will be miracles!'. A woman possesses holy severities through which she can believe more. They even prepared tambourines in Egypt. The Midrash asks: Why did they take tambourines and musical instruments into the enslavement? Because the mothers knew that there would be miracles and wonders, they were in complete faith. They said: 'Soon we will need to dance and sing for each and every miracle.'

And so it indeed was. The Gemara in Tractate Sotah describes how the women would give birth in the field, as it is written:

"Under the apple tree I aroused you."

The Egyptians would spy on them to strangle the babies, but the mothers would give birth and immediately flee home so as not to be caught. Hashem would send angels from the high heavens who would clean the babies and nurse them with honey and oil from the rock. When the Egyptians would come to search for the children, a miracle occurred and the babies were swallowed into the earth. The Egyptians, in their foolishness and pride, brought plows to plow the earth and extract them, thinking they could fight against Hashem, blessed be He, but the babies were swallowed deeper until the Egyptians despaired.

The Self-Sacrifice of Miriam the Prophetess

Miriam the Prophetess was a symbol of this faith. When she was five years old, she prophesied that the savior of Israel was destined to be born. When they cast Moshe into the Nile, her father tapped her on the head and said to her: 'Where is your prophecy?'. But she did not despair. She stood from afar on the bank of the Nile, in actual mortal danger. After all, according to the laws of Egypt, anyone who guards a child condemned to death – their sentence is death. She acted with self-sacrifice out of complete faith that there would be miracles and wonders here.

If so, how is it possible that later on, that same faithful Miriam and Aharon the Kohen spoke against Moshe? The holy books explain that they had a pure intention. At that time, a rumor passed through the camp that Moshe was about to die and Yehoshua would be the one to bring them into the Land. Miriam heard this and was horrified: 'What happened to my brother? Perhaps he stumbled in some matter and he does not know?'. Out of her love and concern as an older sister, she wanted to illuminate for him and open his eyes, in order to save the leader of Israel.

Lesson No. 103