The Secret of the Struggle: The Power of Conquering One's Inclination and the Danger of Pleasures During Bein HaZmanim

Class No. 184 | Tuesday, Parashas Vayikra, 28 Adar 5759 - A class given at the Shaarei Torah Yeshiva.

During the days of Bein HaZmanim (yeshiva vacation), the spiritual struggle is exponentially harder than during the yeshiva term. This article reveals the immense virtue of one who battles his evil inclination and overcomes his desires, and warns against the danger of being dragged after physical pleasures, which can cause a person to forget all his Torah learning and dull his heart.

It has always been difficult to understand the statement of our Sages: "Greater is the one who benefits from the toil of his hands than a God-fearing person." Is it possible that a shoemaker, tailor, or handyman who benefits from the toil of his hands is greater than a Rosh Yeshiva or a God-fearing tzaddik?

The book Asarah Maamaros explains this in a wonderful way: There is a person who is born "God-fearing"—he has no desires, he is a good boy, he listens to his parents, and he has no evil inclinations at all. In contrast, there is a young man in whom the evil inclination burns like a flaming fire. As Rebbe Nachman says, seventy bonfires of the evil inclination burn within him, and he struggles not to be consumed by these desires.

"Everyone who benefits from the toil of his hands—this means that you, with your own hands, with your fingernails, with your prayers and tears, struggle with yourself all day long to hold strong in the yeshiva." When you break your desires yourself and do not let them control you, you emerge greater than someone who was born God-fearing without any tests.

The Danger of Bein HaZmanim and Being Dragged After Pleasures

Now comes Bein HaZmanim (yeshiva vacation), and everyone is forced to undergo terrible tests. In the yeshiva, the daily schedule protects a person—they arrive for Shacharis (morning prayers) at seven in the morning and remain in a structured framework for almost seventeen hours. But when they return home, they go out into the street, go to the grocery store to help their mother, and see forbidden sights.

The Chazon Ish zt"l says that the period of Bein HaZmanim is twice as difficult as the rest of the year. How can a person hold strong?

The Gemara in Tractate Shabbos (147b) tells a frightening story about Rabbi Elazar ben Arach. He was the greatest of the five disciples of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, about whom it was said that "a good heart outweighs them all," and if all the Sages of Israel were placed on one side of a scale and him on the other, he would outweigh them all.

Once, he felt weak, and he traveled to a healing resort called "Diyomsis," a place with hot springs and vineyards with cheap wine. Rabbi Elazar ben Arach began to bathe in the springs and taste a little of the wine, until he forgot all of his Torah learning.

When he returned, they gave him the Torah to read the verse:

"This month shall be for you the beginning of the months" (Hachodesh hazeh lachem rosh chodashim).

Instead, he switched the letters and read: "Their hearts were deaf" (Hacharesh hayah libam).

The book Yad Ephraim explains: If a person is dragged even a little bit after physical pleasures—another half cup of wine, another hour in the spring—he is liable to lose everything. Bein HaZmanim is meant to restore one's strength, but if a person sinks into eating, drinking, and trips, he can in a single moment forget five months of learning. And not only forget, but flip the letters and become completely confused.

Carefulness with Forbidden Foods and the Holiness of Pesach

Approaching the holiday of Pesach and during the days of Bein HaZmanim, young men go on trips, visit the graves of tzaddikim, and see relatives. Here lies an enormous danger regarding matters of kashrus. It is forbidden to eat anything that does not have the most rigorous supervision, such as the Badatz of the Edah HaChareidis, Chasam Sofer, Rabbi Landau, or Rabbi Wosner zt"l.

There are many kashrus certifications that are merely the product of business competition, and often the supervisors are not properly meticulous. Recently, a shocking incident was publicized about a slaughterhouse in the north, where the supervising rabbi did not arrive, and the workers placed non-kosher (treif) meat into kosher packaging under the claim of "bal tashchis" (do not waste). These are hair-raising things that happen when one is not strict about relying only on the certifications of truly God-fearing people.

Rebbe Nachman writes in Chayei Moharan that in the matter of eating, one must be stringent to the utmost degree, because foods that are not absolutely kosher dull a person's heart. "A person cannot learn and cannot pray, because he ate something that did not have a proper kashrus certification."

Especially on the holiday of Pesach, one must be meticulous with all the stringencies and customs of Israel. One must be careful regarding "gebrochts" (soaked matzah), be stringent like the entire community of Jerusalem, and not be lenient in anything. The Shaarei Torah Yeshiva is named after the magnificent yeshiva of Rabbi Shimon Shkop zt"l, and in such a yeshiva, one does not take things lightly, but rather is stringent in all customs of holiness.

Alacrity and Utilizing Time

Being meticulous about holiness must also be expressed through alacrity (zerizus). Even going to the mikveh (ritual bath) should not be like lounging in a bathtub. Going to the mikveh is done in a minute—you take off your clothes, immerse seven times in seven seconds, and leave immediately.

It is told of Reb Noson and Reb Yitzchok that they would jump from a moving wagon, immerse with lightning speed, and run to catch up with the wagon again. Everything was done with tremendous zerizus.

"Zerizus is the prerequisite for everything. If a person lacks zerizus, he has nothing."

Specifically during Bein HaZmanim (yeshiva intersession), it is forbidden to be an idler or a daydreamer. The Chazon Ish says that during Bein HaZmanim, one must learn even more than during the yeshiva term itself. We must utilize every moment, guard our holiness, and enter the month of Nissan with purity, zerizus, and the toil of Torah.

Shiur No. 184