The Secret of the Yoke of Torah: The Only Way to Break Bad Character Traits

Lesson No. 258 | Cassette 258 Sunday morning, Parashas Re'eh, 19 Menachem Av 5760 in the Yeshiva Monday morning, Parashas Re'eh, 20 Menachem Av 5760 in the Yeshiva, Lesson 1

Accepting the yoke of Torah and studying in depth are the only keys to breaking free from bad character traits and worldly desires. Without deep Torah study, a person remains sunk in his blemishes, and even his prayers are not accepted in their entirety.

Whoever is sleeping – let him study immediately. The yoke of Torah is not something you need to run after everywhere, but simply to sit and learn. The true desire is that they sit and study Torah, complete the Shas (Talmud), finish a tractate every month, and the most important thing of all – that they accept upon themselves the yoke of the Torah.

Breaking Bad Character Traits

The Mishnah states:

"Whoever accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah, the yoke of government and the yoke of worldly affairs are removed from him" (Pirkei Avos 3:5).

What is the "yoke of worldly affairs"? These are the bad character traits. There are seventy bad character traits that a person is immersed and sunk in up to his neck, in the aspect of "the treacherous waters." All of this revolves around the terrible blemishes that a person is sunk in twenty-four hours a day, without knowing how to get out of them.

However, if a person merits to make an effort, he will ascend higher and higher and bring down the soul of King Mashiach. For the sake of a quarter of an hour in which a person manages to be careful and guard his holiness, he can bring righteous, holy, and pure children into the world. Children who will rise for the service of the Creator even before their father – if the father wakes up at five, they will wake up at three. All the generations depend on this quarter of an hour. Therefore, a person's main work is to break out of that "worldly affairs," out of those bad character traits.

The Power of In-Depth Study

How does one merit this? Rebbe Nachman says that this is only possible through in-depth study. Only through in-depth study, when a person delves into and understands the wisdom of the Torah, will he succeed in overcoming evil desires.

A person can be blocked, eager, and crazy after his desires, because he does not study in depth. In such a state, no advice will help him. He can ask for another blessing from the Rav and another prayer, but the only solution is in-depth study. Breslov does not have a different method from the rest of the world. True, we know that the true tzaddik will ultimately bring us to our tikkun (rectification) after a hundred and twenty years, but what will happen during all those hundred and twenty years?

A Jew must be simple, holy, and pure. A person is forbidden to think: "I am a Breslov Chassid, so I am exempt from working on my character traits, exempt from the holiness of the covenant, and exempt from studying Torah." Rebbe Nachman explicitly says: Until a person studies in depth, nothing will help him, and even his prayer will not be accepted.

The Torah as the Foundation for the Acceptance of Prayers

Only through Torah study are all prayers and all requests accepted. If there is no Torah study, the holy Zohar says regarding the verse:

"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination" (Proverbs 21:27).

Rebbe Nachman writes in Torah 9 (Likutey Moharan, Part I) that if a person does not study Torah, his prayer is simply an abomination. You cannot make excuses and say: "If so, tomorrow I will not pray." On the contrary, you must understand that the nations of the world also pray, but since they lack Torah study and work on their character traits – their prayer is an abomination. If a person does not study Torah in depth, his prayer lacks the true foundation.

Therefore, everyone must accept upon himself the yoke of Torah and decide from now on: You do not need to run after the Rav to the Western Wall or to Shimon HaTzaddik. You simply need to sit in the yeshiva and learn. Women cry and shed tears over the fact that their husbands do not learn, and this is truly an aspect of a mistaken transaction.

But the moment a person decides to sit and learn, for example until twelve or one in the afternoon without moving from his place – immediately all the bad character traits are removed from him. "The yoke of government" – these are the nations of the world that rule over us, and "the yoke of worldly affairs" – these are the bad character traits. It is impossible to change this reality except through in-depth study. Everyone must accept upon himself right now, following this teaching, to focus on studying in depth, to remain in his place, and to immerse himself in the Torah.

Part 2 of 3 — Lesson No. 258

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