This shabbos in the Caf a student gave a dvar torah that I think touched on a great idea everyone can gain from. He was discussing the fight between Yaakov and the angel of Esav. Commentaries explain that the angel of Esav is the yetzer hara, and the Or Gedalyahu explains that when Yaakov asked him for his name Yaakov was trying to identify his essence. He wanted to find out how one can beat the yetzer hara and the easiest way to do that is to know his essence.
The student pointed out that the angel never answers Yaakov. The angel asks why Yaakov wants to know his name and then the posuk ends with the angel blessing Yaakov. No answer, no explanation. I forgot who he quoted but the idea is that the yetzer hara has no essence. He is a figment of our imagination. And if we realize that we are going up against nothing, if we realize we are in a fight with our own imagination, we can easily win.
As always, being that it is motzei shabbos, I was trying to think of what I will be taking on this week. Over the last couple of weeks I have tried to limit the time I have spent watching videos on YouTube. (As anyone knows, you can waste a lot of time clicking from one video to the next.) Usually with this type of endeavor I would take it gradually. One week I'd go one day without watching, the next week two days,... But that wasn't working because I would push off that day until later in the week until I would finally forget about the goal altogether.
Which brings me to my goal for the week: Don't watch YouTube at all this week. Now I know that's a serious jump, but the way I look at it is that it's only a week. I can go a week without pointless videos. It's not like I have nothing else on my plate and I'll be bored with nothing to keep me busy. I'm in YU...there's always something to keep you busy.
Now I wouldn't necessarily advocate this position to everyone and certainly not in all situations. I don't think it's that I am unique in this regard, but rather that the situation is unique. I'll explain: I'm not trying to get rid of YouTube from my life. Sometimes there may be a funny video someone wants to show me. I just want to get it under control and say this is something I don't NEED. I can go a while without it. And doing that for a week is do-able in my opinion.
And I think this is applicable to anything someone is trying to gain control over. Realize that the yetzer hara is nothing. It has no essence and you are only fighting yourself. You can hold yourself off for a week... You can do it for a lifetime! But take that first step and realize it for a week...then maybe another...then maybe another... Before you know it, CONGRATULATIONS! You have your life back!!
The student pointed out that the angel never answers Yaakov. The angel asks why Yaakov wants to know his name and then the posuk ends with the angel blessing Yaakov. No answer, no explanation. I forgot who he quoted but the idea is that the yetzer hara has no essence. He is a figment of our imagination. And if we realize that we are going up against nothing, if we realize we are in a fight with our own imagination, we can easily win.
As always, being that it is motzei shabbos, I was trying to think of what I will be taking on this week. Over the last couple of weeks I have tried to limit the time I have spent watching videos on YouTube. (As anyone knows, you can waste a lot of time clicking from one video to the next.) Usually with this type of endeavor I would take it gradually. One week I'd go one day without watching, the next week two days,... But that wasn't working because I would push off that day until later in the week until I would finally forget about the goal altogether.
Which brings me to my goal for the week: Don't watch YouTube at all this week. Now I know that's a serious jump, but the way I look at it is that it's only a week. I can go a week without pointless videos. It's not like I have nothing else on my plate and I'll be bored with nothing to keep me busy. I'm in YU...there's always something to keep you busy.
Now I wouldn't necessarily advocate this position to everyone and certainly not in all situations. I don't think it's that I am unique in this regard, but rather that the situation is unique. I'll explain: I'm not trying to get rid of YouTube from my life. Sometimes there may be a funny video someone wants to show me. I just want to get it under control and say this is something I don't NEED. I can go a while without it. And doing that for a week is do-able in my opinion.
And I think this is applicable to anything someone is trying to gain control over. Realize that the yetzer hara is nothing. It has no essence and you are only fighting yourself. You can hold yourself off for a week... You can do it for a lifetime! But take that first step and realize it for a week...then maybe another...then maybe another... Before you know it, CONGRATULATIONS! You have your life back!!
I applaud the idea of challenging and overcoming the yetzer hara by attempting to diminish its very essence and thus, its power. This approach of cognitively lessening its control over our decisions, seems to be a very effective tactic in conquering its power. It's kind of like when one tries to conquer a fear (maybe of spiders and mice!) by cognitively reviewing the facts that they are so tiny and therefore can't really harm me...kind of taking away their very essence! (By the way, doesn't always work for me when it comes to spiders and mice!) When taking this cognitive approach, the yetzer hara begins to appear to be less of a force.
ReplyDeleteWhile the yetzer hara may well just be imagined, it often still powerfully attempts to push us from the correct path. I know that the glory of our doing the right thing in G-d's "eyes" comes from the intensity of this battle. So....I want to personally thank you for adding to my annunition in this challenge by suggesting a cognitive tool to bring to battle with me!! Kudos to you for taking on the Reducing YouTube Mission!!!