Here's a true story: I have a
courageous friend who fights battles on a daily basis! What's
admiring is that even though he more often loses than wins, he still
continues to fight. It can get dangerous at times or even life
threatening, but he doesn't care. “I've been put in this world to
fight and only death is going to stop me from fighting!” he told
me.
Of course, I am not talking about
battling people - he's battling his temptations. He has an addiction
to (add an addiction of your choice here.)
He told me it's
really hard and he often feels like giving up but reconsiders every
time. Why? “Because it's not possible Hashem would put me in a
situation where I'm destined to fail. I know I can pass this
addiction that's bringing me down spiritually (physically, or
emotionally.) On the contrary, it's impossible that Hashem would give
me a test I can not fulfill!”
In
the sixth aliyah in this week's parasha, the posuk says, “For this
mitzvah that I am commanding you today, it is not
abstruse to you, nor is it distant... For it is close to you.”
Rashi explains
that even though what's written in the Torah might be hard to
understand, we nonetheless have other sources of explanation. There's
an abundance of perushim on the Written Torah, it's called the Oral
Torah.
I
feel another way to explain this posuk might be, “This mitzvah I am
commanding you today is not abstruse nor distant, it's all within
your power and means to fulfill it. It might be hard but not
impossible.”
Next week will
be Aseres Yemei Teshuva, perhaps we can choose one thing to work on.
For example: Maybe the next time we have a yeitzer hara to speak
negative about someone, we can remember that it is within my means to
stop talking. It's better to stop mid-sentence than to finish the
statement.
Ksiva vChasima Tova,
Nisso
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