Stay on Course | Rabbi Uren Reich

My dear Vayimaen friends, Way over 30 years ago, a friend of mine told me about an interesting experience that he'd had the day before. He was driving on a busy highway and he made a terrible mistake. He cut ahead of a non-Jew, who was obviously very provoked by that. And a few minutes later, he looked to his left and he was startled to see that very non-Jew, driving a few inches away from him. To say the least, too close for comfort. So he slowed down and the other person slowed down. He went quicker and the other person went quicker. So he moved a foot to the right and breathed a sigh of relief. He was startled when he looked to his left and he saw once again, he'd moved to the right, and this person had also moved to the right, and once again, he was a few inches away. He was very tempted to move again to the right, but he started understanding what was going on. This person was trying to provoke him, to keep moving further and further right until he would hit something on the right side and the other person would just take off. And at that moment, he recognized that what he had to do, as difficult as it was, was to neither go left or right and stay on his course, even though there was an overwhelming urge to get away, to have relief, because deep down, he knew there's no relief. Wherever I go, he'll follow me anyway. What an incredible Mashal for so many battles we have in life, battles of the Yetzer. Imagine a boy who has such a difficult time getting up for Shachris, and the Yetzer Hara says: You're so tired. Just give yourself another 15 minutes of sleep. You'll feel that much better. And he does that, and he gets used to sleeping another 15 minutes. And for the first day or two, it seems so relaxed. Why didn't I think of this beforehand? But then, once again, he's tired. And the Yetzer Hara says, Why are you struggling so much and fighting with me? Just give me 15 minutes. And so it goes on and on until the boy is waking up at 11:30 in the morning, he’s a mess, he has no Chavrusas. And that's when he has to start fighting. And then it's really difficult. Rabosai, this is the battle of the Yetzer. All the different battles of the Yetzer, and specifically the battle of Vayimaen. We shouldn't be fooled by the Yetzer Hara into thinking that if we just give in, we won't have any battle. All that will happen is the Yetzer Hara will accept that part of us and move us to the next stage. And we'll be further fighting and fighting and fighting. And if we keep giving in to the Yetzer Hara, the time will come when the fight will be so overwhelming, that it will be really, really impossible almost to gain back control. May Your mercies quickly come before us for we have become very poor. The Mussar Sefarim say, Start at the beginning. Let's recognize from the beginning there's no way of getting away from the battle of the Yetzer. Let's stay on track. Let's do what that yungerman did, and eventually, the non-Jew took off and left him alone. Hopefully, we’ll merit to be victorious in the battle of the Yetzer. אמן, כן יהי רצון.