BS”D

The sages call Pesach, “the chag of Emunah.”

Emunah carries us through the “nights” in life. With it, we have the ability to connect adversity, pain, fear, and confusion to their Divine Source. We can sit in the middle of a raging storm or fall deep into the darkest pit, yet simultaneously rise above it to a place that is Ein Sof, without limitation. It is a fundamental quality that distinguishes the Jewish people from the other nations of the world.

Usually we tend to think about emunah in relation to Hashem and His Providence in the world. However, we are also required to believe in our inherent goodness and importance in the scheme of creation. Without this fundamental belief, our emunah is not complete:

Just as person is required to believe in God, so too is he afterwards required to believe in himself…. [O]ne must believe that God, may He be blessed, delights and revels in his doing His will… this is the understanding of, “and they believed in the Hashem” (Shemos 14:31)…. The 600,000 souls of Bnei Yisroel in that generation believed that God desired them…They further believed that He wanted and was gratified by the good side within them.¹

Doing Hashem’s will involves more than the simple fulfillment of the mitzvos. The real purpose of the commandments is to give us the tools and preparation we need to actualize our spiritual potential. They are purely a means to an end.

Chazal teach that before a child is born, God shows the neshema all that it is meant to do and accomplish in its lifetime. As the the child is about to enter the world, it is then required to take an oath to “be a tzadik and not a rasha.”²

Rav Soloveitchik points out that whenever an oath appears in the Torah it means someone is being made a shaliach to fulfill a critically important mission:

The fact that a person is born in a specific time period and in a particular place, can only be fully understood if we accept the essential idea that man is sent there by Hashem. Hashem and His Providence knows when and how the individual, with all of his shortcomings and strengths that are imbued within his soul, will be able to fulfill his mission on earth. He knows which circumstances, conditions and which society will allow him to maximize his potential.³

Hashem never sends us on a mission that we are incapable of fulfilling. It is a lifelong process that is infused into every single moment of our lives. As such, Hashem is also our partner in this journey, personally escorting and supporting us the entire way.

The Sfas Emes teaches that when we go to perform a task for Hashem in this world, it can at times be difficult. There could be many road blocks and obstacles along the way. We can also get caught up in the physical aspects of the act, while forgetting its inner spiritual reality. But if we approach it as a shaliach of Hashem, then we go with His intervention and His power. This allows us to act way above our own limitations.⁴

To receive such Sciata D’Shamaya, though, we must first be aware that a mission exists, have emunah in its importance, and be fully committed to its fulfillment. If we reach this level then in the words of the Midrash: “there is no one more beloved before HaKodesh Boruch Hu than someone who sets out to perform a mitzvah with mesiras nefesh (literally “gives his soul”) to succeed.⁵

Leaving Our Egypt

In an earlier article I mentioned that the mitzvah of seeing ourselves as if we left Egypt on seder night is a call to visualize in great detail who we could be… without the hot air and fluff, without the added artificial ingredients and preservatives that keep us locked in our personal golus and pull us away from our essence.

The days leading up to Pesach are really a preparation– both physically and spiritually– to help us get in touch with our essential qualities. All that chametz and all those physical things that we keep holding on to, the things that have no current value to us, are just a distraction.

On seder night Hashem just wants us… baked flour and water… simple… yet complete.

But how do we get to such a place in a practical sense? How do we get rid of the internal chametz that blocks out any perception of our Godly soul and Heaven sent purpose in this world?

The answer is hidden in tehillim⁶:

שֶׁהִכָּה גּוֹיִם רַבִּים והָרַג מְלָכִים עֲצוּמִים

לְסִיחוֹן מֶלֶךְ הָאֱמֹרִי ולְעוֹג מֶלֶךְ הַבָּשָׁן וּלְכֹל מַמְלְכוֹת כְּנָֽעַן

He struck down great nations and slew mighty kings. To Sichon the king of the Amorites and to Og the king of the Bashan, and to all the kingdoms of Canaan.

Before we unpack this, I want to point out two unusual things about these possukim:

1. First, notice that the order is interesting. The first possuk starts with the “great nations” then the “mighty kings.” The next possuk, however, first lists the kings and then the nations.
2. Also, what is the “ל“ there (for instance, לְסִיחוֹן)? In Hebrew, the letter lamed is used to denote possession. It seems to imply that the great chesod on Hashem’s part was that He destroyed something which these kings and kingdoms possessed, not the kings themselves!

Keep these observations in mind. We’ll get back to them at the end.

Aside from the standard translation, the second possuk can be understood in a different way:

לְסִיחוֹן מֶלֶךְ הָאֱמֹרִי

The name סיחון is related to the word סיחה which means “speech,”⁷ as well as שיח which means “tefilla”⁸ and the word הָאֱמֹרִי is related to the word אומרים, “sayings.”

The nature of any conversation determines the type of words that follow. Conversations with positive goals breed positive words. Conversations with negative goals will inevitably breed negative words.

ולְעוֹג מֶלֶךְ הַבָּשָׁן

The phrase לְעוֹג “to Og,” is related to the word לעג which means “ridicule,” “disrespect,” and “scorn.”⁹ The wordהַבָּשָׁן is related to the word הַבַּיְּשָׁן which means “an embarrassed one.”

One of the fundamental teachings of chassidus is that the outside world is a reflection of our inner world. So, how scornful and disrespectful a person is towards others is an indication of how he sees himself. It is a revelation of the level of personal embarrassment the scorner feels inside.

וּלְכֹל מַמְלְכוֹת כְּנָֽעַן

Chazal teach that seven morally corrupt nations inhabited the Land of Israel before the Jewish people arrived after the exodus. The nations represent seven types of negative spiritual forces, called kelipas, impure shells. These shells of impurity attach themselves to and cover over the physical desires of this world in order to feed off the spark of intense spiritual light they contain.

When we act on a worldly desire without connecting it to Hashem, the kelipa and its concealment of the spark of light get stronger. When we do the opposite and connect it to Hashem, then the shell of impurity cracks a bit. This creates an opening for the hidden Divine light to shine out and illuminate the world.

Three Steps to Belief in Ourselves

On a spiritual level, these mighty kings and kingdoms both represent (and embody) powerful negative forces that act on us from within. When they are given dominion they don’t just block out our perception of Hashem’s existence and Omnipotence. Their real goal is to keep us away from our own spiritual greatness and potential.

Just like the physical battle between the Nation of Israel and the nations of the the world, we need Hashem’s help to overcome them. These two passages in Tehillim tell us how we can merit the Sciata D’Shamaya we need come out on top.

Step 1: the Power of Positive Speech

Words are the intermediary between the head and heart. Whereas our thoughts color the reality we see, words quite literally create our reality. On account of this, they are a powerful tool and weapon– a double-edged sword that can be used to both build and destroy.

The Torah recounts that after Aaron HaKohen passed away, the protective clouds of glory surrounding the Jewish camp disappeared, since they existed only in his merit. Assuming the Jewish camp was now exposed and weakened, the Canaanite king of Arad decided to launch an attack on them. The Sages explain that the “King of Arad” and his people were actually the nation of Amalek who had merely disguised themselves as Canaanites before entering battle.¹⁰

What’s notable is their choice of disguise: They changed their language to that of Canaanites. On the surface, this ruse was not without basis. They hoped the Jews would then pray to God for salvation from “the Canaanites,” and since they were not really Canaanites their prayers would have no effect.

There was just one problem: The people of Amalek hadn’t bothered to change their clothes. The Jewish people saw this and prayed generally for success instead, as it says, “If You deliver this people into my hand….”¹¹

Did the Amalekites not realize that their clothing would give them away?

The Torah states that “the King of Arad… heard that the Children of Israel had come by the way of the spies”(ibid).

What is the significance here to the spies? Forty years prior, twelve men of great stature left on a mission to survey the Promised Land. But, ten of them returned with a report of the formidable Canaanite armies, imposing giants, and fortified cities that gripped Bnei Yisroel with such fear and dread that they refused to journey forth.

Though they started their disastrous false report with positive, mostly true words, the goal of the spies was to convince the nation that the situation was hopeless. Once their statements worked their way into the minds of the Jewish people, the damage was already done.

Amalek is also the embodiment of the Yetzer Hara. On a spiritual level, they tried to influence the Bnei Yisroel through the power of sichon, insidious, self-defeating words which would cool down their emunah in Hashem and their own worthiness. They thus inhibited their ability to receive the Sciata D’Shamaya they would need to be victorious in battle.

This time around, however, a new generation of Jewish people may “have come by the way of the spies,” but they did not fall into the same trap.

Elsewhere, the Torah recounts that when the Jewish people passed by the territories of Sichon, even though they were not commanded to offer them peace, they nevertheless sought peace from them.¹²

Sichon, however, was unconvinced of the Jewish People’s peaceful intentions. “My very presence is only to protect [the nations of Canaan] from you, so how can you suggest such a thing?” In response to their softly worded request for peaceful passage, he engaged them in battle.

Such was Sichon. He was the King of peh rah (פה–רעה :פרעה), an evil mouth.

Speech goes two ways, however. The antidote to a peh rah, is peh sach (פה–סח :פסח), a “speaking mouth” full of words of Torah, emunah, gratitude, tefilla, ahava, empathy and encouragement.

Such “pleasant speech” can help us to see ourselves and our situation in life in a new light by sowing the seeds of positive thought. This is the first step to change negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors– even if we should say such words without feeling them. If the intent is to come closer to Hashem and ourselves then, it will create an opening for further Sciata D’Shamaya.

Step 2: the Power of Positive Thoughts

Our thoughts color our reality. No word, emotion or action can happen without a thought preceding it. But, slaying those negative thoughts and instating positive ones in their place is very hard. As the Sages teach “Thoughts of sin are more difficult [to change] than [the act] of sin itself.”¹³ 

Throughout several midrashim, chazal paint Og Melech HaBashan as the “King” of ridicule and scorn.¹⁴ His very name came from the Ogot Matzos (literally, “matzah cakes”) he saw Avraham Avinu baking when he informed him about the capture of Lot.¹⁵ On the surface this act seems rather noble. But what Og really did was chose to focus on the “cake” while throwing out the “matzah.”

Our own negative thoughts are often our worst enemy. The most damaging is disparagement of self since it prevents us from acting on good impulses. Instead, it locks us into a downward spiral of self-deflating thoughts, feelings, and actions.

A negative self-image extends outwards, too: to those around us, to Hashem, and our world. The outside world then becomes a further confirmation of our negative beliefs and skewed self image. Perhaps for this reason the Sages proclaim:

לא הבישן למד

The embarrassed one does not learn¹⁶

He can’t learn because he simply doesn’t believe he is good enough and able to… he doesn’t believe he can change… He doesn’t believe his actions will make any difference… So, why even bother?

According to chassidus, the best approach to dealing with such negative thought patterns is hesech hadaas (הסח הדעת), distraction. We simply ignore these mental intrusions and start thinking about something else instead.

This approach is based on two principles:

• When you fight head on against your negative thoughts, it only engraves them deeper into your mind.
• You can focus your mind on only one thought at a time.

But, doing this entirely in the mind can be difficult in practice– especially at the beginning.

That’s why we need, הסח הדעת, to divert our attention, with the help of סיחה, positive speech. When negative thoughts crop up, saying words of emunah and Torah specifically out loud help to distract our minds from the negativity and keep us focused on these positive ideas. These words are the way in to the mind and a powerful weapon we can use to squelch negative thought patterns.

Step 3: The Power of Positive Actions

One of the most fundamental ideas in Judaism is that our actions directly influence our physical and spiritual reality. Though both thought and speech alone have their own impact, these faculties should be channeled into our fulfillment of the mitzvos. As a result we can increase God awareness and uplift not only ourselves, but the entire world. ¹⁷

But doing mitzvos with the proper intent, motivation, and emotion will not always come naturally. Elevating actions and awareness of God’s Light in the world takes a lot of effort… and patience. Sometimes we may feel inspired and motivated; other times distracted, apathetic, or driven by negative desires. According to Chazal, even so, we should compel ourselves to act in accordance with what we know to be true:

A person should always engage in Torah study and performance of a mitzvah even if he does not do so with proper intent, because through doing it without proper intent, he will ultimately come to do it with proper intent.¹⁸

Acting in this way is important for two reasons:

First, when we develop the habit of repeatedly performing a set of actions then they are more likely to endure despite the ups and downs of life. Otherwise, when we are brought low, our emotions, urges and appetites are bound to pull us away from these positive endeavors.

The pull of body can be more intense and deeper than that of the mind. The more we indulge our unwanted urges, the more attached and identified to them we become. This by nature pulls us away from our spiritual path and calling.

As saw above, the Canaanite nations represent the kelipas of impurity that cover over worldly desires and pursuits. As such, their main influence and dominion is over the body.

The Torah command to “utterly destroy” the seven Canaanite nations is a Milchamos Mitzvah (a mandatory war), “so that they should not teach you to act according to all their abominations that they have done for their gods.”¹⁹ According to the Rambam,²⁰ it is a mitzvah that continues to this very day, for both men and women in all places. Given that we don’t currently face such a physical war, the Rambam may be hinting to the fact that today this battle is a spiritual one– one that rages on within each of us.

In order to fulfill our mission in this world, both our physical and spiritual selves need to be going in the same direction. Trying to remove or even reduce the opposing affect the kelipas of impurity have over the body, however, is extremely difficult. For this reason, even if we speak words of kedusha and emunah, and even if we know intellectually the truth of a given situation, we may still not act on what we know.

So, how do we go about destroying this negative bodily influence?

The Baal Shem Tov teaches that from the nature of the kelipa that conceals a spark, the essence of the spark can be determined. For instance, cloaked within physical lust is a spark of the love of God. Likewise, fear of people is a spark of the fear and awe of God.²¹

Often a physical desire can be uplifted in a permissible way– i.e. we can bring a physical desire over to the side of kedusha. The Rambam points out that before engaging the Canaanite Nations in battle we must first extend an offer of peace. If any of the seven nations accepted the dominion of the Jewish people and agreed to observe the seven Noachide laws, they were not to be harmed in any way.²² So too, we can “make peace” with a compulsive lust for food by regularly indulging in fine foods on Shabbos and Yom Tov or at a simcha.

Sometimes the desire cannot be uplifted, such as a lust for one of the forbidden relationships listed in the Torah.²³ The best defense against such a negative desire is to turn away from it as much as possible. At the same time, we can direct our energy to some positive act related to the spark of keddusha hidden within. In this case, it could be any mitzvah connected to the love of Hashem.

The second reason to do positive acts even when those actions seem “empty” or “forced,” is that we are building the vessels we need to receive Sciata D’Shamaya for future Divine light, connection, and spiritual growth. With time and patience, together with positive words and thoughts, the inherent holiness of our actions will eventually emerge, bringing with it all the enthusiasm and proper intentions we are meant to have.

The Breaking of Mighty Nations and Mighty Kings

Real spiritual growth has its own structure and order. It is a slow, methodical process. On seder night, however, we have the ability to jump over that natural order. During the year, we must battle the negative forces that rise up from within to influence our thought, speech, and action. At the seder, the dominion of these forces is broken by none other than Hashem Himself and handed over to us.

We are thus free to engage all three of our faculties from a place of kedusha and tahara:

• First, we come to the seder, having physically rid ourselves of all traces of chametz, all the Nations of Canaan. Simply going through the 15 steps of the seder uplifts our actions. It is perhaps one reason why seder night involves a number of different and unusual activities.

• There is also an emphasis on saying the Haggadah out loud. In fact, according to the Arizal, the Haggadah should be recited not only with a loud voice, but in great joy!²⁴

• Finally, we must engage our minds are obligated to think about ourselves as being free from the confines of our personal golus. Many of the actions and statements are geared towards putting us in this frame of mind so we can properly receive the influences of the night.

From the moment we begin preparing for the arrival of Pesach till the seder itself and the following days, Hashem helps us to win a spiritual battle on these three fronts. This is the great chesod that Hashem did then and continues to do for us in these days at this time of the year.

All of this is for the sake of helping us get a little more in touch with our inner light and our role in this world. The greater our emunah in our spiritual abilities and mission, the more Hashem can help us fulfill His ultimate plan for creation.

Footnotes:

1. Tzidkas HaTzadik 154
2. Niddah 30b
3. Yemei Zikaron; pg 9-27
4. Sefas Emes; Bamidbar, Shelach
5. Bamidbar Rabbah 16:1
6. Tehillim 135: 10-11
7. Bava Basra 78b 12-15
8. Rashi Bereishis 24:63
9. See Tehillim 79:4, Iyov 34:7, Mishlei 17:5
10. Rashi Bamidbar 21:1
11. ibid
12. Rashi bringing Midrash Tanchuma Chukas 22, Bamidbar Rabbah 19:27
13. Yoma 29a
14. See Bereshis Rabbah 53:10; Brochos 54b
15. Devarim Rabbah 1:25
16. Pirkei Avos 2:6
17. See Mesillas Yesharim ch 1:11
18. Sanhedrin 105b
19. Devarim 20:17
20. Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Melachim 6:1
21. Me’or Einayim, Lech Lecha
22. ibid 20:11
23. See Vayikra 18:7-20
24. Pri Eitz Chaim, Shaar Mikrah Kodesh, ch. 4