Dvar Torah for Parshat Haazinu/Yom Kippur

Oy (woe) to me from my Yotzeir (Creator), oy to me from my yeitzer ([evil] inclination).
Berakhot 61a

We've talked in the past about machloket (dissension, argument) between people. Sometimes, however, one doesn't even need a second person to have machloket. Sometimes one faces the torment of machloket when challenged by conflicting wills within himself. The Yotzeir, God, has taught him one thing and he knows full well what is expected of him.

On the other hand, there is the yeitzer, that other voice who keeps whispering in his ear, "I know what you want." OY! I'll be in trouble with the good Lord if I listen to the yeitzer instead of to Him, but I'll be tortured by the yeitzer if I don't give in to it. OY! What's a Jew to do?

Rebbe Nachman teaches that the solution is to fast. The benefit of fasting is that it humbles the heart, weakening the evil inclination which is seated there, allowing one to attach himself to Hashem (God). Yom Kippur is the most powerful fast and therefore can be a very effective tool in weakening the yeitzer. To the extent that it is humbled one can put it to use in service of the Divine.

One of the critical points in weakening the evil inclination is to know that it, too, is from Hashem. That "itch" that one has for a desire is not an independent operator. It is a servant of Hashem. Hashem sent the "itch" to see if the person will "scratch"–or not.

Parshat Haazinu teaches us that everything is in Hashem's control. Wealth and poverty; peace and war; healing and illness; life and death. God rules. No one can save us from God's plan for us (Deuteronomy 32:39) except we ourselves. If we take all the whisperings of the yeitzer, all those wishes and desires that nag at us, and attach them to the source of desire, we are, as it were, entering the Holy of Holies and offering them up as "incense." This was one of the highlights of the Yom Kippur service (Leviticus 16:2, 12-13), for it was the only day of the year that the Kohein Gadol (High Priest) was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies.

Before exiting the Holy of Holies the Kohein Gadol would offer a short prayer on behalf of the Jewish people, asking that they be blessed with a good year. We, too, will offer a prayer. May we all be blessed with daat (awareness) to meet the challenges of the coming year, and may we have the keilim (vessels) to receive all the life and good that Hashem wants to grant us. Amen.

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!