Page 105 - 20780

4

120 | A New Light Chapter Four: | 105

logic. As the Gemara tells, Balak’s ministers told Balaam: “Is there doubtful partnerships with doubtful people, they die young, they
a father who hates his son?” (Sanhedrin 105a). That is to say, does go to prison. And all of that because of drugs and alcohol.
Hashem hate the Jews, who are His children? And thirdly, he
acted against the purpose of the entire world, which is the ongoing As for the craving for sensuality, when it burns in a person, he no
existence and success of the nation of Israel. Nevertheless, the longer remembers and feels anything else! He does not see Hashem,
power of will is so great that he was led in the direction that he he does not see the Torah, he entirely loses his fear of heaven, and
wanted to go. And all of this occurred to teach us that if it is he does not sense any danger. He has only one desire: to satisfy
true that a person is led in the way that he wants to go when he his craving at any price. That craving burns in him like an inferno,
intends evil, how much more is it true when a person desires to do and nothing else interests him—whether the object of his craving
Hashem’s will and come close to Hashem. This principle supplies is a married woman or a non-Jewish, idolatrous woman, whether
such a person with great impetus and extensive assistance from the act he contemplates is punishable by heavenly excision or by a
above to succeed in emerging from his evil and in attaining all court’s death sentence, and what effects his actions will have on his
goodness in this world. family: on his wife and children.
As we learned, he cannot overcome this craving. As a result,
when it burns in him, he has no choice whatsoever, unless he can
A person’s desire has the power to bring about what eradicate it. He may learn Torah—but at the moment that the
he deeply yearns for, even if it is evil. As our sages craving burns in him, everything that he understands, including the
state, “In the way that a person wants to go…” (Makkot losses that he envisions, disappears. It is erased and forgotten.
10b). With his will, a person can even attain all of the And if this was the case throughout the generations, as described
lovely things of this world, as long as nothing prevents in the Torah, in our generation it has multiplied severalfold. This
that—i.e., if he does not rightfully deserve it, because craving has risen to astronomical heights, because of all of the new
in that case it is withheld from him by heaven. If not technological devices to which an entire generation is addicted,
for that, by means of his desire a person would attain an entire generation that has grown progressively dysfunctional in
all that he wants. every domain, an entire generation that is exposed to all of the evil
in the world and is incapable of unplugging itself, a generation that
Tzidkat Hatzaddik 249 has come to terrible aberrations and perversions (although here is
not the place to discuss this topic at length). The main thing is that
this generation despairs of being able to change, because the evil
inclination is stronger than a person, and nothing will help him.
Having Will, and Becoming a Master of Will Therefore, everyone—without exception—can fall. Consequently,
everyone is obligated to learn these laws well, because they give a
person hope.
Until this point, I have explained at length that a person is
led in accordance with his will. That is fine, but what does this The craving for money drives a person out of his mind. He
mean in practical terms? In order that this law may be practically allows himself to steal, lie, deceive, transgress the Torah, and much
understood, the following explanation is necessary.
more. Behavior that every human being understands to be evil and
that harms him and others, risky involvement in crimes and tax
Heaven values and appreciates a person’s every intent, even
evasion—when the craving for money burns in a person, he ignores