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166 | A New Light
mastered the issue I have been working on, I will move on to a new
goal, in accordance with what I then understand and know.”
Don’t Get Distracted
All of this was true even for Rabbi Nachman, who reached true
spiritual attainments. How much more, then, does it apply to people
like us. In general, all of the thoughts that a person has about how
he should constantly change his spiritual service and his practice
come from the evil inclination, which wants nothing more than to
prevent a person from engaging in the most important work, which
is the work of the will. Therefore, you must be aware that after you
have decided to work on a specific issue—even if it becomes 100
percent clear to you that you can do something better, that you
can engage in another type of practice from which you will gain
more—if you prematurely change your practice instead of staying
with the original goal that you had set for yourself, you are making
a very great mistake. You are leaping from one practice to another,
and as a result you will not gain anything. In the end, you will no
longer have a connection to that practice.
But when you stay on task, you are said to be acting with a settled
mind. Consider this well: even if you have an urge to move onto
another practice that is in truth better than the one you are presently
engaged in, you won’t succeed with that one either, because you
will always be changing your practice, so that in the end you will
not gain anything. Therefore, continue to work consistently. Do
not change to something else until you master your present goal.
Only then, with the understanding that you then possess, consider
how else you may improve and add to your service. At that time,
your understanding will certainly be much improved, particularly
after you have mastered the first goal and attained precious assets.
Let us review and sum up what we learn from Rabbi
Nachman: It is preferable to proceed upon one path and
master one goal than to “seek the truth,” as it were, and end
up broken and having gained nothing. The evil inclination
dresses itself up as the trait of the truth to keep a person
from working consistently on one practice. Certainly, we
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verse states, “there is no wisdom and there is no understanding and
no counsel before Hashem” (Proverbs 21:30)—and what happened,
happened. May Hashem rescue all of His people of Israel from all
harm, from this moment on.
The driver heard what I had to say and accepted my words.
Suddenly, he remembered something, and he told me: “Rabbi,
among the people who attend your regular class there is a young
man who told me a similar story. With Hashem’s help, after the next
class I will have him come to you to tell you the story firsthand.”
Indeed, after the next class, this Jew approached me and told me
the following story.
I am a very good swimmer. One day during sefirat
ha’omer, when swimming is forbidden, I went with a
friend to the sea, not to swim but to immerse as in a
mikveh. I entered the water up to my waist, and when I
crouched down under the water, I was suddenly pulled
away by an undertow, and I couldn’t swim back to
shore. I panicked, I flailed and I stroked for shore with
all my might, but it didn’t help. My friend saw me, but
he didn’t realize that I was in terrible danger, that I was
sinking and drowning. I started to swallow water. I was
swept away so quickly that I was already very far from
him, and he thought that I was swimming or playing
around, and so he paid no attention. In those moments,
I was overwhelmed. I was thinking that it was all over,
that I was about to leave this world. With my last bit of
strength, I tried to think of something. I prayed, I gave
thanks to Hashem, until my mind became an utter blank
and I was unable to think of anything more. The will to
live burned in me, and I kept struggling, but the sea was
stronger than I was, and I felt that my moments were
numbered and that I had come to my end, that less than
a hairsbreadth separated me from death. Then I began
to cry out to Hashem—as best I could with all the water