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Thus, he does not pass the test. But if he has learned Torah and importance of mastering the trait that he is working on. In short, Therefore, when you begin the work of the will, you must re-
acquired awareness, a faint imprint of that awareness will remain when something is important to a person and it burns within him, ignite your simple and whole faith that Hashem is waiting for you,
with him, and that imprint will protect him and guide him. Life is he can apply the work of the will to it, which includes engaging in that He wants to give to you immediately and that He is capable
war, and in the middle of a battle a person does not always act forceful prayer. of doing so. If you notice that you lack this whole faith, cry out
with a clear mind. But if he has trained himself and repeatedly to Hashem about that itself. Spend a few minutes daily doing the
reviewed the relevant principles and ways of action, then when he One of my students told me that he listened my disks, Peace work of the will on this topic. Ask Hashem: “Give me the faith that
is under pressure he functions properly without thinking, because in the Home, The Honor of the Woman and First Aid more You want to give me everything spiritual immediately, at this very
as a result of his substantial practice, his actions become automatic than 100 times. Every day he listened to a disk, and this energized moment, and that it is Your entire will that I immediately change
and natural, even when his awareness leaves him. And so when him, allowed him no rest, and strengthened his will to work on and rise from level to level, until I reach the highest levels. And
a person is tested in the course of his life, if he had reviewed the himself. He devoted at least half an hour of his hitbodedut to the give me the faith that You are all-powerful and that You can save
subject many times, his learning will stand by him. But although work of the will on the topic of attaining peace in the home, and me immediately.”
that is of great assistance, it is still not yet perfection. Perfection this changed his life completely. Now he listens to disks on other
means that a person engages in the work of the will and masters the topics, but every few weeks he listens to these disks again. Thank Remind yourself that every sin and craving, every minute during
matter completely. God, he remembers the material, applies it and prays for peace which you are disconnected from Hashem, constitutes nothing else
in the home. He has succeeded in becoming a loving husband, than death. Hashem does not want you to die. He wants you to live
A Little of the Light and he sees with his own eyes how his work on attaining peace in and cling to Him. That is His intention and His honor. You must
the home has given him great energy in all other areas of serving pray for His intention to be realized, because that constitutes His
Hashem. Thus, his perseverance in listening to the disks has led him honor.
The principal and fundamental war between the good and
evil inclinations is the war between wisdom and foolishness. All to engage in a strong work of the will, and his efforts have resulted When you feel that this wholeness of faith is alive in your heart,
wisdom—i.e., proper and clear awareness—is the power of the in very significant results. continue to the essential stage of hitbodedut. Tell Hashem: “You
good inclination. And all foolishness—i.e., confusion and the want to give me immediately, and You are all-powerful. If so, what
concealment of awareness—is the power of the evil inclination. Proper Learning is the obstacle that gets in the way? The obstacle comes from me:
This constitutes the war against Amalek. The numerical value of from the fact that I lack a strong and forceful will, and I lack whole
the word “Amalek” is equal to that of the word safek, “doubt.” The learning under discussion here is not regular Torah learning and true prayers. I do not have the ‘hands’ to receive. Although
Amalek’s entire power is to insert doubts into a person’s awareness from a text or in a Torah class, which presents ideas or halachot. It You give, I do not have the vessel to accept—the vessel of the will.”
regarding matters that should be clear to him, and to cause him to is learning of another sort entirely. It is learning whose entire goal is
forget them. In this way, the evil inclination can easily control a practical application (as has been discussed and illustrated above). If you see that your will is weak, cry out to Hashem about this. In
person. As the Ramban states, “When you learn, search [in the material] this way, you engage in the work of the will. Ask Hashem to give
for something that you can implement.” you the wholeness of will immediately. Tell Hashem: “Please give
The entirety of the war against Amalek is to fill oneself with me a strong will right now so that I will not want to experience my
sharp, clear and absolute knowledge. As the Torah states regarding In this type of learning, amount of material covered makes cravings and I will not want to sin, but I will only want You….”
the war against Amalek: “Write this as a remembrance in a scroll absolutely no difference. Rather, the emphasis is on knowledge
and place it Joshua’s ears” (Exodus 17:14). Then doubt no longer gained. That is to say, it is even acceptable to learn just a little, Dedicate your half hour to asking Hashem to give you a strong
controls a person. Now begins his work of the will—inserting clear because the central point is to gain mastery of the topic. Another and forceful will and to asking for the nullification of your craving.
awareness into his heart—because only then is that work possible. central point is the quality and clarity of the learning, and the Hashem wants to nullify that craving. The true problem is not the
And not only is it possible but it is quite easy, because he has a clear aspiration to derive proper modes of behavior from it and the craving but your lack of will. You must recognize the level you are
and substantial basis upon which to build. To explain: maximum amount of enthusiasm to acquire intent and to pray. on. You still do not feel that every sin and craving is a matter of life
Most important, you must review the material every day and attain and death. Therefore, you cannot ask to attain a spiritual level for
The evil inclination does not have the power to distort the truth the enthusiasm to engage in the work of the will. which you do not have a true desire.