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76 | A New Light
kollel students and scholars who do not change inwardly. They
remain with the same cravings and the same bad traits, the same evil
inclination and the same anger and arguments with their neighbors
and family. They remain with their envy and with their worries.
They derive no energy from their prayers and from closeness to the
Creator. As the years pass, they only sink deeper and deeper into a
gray routine without true life and without true sweetness in serving
Hashem. Everything is automatic.
And the fact that they do not change for the better is the
least that can be said. If only that were the entire problem! But
unfortunately they are far from the foundations of Judaism. They
are subject to flaws of the “covenant” (sensuality), evil speech,
causeless hatred, dispute, lack of family harmony, lack of faith in
the sages—and, most terrible of all, distance from simple faith,
distance from knowledge. Woe!
The question is: how is it possible that in learning the holy Torah,
which “restores the soul and makes the foolish wise” (Psalms 19:7),
a person stays in one place, and even descends and sinks, instead of
rising? How is it possible that a person who learns, prays and keeps
the Torah and mitzvot does not become a burgeoning wellspring
and does not attain the “many things” that are listed at length at
the beginning of the sixth chapter of Avot (1)? Where is his joy?
Where are his humility and reverence? Where is his connection
to “being righteous, pious, upright and faithful, distant from sin,
close to merit, with people benefiting from his advice and counsel,
understanding and might”? Where is his connection to being
“modest and patient, forgiving insults, growing and rising above all
people”? Regarding this, we may say, “Woe to people because of
the insult to the Torah” that they cause (Avot 6:2).
Know that every bit of progress, whether in learning or in inner
change, does not come on its own! All of those people who attained
great things and became renowned, righteous and pious leaders of
Israel worked to achieve their goals. They labored. There are no
mistakes in this world. Without persistent, methodical, consistent
and tenacious work of intent, you will not see any change. You will
be fortunate to at least stay the same and not regress. There is no
such thing as standing in one place. Either you are going forward or,
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and we set a framework to apply it and develop it, we reach a state
in which heaven will guide us. That being the case, we will be able
to apply our choice in actual deeds.
Nothing Will Help
The goal of every person in the world, without exception, is to
choose good. It is impossible to evade this obligation. And the
essence of choosing applies precisely to those areas where it is hard
to change. Unfortunately, when a person sees that something is
difficult for him, he mistakenly thinks that he has no choice. But by
engaging in the work of the will, choosing is entirely free. You can
and must devote a half hour of work every day to your every goal
until you attain it. Otherwise, you will not change, and nothing will
help you. It must be said in the clearest way: only when a person
devotes time to the work of the will does he possess the ability to
choose.
Thus, every individual is obligated to dedicate time to the work
of will: the simple Jew who works for a living, the mother, the
yeshiva student and the senior scholar, young and old, without any
distinctions whatsoever. A person who does not dedicate time to
the work of the will cannot change. Period. It makes no difference
what he does and what he learns. Learning Torah without the
work of will does not change a person. He will improve here and
there, but in his essence he will remain as he had been before. In
particular, regarding the most central and important things, which
are the essence of choice and the areas where a person needs true
and powerful will, such as faith and holiness, he will not change.
And sometimes changes do occur but they are only superficial and
cosmetic, and so they melt and disappear as the person faces the
challenges of life.
At my lectures, I meet Torah scholars who have been learning
for many years yet who nevertheless feel that they are far from
serving Hashem with joy, far from faith, far from guarding their
eyes in holiness, and from guarding their tongues. They know that
they are not cleansed of cravings, and that many evil traits control
them. They ask me: “What is going on? Why don’t I change? Why