Rav Yaron Reuven - A Lachash Against the Yetzer Hara

Tzetil Katan (Small Note) by Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk

Using LACHASH To Defeat Evil Within Torat HaChassidut (6)

Tzetil Katan - English

Tzetil Katan - Hebrew fragment

Neither post nor transcript have been reviewed by R. Yaron Reuven chlita

Summary Briefing

tl/dr:

• When facing negative thoughts or temptations, recite the names of the seven Canaanite nations as a lachash.
• Reflect on the specific meaning of each nation and use it as a prayer to Hashem for help in overcoming that particular klipah.
• Commit to learning Torah and performing mitzvot to cultivate inner light and dispel the darkness of the Yetzer Hara.
• Remember that you are responsible for your own spiritual growth. No one can save you but yourself.

Key Teachings:

1. The Importance of Self-Refinement: The foundation of Chassidut (Chasidic thought) is refining oneself to serve Hashem (G’d) beyond the basic requirements. This involves fighting the Yetzer Hara, which is particularly challenging in today's world.

2. The Lachash as a Spiritual Tool: A lachash is a statement with segula (special power), connecting the speaker to the Torah and granting spiritual strength. Rabbi Elimelech teaches that reciting the names of the seven Canaanite nations is a powerful lachash against the Yetzer Hara. This is mentioned in the Gemara (Talmud) in Massechet Berachot (Tractate of Blessings).

3. Seven Canaanite Nations & Seven Layers of Klipah: Each nation represents a specific layer of klipah (shell/husk), symbolizing a specific manifestation of the Yetzer Hara

   • CHESED - Kenani (achna'ah - submission): False humility, submitting to the Yetzer Hara instead of Hashem. (Noam Elimelech, Parashat Miketz)
   • GEVURAH - Chiti (chat - fear): Fear of missing out, hindering full teshuva (repentance) due to social pressure. (Noam Elimelech, Parashat Miketz)
   • NETZACH - Perizzi (chofshi - freedom): Desire for limitless freedom, leading to becoming a prisoner of one's desires. (Noam Elimelech, Parashat Miketz)
   • TIFFERET - Emori (amar - to say): The constant negative voice in one's head, tempting towards sin. (Noam Elimelech, Parashat Miketz)
   • HOD - Chivi (snake): Conniving nature, inducing false guilt and distracting from the real enemy. (Noam Elimelech, Parashat Miketz)
   • YESOD - Yevusi (mevo'os - station): Feeling stuck in sin, believing it's impossible to return to Hashem. (Noam Elimelech, Parashat Miketz)
   • MALCHUT - Girgashi (gerush - divorce): Feeling divorced from Hashem, believing teshuva is impossible. (Noam Elimelech, Parashat Miketz)

4. The Lachash as a Prayer: Reciting the names is not merely a mechanical act. Each name becomes a prayer to Hashem for help in overcoming the specific klipah it represents.

5. Personal Responsibility and Teshuva: No external savior can absolve us of our responsibility to overcome the Yetzer Hara. We must actively engage in teshuva and utilize tools like the lachash to fight the inner war. This concept is echoed in the Chovot HaLevavot (Duties of the Heart), Shaar HaBitachon (Gate of Trust).

6. The Power of Small Steps: Even small acts of good can overcome great darkness. Consistent effort in learning Torah and fulfilling mitzvot (commandments) creates light that dispels the klipah. This is supported by the Chovot HaLevavot, Shaar Yichud HaMa'aseh (Gate of Unity of Action), Chapter 5, Section 5.

Table of Contents

I. Opening and Organizational Updates (0:00 - 5:00)

This section includes greetings, mentions of sponsors, and prayers for individuals and the community. It also provides updates about the organization, including the release of a new book by Rabbi Friam on the weekly Torah portions, available through their online store (kiruvstore.org). Finally, it introduces the upcoming High Holiday campaign and the need for financial support for the organization’s various initiatives.

II. The Power of Ma’aser and Supporting Jewish Outreach (5:00 - 15:00)

This section emphasizes the importance of ma’aser (tithing) and supporting Jewish outreach. It recounts two personal testimonies about individuals who experienced significant blessings and miracles after pledging ma’aser to the speaker’s organization. The first story involves a mother and son who were finally able to sell their property after five years of no offers, immediately after promising ma’aser on the sale. The second story tells of a couple who faced loan approval issues while trying to purchase a new property. They received unexpected approval within 12 hours of asking the speaker for a blessing, attributing this miracle to their previous ma’aser contribution. This section further encourages viewers to contribute generously to the upcoming High Holiday campaign and share it widely, emphasizing the rewards and potential for miracles associated with supporting the cause.

III. Approaching God and Combating the Satan (15:00 - 25:00)

This section transitions into a discussion about the nature of God and the importance of humility in approaching Him. It critiques the common misconception that God owes us something or needs something from us. Drawing upon the teachings of Mussar and the Chovot HaLevavot, it emphasizes that even a lifetime of good deeds wouldn’t be enough to repay God for a single favor. This sets the stage for the central topic of the excerpt: battling the Satan, who constantly bombards us with doubts and temptations.

IV. The Seven Canaanite Nations and the Seven Layers of Klipah (25:00 - 55:00)

This section delves into the spiritual significance of the seven Canaanite nations mentioned in the Torah. It explains that these nations represent not just historical enemies, but also the seven layers of klipah (spiritual obstacles) that the Satan uses to distance us from God. Each nation symbolizes a specific character flaw or temptation: Kenani: False humility and submission to the yetzer hara (evil inclination). Chiti: Fear of missing out and conforming to societal pressures, even when they contradict God’s laws. Perizzi: Desire for unlimited freedom and becoming a prisoner of one’s own desires. Emori: The constant inner voice of the Satan whispering temptations and urging us to sin. Chivi: False guilt and feelings of inadequacy that distract us from gratitude and lead to depression. Yevusi: The feeling of being trapped in sin and believing that repentance is impossible. Girgashi: Feeling irrevocably separated from God and losing hope in His forgiveness.

V. The Protective Power of the Lachash (55:00 - 60:00)

This section introduces a powerful tool for combating the seven layers of klipah: the lachash (whisper), a type of mantra with spiritual potency. The specific lachash recommended involves reciting the names of the seven Canaanite nations: “K’naani, Chiti, Emori, Perizzi, Chivi, Yevusi, Girgashi.” However, it emphasizes that simply uttering the words is insufficient. Instead, one must understand the deeper meaning behind each name, recognizing the specific temptation it represents and asking God for help in overcoming it.

VI. Conclusion (60:00 - End)

This section concludes by urging listeners to remember not just the names of the seven Canaanite nations but also their spiritual significance. It emphasizes that by understanding these layers of klipah, we can better protect ourselves from the Satan’s temptations and strengthen our connection with God. The speaker concludes with a prayer for blessings and the ability to serve God wholeheartedly.

VII. Appendix. Glossary of Key Terms

Transcript

We're back after an extended break, and we're back to our series that, uh, we are already five shurim (sections) in within this extraordinary sefer (book), and tonight's shiur (lesson) is certainly very much needed for all of us, especially during this time of Elul (month preceding High Holidays) as we prepare for the High Holidays.

Tonight's shiur is sponsored by our dear friend Diana Acosta. May Hashem (G’d) bless her and her family, and may Hashem bless her and her family. This shiur is also for the Refuah Shlema (complete recovery) for Rabbi Efraim Ben Shulamit, Rabbi Sarah Bat Anat, Talia Bat Sarah, Rabbi Levana Bat Sarah, Sarah Bat Levana, Avi Mori David Ben Nesria, Yimim Morati Doris Bat Zhora, and all of Am Yisrael (the Nation of Israel) and all the righteous Noahides that continue to support our organization and continue to watch and learn Torah together with us, Baruch Hashem (blessed is G’d).

Just as an update for all of you, I know it's been a while since we've had a shiur, but Baruch Hashem, we're back, and Be'ezrat Hashem (with G’d's help) will try to do several shiurim each week until the High Holidays in several weeks because they're very much needed, and we'll do whatever we can to make sure not to miss any shiurim, so we should be able to, Be'ezrat Hashem, have close to 10 shiurim, if not more, before the holidays, Be'ezrat Hashem.

So, as far as an update, the Kiruv store, Be'ezrat Hashem, is about to add Rabbi Friam's new sefer that I mentioned to you. Be'ezrat Hashem, it should be added by tomorrow, Be'ezrat Hashem, so anyone that wants to get Rabbi Friam's new sefer about each weekly parasha (Torah portion), it's in Hebrew only currently, but you can get a box of 20 of them to distribute in your community. It should be added to the Kiruv store by tomorrow, by Ezra Hashem (G’d's help). It's kiruvstore.org.

Second thing is, some of you have gotten a text message, a request from me, a favor from me. Don't ask very often. For especially those of you that have been very supportive over the years during our High Holiday campaigns, the Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) campaign, the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) campaign, we should be launching our campaign, which is the biggest campaign of the year for us later this week be'ezrat Hashem, and we hope that each and every one of you will find it in your hearts and in your bank accounts be'ezrat Hashem to be as supportive as ever. We need more help than ever, as I told you, we had some major, uh, you know, investments into Am Yisrael over these, uh, last several months and over the last year that I just simply don't have the time to do campaigns. So we ended up hiring a company that Be'ezrat Hashem from now on is going to help me with it. Still running everything, but Be'ezrat Hashem, they'll help us with a lot of the stuff.

So I asked some of you to send us your testimony for anyone that's been continuously supportive, especially during the Rosh Hashanah campaign. If you've had blessings from it as a result, you've had miracles from it, then please send it over to me. We'll use it as a testimony because as much as I can tell you guys how important it is to help Am Yisrael do teshuva (repentance), help Am Yisrael financially during these times of the year, there's nothing better than hearing it from people, the results from people that have actually done it with us. And Baruch Hashem, the feedback that we've gotten so far has been absolutely amazing. To be honest with you, I'm getting chizuk (encouragement) out of it myself.

The miracle stories that people are telling me that they've had as a result of being true partners to our organization over the years has been absolutely astounding. I've heard a lot of these stories in the past, but every time someone tells me a story, they give a few extra details I never heard from. So just to give you one brief story that literally should be, a movie should be made about this story. I have one Talmid Tzadik (righteous student), Moshe, Baruch Hashem, Ger Tzedek (righteous convert), who I think I told you about it before, who had an extraordinary life in his journey to Judaism.

And he, Baruch Hashem, is in a real estate business with his mother. And he had a situation where they were trying to sell this property that they had for nearly five years. And not only was it not selling, they literally did not even get a single offer on the property in five years, which anyone that's familiar with the real estate business knows that that's very uncommon, to say the least. But needless to say, this is what they were dealing with. It was a very difficult situation.

Anyway, he decided after speaking to his mother that they need to get more bracha (blessing) in their life. And if Hashem allows them to sell this property, they're going to give ma'aser (tithe), they're going to give 10% of the profits on this property to Bezal Hashem, to our organization. And he said this to me himself. He wrote this, and you'll see this on the testimonies, literally within two weeks, two weeks, not only did they get an offer, but they completed the transaction, which is just as uncommon was the fact that they didn't even get a single offer in five years for a property to actually complete an entire transaction within two weeks is obviously something unusual, an unusual blessing of Hashem.

Now, that was the part of the story that I knew about, and I think I told some of you guys in the past. The part of the story that I didn't know about is that as a result of selling this property, they wanted to buy a new property, and they found a property that was a good deal, and they wanted to go for it. They put a deposit on it, and they were applying for a loan. The problem was that the bank was not approving the loan for all types of strange reasons. And they were at risk of defaulting on this deal or violating the terms of the deal. And they only had five days left. Five days left before the owner of the property ends up keeping the deposit, which was a very substantial amount of money, because they didn't get the rest of the money together.

It happened that Be'ezrat Hashem, we actually had a lecture, a live lecture at that time. And he came to the event, and after the event, we spoke for a little while, and he asked me for a blessing. And I told him that you don't need a blessing, you know, more than what I already gave you before. Why? Because you are supporting Am Yisrael. You gave that ma'aser to support us. You're helping us. You already have the blessing. And that was where the story ended for me.

For him, on the other hand, the story exploded. Within less than 12 hours later, they get notice out of nowhere from the bank that for no apparent reason, for no doing of their own, but simply HaKadosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One, Blessed be He) himself fulfilling his words of the Torah, the bank decided to approve the loan, the money is in the bank, the money is transferred, the transaction is closed. Literally within less than 12 hours, less than 12 hours, Baruch Hashem, HaKadosh Baruch Hu fulfills the blessing. And as I always tell you guys in the name of all the Tzaddikim (righteous individuals), all the Chasidim (followers of Chasidic Judaism), all of the Kedoshim (holy ones) that we've learned their Torah for Baruch Hashem many years, whatever the Torah says, this is the truth. Everything else is simply falsehood.

If the Torah says that to help Am Yisrael do teshuva, to help Am Yisrael in a time of need both spiritually and materially is the most important thing that a person can do, and for that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will bless you in this world and the next, this is what it is, especially when it comes to spiritual help.

Now, Baruch Hashem, since we have a very wide reach in many languages in many places, we have Baruch Hashem students all over the world from Dubai to Australia to America to Canada to Israel to Baruch Hashem England and many, many other places, and Baruch Hashem we get all types of people that benefit from these shiurim across the world. What we're asking everyone now is to please prepare yourselves to not only contribute to this High Holiday campaign, the Rosh Hashanah campaign that's going to be launched later this week, but please share it with your circle, encourage them to give as well because as much as you can give, whether you can give a thousand dollars or a hundred thousand dollars, getting other people to give is even greater. This does not eliminate your giving, but this is in addition to your giving.

Why? Because Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai says greater is the one that enables another to do a mitzvah (commandment) than the mitzvah that he did himself, meaning the reward that you're going to get for the mitzvah that you're doing, for donating, for helping is extraordinary. The blessings you'll get, the miracles you'll get. We've had people send us testimony that they've had children as a result of it after not having any kids for 10 years of marriage. Literally, imagine the woman that's crying every single month when she finds out that she can't have a kid, that she's not pregnant, that she's not pregnant, and then suddenly they start donating to Bezal Hashem to support our organization and all the amazing things we do, and Baruch Hashem, they get pregnant, they have a kid, they have a beautiful daughter right now, and Be'ezrat Hashem more on the way.

So, these blessings, these miracles are not because of me in particular. There's nothing special about me. I'm simply telling you what the Torah says, and we're simply fulfilling what the Torah says. And that's one of the things that I tell people all the time, dollar for dollar, what our organization has done over the last eight, nine years, however long it's been, Baruch Hashem, it's simply unprecedented. No one out there has done what we've done during this time with the amount of money that we have. And we need as much help as possible from you guys because there's simply a lot more to do. We want to open a yeshiva (religious school). We want to open more shuls (synagogues). We want to open kolos (bride schools). We want to do a lot of things to help Am Yisrael around the world.

And we need as much help as possible from you guys. We're not looking to, you know, spend our money on advertisements and put billboards of our faces just to become more popular. We're looking to help Am Yisrael. We're looking to publicize HaKadosh Baruch Hu's name. And you can help do that. Not only with your donations, but also by getting your circle of people, your people that you're familiar with. Whether they're familiar with us is irrelevant. Everyone likes a good cause. Everyone likes someone that actually says something and does it. So you can help your friends, your family, your circle, your co-workers also contribute and, b'ezrat Hashem, we succeed.

With that being said, let's get on to it. We have, b'ezrat Hashem, a series that is unlike anything else because this series about Chassidut (Chasidic thought) gives us a very new perspective about the old teachings of Chassidut. Many people claim to be teaching Chassidut, but unfortunately, the more we learn from the foundation of Chassidut, from the Tzetil Katan, from Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, the more we realize how far the teachings that have become popular today are from what the actual foundation is.

Now, this is not necessarily to discredit everyone. This is simply to sharpen our eyes, sharpen our teeth, to make sure that we understand what is the true foundation of the Torah, what is the true foundation of Chassidut. Now Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk's entire aim of writing this short note, this Tzetil Katan, is to get us closer to Hashem. But as the Torah itself says, Hashem is a fire, meaning that the closer you get, it hurts if you don't understand what you're doing, it hurts. To get closer to Hashem requires mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice), requires self-sacrifice. If a person thinks they're just going to say, "I love you, I love you, I love you," and that's going to get them closer to Hashem, they're simply mistaken.

Why? There is a price for that love. There's a price for that fear. There's a price for you getting closer to the ultimate blessing, to the ultimate creator, to the ultimate good. There's a price for it, and that price is mesirut nefesh. So in the last segment, in the fourth segment of this book, the Tzetil Katan told us that we have to realign our mind to make sure that everything we do, whether it's giving tzedakah (charity), praying, learning Torah, doing something nice, whatever it is, it's in order to show Hashem that we are obedient. In order to show Hashem that we are following what He says.

Reach nichoach la'Hashem (a pleasing aroma to G’d). When the Torah says, Reach Nichoach La'Hashem, it literally translates to a pleasing aroma to Hashem. But of course, Hashem doesn't smell, doesn't see, doesn't talk. He doesn't have these physical features, but the Torah uses this terminology. And Rashi there explains, Reach Nichoach La'Hashem, that comes from the Ketoret (incense), from that smoke, is in essence, Hashem sees that His nation is following His laws, and that is pleasing to Him. Why? Because now he can give us the good that he wants to give us. Because he is good, and he only wants to do good. He only wants to give us good. But in order for good to be good, it has to come for a price. Good cannot be given for free. There has to be some type of price.

Now, when a person does the will of Hashem, they're doing it for themselves. It's not for Hashem's benefit. And the greatest thing that a person can possibly do for themselves is follow the will of Hashem because that is for their own benefit, and Hashem rewards them as a result of them, in essence, allowing Hashem to reward them.

So with that being said, that was the fourth section. We are now in the fifth section. The fifth section is very much relevant to everyone, whether you are a Chasid, or you're a Litvish, or you're a Sephardi, or you're an Ashkenazi, or you're a Yemenite, or you're a Jew, or you're a Gentile. Male or female, young or old. Why? This is the battle against the Satan (adversary). Fighting against the Satan has never been more difficult at this time. You have so many questions, so many doubts, so much confusion out there. People are dumbfounded as far as how do I fight the Satan? It's constantly immorality everywhere you walk. Every billboard is full of nudity and filth and gross behavior. Every video is full of filth. Every word that you hear on the internet is full of filth, full of heresy, full of nonsense.

So there's a constant fight against the Satan. And of course, Yirat Shamayim (fear of Heaven) is something that a person needs to acquire, fear of Hashem. But there has to be something more, and that's in essence what the Rabbi Elimelech is providing for us. He's providing for us one of the tools that the sages used, and it's mentioned in the Gemara (Talmud) in Massechet Berachot (Tractate of Blessings) and several other places that's called a Lachash (whisper), and this tool is a tool that will help each and every single person that's aware of what he's doing or what she's doing and why they're doing it actually defeat the Satan during those momentary times of craziness where you just simply want to do horrible things or you simply are stuck and you have all this depressing, miserable, gross feelings that you just don't want. You want to get out of that? You want to get out of that hole? This lachash will help you.

And here it says, the Rabbi Elimelech, with his holy words, up to here is what we're going to do today. When the bad character traits begin to stir in you, G’d forbid, one which you face habitually, meaning these are feelings that are not new. These are things you're constantly dealing with. Whether it's obstinacy, you know, such as, you know, like stubbornness. A person is stubborn, doesn't want to do something even though he knows it's right. He doesn't want to admit that it's right. She doesn't want to admit that she's wrong. She doesn't want to admit that she's right. She doesn't want to go. She doesn't want to do. He doesn't want to do. Why? I don't know. I don't feel like it. You have that with you?

Or perhaps pride. But not just regular pride. Boshet shel ga'ava (shame of pride). What is this boshet shel ga'ava? The proper translation is that it's a feeling where he doesn't want to go because he's embarrassed that people are going to notice that he hasn't been at shul (synagogue) for the last week. So he doesn't want to go. She doesn't want to go to the family event because she gained some weight. They don't want to go because they know that they can't contribute as much as everybody else. So they don't want to go and join the community. So they're embarrassed. Says Rabbi Elimelech, this shame is from pride. It's because you're arrogant because you have arrogance within you. You may not be an arrogant person completely, but that feeling is coming from pride. What? You're embarrassed that you haven't gone to shul, and therefore you're not going to go ever again? You think that's a correct embarrassment? No. It's pride because you hold yourself much higher than what you really are, as if you can't make mistakes.

You don't want to go because you've gained some weight, and people are going to look at you. Why do you care what people look at you anyway? Why don't you just care about how your husband looks at you? Why do you care about all these different things? Oh, because you hold yourself to a higher standard and how you always fit for the first 20 years of your life, and suddenly you gain, and suddenly this, this all comes from pride. This boshet shel ga'ava is not just pride, but pride that in essence is shown when a person is embarrassed, embarrassed of something, but he's not embarrassed because it's really embarrassing. He's embarrassed because it's pride.

Or laziness, atzlut (laziness). Who hasn't been lazy in their life? Some people that I've met throughout the years that have come to my lectures suffer from laziness for years. They don't want to move. They don't want to get a job. They don't want to get married. They don't want to do anything. What do you do all day? I don't know. You know, I watch this, and I do this. Okay, but how are you going to survive doing whatever it is that you're doing, the little that you're doing? Well, I don't know. That's why I ask you. Well, obviously you have to change. Yeah, but I don't know, I'm so lazy, Rabbi. Yeah, that's your problem.

What you're not realizing is that laziness is not something that is going to defeat itself, that laziness is the Satan himself disabling you from doing something that will actually get you closer to Hashem. Some people, they get a unique Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) where they start watching shiurim (lessons) of Torah, they start transforming their lives, they start reading some books, watching some lectures, and then they decide that they don't want to work anymore. They don't want to work anymore. They don't want to do anything anymore. They just want to watch lectures all day. Okay, that's very nice that you want to watch lectures all day, or you want to read all day, but how are you going to provide for yourself? How are you going to eat? You're not a scholar, so you're not willing to go to a kollel (religious study hall) and study 10-15 hours a day. You just want to watch in your pajamas for 10 hours a day. You want to watch until 4 o'clock in the morning. That's not a scholar. That's laziness. Oh yeah, but you know, it doesn't mean anything. Yeah, yeah, money doesn't mean anything, but you still need to use it. And this type of laziness is also the Satan himself.

Or idleness that leads to boredom, says the Tzetil Katan. Meaning that a person cannot make a decision of what to do, which way to go, and in such a fashion, such an extreme fashion that they simply do nothing. They just remain idle. Or, worse yet, this is very common among teenagers, where they go to school, they finish school, 2, 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock, whenever they finish school, and then they have nothing to do. And instead of opening up a book, learning some Torah, watching a lecture, helping their parents, doing some useful. Well, they do nothing, just play on the internet, flip through videos for hours, call their friends, talk about absolutely nothing because they're also doing nothing, and then they're surprised that they end up sinning. Why? Because boredom leads to sin, says Shlomo (Solomon). Boredom leads to sin, or other similar things, says the Tzetil.

Now, what do you do when these bad traits begin to stir up within you? These are things that a person deals with every day. He deals with laziness every day. He's battling it. He deals with pride every day. He's battling it. Somebody cut him off on the highway. Somebody took his parking spot. Somebody took his chair. Something is missing from his office or his house. He wants to roar like a lion because he forgot that he's not in the jungle. These are things that people deal with every day.

And the first thing that a person needs to know is that all of this comes from the Satan, all of this comes from the Satan. HaKadosh Baruch Hu (The Holy One, Blessed be He) permits the Satan to put traps in your way, to put obstacles in your way. When you overcome them, you get rewarded. When you fail, Hashem Yerachem (G’d have mercy).

So what do you do? Now, of course, over the years, we've discussed how a person needs to occupy themselves. We're learning Torah, we're getting closer to Hashem. But if a person is not learning day and night, which generally speaking, the vast majority, overwhelming vast majority of the world is nowhere near learning Torah all the time or even the requirement of what they need to, but they still deal with these feelings, says Rabbi Elimelech, says Rabbi Elimelech, "I got a cure for you. It's called a Lachash (whisper)."

What's a lachash? What's a lachash? A lachash, for lack of a better word in the modern English language, is better known as something similar to a mantra, a statement, but unlike the mantras that are useless in many cases and pointless and simply made up by man just because it sounded good, a lachash has a segula (special power) effect, spiritual effect, spiritual power connecting it to the Torah that if a person does it correctly, that lachash will literally have the ability to give the person a certain spiritual power they did not have before they did it.

In the Gemara in Massechet Berachot (Tractate of Blessings), it says that if a person is worried about ayin hara (ayin hara is evil eye), where people may have nice things, and they like to show them off, which is the worst possible thing you can do. Show off their kids and how cute they are. Show off their house and their material possessions. Show off their good looks. Show off all types of things. This is in essence opening up a door to ayin hara. Why? People will look at it and become jealous. People will look at it and start thinking evil thoughts about you, even if they're telling you, "Wow, they're so cute," "Oh wow, mazal tov (congratulations)," they give you ayin hara.

And that's why I always tell people, don't share this stuff with pretty much anybody. You could share, perhaps, close circle, your parents maybe. That's it. That's it. Don't share with your friends, co-workers, things like that. The more valuable something is to you, the less you share. But if you don't want to listen, you'll have to deal with ayin hara.

But the Gemara says that if a person is worried about ayin hara, something was publicized. It was publicized, they just bought a brand new beautiful home for a lot more money than their previous home was. They just got an extraordinary job that's three times the pay of what anybody else in their community is making. They just married a perfect person. The lachash is, the Gemara says, "I am from the descendants..." You take your hands and you connect them in a certain way with your thumbs, and you say, "I am from the descendants of Yosef (Joseph) HaTzadik (the Righteous) who is above ayin hara." That's one of the lachashim (plural of lachash) that's mentioned in the Gemara, but that's not the one that Rabbi Elimelech is bringing us. Rabbi Elimelech is not worried about ayin hara right now. Rabbi Elimelech is worried about the Satan himself, the ultimate Ra (evil).

And he says, "When these bad feelings, when these bad traits come to you, and yes, they're going to come to you, they're going to come to all of us every day, you can now use this Lachash that's going to help you, but it's going to surprise you." Why? What's the Lachash?

The Lachash is, "And you will be saved..." What is this? This is in essence the names of the seven Canaanite nations that HaKadosh Baruch Hu told Avraham (Abraham) Avinu (our Father), they're going to be in the land of Israel, they're going to be in this place called Canaan, which is later going to be named Israel after your grandson. These seven nations, these seven idolatrous Canaanite nations. And throughout the whole Torah, these nations are constantly mentioned. But one thing that you will see is that you will not find all seven names in one verse anywhere in the Torah, with the exception of one place in the Tanach (Hebrew Bible) in the Sefer Nehemiah (Book of Nehemiah), chapter 9, verse number 8. All of the other times, 6 out of the 7 names are mentioned, and the nation of the Girgashi is constantly missing in all of the other times. Why is the nation of the Girgashi missing all of the other times, with the exception of one time?

Because Chazal (our Sages) tell us that everyone knew that the time will come where Yehoshua (Joshua) Bin Nun is going to bring Am Yisrael into the land, and their job is going to be to conquer the land, remove the idolaters, no negotiations, like the filthy wicked government that we have today that's negotiating with terrorists and allowing them to kill us at the same time, rather either leave or die or convert. But this was not a possibility now.

The Girgashi heard this. They heard that Yehoshua Bin Nun is coming. They heard that Yehoshua Bin Nun is coming, and they were smarter than the rest of the Canaanite nations, and they ran away. And for that, the Chachamim (wise men) teach, the nation of the Girgashim were blessed. Hashem blessed them for leaving the land without going to war.

In fact, there is a museum, I believe it's in Holland, if I'm not mistaken. I heard this originally from Rav Nissim Yagen years ago that there's a museum in Holland over there that has all types of ancient artifacts and so on, and they actually have a stone of the Girgashi nation, and they write and they inscribe on the stone that "we fled from the evil Yehoshua Bin Nun and his people," you know, to...because they were coming to kill us, they fled. So literally, this is what Torah says is what is proven.

As a side note, one of the things that we recently did is highly recommended, which I'll share in a different video that I made with the Rabbi Deutsch in New York, is a strong recommendation for anyone that's in the vicinity of New York to go and visit the museum. The museum there is unlike anything else you'll see. It's a Torah museum. It has extraordinary, you know, artifacts, amazing teachings. He also has a DVD set and books and a lot of things that we've enjoyed over the last few years, but I'll share that in a separate video.

But either way, this Girgashim, they fled, and therefore the Torah, in essence, celebrates that and gives them the merit of not being mentioned as one of the seven Canaanite nations, one of the seven enemies across the entire Torah with the exception of one place. Why? Because that one place in the book of Nehemiah is where it's talking about how Hashem is speaking to...spoke to Avraham Avinu, and he originally told them that there's going to be seven nations. This is the names of the nations, in essence, this is what it originally started as. But after Yehoshua Bin Nun came, the Girgashi removed themselves from that equation.

But still, as interesting as what we just said is, it still does not explain why are the names of the seven Canaanite nations useful to fight against the Satan? Why would saying the names of the seven Canaanite nations be useful at all? And that's what we'll learn tonight.

The world of Chassidut is not just a beautiful place of Torah and Kedusha (holiness), but in essence, the foundation of Chassidut is for a person to refine themselves in order to serve Hashem even more than what's required. That's the basic foundation of Chassidut. Even before Chassidut of the Baal Shem Tov came to the world, Chassidut is mentioned in the Gemara. Nearly 2,000 years ago, there were certain people that were Chasidim (pious individuals). Why were they called Chasidim and not just Tzadikim (righteous individuals)? Because a Chasid does more than what's required.

So if, let's say, for example, Shabbat (Sabbath) starts at 7:00, a Chasid will begin Shabbat an hour before. The reason why, for example, many Chasidim, most Chasidim have what we call the peyot (sidelocks) is not because we're obligated to have these long peyot, but rather we're obligated not to shave our sideburns and to have at least enough hair where it's foldable. So usually that's like a two on a buzzer, but the Chasidim want to show Hashem that they love the mitzvah (commandment), so not only do they not shave their sideburns, but they grow extra.

So in essence, Chasidim, the whole world of Chassidut is to show Hashem how much we love Him and do more than what's required. And you don't have to be Sephardi or Ashkenazi or anything else to be a Chasid. You can be a Chasid in any aspect, even though it's more common today, the exterior look of a Chasid is more common today from the Ashkenazi world. Still, there are many Chasidim that are Sephardim as well. But nonetheless, there is a different way of expressing your Chassidut. It's not just about the exterior, the look. The behavior is more critical. It's in essence showing HaKadosh Baruch Hu that you love His Torah, you love His mitzvot so much that you're going to do even more than what's required by constantly refining yourself and improving yourself to the point where you are emulating Hashem, you're walking in the path of the King.

Now, in the world of prayer, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk wrote different tefillot (prayers), different prayers to help Am Yisrael refine themselves even in the prayer. Even before you start the mandatory prayer, you can do an extra prayer that will help you refine yourself. And one of the segments of the prayers, I'll give you a couple of examples, not only Rabbi Elimelech but also other...other Chasidim have written where he writes this for the sake of refining yourself and becoming more humble. He writes as follows, you pray to Hashem, and he says, "Guard us from our ulterior motives, from pride, from anger, from pettiness, from depression, from tail-bearing, and from other bad character traits, from everything that interferes with your holy and pure service, which is so precious to us." This is just a small example of the prayers that Rabbi Elimelech and his talmidim (students) would do before the prayer. They didn't want to just do the prayer that's obligatory. They wanted the prayer itself. They wanted a prayer for the prayer.

Another example written in the Beit Tefillah (House of Prayer) in the fifth segment. He says, "And keep the way of the righteous. And may we do that which is good and just in the eyes of G’d and man."

Third example is in Likutei Tefillot (Collected Prayers) from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. He writes, "May I completely erase my pride, so that I do not become haughty over all those things that engender pride, such as wisdom or good deeds, strength or wealth. May I feel humble and low in all these areas without any feelings of pride or greatness at all, for I know, O G’d, that I am a boor and lack all those things..."

Here we see the greatest sages of their times and throughout history work to become who they are, work to become humble, work to eliminate pride by recognizing the lowliness of man in general. In a world that we live in today, where pride and arrogance is admired, and this leads to a very wide distortion from the truth, a distortion that we've spoken about many times where people believe that they could demand something from G’d or that G’d owes them something or needs something from them. And we see that in the world of Chassidut, the true world of Chassidut, it's the exact opposite. Not only can you not demand anything, but you actually have to work on reminding yourself that you are nothing.

And this did not start with Chassidut. In fact, one of the fundamental teachings of Mussar (Jewish ethical teachings) in general is the Chovot HaLevavot (Duties of the Heart), and in Sha'ar HaBitachon (Gate of Trust) he brings something profound. And all of this is an introduction to these seven Canaanite nations. It's all connected because just saying the names without having any understanding of why we're saying them and what they even mean is meaningless. Hashem is not looking for parrots that just repeat things. We have to know why we're saying what we're saying and not be like the idolatrous nations and the fools among the nations and even within our own nations that just say things aimlessly, blindly, without even realizing what they're saying.

The Chovot HaLevavot, nearly a thousand years ago, in Sha'ar HaBitachon, in the sixth chapter, in the third segment, he says as follows: "Well, how a person who thinks that perhaps Hashem owes them something, or Hashem needs them, has to take this into account. One who takes a pledge from his fellow will do so only if he has no outstanding debts to his fellow, and the latter has no claim against him, in which case he is justified in taking it. But if he has outstanding debts to his fellow and knows that the latter has real claims against him, he should not, under any circumstance, ask him for a pledge. It would not be right to take it from him, even if he volunteered to give it."

How much more so is this the case in regards to the Creator, to whom man is so truly indebted to that if all the good works of all the people throughout all of history were to be credited to that one individual person's account, all of these would not suffice to repay the Creator for even one of his favors towards him. Did you hear what he just said here? If you took all the good that all of the people that ever lived, you now have over 8 billion people in the world. You had a little over 7 billion people in the world in the previous generation. And so on and so forth. You had all of the billions of people that ever lived throughout all of history. All of them have done some good. Even the evil people have done some good. Everyone has done some good. The righteous have done a lot of good. The wicked have done a little good. But needless to say, everyone has done some good. You take all of the good that you would think that G’d would reward a person for, you take all of it, you give it to one person, all of that good does not justify as a payment to Hashem for even the smallest favor that He does for you.

Now, one of the reasons for that, by the way, is because when you do something good for somebody, let's say you lend them some money, you give them a ride, you help them with lodging, whatever it is that you do for them, you're helping them in something that they need, something that they wouldn't have otherwise. Hashem doesn't need anything. There's nothing that you can do for Him to give Him. There's nothing that He's lacking. And therefore, all of the good that you could ever give would still do nothing for Him. It cannot be a payment for Him. All of the good is for your own good, not for Him. He's simply happy to give you good when you give Him a reason to give you good.

And therefore, the Chovot HaLevavot writes a thousand years ago that if you took all of the good that people have done throughout all of history and credited it to one individual person's account, all of these would not suffice to repay the Creator for even one of his favors towards you. How then can this brazen individual not be ashamed to ask the Creator that in addition to past favors, he should grant them advanced, fresh favors? This will only increase his debt, while he may never be able to fulfill those vows of service he has already made because his days will be over and his life ended.

And therefore, one of the tzaddikim used to say to the people, "My friends, is it possible that the Creator would ask you to perform today tomorrow's duties, duties due in a year or several years from now?" And they would answer him, "How could we be held responsible now for duties due at a time that we may never live to see? We're bound to perform the definite service only at a definite period. When that time comes, we will be obligated to render the service." And then the tzaddik would say to them, "And thus, to the Creator, may He be exalted, has promised you for every definite period a certain provision, and in return for it, you are bound to a definite service. Just as he does not demand service from you before it's time, so should a (modicum) of shame restrain you from asking for the granting of provision before its time? Why then do I find you seeking from him provisions for years ahead, years which you may not live to see? You ask that he provide you in advance with maintenance for your wife and children who do not even exist yet. Provisions for your basic needs alone are not enough for you. Rather, you want to be provided in advance with basics and with luxuries for an indefinite period, for which you have no guarantee of life. Not only do you not render service to Him in advance, but you fail to make a personal accounting of your neglect of His service in the past, times when He never neglected to provide you with your needs.”

Not only gives a rebuke to those people that have this convoluted idea that they could demand something from G’d, or that G’d needs them or benefits from them, but even more so for those that don't necessarily have that type of confusion, but rather people that worry about the future too much, to such an extent that they pray for things that are years down the road. "Please give me a big house so then I can have enough for all of the kids that I don't even have yet." "Please give me this money so then I can give and build this thing that doesn't exist yet." Many times, people worry about things that don't exist, and that's usually where stress comes in.

And the Chovot HaLevavot is trying to refine our minds, refine our character traits by looking at things more appropriately. Look at what Hashem is obligating you to do. Is He obligating you to do something tomorrow, today, or 10 years from now, today? No. Just like He doesn't obligate you to do the future today, don't ask for things of the future today. He already gave you more than enough for you today. Be grateful that you have what you need today instead of being depressed about what you may not have in the future that you may not even live to see yet.

Why? Because the more you focus on today, the closer you are to reality, the closer you are to Hashem. Whereas the more you focus on the future, the unknown, or the past that you can't do anything about, the more you're forgetting the present.

So here, the Tzetil Katan first tells us that if you want to be a servant of Hashem, you have to start with dealing with bad character traits, just like he wrote in the Noam Elimelech on the verse where Hashem speaks to Avraham Avinu in Sefer Bereshit (Book of Genesis), chapter 12, verse 1: “And G’d said to Avraham, ‘Leave your land, your birthplace, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.’”

Here, the Noam Elimelech, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, says, when Hashem says, "Leave your birthplace," that is that a person must leave behind their bad character traits because one bad character trait always gives birth to another bad character trait, just like one sin leads to another, like the Mishnah in Massechet Avot (Tractate of the Fathers) says. And when Hashem says, "In your father's house," meaning to leave your father's house, these are the bad character traits that are part of a person's inheritance, which he received from his father. One must first leave them behind, then they can be brought into the domain of holiness.

In the world of psychology, which I learned something like 25 years ago, the psychologists that built the foundational teachings of modern-day psychology, Freud and so on, they had a teaching called nature versus nurture, which is in essence, there are certain things that a person is born with, and there are certain things that the society that he lives among will influence upon him.

Here, lehavdil (to distinguish), Rabbi Elimelech is telling us there are certain bad traits that are part of your nature, the part of who you are. This is what you got from your father's house. If you want to get closer to Hashem, you have to analyze all of those things that you got from your father's house and identify the good and the bad. The good, build upon them. The bad, remove them. Leave them in your father's house. Leave them there. Why? Because the more of them you leave back, the more of them you remove from yourself, the closer you are going to get to Hashem.

And furthermore, he says, “The main thing is to break all of your negative character traits – hatred, anger, jealousy, lust, etc. – and then to elevate them. This can bring you to a very high level until you have lofty visions and come to serve G’d with great passion and spiritual attachment.”

Once a person understands that each and every single one of us has certain negative traits that are contrary to the will of Hashem, they already have identified half the problem. The other half is identifying a strategy to remove them. To remove them. Now, one of the most lethal negative traits that a person can have in their life is pride. There's all forms of pride. There's the arrogance, Donald Trump type of pride, constantly mentioning all the check marks you have next to your name for the things you've done, the achievements, or the things you didn't necessarily even achieve. Somebody else perhaps gave you or you were created with, such as looks and so on. Pride is a very lethal character trait because, in essence, it's glorifying yourself, in essence deifying yourself.

And that's why Hashem says many times in the Torah how He despises prideful people so much so that He cannot be in the same room as them. They have deified themselves. And Rabbi Elimelech writes in...I'm sorry, in Sefer Likutei Etzot (Collected Counsels), it's mentioned in Ga'ava Ve'anava (Pride and Humility), section 22, that one of the ways to rid yourself of pride is by celebrating the holidays, the Rosh Hashanah, the Yom Kippur, the Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), the Simchat Torah (Rejoicing of the Torah), the Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Feast of Weeks), all of the Jewish holidays with joy, as lavishly and effusely as you can afford. Meaning, do not be stingy when it comes to the holidays.

Don't just buy a lulav (palm branch) that is cheap. Buy the best lulav you can afford. Don't just get meals just so you can fulfill the kiddush (blessing over wine). Get the best meal, the best of whatever you can afford. Obviously, everyone knows within reason. If you make $500 a week, don't buy a $2,000 wine and not have enough money to buy even challah (braided bread). Everyone obviously has to have common sense. But the point being is that many times people spend lavishly on temporary material possessions that are useless and disconnected from Torah, such as watches, cars, sneakers, belts, bags, all these different things, houses even.

But when it comes to the holidays, when it comes to the mitzvot, they're very stingy. They look for a tefillin (phylacteries) based on price, not based on quality. "Oh yeah, I got a good tefillin. I only paid $600 for it." I'm not even sure if today you could buy a pair of tefillin for $600 and still see that they're kosher. Why? Because the price of tefillin have increased drastically, and the number of scams and scandals out there has also increased drastically. And the scandals are also...the scammers are always willing to sell you tefillin for $300, for $100, for $600, for all of these prices that no kosher sofer (scribe) is willing and able to sell them. Just the material itself costs more than that, without the work, without the knowledge.

Or they'll buy a mezuzah (doorpost scroll) from some Judaica store. They'll spend more on the case. They'll spend $150, $200 on the case, but the klaf (parchment), they're not even worried about. It comes with it. They don't realize the klaf is not kosher. It's made out of paper. People are very stingy when it comes to mitzvot, and they also forget that the number one mitzvah in each one of our holidays, says the Rambam (Maimonides)...The Rambam says this, the number one mitzvah in each holiday, the first one is to give tzedakah before the holiday. Is to give tzedakah before the holiday. When a person gives tzedakah before the holiday...But not just tzedakah just to fulfill the obligation, where he makes $500, $1,000 a week or more, but he gives $100 to tzedakah when he can really afford 10 times that. Tzedakah is supposed to hurt a little bit. Tzedakah is supposed to help another person and not just relieve your conscience.

Many times, people will spend a fortune on their furniture, on moving to the perfect house, the perfect place, the perfect this, the perfect that. But when it comes to tzedakah, "Oh yeah, I signed up. I give monthly to this organization. I'm really supporting it." Oh really? What, you support an avrech (married Torah scholar)? "No, no, not quite. Part of an avrech." An avrech will cost you a few thousand a month. So what's a part of an avrech? You find out they give $10 a month, $20 a month when in reality they can afford a lot more.

Now, there are some tzaddikim out there that they literally can't afford more than $10, $20 a month, and their life shows that they can't afford more than that. But there are many more people that can afford a lot more, but they choose not to. Why? They don't see it as important as their material possessions. So Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk says one of the ways that you can remove the pride from your heart is by spending lavishly on the Jewish mitzvot, on the holidays, on your tefillin, on your mezuzah, on your Shabbat table, on all of the things that are relating to the Torah. That removes...obviously, it's a segula. This is not something that adds up logically. This is a segula effect.

And furthermore, he says that it's brought up actually in the Sefer Tzur Ma'or (Rock of Light), page number 33, who writes, “My friend, know this, that there are subtle forms of pride that are easily overlooked. And unless a person is wise enough to search them out, pride is a type of idolatry which must be dug up and uprooted as it says in the Gemara in Massechet Avodah Zarah (Tractate of Idolatry), page 45b, where the Torah says, ‘One who uproots an idol must dig up its roots.’ To do less than to uproot this idolatry...this form of idolatry called pride is to imagine that one is free of pride and is even pious in some areas, when in reality, a person remains arrogant.”

And he gives an example, a type of pride that is relevant to the average person, where a person becomes depressed because he has succumbed to some improper thoughts. And as a result, he does not apply himself to his Torah studies. Perhaps even he stops learning Torah because he says, "Listen, I know that to learn Torah, you have to study it in purity. So if I can't study it in purity, might as well not...not learn." Says the...actually, this is a subtle form of pride, for this person fails to acknowledge...edge...this person fails to acknowledge his true spiritual level. He thinks of himself as being special and that he knows best how to serve G’d. But if he admitted to his true level, that he never really abandoned his low desires for this world, he wouldn't dare pursue spiritual levels that are relevant only to those lofty individuals upon whom G’d calls. And at the very least, he should fulfill the edict, “You shall not follow after your heart and after your eyes.”

Here, the Tzur Ma'or is in essence telling us a reality check that pride is not just the obvious Donald Trump type of pride. Pride can come even from someone that's Torah observant. Pride can come from someone that wants to do the will of Hashem but loses themselves along the way, where they start thinking that they're more...they're more righteous than what they really are. And this, unfortunately, is something that can destroy a person where they'll criticize a Talmud Chacham (Torah scholar), they'll criticize the Torah, they'll criticize the community without ever criticizing themselves. Or they'll simply say, "Listen, I can only study at specific times, specific places when I'm really pure and so on." In reality, the Torah commends us to study Torah day and night, but he fools himself to think that there's only certain times and places he can do things, as if he knows better than the sages, as if he knows better than G’d.

So all of this is in essence the introduction to what this lachash really is. What this lachash really is. Why is saying the seven names of the Canaanite nations useful to fight against the Satan? So much so that Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk says that if you say this immediately and with all of your might, you will be saved. That feeling, that thought will be removed.

This is where Rabbi Elimelech and the world of Chassidut digs deeper into the Kabbalah. Now, as I'm sure some of you know, there is a concept, there is a teaching called the Sefirot (emanations of G’d). And both Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk and the Chozeh (Seer) of Lublin wrote specifically about this particular subject when it comes to the seven Canaanite nations. Almost identical words of using the names of these Canaanite nations to fight away the Satan. Why? Because the seven sefirot of holiness are also corresponding to or side by side against the seven sefirot of the sitra achra (the other side), the side of evil.

Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu has His throne of glory, but He also created, in essence, a throne of glory for the Satan so he could do his job. He gave him, in essence, a kingship. Of course, he's always under Hashem, but in essence, He empowered him for this world in order for him to fulfill his job, his role being the obstacle, being the one that's going to constantly try to distance you away from Hashem in order to justify a reward or punishment.

And the Chozeh of Lublin writes that these seven nations are not just seven nations, but they actually stand for the seven sefirot of the evil side versus the seven sefirot of the holy side. With the Chiti...I'm sorry, the Kenani is for chesed (loving-kindness) on the holy side. The Chiti is for gevurah (strength/judgment) on the holy side. The Emori is for tiferet (beauty/harmony). The Perizzi is for netzach (eternity/endurance). The Chivi for hod (splendor/glory). And for the Yevusi for yesod (foundation), and Girgashi...Girgashi is malchut (kingdom). That's the seven sefirot of the holy side.

On the evil side, on the sitra achra side, on the Satan side, it's different. Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk writes in Noam Elimelech, in Parashat Miketz (Torah portion of Miketz), that these are the seven layers of the klipah (shell/husk). These seven nations represent the seven layers of the klipah, where the Kenanite is representing achna'ah. Achna'ah is submission. Submission, Rabbi Elimelech says, is where one, instead of submitting to Hashem, he's submitting to the yetzer hara (evil inclination). Hashem says, "Go to shul, go to the beit midrash (house of study), go do good things." But the sitra achra says, "Go to the nightclub, go play basketball, go waste time," and he submits. That's the Canaanite represents achna'ah. Achna'ah means like submitting.

The Chozeh of Lublin says this is also a character trait of submissiveness that is looks like humility, but it's false humility. It's like meekness, someone that's meek where they pretend to be, "Oh, you know, yeah, no, I didn't want to go." But the second someone says anything against them or disagrees with them, all of a sudden, the lion of Gehenna comes out. This you probably have seen where some people say, "Oh, we love everybody, we accept everyone." But the second you disagree with them about their Rebbe not being Mashiach (Messiah) or that the wigs are coming from idol worship or anything like that, all of a sudden, they hate you more than they hate the Satan himself.

Or you see it also with the Neturei Karta where they're pretending to be lovers of Hashem, but at the same time, they're befriending the terrorists. This is a false humility. So the definitions of Rabbi Elimelech and the Chozeh of Lublin are almost identical, but one builds upon the other. That's the Canaanite.

The Chiti, the second nation, the Chiti, comes from the word chat. Chat is fear, but not good fear, more like fear of missing out, fear of not being with everybody else in the party that is forbidden to go, fear of not having things that you're not supposed to have. And this type of fear that a person is constantly afraid of not being cool, of not being popular, of in essence not being on the side of the Satan, holds the person back from ever doing full teshuva.

Where they could start doing teshuva by let's say keeping Shabbat, and they'll have a dinner, and they'll have a nice...But they'll still watch movies after Shabbat. They're still going to waste their time doing all types of things that are forbidden. "Yeah, but you keep Shabbat, you obviously believe in Hashem. You obviously know the Torah is what our guide is." The Torah says, "Don't waste your time watching these immodest things, these immoral things. Don't destroy your neshama (soul)." Why do they keep doing it? Why do they keep going to forbidden places?

Or they'll go to a...for example, there's a party, and it's a family party, and the family says, "Listen, we're going to have a party, some type of simcha (joyous occasion) for a wedding, for a bar mitzvah, for whatever, something connected to Judaism." But then you find out that they're going to have mixed dancing. Boys and girls dancing together. Now, of course, it's forbidden for any Jew to ever walk into such a place. Not for the introduction or the end. There's no permission whatsoever to go into such a place. But somebody is going to say, "Yeah, but listen, if I don't go, then the family is going to be offended, and then they're going to be mad at me." That's the Satan. That's a klipah (shell) from the Satan that's telling you, "Go and don't offend them," while disregarding, desecrating G’d's name.

I explained this to somebody recently where there was an event, and the people hosting the event, nice people, wonderful people, but apparently, they're not familiar so much with who the Judge is and what the judgment is. And they were having an event, and there was going to be mixed dancing. But they justified it because many of the guests were not really Torah observant. Some of them were not even Jewish.

They justified it because perhaps, you know, there's going to be a lot of young people there. And they justified it in a lot of different ways. And one of the ways they justified it is that there's going to be some religious people that are coming. Apparently, those religious people either didn't know that there's going to be mixed dancing there, whatever the case is. But they also justified it by saying, "Listen, we're only going to have, you know, we're going to have the introduction, the reception, the whole, you know, shefunianas, look at me type of stuff, for the first two hours. There's not going to be any dancing. So that's during a time where, you know, anyone can come, religious people, not religious people, everyone can come because no one makes dancing. After two hours, we're opening up the dance floor, and Hashem Yishmor V'Yatzil (G’d protect and save). The Satans come and dance also. So it's not a problem, right?"

Now, obviously, when this question came up, it's not really a question. Why it's not a question? And I explain this to the person this way. Imagine somebody told you, "Come to my house. I'm going to have a beautiful event with all types of luxuries, with all types of delicacies, amazing food, wonderful everything you can possibly imagine." "Wow, amazing." "Yeah, yeah, I want you to come. Make sure you get there at 8 o'clock, but you have to leave by 10:00. Under no circumstances do you leave a minute after 10:00." "Okay, fine. No, no problem, no problem. It's just..." "Okay, fine. Listen, the fact that you're inviting me is great. I appreciate it." "What?" "Yeah, but it's going to be beautiful. Beautiful food, beautiful people, beautiful this, beautiful that." "Wow, wow, I can't wait to come. But make sure you leave at 10:00." "Okay, okay, I won't listen. Why you keep mentioning this leaving at 10:00? What's the big deal?"

"Listen, I wasn't going to tell you, but since you asked, I'm going to tell you. You see, I like you, and I want you to come. I want you to enjoy the food. I want you to enjoy the environment, the aroma, the smell is even going to be beautiful. Come at 8:00, enjoy yourself to 10 o'clock. But at 10 o'clock, you have to leave. Why? Because I like you. I don't want you to see what's going to happen after 10:00. What's going to happen after 10:00?" "Well, after 10:00, at 10:01 on the dot, we have a special system designed, already timed, from now, that's going to launch huge fireworks, banners, planes in the sky, all types of things with all types of curses and insults of your father. So I figured you're probably not going to want to see that part. So it's good to just enjoy the first two hours. And, you know, pretend like the rest of the stuff is not going to happen."

Let me ask you guys a question. How many of you are going to go to that party where after two hours of wining and dining you, they kick you out? Why? Because they don't want you to see them insulting your father. And that's the reality. When there is a wedding, when there's a bar mitzvah, when there's any type of event where they tell you, "Listen, we're not going to have mixed dancing. That's forbidden according to the Torah. It's giluy arayot (exposure of nakedness), meaning die and not sin. For two hours, you can enjoy wine, die, and make your belly bigger than what it already is. But after two hours, we're putting banners that we care less what the Torah says." How many of you are going to do that? No one's going to do that. Same concept. Same concept.

But what happens is, Rabotai Nekarim (my dear friends), if a person does not learn Torah, or perhaps learns Torah but doesn't get enough to that point, or perhaps does not have anybody else influencing them in the right way to know what they need to know when they need to know it, a person could simply fail in things like this. Not because they want to go against G’d. Not because they hate G’d. But rather because there's a klipah. There's a klipah of the Chiti. And this klipah makes him or her scared of missing out, scared of missing out of the dancing with boys and girls, scared of missing out of being like the nations.

That's why last week's Parashat Shoftim (Torah portion of Judges), HaKadosh Baruch Hu on one end tells us, "You shall have a king," but then He tells us, "But don't have a king. Don't want a king like the nations." Wait, so do you want us to have a king, or you don't want us to have a king? On one end, it says, "You're going to have a king." King of flesh and blood. Mashiach is going to be a king. Moshe (Moses) Rabbeinu (our teacher) was a king. Shaul (Saul) HaMelech (the king) was a king. David HaMelech was a king. Shlomo (Solomon) HaMelech was a king. These were righteous people. But yet, when Shmuel (Samuel) HaNavi (the prophet) hears that Am Yisrael wants a king, he rebukes them. He says the Torah specifically says, "Don't do this. Don't ask for a king like the nations." But Hashem said, "Have a king." You want us to have a king? You don't want us to have a king?

So here the Chachamim (wise men) explain, "Yes, you should have a king. And there were times during Am Yisrael's history that there were certain disasters that happened because we didn't have a leader. We didn't have a leader, and disasters happened because there was no leader. So we need a leader. And Hashem says, ‘You shall have one. You shall have a king.’ But don't have a king because the other nations have a king. Don't have a king that is going to act like the other nations' king, where it's all about his glamour, it's all about his wealth, it's all about his glory, it's all about his power, it's all about...it has nothing to do with the Torah. No, no, no. Have a king. Have a Jewish king. A king that has two Sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls). One in his palace, one on him at all times. Where even if his father was the preceding king and gave him a Sefer Torah, he still has to write a Sefer Torah himself. Why? Because that Sefer Torah he has to learn in order to fear Hashem. So the king you shall have, make sure it's a Jewish king. Not Jewish by religion only. But rather Jewish by following the Torah. The king has to be the biggest tzaddik. The king has to have the biggest yirat shamayim. He has to fear G’d, not just be a king of glory and armies and weapons and a king that drinks and procreates all day. No, don't be like the nations. Don't be like the nations.”

And what happens is when a person fails for the second layer of the klipah, he passed the first one. He wasn't humble, false humility. He only had the right humility. But the second klipah made him fail. Why? He was afraid that if he has a party where there is men on one side, women on the other side, there's clearly modesty, there's a mechitza (partition) between them, they can't see each other dancing, then perhaps some of the non-religious Jews or even the Gentiles that are coming to the party, they're going to look at him as he's different. He's too religious. She's too religious. Why are they not having mixed dancing? Why isn't this like a nightclub? And what ends up happening is people fail. And if it's not the host that fails, it's the guests that fail, where they know that they're not allowed to go to that wedding or that bar mitzvah or that event because there's going to be mixed dancing there. But they're afraid that if they don't go, then people are going to be mad at them, or they're not going to be popular anymore, or they're not going to be invited for other things, or they're not going to get inheritance, and all types of other nonsense that distances a person from Hashem.

And that's why the Torah tells us there are seven layers of klipah. Just like there are seven layers of the sefirot on the holy side, there are seven layers on the other side, and the evil side that are constantly trying to destroy the person. And we are just at the second level. The second level is being afraid of missing out of things that are forbidden.

The third nation, the Perizzi. What's a Perizzi? Chofshi. Chofish. Wantedness. Feel like free from obligation. Let me do whatever I want. That's the klipah of a person doesn't want to answer to anyone, including G’d. He wants to do whatever he wants. This comes from the concept of the unwalled cities. A person wants to not have any limitations, do whatever he wants, wake up whenever he wants, go to sleep wherever he wants, eat whatever he wants, and he thinks that by allowing himself or allowing herself to do whatever they want, that's freedom. But in reality, that's the Satan putting handcuffs and cuffs on their legs and cuffs on their mind and on their heart. Why? By allowing yourself to eliminate all restrictions, all limitations, you have now become a prisoner of your own desires. You become a prisoner of your own desires because you can eat whatever you want. You can eat whenever you want. You can go wherever you want. There's no limitation. And then you start realizing since there's no limitation, there's no end. And the more you satiate yourself with these forbidden desires, as Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai says, the more hungry you become.

You fed yourself one forbidden satiation, and all of a sudden, you're hungry. It's like Chinese food. The more you eat, the hungrier you become. It's unbelievable. You ordered food for three, even though you're only one. You ate the whole thing, even though you wanted to keep for tomorrow. But somehow you're still hungry. Ten minutes later. How is it possible? Same thing. Forbidden desires. By allowing yourself to have no limitations, you become a prisoner of your desires. So while a person thinks that's freedom, in reality, they're simply making themselves a permanent prisoner to their desires. And that's represented by the klipah of the Perizzi.

The fourth klipah is the Emori. What's the Emori? It comes from the word amar, l'emor, to say, where this klipah is representing that the Satan is constantly speaking to this person to constantly tell him, "Go here, do this, do that." Constantly reminding him of all the things that are constantly on his mind. "Why don't you take that? Why don't you look at her? Why don't you go there? Why don't you take that? Do, do, do, do." Constantly, but everything the opposite of what's allowed. Everything the opposite of what's allowed. The Satan is constantly in his head. He's constantly in our head. "Oh, why are you going to wear that? That's too modest. What are you, a grandmother? Come on, show it. If you're not going to show it now, when are you going to show it? You're not even married. Once you get married, then you'll be modest. Come on. No, do it. Live a little."

And the Satan is constantly in our mind, constantly in our mind, telling her to do something that's not allowed. "No, it's only a kiss. It's only a hand. It's only a this. It's only a that. Only, only, only." And the Satan got her. And as a tongue got him. Why? They're listening to that inner voice that is looking to destroy them. Looking to destroy them.

Now, the Chivi is another layer of the klipah, which the sages compared to a...the Aramaic word for snake. It's spelled chet, yud, vav, alef, but why the snake? Of course, everyone knows the serpent that was in Gan Eden (Garden of Eden) when Adam and Chava (Eve) were fooled...Adam and Chava to eat from the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. But in essence, the snake itself is already recognized as arum. Arum meaning he is conniving, constantly seducing a person to sin. But what does that have to do with the image of the snake? Why the snake? Why the snake and not, let's just say, a lion? Or a zebra? Or some other creature? Let's just say, I don't know, a lizard. Why the snake?

...says when he was younger, they had some event where they brought some animals to show the kids. He was one of the kids. And one of the things that the person was teaching about snakes is that snakes are very conniving. How so? He says, "If you ever see a snake on a tree, run away." Why? Because the way that a snake fools people is that he wraps himself around the tree, and he leaves his tail hanging. And that tail hanging and flapping a little bit gets the attention of the people. And as they're looking at this tail, they're not realizing that, yes, while the tail is up there and you're looking up, the mouth of the snake is on the bottom and close to you, being the prey. The nature of the snake is constantly to fool by steering your attention in one place and getting you somewhere else.

This is the klipah of the Chivi. The klipah of the Chivi is constantly trying to give a person these negative feelings of guilt when they're not guilty of anything. Or perhaps they're not as guilty as what this feeling is telling them. "Oh, I'm not doing enough for my kids. They should have this, they should have that, but I don't have it, but I want the best for them." And it gives the mother a miserable feeling, or the father a miserable feeling, that their kids are not having all of what they want to give them, as if it's their fault, as if they're spending all the money on other things. No, they just simply don't have, and they have this miserable feeling, even though they're not doing anything wrong.

"Oh, they deserve better. They should get better. Why don't I have it for them?" And that makes the mother or the father very, very depressed. And the more depressed a person becomes, the more distant they are from Hashem. Why? Because instead of being grateful for what Hashem is giving us, instead of being thankful for what Hashem is giving us, we become bitter because of this false guilt, guilt that's completely unnecessary.

And this, Rabotai, is what the snake wants, what the klipah of the snake wants. It wants to get your attention in one place so you can look at this someplace that's completely irrelevant to the reality while he bites you as often as possible while you're still distracted with something else. That's the Chivi.

The Yevusi. Yevusi comes from the word mevo'os, station, something that is stuck somewhere, where the Satan wants to get a person to start sinning somewhere, anything. Big, small, doesn't make a difference. And we'll see from the Chovot HaLevavot in a minute, which I'll bring to you, be'ezrat Hashem, how lethal, how evil the Satan is.

The Satan doesn't start with the whole package. If you're observing Torah and mitzvot, he's not coming to you with idolatry on day one. He's not coming to you with intermarriage on day one. No, no. He's coming to you with something small. Missed prayers, don't make a blessing, something small. Why? Why? Once you, as the Gemara in Massechet Shabbat (Tractate of Shabbat) says, once you follow here, you follow there. Each day is going to get you somewhere else. Eventually, it's going to get you to the worst thing.

And that's the Yevusi. The Yevusi is after the Satan, after that klipah has fooled you to fall for something big. You just drove on Shabbat. You just committed some type of intermarriage. You just did something with a non-Jewish woman, non-Jewish man, and you're a Jew. You just ate forbidden food. Horrible, terrible. You just went to a church, and you realize, "Whoa, what did I just do? How can I go to this place? How can I be with this person? How can I do this to Hashem? I have peyot, I'm a Jew. I went to yeshiva. How can I do this? Oh man, no."

What does the klipah do? It doesn't get you there. What the klipah is looking to do, what the yetzer hara, the Satan is looking to do there is to keep you there. It's not just getting you to sin. The first several layers got you to sin with the non-Jew, with the non-kosher, with the Shabbat. No, no. Those are the first several layers. The Yevusi is going to try to keep you there by saying to you, "Listen, Avraham, listen, David, listen, you already sinned with her. What's the difference if you do it again? What's the difference? You already drove on Shabbat. Nothing happened. Nothing happened. The car didn't blow up. You're really going to miss this party and not go start keeping Shabbat next week? You already ate non-kosher. It was good, right? Come on, you can't get out of it. Come on, you know you like it."

And the Satan starts speaking in your mind. Start speaking in your mind. Start convincing you you can't get out of it. You love her, even though you are forbidden to even hold her hand. You love him, even though you're forbidden from being in the same room as him. You love it. You can't get away from it. You're stuck. "Listen, Rabbi, it's too far. I'm already with her for six months, for six years. I can't go. I can't leave. I love him. I love this. I love that." That's the Yevusi. That's the klipah of the Yevusi that's convincing you that you cannot get out of the situation that you're in, which is a lie.

So long as you're alive, you can do teshuva. You can get out of whatever hole you got yourself into. Okay, you violated Shabbat. You violated two Shabbatot. You violated Shabbat for 30 years. You're still alive. Start keeping Shabbat. "Yeah, but I violated 30 years. How is G’d going to forgive me for the first 30 years?" It starts with keeping Shabbat now. Start keeping Shabbat from now on. You're a Jew, you're obligated to keep Shabbat. Every Shabbat. "What about the first 30 years?" First keep, then we'll talk about the other 30 years. There's a way to fix everything.

But don't fall for the trap of the Satan that tells you that you can't get out of it or what the idolatrous nations like you to believe, the only way to get out of your sins is if some Yoshke, some idol, that some guy that turned himself into a G’d or people turned him to a G’d, he's the only way to save you from sins. This is complete nonsense. You are here to save yourself. You are responsible for yourself. No one's here to save you. You will have to take yourself into your own hands and fix yourself. You're not stuck anywhere. You're alive, you can fix it.

Hashem does not give you tests you cannot pass. He's not looking to punish you for no reason. He gave you a test because He gave you the powers to pass them. He doesn't need, and you don't need anybody else to pass the tests for you. You don't need a savior. You don't need anything. You need simply to take yourself by the hands and just push forward. Push past it. Don't fall for the trap of thinking somebody's going to save you or the lottery is going to save you or some miracle is going to save you. Do what Hashem says, whatever is within your ability to do now, and push forward. And you'll see that once you help yourself, Hashem will help you. But so long as you pin the responsibility on somebody else, "No, the Messiah will save me, Yoshke is going to save me, Buddha is going to save me, the lottery is going to save me, this one is going to save me," guess what? That's all the Satan trying to disable you, trying to convince you you can't save yourself.

That's why it's idolatry to believe in Christianity, in the New Testament. Why? They have simply removed people's willpower to improve themselves. They'll tell you, "Hitler, he sinned. Yeah, he did bad things, but guess what? So long as he believes in Yoshke, he's saved." That's what that Matthew Kelly missionary says in his book, Hitler, Osama Bin Laden, all of these terrorists, they're saved as long as they believe in Yashka, they're saved. Doesn't matter how big of a murderer they are. Why? Because if you believe in someone needs to save you, you have no responsibility for yourself. They've removed everything true from the Torah. They removed everything. And therefore, a murderer, a rapist, a pedophile, a thief, everyone can go to heaven, so long as you pin the responsibility on some foreign idol called Yoshke, also told Jesus. This is against the Torah.

Why? Torah says, HaKadosh Baruch Hu created you. Why? So you are responsible for your own actions. No one is responsible for you. No one is going to save you. You have to save yourself. You have to save yourself. You have to roll your sleeves and get yourself out of the mud. You're stuck. You are kleptomaniac. You're a thief. You're a crazy person. Stop it and start moving forward in a positive direction. But when a person listens to the Satan, a person's going to believe that they're stuck.

That's the klipah of the Yevusi. The Yevusi could turn even a person that used to be religious and observant at all of the Torah and the mitzvot chas v'shalom (G’d forbid) into an idol worshiper, into an idol worshiper believing that they cannot save themselves. That's the Yevusi.

And the Girgashi, Rabotai Nekarim, the Girgashi, Rabotai Nekarim, comes from the word gerush, gerushim (exile/divorce). What's gerush? Gerushim? Divorce, where a person can get to such a low state where they think that they can't come back to Hashem. They can't come back to Hashem. They've sinned too much. There's no way to turn back. There's no way to go back to Hashem, and that's it. And that's the biggest lie in the world. If you are alive, you can do teshuva. If you are alive, you can fix. So long as the light is still on, if the candle is still on, the fire is still on, there's still time to fix.

That's what Rabbi Yisrael Salanter learned from a shoemaker, from a shoemaker. It was night. It was the month of Elul. Rabbi Yisrael Salanter saw everything as darkness, except this one window of light. He went to the place, saw there was a shoemaker. Some say he was a watchmaker. Doesn't really make a difference. But he was working still, and he says to the man, "Why are you still working? It's night." And the man told him, "So long as the candle is still lit, there is still more work that can be done." And Rabbi Yisrael Salanter learned mussar (ethical teachings) from this lesson and ran back to the beit midrash (study hall) and told his bachurim (young men), told his talmidim, "So long as the light is on, we can still do teshuva," meaning so long as you're alive, you can still fix. Don't believe the Satan that tells you you're too far gone. It doesn't matter what you did. You can fix it.

And anyone that wants to see real testimony of that, you can either watch my personal film, “Hashem Took Back His Millions - My Teshuva,” or the countless other films that my students over the last decade have done teshuva. Some have come from idolatry. Some have come from all types of things and have transformed their life. Why? Because it wasn't too late. They were still alive. They were still alive. Don't believe that someone is here to save you. You are here to save yourself.

But furthermore, the Girgashi is not done with just telling you that you are too far gone. The Girgashi is going to try to get you divorced from Hashem. How? There is a concept that the Mishnah in Massechet Avot teaches that each mitzvah that you do creates an angel. Each sin that you do creates a demon, creates a negative angel, a negative force that will put stress on you, put force on you to make more sins. So in order to get you divorced from Hashem, the Girgashi, what does he do? He comes, and he messes with you when you're in the middle of a mitzvah. When you're in the middle of a mitzvah, you're in the middle of learning, you're in the middle of praying, you're in the middle of finishing a masechet (tractate), finishing a verse in the Torah. That's all you got today. You didn't learn anything. Finally, you say, "You know what, let me just go to sleep. Let me read a couple of things, two lines, three lines from the Torah, and then I'll go to sleep. I don't have energy to study all night. Let me just…let me read a couple of lines." B'davka (specifically) when you finally get to it, all of a sudden, there's a phone call. All of a sudden, one of the kids is crying. All of a sudden, your wife needs you. All of a sudden, somebody's knocking on the door. All of a sudden this. All of a sudden that. Why? Why? Why in the middle of a mitzvah?

"You had time all day to mess with me, Satan. All day you can mess with me. Why are you messing with me when I'm trying to pray to Hashem?" Because Satan knows that Mishnah also. He knows that if you complete that verse, if you complete that prayer, if you complete that mitzvah, you will create an angel that will help you make another mitzvah. And he doesn't want you to create that angel. So therefore, he's going to do everything possible to divorce you from that mitzvah being completed. Because if you stop, guess what? No mitzvah. No angel. No power to do a mitzvah. You stuck where you are. You stuck. Hashem Yerachem (G’d have mercy).

Here we see literally the evilness of the Satan. But to truly get a picture of what we're dealing with here, we have to go back to the Chovot HaLevavot. A thousand years ago. In Sha'ar Yichud HaMa'aseh (Gate of Unity of Action), the gate of wholehearted devotion of all acts, chapter 5, section 5. 5-5. The Chovot HaLevavot gives us a description that is going to feel at home in your mind right now. You're going to hear this, and you're going to feel as if you know this. You're going to feel as if this is who you are, and it doesn't matter who you are. You're going to feel like this was written for you. "I can't believe this was written a thousand years ago," is what you're going to say. And you have to remember this because this is literally the key to everything.

Says the Chovot HaLevavot, Rabbeinu Bachya, "Oh man, you should know that the greatest enemy that you have in the world is your own evil impulse, which is interwoven with the powers of your soul and intertwined in the character of your spirit, associated with you in governing your senses and spiritual faculties, privy to the secrets of your soul and to what is hidden deep inside you. Your counselor in all your willful movements, whether observable or concealed."

So the Chovot HaLevavot, Rabbeinu Bachya, is already telling us the biggest enemy is not Hamas, it's not the government, it's not your financial issues. No, no. The biggest enemy that you have, doesn't matter who you are, is inside you. It's your evil inclination, who knows all your secrets, knows all the deep feelings you have, and in fact, is part of all your decision-making.

Furthermore, “It lies in wait to entice you at your every step. You are unaware of it, but it is aware of you. You are unmindful of it, but it is not unmindful of you. It clothes itself in the garb of friendship for you, adorns itself with the adornment of love for you, it joins the circle of your confidence, counselors and choices, friends, and seems eager to do your will, as indicated in its outward movements and gestures. But in fact, it is shooting deadly arrows at you to uproot you from the land of the living, as the Torah says of someone of this nature, ‘Like a madman who shoots firebrands and deadly arrows, so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I did it only in sport.”’" This is in Proverbs 26:18-19.

It's said about Ishmael, who used to pretend like he's playing with Yitzchak (Isaac) by putting an apple on his head and shooting it with an arrow but really he was trying to kill him, but then saying, "I was just kidding, it was just a sport." That's the yetzer hara. He pretends like he's kidding with you, but in reality, he's trying to kill you. He pretends to be your friend, but in reality, he's your enemy.

“The most powerful of its weapons which it hurls at you and with which it assaults you and your innermost being is its attempt to sow doubt in your mind about true notions, confound you in what has been clear to you, and confuse your soul with mistaken notions and false arguments,” like telling you, "G’d needs you." “If thereby distracts you from your true interests and causes you to doubt confirmed doctrines and beliefs, if you will be wary of it and have ready the weapons of your understanding with which to fight it and turn its arrows away from you, you will be delivered from it and will escape it, and with G’d's help. But if you abandon all your interest to it and follow its lead, it will not let you alone until it has destroyed you in both worlds and has uprooted you from both abodes. And it is written of one of its branches, one of its soldiers…” This is also in Proverbs 7, verses 26 and 27, “For she has cast down many dead, a great many of those that she has killed. Her house is the way to the netherworld, leading down to the chambers of death.”

Furthermore, says the Chovot HaLevavot, “And therefore, let no other struggle divert you from your struggle with it. Let no other battle divert you from your battle with it. Do not let conflict with one who is far from you keep you from combating that which is inseparable from you. Do not let the repulsion of one who can reach you only with permission keep you from repelling that which needs not ask permission in order to be with you.” In so many words, instead of being worried about the war in Gaza, the war in Russia, the war in some other place, concentrate on the war inside you, because that's the only war that matters. You literally have an atomic Gog and Magog war within each and every single one of us that people are ignoring. Why? Because the Satan is convincing them to focus their attention elsewhere. Focus on the recession, the depression, the animosity, the, you know, this, the that. Get your attention elsewhere and forget about the war that's inside you.

“The story is told of a pious man who met a group of people returning with the spoils of war and after vanquishing their enemy in a fierce battle, and he said to them, ‘You have returned victoriously from a minor struggle. Now prepare yourselves for the major struggle.’ ‘And what is this major struggle?’ they asked him. ‘The struggle with the evil inclination and its armies,’ he said to them.”

It's an amazing thing, my brother. Any other foe, when you defeat him once or twice, will leave you alone and give up the idea of attacking you. Aware of your superior strength, he loses hope of ever defeating and overpowering you. The evil inclination, however, will not leave you alone after one or even after a hundred defeats, regardless of whether it defeats you or you defeat it. For if it defeats you, it will utterly destroy you. And if you defeat it once, it will lie in wait for you all your life in order to subdue you, as our masters of blessed memory said in Pirkei Avot (Chapters of the Fathers), chapter 2, Mishnah number 4, “Do not be sure of yourself until the day of your death.”

“It does not consider the smallest of your affairs as too insignificant a means for overcoming you. A small matter serves it as a stepping stone to vanquish you in something higher.”

One of the other things that it says…this can get very lengthy, but two other statements that it says here that really hit home with me where it says, “Its chief intent is to make truth out of falsehood…” Here is where we see many people in our generation that are confused at what the truth is, where they vehemently defend falsehood and fight against the truth. They swear that the New Testament is true, even though it's 100% idolatry for anyone who investigates it. They swear that Manus is speaking the truth when he says that G’d needs you, even though no sage has ever said anything remotely close to that. In fact, they speak against it constantly. They swear that there is no judgment beyond 12 months in Gehenna (hell), even though it makes no common sense whatsoever, and there's no source for such a thing, and even when you provide them the sources, you provide them the proofs, they're so confused and so biased and so committed to the falsehood, they're convinced that even if it doesn't make sense, it must be true anyway.

So why do we keep fighting? Why do we keep trying to help people? Because of one of the other statements the Chovot HaLevavot says, “For the little truth overcomes much falsehood, just as a little light dispels much darkness.”

This, Rabotai Nekarim, is the statement that is as empowering as you can possibly be, where even though there are seven layers of kedusha that perhaps are very far away from most of us, and there are seven layers of impurity, of the sitra achra, that are not only close but are literally inside some of us, the Torah tells us if you commit to the Torah, you start learning Torah, and you start doing what the Torah says. Each day, a little bit more light. Each day, a little bit more truth. That little bit of light will eventually enlighten not only you but will make all the darkness that's within you go away.

This is what the Tzetil Katan of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk is trying to help us with. It's not just about saying those names of seven nations but knowing what they stand for. If a person knows who they're fighting against, certainly, they're going to be more prepared. If they know that each one of these names represents a different flaw within themselves, a different enticement of the Satan, each one of these names stands for something that I need extra help from Hashem for.

That when I say K'naani, I'm not referring to the idol worshipers from a few thousand years ago. I'm referring to the Satan that's trying to influence me with this…with this…that is trying to convince me to pretend like I'm humble but in reality when I'm not.

When I say the Chiti, I'm not referring to some nation that lived 3,000 years ago and used to pray to idols. I'm referring to Hashem helping me remove these thoughts of fear of missing out, being like the nations, being like the heretics. Remove these false beliefs. Remove these false notions from my mind.

When I say the name of the Emori, I'm not trying to refer to some fools that had all types of strange haircuts and would literally burn their children as a form of idolatry. I'm referring to Hashem removing this evil voice from my mind that's telling me to go against Him, that's telling me to go against my wife, go against my husband, go against my kids, go against my G’d because perhaps that will make me more likable. Remove these voices from my mind.

When I say the Perizzi, I'm praying to HaKadosh Baruch Hu to remove this desire to not have any limitations, to live freely like the barbarians, live freely like the idolaters. I want the rules. I want the limitations because they're good for me. They connect me to Hashem, and they save me from losing myself.

When I say the name of the Chivi, I'm not referring to people that HaKadosh Baruch Hu was disgusted by but rather I'm praying to Hashem to remove all the traps of the Satan and all of these things that are distracting me from really knowing where the enemy is, whether that enemy is coming in the form of a family friend or even a false teacher that could even call themselves a rabbi. I'm asking Hashem to help me see where the falsehood is and remove me from there.

When I say the name of the Yevusi, I'm asking HaKadosh Baruch Hu to please help me never get to a point where I feel hopeless and helpless because I've made so many mistakes but rather always have the same zeal as the most successful person in the world, even though I'm in the middle of a failure, to help me never give up on myself, no matter what mistake I've made, and never settle for failure.

And lastly, when I say the Girgashi, I want Hashem to please be kind with me and make me always feel that He's with me and that I never forget that it's not possible for me to be divorced from my Creator, for me to be divorced from my Father in Heaven.

When a person says those words, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk says, "This is the lachash that will save you from any of those seven layers of klipah that are trying to destroy you.”

It may be as well that each and every single one of us remembers not just the words of "K'naani, Chiti, Emori, Perizzi, Chivi, Yevusi, Girgashi" but also remember their meaning, of what we learned tonight and thereby be saved. Thank you very much for learning with me. May HaKadosh Baruch Hu bless each and every single one of us to have these teachings imprinted into our minds and our hearts and to utilize them to save ourselves from evil and anything that looks like it, and be'ezrat Hashem, cleave on to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, His Torah, and His sages, and be'ezrat Hashem, serve Hashem with all of our strength, with all of our hearts, with all of our soul, with all of our resources.

Anyone that wants to contribute to our organization can either donate on the website, bh-tora.org. There's also the campaign that's coming up later this week, be'ezrat Hashem, the Rosh Hashanah campaign. And again, I ask you guys not only to help and contribute generously but also take upon yourself to convince 5, 10, 20 of the people that are in your circle to give and be as conscious about their giving and as caring about their giving as you are about yours because greater is the one that enables others to do good than even the good that they do themselves. Kol Tuv (all the best), b'hatzlacha (with success), and be'ezrat Hashem we'll learn again later this week.

Glossary of Key Terms

Hebrew Term	Literal Translation	Explanation
Lachash	Whisper	A statement or mantra recited with the intention of invoking spiritual power. In this context, it's a tool to combat the Yetzer Hara.
Yetzer Hara	Evil Inclination	The inherent human tendency towards negativity, selfishness, and sin. It's a constant force that needs to be battled and overcome.
Chassidut	Piety	A branch of Jewish mysticism emphasizing joy, devotion, and going beyond the basic requirements of Jewish law.
Segula	Remedy/Special Power	An object, action, or word believed to possess unique spiritual potency or protective qualities.
Klipah	Shell/Husk	In Kabbalah, it refers to the forces of impurity and negativity that conceal the divine light. It's often translated as "shell" or "husk," representing something that obscures the true essence.
Teshuva	Repentance	The process of turning away from sin and returning to Hashem. It involves remorse, confession, and a commitment to change one's ways.
Mitzvah	Commandment	A divine precept or obligation in Jewish law. Fulfilling mitzvot is considered a way to connect with Hashem and elevate one's soul.
Hashem	The Name	A common way to refer to G’d in Judaism, avoiding direct pronunciation of the divine name. It literally means "The Name."
Sitra Achra	The Other Side	In Kabbalah, it refers to the realm of impurity, negativity, and evil. It's considered the opposite of holiness and a force that seeks to obstruct the divine plan.
Gemara	Completion	The analytical and commentary portion of the Talmud, containing discussions and debates on Jewish law and tradition.
Massechet	Tractate	A division or section within the Gemara, focusing on a specific topic of Jewish law or practice.
Chachamim	Wise Men	Sages and scholars of Jewish law and tradition. Their teachings and interpretations are highly respected in Judaism.
Tzaddik	Righteous Person	An individual who lives a life of piety, righteousness, and adherence to Jewish law.
Talmid	Student	A disciple or follower of a rabbi or teacher.
Sefer	Book	A written work, especially a sacred text.
Shabbat	Sabbath	The seventh day of the week, observed as a day of rest and spiritual reflection in Judaism.
Beit Midrash	House of Study	A place dedicated to the study of Torah and Jewish texts.
Chas V'Shalom	G’d Forbid	An expression used to ward off negative possibilities or express disapproval of something undesirable.
B'davka	Specifically/Intentionally	An adverb indicating a deliberate action or choice, often implying a surprising or unexpected outcome.
Rabotai Nekarim	My Dear Friends	A term of endearment used by a speaker to address an audience.

IYH kindly donate for kiruv, kollelim and avrechim in E.Y. and spreading Torah beezrathashem.org

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