B'H
Rabbi Arush recently explained (this is a paraphrase of a lecture my husband recorded) that the Yetzer Hara is the best thing in the world! Thank you Hashem for the Yetzer Hara!
This was a pretty incredible comment to me. I mean, I always think of the Yetzer as what he is – the Evil Inclination, as in evil. How could the EI possibly be good?
Rabbi Arush explains that the EI is incredibly good for us. Without the Yetzer, we would all float around, thinking that we’re tzaddikim on our pedestals. We might even think that we don’t really need Hashem to help us, G-d forbid!
But with the Yetzer, we fall all the time. We see our weaknesses. We cringe when we look back and realize that this conversation was lashon hara, and that time I got angry, and the other time I didn’t tell 100% truth.
Therefore, we come to Hashem with humility. We know we’re not the best thing since sliced bread. We recognize that we’re limited and fallible, that we make more mistakes than we recognize and get sucked into sins and lusts we didn’t even see coming. We recognize our place. And we come to Hashem from there.
Even more, when we do succeed, we see how much it really isn’t us. While yesterday I couldn’t overcome X desire, this morning I prayed extra, and wow I'm succeeding in overcoming it just a little more than yesterday. That’s not me – that’s Hashem! We recognize that we need Hashem, and thank Him for enabling us to overcome the Yetzer, and pray with humility. And that’s the best thing in the world.
