Parshas Vayakhel

by Rabbi Shlomo Goldberg

With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the USSR many expressions and iconsassociated with communism departed as well. One of the words that one doesnot hear so much anymore is "propaganda". American baby-boomers grew upknowing that the unsuspecting and naïve people of Russia and Eastern Europewere continually subjected to speeches and advertising intended toindoctrinate and brainwash them into following the false philosophies of theGreat Red Enemy.

No one hears much about propaganda anymore and the world is better off forit. But we also know that everything that exists in HaShem's world has apositive virtue to it-propaganda included. The Rabbeinu Bachaye, in hisintroduction to Parashas Vayekhel explains how each of us needs to learn howto effectively use the power of propaganda in our personal development andthat of our children and students.

A human being is composed of two dominant forces, sechel-intellect, andteva-one's physical nature. It is in the sechel that the power of theyetzer hatov (that part of the human being which inclines us to do good)resides, while the body is the proud owner of the yetzer hara (thatinternal drive to go against G-d's will). It is the dissonance in thedesires of these two components wherein the battle of free will is fought.The hoped for outcome of this battle is the triumph of the intellect overthe body, with the mind ruling and controlling one's physical desires.

The Rabbeinu Bachaye explains that each of these elements, the mind and thebody, has its own particular language through which it comprehends andcommunicates. The sechel communicates in the dialect of reason,rationality, philosophy and logic. The physical side of man, however, knowsonly feeling, desire, and emotion. Therefore, he explains, it is impossibleto win the battle over the yetzer hara unless one learns to speak to it inits own language, that of feeling, emotion and physical pleasure.

It is for this reason, he explains, that King Solomon composed the majorityof his words of wisdom in the form of allegories. The Book of Proverbs isthe story of the benefits that accrue from the sechel as opposed to thedestruction that derives from following the body's lower desires. Toconvince the body to follow the mind it is necessary to display to the bodyin its own terms what it stands to gain or to lose.

For example, King Solomon wrote, "eat honey, my child, for it is good andthe drippings of the honeycomb are sweet on your palate; so is knowledge ofwisdom to your soul if you have found it, for it has a lasting outcome, andyour hope will not be cut off." (Proverbs 24:13) The body understands onlywhat is before it; it cannot contemplate or foresee what lies at the end ofthe matter. Therefore, the Rabbeinu Bachaye explains, it was necessary tocompare the acquisition of wisdom to the sweetest taste in the world, inorder to explain to the body what it can hope to gain, or by inference,lose. Only then is there a hope that the physical nature of man willforsake the temporary sweetness of the yetzer hara in the pursuit of theeternal sweetness of wisdom. In order for the body to listen, the topic ofthe conversation must be limited to sweetness, which is a subject that thebody can fully understand.

King Solomon used similar tactics to inspire his readers to give tzedaka(charity). He wrote, "Tzedaka saves from death" (Proverbs 11:4); "There isone who scatters and gathers more, and one who refrains from what is proper,only to lose" (Proverbs 11:24); and "One who gives to the poor does notlose." (Proverbs 28:27) He did not speak of the importance of the mitzva oftzedaka, or how it is the morally and philosophically correct thing to do.He wisely and simply stated that if you give tzedaka you won't die, you willbecome richer, and most certainly you will not lose. These are issues towhich even the yetzer hara can relate.

In the terminology of the great Slobodka Yeshiva, this method of speaking tothe body on its own terms was known as "propagandizing the yetzer hara".Perhaps the Communist intelligentsia was inspired by the philosophicalwritings of Marx and Engels. But I am sure that the rank and file membersof the Communist party were swayed by the Russian equivalent of a promise oftwo chickens in every pot. It is this method of directed propaganda that wemust use in fighting the war against our lesser inclinations.

Rav Dessler, ztz"l (Michtav MiEliyahu, Vol. II, page 46) explains anotheraspect of the propaganda approach. The yetzer hara is termed by KingSolomon in Ecclesiastes as an "old and foolish king." It is termed oldbecause it is wise and experienced. Even so, it is foolish since its owntactics can be used against it. For example, a person sits down to studyTorah only to find himself convinced by his yetzer hara that he has apressing matter that he must take care of. There are two ways to fight thisimpulse. One possibility is to counterattack and tell himself that this isjust a destructive impulse and force his mind back to his studies.Alternatively, he can use the yetzer hara's own approach, and tell himselfthat it really is an important matter that needs to be taken care of, but hejust can't do it right now. However, as soon as he is finished learning, hewill get right to it. Rav Dessler, ztz"l, explains that while the firsttactic encourages an all out battle, the latter tactic often works to quietthe yetzer hara completely.

We find that our patriarch Avraham used just this type of propaganda againsthis own yetzer hara. Our sages relate that on his way to binding andoffering his son Isaac at Mt. Moriah, Avraham was met by the Satan (a.k.a.yetzer hara & angel of death). The Satan tried to steer Avraham from hispath. He appeared before him in the form of an old man and asked him wherehe was going. Avraham replied, "I am going to pray." The "old man" thenasked, "Do you always go to pray with a fire and a knife, carrying wood onyour shoulder?" Avraham replied, "Well, you never know. It could end uptaking a few days, and this way I will be able to slaughter and bake andcook."

The obvious question that results from this account is what Avraham Avinuhoped to gain by making excuses to his own yetzer hara? Rav Dessler,ztz"l, says that our sages are teaching us a major tactic in dealing withour own nature. One can often deal most effectively with his yetzer byavoiding direct confrontation, and buying time instead by pushing off one'sbase desires with even the most flimsy of excuses.

If the leaders of mussar, that aspect of Torah Judaism that emphasizespersonal growth and ethics, recommend that we propagandize our owninclinations, then I believe we can extrapolate and apply this method to ouryoung children and students. Our sages tell us that the yetzer hara comesinto the soul of a child at birth. But his yetzer hatov is not assumed tobe fully on the scene until the age of bar or bas mitzva. This gives theyetzer hara a twelve or thirteen year head start. What is the childsupposed to do in the meantime?

The answer is that until the child matures, his parents and teachers need toserve as his or her yetzer hatov. As if we all do not have quite enoughtrouble being our own yetzer hatov! The only hope is to use every tacticavailable, including how to effectively use the power of propaganda.

When speaking to a child we need to follow the advice of the RabbeinuBachaye and use the language of the body. Philosophical dissertations toyoung children about the importance of Torah and mitzvos based on thewritings of Rav Saadia Gaon and the Rambam have little place in theclassroom or at the Shabbos table. Children, until they mature, need tohear that Torah is sweet, fun, and exciting. We need to become excellentstorytellers, creating detailed images of the elevated personalities oftzaddikim and the tangible rewards of Torah. The obligation of the seder tosee ourselves as if we ourselves are going out of Egypt is anotheropportunity to be sure that we include feeling and emotion in theexperience.

In addition, we quoted the Rabeinu Bachaye above as stating that the natureof those immersed in the physical (i.e. kids) is to see only the present,while forgetting the past and ignoring the future. Therefore, if we wantour children to improve and to successfully fight their yetzer hara, wemust create for them a picture of how good it is going to feel when theysucceeded. And once they have succeed, we need to remind them of how bad itfelt before they changed as compared with how good it feels now. Aschildren grow and mature we can speak more to their minds and intellect.But at the beginning, we need a heavy propaganda campaign if they and we areto succeed.

In Rav Dessler's terms, propaganda means using delaying tactics with childreninstead of turning every conflict into an all-out confrontation. Instead ofdenying a child's professed need, whether it be for unnecessary help,seconds on dessert, the toy that his classmate has, etc., we can acknowledgethe need while postponing its gratification. Like a hunger pain that ifignored often just goes away, the issue that is now poised to burst into afull-scale conflagration, will often disappear with a delay and adistraction.

We don't miss the communists. But their propaganda campaigns are somethingwe need to recall. We need to teach our minds how to talk so our bodies canlisten. In this way we can hope to survive the never-ending battle againstthe yetzer hara for control of the human spirit.

Parsha-Parenting, Copyright (c) 1999 by Rabbi Shlomo Goldberg andProject Genesis, Inc. Rabbi Goldberg is the menahel (spiritual advisor) ofYeshivas Ohr Eliyahu, and a highly acclaimed and popular speaker inLos Angeles.