Look to the Future

 

 

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev teaches us that a man must always look ahead, instead of dwelling on the past. About himself, he said that he would stop thinking about what had happened, and then never think about it again.

 

We should make every effort to emulate this way of thinking. When we transgress or fail in performing a mitzvah, we should try not to dwell on our mistake and “dig” into it. Instead, we should continue with our Divine service with all the strength and simcha (joy) that we had before the transgression.

 

Simply put, this is a tactical method for fighting a battle. We are fighting a war with the yetzer hara, (the evil inclination). Sometimes, when the yetzer hara overcomes us, the war becomes a battle for survival. Since we’re at war, there’s no time to backtrack and investigate the hits we suffered. Instead, we must focus on continuing the fight, to prevent ourselves from further attack.

 

There is no doubt that if a boxer would stop to mope over every blow he suffered, instead of continuing the fight, he would lose the match. While he dwelled on his wounds, his opponent would overwhelm him with crushing blows.

 

Of course we have to lick our wounds and learn our lesson, but everything has its time and place. If we make a mistake, we certainly have to do teshuva – repentance – but at the right time, not in the midst of our struggle. Instead, we should wait until we have a quiet moment for secluded prayer or meditation – hitbodedut – and then utilize that time to do Teshuva.

 

During hitbodedut, we think about everything that happened to us, examine our deeds and judge them with an eye to self-improvement. Outside of that appointed time, however, we should focus on moving ahead and ask ourselves, “What can I do in the future to prevent a reoccurrence of this mistake?”

 

 

A Jew who keeps Torah and mitzvot is called a shomer – one who guards – Torah u’mitzvot, because in Hebrew, observance is the same as guarding. The purpose of a guard is to watch a camp or city and prevent the enemy from penetrating the defenses. However, if the enemy did penetrate the camp, the guard must not leave his post to chase after the enemy, because he has to remain on guard to stop other enemy forces from entering the camp. He sounds the alarm and then remains on his post, watchful and alert.

 

This idea applies to shomer habrit – “guarding the covenant,” which refers to protecting our eyes from illicit sights and our guarding our thoughts from indecency. Let’s say, for example, a person is walking in the street, trying to guard his eyes from indecent sights, when he forgets to be careful and looks at something prohibited. Instead of dwelling on what he did, he should forget about it and strengthen his efforts to guard his eyes in the future. He’s still considered a shomer brit, because guarding refers to the future and not to the past. To learn more about this idea, click here.

The Torah compares a man to a city, as it is written, “A man who doesn’t halt his urges is like a breached city, without a wall.” A man who never battles the yetzer hara is similar to a conquered city; since he is completely under the influence of the yetzer hara, he does not see a need for battle. He is under the dictatorship of a cruel master.

 

There is another type of city – the city of Jerusalem – which corresponds to the heart of man perfected in fear of Heaven: Yerushalayim = Yeru – fear of Heaven, and shalayim – perfection.

 

The idea applies to all other mitzvot, whether we’re discussing shemiras Shabbos (keeping Shabbos) shemiras halashon (guarding our tongue) or shemiras habris (guarding the Covenant). We have to behave like a guard, who constantly remains vigilant. If we had “let our guard down” and made a mistake, we must wake up and increase our alertness. If we focus on the mistake, we’re likely to abandon our post.

 

In our city there is no place for fear and sadness. No benefit comes of depression. We must rid ourselves of it, like enemy spies planted in our midst to ruin our morale and weaken our fighters.

 

Through recognizing the battle and taking Rebbe Nachman’s advice, we’ll win the war and be privileged to rebuild the holy city of Jerusalem, which symbolizes the heart perfected in fear of Heaven.