Your Soul in Control

In the book Duties of the Heart, the author teaches that all physical actions should be for the sake of Hashem. In other words, all physical pursuits should have a spiritual purpose. Unfortunately, all too often under the influence of our arch enemy, the Evil Inclination, we get caught up in the pursuit of material acquisitions and satisfying physical and emotional drives for their own sake losing sight of Hashem. This diverts us from our main purpose in life, which is to know and serve the Creator.

The body can and should be holy, but it is sanctified only when it is serving the needs of the soul. The body should be a sailor on the ship, but not the captain. One of my teachers points out that in Hebrew the body is called the Goof. When we put Goofy in the driver’s seat we are asking for big trouble!

Our lifelong task is to look for ways to put the soul in the driver’s seat. When we do this we acknowledge the Kingship of Hashem, as the soul is a tiny Divine microchip, so to speak, a piece of Hashem’s Divine Soul which He has invested within us.

Focus on One Main Objective

How can we do this? According to the teachings of Rav Shalom Arush it would be best to pick one prime area to work on consistently. Here are some potential areas from a rather large menu:

Personal Holiness – guarding our eyes and ensuring that forbidden images do not blemish our minds and souls. Our Sages teach that the Evil Inclination enters via the eyes.  What the eyes see the heart covets.

Regulating our speech – ensuring that we think before we speak and refrain from gossip, slander and hurtful talk.

Preventing anger – retaining our composure and realizing that everything that happens in our life is from Hashem for our ultimate good. This will prevent explosions of anger that are devastating to us and others.

Eating in holiness and good health – eating mindfully and joyfully with the service of Hashem as our goal. This can transform our eating from a mundane activity into a holy service and at the same time prevent serious health problems.

In each of these areas we need to go against the grain to regulate, control and direct our physical and emotional urges. What should be our approach?

* First we need to select an area of focus based on our own personal situation. Preferably this should be in consultation with one’s Rabbi or spiritual advisor who knows us very well. This will ensure we select the objective most suitable for us given our current needs and spiritual standing.

* Next we should study Torah sources and learn all we can about this particular area.  We should write down teachings we find to be particularly powerful and inspiring.

* We should bring these teachings into our daily prayers. Bringing our Torah learning into our prayers causes enormous gratification for Hashem and arouses His compassion. He will then provide us with the help we urgently need as we can neither rise above our nature nor overcome the Evil inclination without His help.

* Every day we need to evaluate ourselves and identify our successes and setbacks. We need to thank Hashem for any progress however small. Then we need to put our lapses and failures out on the personal prayer table and ask for His forgiveness, compassion and help going forward.

Building a Wall of Truth

One of my teachers pointed out that the purpose of physicality is to enable us to forge a connection with Hashem. The Hebrew word for connection is Kesher.  However, when we think only of ourselves and begin to pursue physicality for its own sake, the letters are transposed to spell Sheker, the Hebrew word for falsehood.

In order to counter falsehood, Rebbe Nachman of Breslev says we must build a wall of truth. We do this via our Torah study on the topic where we need to improve and through our prayers. Our Torah study and prayers combine to generate a strong desire to serve Hashem in truth. Additionally they provide us with crucial clarity. For example, someone working on preventing anger will come to realize that harsh and angry outbursts are serious transgressions.

Be patient, persistent and persevere

We need to be consistent and indefatigable in this approach every single day . We need to talk to Hashem even when we fail and especially when we fail. Doing so will help transform our setbacks into stepping stones for future success.

“Hashem, I am just a messenger for You; please help me not to get hung up on my ego. Hashem, please help me build a solid wall of truth with emuna and pure desire to serve just You.

Here I am again today, I am walking with You to talk and pray. Hashem, please help me. Father, I ‘m counting on your patience, compassion and mercy. Today, I’m making a new beginning.”

When you implement this twin approach of Torah study and personal prayer, just wait and see how much blessing and happiness will come into your life! This will be the blessing and happiness that can come only from character improvement, refining and elevating oneself and coming closer to Hashem.

In the merit of our efforts to put our souls in control and sanctify our physical actions may Hashem provide wonderful blessings to us, our families, our communities and all of Israel!