Transforming the Yetzer Hara

בהפטרה קול אומר קרא כו' מה אקרא כו' יבש חציר כו' ודבר אלקינו כי בכל דבר יש ניצוץ אלקי אשר הקול יוצא ממנו לכבודו ית' אף שאינו נשמע מבחוץ ואומר מה אקרא

In the haftarah it says, "A voice says: Call out! And he said: What shall I call out? All flesh is grass... the grass withers... but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Yeshayahu 40:6-8) — for within every single thing there is a Divine spark from which a voice goes forth in honor of Hashem, even though it is not heard externally, and so one asks, "What shall I call out?"

The Sfas Emes opens with the haftarah's verse: every created thing holds a hidden Divine spark that proclaims Hashem's honor, though we cannot hear it from the outside.

אבל כשתפול הקליפה החצוניות מתגלה דבר ה' אשר הוא עיקר חיות הפנימיות

But when the chitzoniyus, the outer husk, falls away, the word of Hashem is revealed, which is the essential inner life-force.

Once the concealing outer shell falls away, the inner word of Hashem — the true life-force animating the thing — becomes revealed.

וצריך אדם להאמין זה כי עיקר חיות הכל היא נקודה הנ"ל

And a person must believe this — that the essential life-force of everything is that aforementioned point.

Our task is to believe that this inner Divine point is what truly gives life to everything.

כי בריאת האדם הי' ע"ז שע"י מעשיו לש"ש יתקרבו כל הדברים לשורש החיות שלהם

For the creation of man was for this very purpose: that through his deeds, done for the sake of Heaven, all things should be drawn close to the root of their life-force.

Man was created precisely so that through actions done for the sake of Heaven he would draw all things back to their root life-force.

וכתי' בכל לבבך דרשו חז"ל ביצ"ט ויצה"ר ובזוה"ק מפרש כי יצה"ר דומה לברזל שכשנשרף באש מתהפך להיות אש ונתבטל הקישוי

And it is written, "with all your heart" (Devarim 6:5), which Chazal expounded to mean with both the yetzer tov and the yetzer hara; and the holy Zohar explains that the yetzer hara is comparable to iron, for when it is burned in fire it is transformed into fire itself, and its hardness is nullified.

Serving Hashem "with all your heart" includes the yetzer hara; the Zohar compares it to iron that, thrown into fire, itself turns to fire and loses its hardness.

כן יצה"ר ע"י אש התורה ע"ש

So too the yetzer hara, through the fire of the Torah — see there.

The fire that transforms the yetzer hara in this way is the fire of the Torah.

וכפי מה שזה ברור להאדם שיודע ומאמין כי אין מקום פנוי מהש"י

And to the degree that this is clear to a person, who knows and believes that there is no place empty of Hashem Yisbarach,

The more firmly a person knows and believes that no place is empty of Hashem,

כמו כן נתבטל החצוניות אצלו

to that same degree the chitzoniyus is nullified for him.

the more the outer, concealing dimension dissolves for him.

וכן איתא שגם מחשבות זרות הבאין לאדם

And so it is brought down that even the foreign thoughts, the machshavos zaros, that come to a person —

This extends even to the foreign, distracting thoughts that come into a person's mind.

ששם יצר הוא המחשבות

for there the yetzer lies, in the thoughts —

It is precisely within such thoughts that the yetzer takes hold.

הם רק כדי להיות להם תיקון

they come only so that they may receive their tikkun.

These thoughts arrive only in order to be rectified through the person.

וע"י שיסיר האדם ממחשבות אלו

And through a person removing himself from these thoughts,

When a person pushes himself away from these thoughts,

עי"ז ניתקן המחשבה רעה ג"כ

by this the evil thought too is rectified.

that very act of rejection brings about the rectification of the evil thought itself.

וכמ"ש במ"א ע"פ הוא העולה על מוקדה כו'

And as is written elsewhere on the verse "it is the burnt-offering upon its pyre" (Vayikra 6:2),

He cites his teaching elsewhere on the korban left "upon its pyre" — burning through the night, an image of the yetzer being consumed and elevated.

וכ"כ רבות מחשבות בלב כו' ועצת ה' כו' תקום

and so too "Many are the thoughts in a man's heart, but the counsel of Hashem — that shall stand" (Mishlei 19:21).

He brings the verse that though a man's heart holds many thoughts, it is Hashem's counsel that ultimately stands.

פי' בסיבות מחשבות הרבות שאין האדם משגיח עליהם עי"ז זוכה להשיג מחשבות טובות וכיון שעי"ז היצה"ר בא לו יצר טוב מתהפך יצה"ר לטוב כנ"ל

The meaning is that by way of the many thoughts to which a person pays no heed, through this he merits to attain good thoughts; and since through this the yetzer hara itself becomes for him a yetzer tov, the yetzer hara is transformed into good, as above.

The many stray thoughts a person refuses to dwell on become the very means by which he merits good thoughts; thus the yetzer hara is converted into a yetzer tov.

וכ' במד' כה' אלקינו בכל קראנו כו' ה' רחוק וקרוב כו' שביד האדם להתקרב עצמו לחיות אלקי אשר שוכן בקרב כל איש ישראל:

And it is written in the Midrash, "like Hashem our God whenever we call upon Him" (Devarim 4:7), "Hashem is far and near" — that it lies in a person's hand to draw himself close to the Divine life-force which dwells within every man of Yisrael.

He closes with the Midrash on "Hashem is far and near": it is within a person's own power to draw himself close to the Divine life-force that dwells inside every Yid.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that within every created thing dwells a hidden Divine spark that proclaims Hashem's honor, though it is concealed by an outer husk of chitzoniyus. Man was created so that through deeds done for the sake of Heaven he draws all things back to their inner root, and the fire of the Torah transforms even the yetzer hara — like iron cast into fire that itself becomes fire — until its hardness is nullified. The more a person knows and believes that no place is empty of Hashem, the more this outer concealment dissolves for him. This applies even to foreign thoughts: they come to a person only to be rectified, and by refusing to dwell on them he both rectifies the evil thought and merits true good thoughts, so that the yetzer hara is itself turned to good. In the end, as the Midrash teaches on "Hashem is far and near," it lies in every Yid's own hand to draw himself close to the Divine life-force that dwells within him.