Fighting our greatest enemy

This week’s parsha contains the very famous verse of Mah Tovu O’halecha Yaakov Mishkenosecha Yisroel (How goodly are your tents, Yaakov, your dwelling places, Yisroel – Bamidbar 24:5). This is the first line we say every morning when we enter shul. The question is often asked why this is the first thing we say in the morning. Why do we even say it at all? This line was said by none other than one of the lowest people that ever lived: Bilaam the wicked. Immortality was Bilaam’s middle name. Why would we want to repeat a line from him when we enter our shul?

There are numerous great answers given to this question. One of them states that the reason we say this verse is because this is a way to overcome the yetzer hara (evil inclination). When we enter shul, the first thing the yetzer hara tries to do is destroy our prayers. He makes our cell phone ring a billion times (which is one of the reasons why before you walk into shul, your cell phone should be turned off). He makes us remember about the important meeting we have this morning. He makes us worry about carpool. Anything the yetzer hara can do to destroy our davening, he uses it because the yetzer hara realizes that davening is our strongest weapon. Therefore, the first thing a Jew says when he walks into shul is Mah Tovu, a line said by Bilaam. We say a line from this wicked person because we try to convince the yetzer hara that we agree with him. We sort of fool him pretending that we follow the ways of Bilaam and that’s why we quote him. Of course the reason we say this line is because it is a beautiful praise of the Jewish people. But it also is a way to trick the yetzer hara.

Fighting the yetzer hara straight on is an impossible battle to win. The yetzer hara is just too strong. If we pretend that we are on his side, he will work with us.

I don’t know about you, but I have a very difficult time getting up in the morning. My alarm rings many times. A great rebbe once came up with a solution. When he woke up, the little voice in his head said go back to sleep. He responded back “Why should I sleep? Today, I am going to the fairgrounds.” When the Yetzer Hara heard that the rebbe wasn’t going to shul, he quickly made the rebbe wake up. Then after the rebbe was out of bed, he decided that now that he was up, instead of wasting the day at the fair, he should go and learn. The rebbe won because he outsmarted the yetzer hara. He made the yetzer hara believe that they had a common goal.

The only way to beat the Yetzer Hara is to avoid a head-on attack. And this is one of the reasons why we begin every morning with Mah Tovu.

One final note: I mentioned above that our greatest weapon is our prayers. I am happy to announce that hopefully our prayers will soon be more inspiring. On www.chesedclub.com, under the link for Torah Study, Reb Simcha Tamir will be adding a new link for Tefillah where we can share laws, insights, and stories about davening.

Good Shabbos!
-yes