Souls that Have Lost Their Way

19 Teves 5782

“For forty years I quarreled with that generation; and I said, ‘They are a people of erring hearts, they do not know My ways.’” (Tehillim 95:10)

Hashem created different “ways” (plural) of divine service. The Rebbe in a Sicha on this Parashah (2nd Night of Pesach, 5719, 5720) explains that, “There is a specific mission for which every soul descends to this world. When the yetzer hora wants to hinder a person’s Divine service, it won’t necessarily tell the person to ignore Divine service entirely, for there are those who will not listen to such enticement. So the yetzer hora instead encourages such people to devote themselves to a path of service which is not their own.”

“When [Aaron] sees you, he will be glad in his heart” (Shemos 4:14)

“Unfortunately, there are ‘souls that have lost their way’ people who ignore the mission with which they have been charged, and instead involve themselves in matters intended for others. These could be businessmen from whom it is demanded that they give tzedakah. How do they reply? They explain that they are too busy, they must prolong their prayers, and devote themselves to intense study. And directly afterwards, they’ve got to run to their business. And thus they have no time to give tzedakah or do a favor.”

We can find a counter example in our Parashah. Rashi explains, Aaron was glad, “not, as [Moshe] thought, that [Aaron would] be jealous of [Moshe’s] ascension to leadership. Because of this [Aaron’s goodness and humility], Aaron merited the ornament of the breastplate, which is placed over the heart.” Moshe at first exemplified the quality of knowing his place in divine service. Hashem Himself was hardly able to convince Moshe to stray from his previous path and encroach on what he felt was his brother’s area of service, that of leadership over the Jewish people. Aaron in turn recognized when Moshe had to step up and fulfill his new mission, and because of this also merited great reward.

“The beinoni has never committed any transgression, nor will he ever transgress; the name ‘rasha’ has never been applied to him, however temporarily, not even for a moment, throughout his life.” (Likutei Amarim, beginning of Chapter 12)

The Rebbe explains, “When the Alter Rebbe states that the beinoni has never transgressed, he does not mean that the beinoni never sinned in his life as a human being but that in his life as a beinoni, he has no history of sin. The beinoni’s present spiritual state is such that sin — in the past as well as in the future — has no place in his life.” The Beinoni is so secure in his current state that nothing, not even the temptations he previously fell for, can shake him off his G-d given path.

So too, we should be secure on our path once we have found it, not giving in to the yetzer hora’s enticement to stray, even in the way of Torah and mitzvos.