Summary

Six of the 613 commandments must be constantly observed by every Jew. "And you shall not follow after your heats and after your eyes, that you stray after them" is the sixth constant commandment. Why does the Torah assume that if we follow our hearts we will end up as heretics and idol worshippers? A person who follows the desire of his heart is in fact following his evil inclination. We all have our custom-made evil inclination to challenge us throughout our life. Life is a constant battle between intellectual understanding and emotional desires. When people turn into heretics and idol worshippers, it allows them to follow the desires of their heart and do what they want. Every little step in the right direction can cause a major difference in our judgment on Rosh Hashanah.

Six constant commandments

A few weeks ago (Torah Attitude Va'Eschanan) we quoted the Sefer HaChinuch that says that six of the 613 commandments must be constantly observed by every Jew. We explained that all six are either mentioned explicitly or alluded to in one of the three paragraphs of Shema. We have already discussed five of these constant obligations. This week we shall talk about the sixth one.

Sixth constant commandment

In the third portion of Shema it says (Bamidbar 15:39): "And you shall not follow after your heats and after your eyes, that you stray after them." This, says the Chinuch, is the sixth constant commandment. This prohibition entails many aspects. The Talmud (Berachos 12b) teaches that "not follow after your hearts" refers to heresy, and "not follow after your eyes" refers to immorality. In the second portion of Shema, we find a similar prohibition. There it says (Devarim 11:16): "Watch out for yourselves lest your hearts seduce [you] and you will go astray and serve idols."

Heretics and idol worshippers

Both of these prohibitions need clarification. Why does the Torah assume that if we follow our hearts we will end up as heretics and idol worshippers? We further need to clarify the connection between heresy and immorality, that the Torah puts the two together in one prohibition.

Two chambers of heart

The Talmud (Berachos 61a) explains that the evil inclination has its seat between the two chambers of the heart. In other words, a person who follows the desire of his heart is in fact following his evil inclination. This is evident from the words of the Midrash Rabbah (Bereishis 34:11) that points out that the transgressors are under the control of their hearts, whereas the righteous are in control of their hearts.

Evil inclination tricks you

We all have our custom-made evil inclination to challenge us throughout our life. Just like no two people are alike, so are our evil inclinations different one from another. Our evil inclination knows exactly how to trick us into following him to sin. Most Jews could never be challenged to go and embrace idolatry out of the blue. However, the evil inclination will find a way to get even a righteous person to react emotionally to a situation. For example, the evil inclination will bring the person to a state of anger. Says the Talmud (Shabbos 105b): "Someone who gets angry and destroys items in his anger is comparable to an idol worshipper." For, says the Talmud, this is the modus operandi of the evil inclination. Today he tells you to do this, tomorrow he tells you to do that, till eventually he will entice you to go and serve idols. Once we do something not because it is right, but because we feel like it, we are already in the pocket of our evil inclination. For once we follow the emotions and desires of our hearts there is no limit to where this can lead us. This is why the Torah warns us both in the second and third portion of Shema not to follow the desires of our hearts. For eventually this can lead us to heresy and idol worship.

Constant battle

Rather, we must strive to know what is right and what does G'd expect of us in every situation and do so. The Rambam states that life is a constant battle between intellectual understanding and emotional desires. The brain and the heart both want to be in control and dictate our actions. It is our life mission to accept and follow our brain to do what we know is right, and suppress the heart that wants us to do what we feel like.

Follow desires of heart

However, we still need to clarify the connection between heresy, idol worship and immorality. We find the answer to this in the words of our sages. They teach that when people turn into heretics and idol worshippers it is not necessarily an intellectual decision that they truly believe that their new found faith, or lack of such, is the truth. Rather, it allows them to follow the desires of their heart and do what they want. When the Jewish people made the golden calf in the wilderness it says (Shemos 32:6): "And the people sat down to eat and drink and they got up to play." Rashi quotes from the Midrash Tanchuma (Ki Sisa 20) that this refers to immorality and murder. Once they served the golden calf they felt free to do whatever they wanted.

Days of Judgment

We are approaching the Days of Judgment, where our situation for the coming year is being decided. These are days for introspection and decisions in regards to the coming year. Every little step in the right direction can cause a major difference in our judgment on Rosh Hashanah. May we succeed to let ourselves be guided by our intellectual knowledge and understand what G'd expects of us. And may we be able to control our emotions and desires so that G'd will inscribe us together with the entire Jewish people to a year of peace and an abundance of Divine blessings.

These words were based on a talk given by Rabbi Avraham Kahn, the Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Yeshivas Keser Torah in Toronto.

These words were based on a talk given by Rabbi Avraham Kahn, the Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Yeshivas Keser Torah in Toronto.

Shalom. Michael Deverett