Making a Vessel of Peace

The only vessel suitable for Hashem’s blessing is peace.  Rebbe Nachman states in The Aleph Bet book, “Pursuing peace brings to trust in God.”  Rebbe Nachman also states, “By pursuing peace, a person will be rewarded with honors in this world, and life in the World to Come”.  “Peace brings blessing”.  “Where there is tranquility, there is no fear”.  “Where there is tranquility, there is prosperity”.  Rabbenu also states that “Jerusalem can only be rebuilt when there is peace”.  So why don’t we spend each waking hour pleading and begging Hashem to help us attain peace?!
 
We suffer from four major character flaws that prevent us from successfully living in peace.  They are rooted in our “evil inclination” which seeks to destroy us.  What better way to destroy the Jewish people than to prevent peace?!  These flaws include the desire for victory, nitzachon, jealousy, slander, conceit and anger (Crossing the Narrow Bridge).  Let’s try to understand these character traits, in the hopes of permanently uprooting them from our essence for all eternity, AMEN!
 
Many of us suffer from the desire for victory.  Sometimes it is with our very own children.  We don’t care if they are making a good point, WE ARE THE PARENTS AND WE ARE RIGHT!  How much damage we have done to our little neshamot by not hearing them out.  Sometimes this desire for victory is related to outdoing a competitor in business.  He may even be a kosher Jew!  It does not matter, WE WANT TO WIN!  These victories yield no eternal gain.  They are short-lived.  Our children harbor pain and resentment, which manifests as the teen years approach, and our business competitor responds in kind, creating hostility, and a desire for retribution.  The real , victory, is when you conquer a negative character flaw. That victory is eternal!
 
How many of us would readily admit that we are jealous of a neighbor, a friend, or a family member?  We may not even be aware of it.  Rebbe Nachman taught: Jealousy is rooted in the evil eye.  We look at what our neighbor’s kids are doing, what schools they go to, and rather than wishing them the best, we tend to covet their blessings.  “Why do her kids all act so pious and daven so nicely in shul… Why do their clothes stay so neat and clean??!!”  We find negative things to be critical of or complain about.  We don’t really want them to be successful, at least not more successful than us! P.S, they shouldn’t become more observant than us either, that would make us look even worse.  Better they just stay put spiritually, that way we can always have the “one up’.
 
Slander is the most severe of all sins (Erkhin 15b). We literally destroy lives- the ones we slander, and our own, in the World to Come. Speech is the very essence of Hashem. He gave only man the ability to speak, making us in His image, giving us a Divine Neshama, a tiny micro-chip of Hashem Himself.  We can chose to use this gift of speech to emulate Hashem, or use it to destroy His very own children.  What category do you tend to fall into?
 
Rabbenu teaches: When things are not going according to plan, this is a sign of conceit and arrogance (Likutey Moharan II, 82- Crossing the Narrow Bridge).  When all of our plans go well, we are pleasant and happy.  When there is a bump in the road, a cog in the wheel, we often get upset.  We become angry at “the stick” in Hashem’s hand. As a matter of fact, we often forget Hashem all together.  Things are not going smoothly and we become frustrated, and angry.  Does this sound familiar?  This is actually a lack of emuna in hashgachah pratit (Divine Providence).  This lack of emuna is manifested in arrogance, conceit and anger.  How many of your family members, or fellow drivers on the road have suffered from your lack of emuna in hashgachah pratit?  How many times have you yelled at, or worse, smacked your child, damaged a relationship, or violated road safety because you forgot Who runs the world? This is something to stop and think about RIGHT NOW…STOP…THINK….
 
Rebbe Nachman teaches:  There is no despair in the world.  Through the study of Torah and strict adherence to a minimum of one hour a day of personal prayer, you can uproot these above mentioned character flaws and create peace. With Holy Rav Arush’s 20/20/20 plan, we can focus  the first 20 minutes on gratitude-  for holding exactly where we are holding right now- for all the blessings in our life, including our wonderful friends, community, and our spiritual guide.  The next 20 minutes we must spend asking Hashem to show us who we really are.  Where did we fall short  in the mitzvah of ahavat Yisrael (love of all of Am Yisrael)? How did we treat our kids, husband, neighbor, friend, trash man, bus driver?  Ask Hashem to strengthen your desire to do His will, and pursue peace, and adhere to all of His requirements of us.  The last 20 minutes should be spent focusing on uprooting one particular middah that has caused you and your loved ones the most harm.  Focus on this middah for 3 months straight, as Holy Rav Arush suggests, and Hashem will reveal to you just how deep it runs, what its source is.
 
Peace should start in your very own heart, and emanate into your home, and, God-willing, outwards to your community and then to all of Am Yisrael.  In this way, may we merit the speedy coming of Mashiach in peace, the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash, the in-gathering of the exiles, speedily in our days, AMEN!