Reject Outside Influences

“You shall be blessed from all Nations”. (Devarim 7:14) 
 

Traits of Nations

Every nation has an angel in the heavens that is appointed as a minister over it. And based on a Heavenly calculation, that angel influences this nation to be drawn towards and inclined to a specific evil character trait that will test and define that nation. 
 

This is the same idea taught in the Midrash (Mechilta Parshat Yitro) which describes that before Hashem gave the Torah to the Jews, He offered it to each of the other nations of the world. And each of them rejected the offer because the Torah would challenge their defining evil trait. The Midrash recounts that Hashem went to the descendants of Eisav. They refused to accept the Torah because it forbade murder and killing, which was the trait that Eisav’s children had a disposition for. So it was with all of the other nations. They refused to accept the Torah because it challenged them to overcome the evil trait that was embedded in their nature. 
 

This dynamic existed throughout the generations. It is said in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that he once said: “I can see in the Heavens that the Ministering Angel overseeing Deutschland is full of a desire for killing; the one ministering over France is full of adultery and lust; England – haughtiness and pride; Russia – lie.”  
 

Spiritual Pollution

While in exile amongst the nations, Jews need to be careful and diligent to protect themselves from being even slightly influenced by their host nation. As the Rambam writes (in the beginning of Chapter Six of Deios) that it is human nature to mirror the actions of your friend and neighbors and to assimilate into the host culture. 
 

The very air of a nation can have an impact. Just as with physical pollution, there is spiritual pollution as well. It says in Tehillim (106:35), “And they mingled with the nations and learned their deeds”. R’ Zusha from Anapoli points out that it does not say “learned from their deeds” – just “learned their deeds”. The Jews do not need to “learn from” the sins of their host culture. The influence happens unintentionally. The air itself is impure and can have an impact on the Jews living there. The Zohar taught (Parshat Achrei 72b) that wherever a Jew lives, he needs to combat that nation’s specific impurity and evil trait.  
 

A Flooded World

In the past, these nations could only influence their citizens. However, technology has changed all of this by connecting the entire world. 
 

Chazal had predicted this phenomenon when they taught (end of Sotah) that in the final generations before Mashiach comes, the world will be flooded with all of the wicked character traits. 
 

The tzaddikim taught that before something faces its ultimate end, it garners all its strength to fight back. The pasuk says (Zecharia 13:2), “… and the spirit of contamination I will remove from the earth“. As the era of redemption approaches, the forces of impurity gather all their strength to try and fight against the arrival of Mashiach, which would inevitably cause their ultimate destruction.  
 

Precious Mitzvot

When a Jew chooses to overcome a certain trait, when he turns away from the deprived culture that surrounds him, and he does good deeds instead – deeds that he is ridiculed for – he weakens the impure forces in the world. This is more precious in the than even Heavens the good deeds of previous generations. 
 

As the Roziner Rebbe explained that Chazal taught (Makot 24.), that Habakkuk reinforced emunah in the Jewish community, as it says (Habakkuk 2:4) “… but the righteous shall live by his faith“. This prophesy was said describing the generation before the arrival of Mashiach, because in that generation, emunah, is the only tool that can sustain a Jew’s Yiddishkeit. In that generation, when a person is about to do a mitzvah, and he stops and looks around and sees everyone mocking him, yet his emunah in Hashem drives him to do that mitzvah regardless, that mitzvah is more precious than the mitzvot done with all the possible intentions and understandings in all the other generations. 
 

The Maggid of Mezeritch taught, that this is the deeper meaning of the pasuk in Tehillim (37:16), “The few of the righteous are better than the multitude of many wicked men“. Meaning, the few righteous deeds a person does while surrounded by the multitudes of the wicked and impure forces, is extraordinarily precious. As the pasuk says (ibid 13:6), “… from the dung heap He raises up the needy“. The mitzvot performed by the last generation that are in garbage heap surrounded by impurities, are uplifted and cherished in the heavens. 
 

The Ben Porat Yosef taught (Parshat Veira) that someone who serves Hashem while in exile receives a far greater reward than those who served Hashem before the exile.  
 

Reject the Influence

Today, Jews need to remember this lesson, especially if they are living amongst non-Jews or even Jews who have abandoned all semblance of their Judaism, or even when traveling on vacation. A Jew must keep his guard up and withstand the temptation and challenges of being influenced by that impure culture. 
 

Our Parsha begins by saying (Devarim 7:12): 

 וְהָיָ֣ה | עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן-  

And it will be, because you will heed.  

The Chiddushei HaRim from Ger has a beautiful explanation that expresses this very idea. The Hebrew word וְהָיָ֣ה (And it will be…) always denotes simcha (Midrash Rabba, Esther Rabba, chapter 11). And עֵ֣קֶב (because) can also mean the “end”. Hashem has a tremendous simcha when the Eikev, that last generations before the arrival of Mashiach “follow these ordinances and keep them and perform” despite the spiritual challenges and decay that surrounds them. 
 

This is what our Pasuk means: “You shall be blessed from all Nations”. The tremendous blessings come, because you reject the influence from all Nations that will permeate the world before the geulah, and you adhere to Torah and mitzvot. The reward is unimaginable when a Jew breaks his desire and withstands the temptation to give into the bad and impure traits of the nations that surround him. 

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The Kalever Rebbe is the seventh Rebbe of the Kaalov Chasidic dynasty, begun by his ancestor who was born to his previously childless parents after receiving a blessing from the Baal Shem Tov zy”a, and later learned under the Maggid of Mezeritch zt”l. The Rebbe has been involved in outreach for more than 30 years and writes weekly emails on understanding current issues through the Torah. Sign up at www.kaalov.org.