Spotting the Enemy

To destroy an enemy, one must first recognize the enemy. The lust of fornication is the backbone and moving force of the evil inclination, and the evil inclination is our enemy. Without knowing who the enemy is, a person is easy prey. He’ll succumb to additional types of lust, bad character traits and outright heresy. He certainly won’t accomplish his designated mission in life or win his personal war.

As long as a person is blemished in the slightest in the area of personal holiness, he can’t properly cling to Hashem. He won’t be able to apply his Torah learning to his daily life, and his studies will remain theoretical rather than practical. His blemished personal holiness will render him lukewarm in his service of Hashem. As such, the evil inclination will incite him against investing concerted effort in striving for any semblance of personal holiness, thus perpetuating its victory and control over that person.

The holy Rabbi Yaacov Abuchatzera of saintly and blessed memory stresses in his book “Ginzei HaMelech” (page 38) that the Torah repeatedly implores us to strive for holiness, for a person cannot attain true spirituality without strengthening himself in purity and in holiness.

As long as a person wallows in the mire of lust, the gates of spirituality are closed to him. He won’t feel holiness and he won’t enjoy praying. He’ll lack true understanding of the Torah that he learns. genuine success will elude him and he’ll suffer from marital and income problems. And, as long as he suffers from the lust of fornication, he can forget about happiness and inner peace. No wonder that the evil inclination will do anything to prevent a person from improving in the area of personal holiness. Disoriented and confused, a person will struggle against dozens of difficulties in life, when he could have solved all of his problems simply by working to better his personal holiness. This is the trap of confusion that the evil inclination so adeptly uses to ensnare a person.

Most people are unaware that sexual lust is the prime manifestation of the evil inclination. Like confused soldiers on a battlefield, they don’t know who the real enemy is. Sometimes, they think that sadness and depression are life’s number-one threat. Other times, they regard overeating as the prime nemesis. And on other occasions, they think that financial problems are the root of all evil. Attacked from all sides, they don’t succeed in overcoming any of their problems, for they don’t realize that personal holiness is the only solid foundation for success and character development. If the foundation is shaky, the entire building won’t be stable.

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev writes (see Likutei Moharan I:36) that one can overcome lust and bad habits only after he overcomes all sexual lust, for sexual lust is the general all-inclusive evil, whereas personal holiness is the “general remedy” – the tikkun haklali –  and the key to character refinement.

All other lust and bad habits can be traced back to sexual lust; therefore, one cannot overcome other types of lust without rectifying one’s lust for promiscuity. Yet, a person who is unaware of the importance of personal holiness fights all types of emotional enemies yet never seems to win, because his main enemy – the all-inclusive evil of sexual lust – goes unscathed and continues to enslave him. He fails to fight against the real enemy.

The evil inclination doesn’t object to one’s immersing himself in Torah, as long as he does nothing to improve in the area of personal holiness. A person could learn Torah all day long, but if he continues to look at women and think about them, he transgresses the Ten Commandments and is guilty of coveting that which is not his. So despite the Torah, he remains a sinner. He may hear wonderful lectures about loving Hashem, but as long as he harbors a lust for debauchery, he can never love Hashem! Without correcting the core problem of sexual lust, he’ll remain completely severed from holiness. Therefore, fighting sexual lust is the front line of the battle for holiness and the key to overall success and gratification in life.

Every bit of Torah that a person learns, every good deed, every prayer and especially every personal prayer helps to refine a person, but he won’t see tangible results of personal gain until he concentrates on improving his personal holiness, for this is a man’s main challenge. One cannot merit Torah and prayer without personal holiness, let alone reach the level where he joyfully sings praise and gratitude to Hashem.

For a person to begin tasting the sweetness of life, he must declare war on sexual lust. In most every benediction, we bless Hashem, “Who has sanctified us with His commandments.” “Sanctification” means that Hashem has made us a holy people, and holiness means that we rid ourselves of sexual lust. Hashem will surely help those who seek His help, especially in striving for enhanced personal holiness.