The Liberal Effect

“And you shall not desecrate the sacred offerings of the Children of Israel, so that you shall not die.” (Vayikra 22:32) 

Today’s Leaders 

There are organizations that have made it their mission to infect society with an extreme version of liberalism. And some of these organizations work to have indecent and morally deprived people elected to public office, so that they can implement their liberal agendas through legislative powers of government. 

They want to influence culture, so that people publicly and proudly indulge in an array of destructive behaviors, and they want to eradicate any sense of decency and shame from the human experience. 

This dynamic is what the prophet Yeshayahu (Yeshayahu 3:4) prophesied describing the era before Mashiach’s arrival, saying, “I will make youths their ministers, and capricious ones will rule over them.” 

The Malbim explains this pasuk, that Hashem will orchestrate that this era will have immature young people elevated to roles of leadership, and those young people will be motivated by impulsive and corrupt desires. As a result, the people will be subject to rulers who are enslaved to their primitive desires, and these desires will shape the culture and govern the masses. 

The Baal Shem Tov once said that he saw in the Heavens, that before the arrival of Mashiach, the souls of the Generation of the Flood and the Generation of the Tower of Babel would descend into this world. These souls would spread heresy and depravity among mankind. 

Similarly, my holy grandfather, the Ateret Tzvi of Zidichov, taught that the war of Gog and Magog in the End of Days would be a spiritual war. In that war, we will have to battle against those who want to convince others to adopt ideologies and viewpoints that are driven by heresy and philosophy that deny Hashem’s very existence. 

Along these lines, the Shem MiShmuel (Parshat Yitro, 5673) cites the holy Chiddushei HaRim of Ger, who said that the battle between Gog and Magog will be the struggle that a person will have in saying the pasuk (verse) of Shema Yisroel. The meaning of that critical pasuk is to impart on a person the idea that they need to surrender themselves completely to Hashem and not to become a servant to the desires of this physical world. This era will be defined by this struggle, by this ongoing battle to subdue one’s desires and redirect them towards a complete commitment to Hashem. 

Foolish Desires 

Since the Satan invests so much effort in this battle, it is clear how important this struggle truly is. Just as in warfare great resources are allocated to target the enemy’s most vital areas, so too here, the Yetzer Harah (Evil Inclination) attacks with full force precisely because this is where our spiritual life is at stake. 

Everyone has five senses, and four of those senses are located in specific organs: sight in the eyes, hearing in the ears, taste in the mouth, and smell in the nose. Only the sense of touch is found throughout the entire body. This teaches us how pervasive and powerful this sense is: it has the potential to corrupt the entire person. 

The holy Zohar explains that someone who uses the sense of touch to fulfill forbidden desires, brings poverty upon himself—especially poverty of the mind, which is the greatest poverty of all. 

We see in practice how this dulls a person’s mind, destroying his ability to concentrate on what really matters. His thoughts become consumed with how to chase after fleeting pleasures. He ignores the consequences—how he may lose other, greater pleasures, harm his family, or suffer financial ruin. When he fails to satisfy his desires, he falls into depression. In this way, he can destroy his entire life—and the lives of others. 

This kind of desire is, in truth, utter foolishness. As explained in the holy writings (see Ohr HaChaim on Bereishit 49:15), when a desire is sparked in a person by what he sees, he should reflect on the idea that outer beauty is only skin-deep and is ultimately illusory. Even if he experiences a momentary pleasure from sin, nothing remains of it afterward—on the contrary, it brings lasting damage, both physically and spiritually. As Chazal taught (Sotah 3a), “A person does not sin unless a spirit of folly enters him.” 

Like Drug Addiction 

These liberal organizations promote the falsehood that moral abandonment is somehow a form of human progress. They proliferate the idea that these morally bankrupt ideas are progressive and indicative of sophistication. They repeat this lie publicly and loudly, with pride, until the repetition alone causes people to believe it—even when it clearly contradicts reality. 

Therefore, in our time, we must constantly remind ourselves of the true reality. Our Sages taught about such desires (Sukkah 52b), “If one feeds his desire, he becomes hungrier; if one starves it, he becomes satisfied.” In other words, the more a person indulges his cravings, the more insatiable they become. But when he trains himself to resist them, he finds inner peace and happiness. 

When a person becomes immersed in these behaviors, he is like someone addicted to a powerful drug that distorts his mind. He becomes completely dependent on it and cannot part from it, even when he sees clearly how harmful it is. 

A Jew who cannot understand the magnitude of the damage caused by those who lead others to sin—that itself is a sign that he has already fallen into the trap of the Yetzer Harah, which blinds the eyes from seeing the truth. As the holy R’ Bunim of Peshischa said, “You must view the Yetzer Harah and those who cause sin, as murderers standing before you with axes, ready to chop off your head. And if you can’t picture them that way, it’s a sign they’ve already done it.” 

The Yismach Moshe writes that this is the meaning of the statement (Berachot 18b): “The wicked, even during their lives, are called dead.” Since they do not feel the immense damage caused by their sins, they are like corpses who feel nothing, even when their flesh is being cut. 

This idea may be hinted at in the pasuk in our Parshah: 

“And you shall not desecrate the holy things of the Children of Israel“—do not defile the holiness that resides within the Jewish people, who distance themselves from impure desires. 

“So that you shall not die“—meaning, so that you do not descend into the state of the wicked, who are considered dead even in their lifetimes. 

Instead, you will merit a life of goodness — both in body and soul. 

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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.