Our Day in Court
We demand equal representation and treatment of people. We must hear both sides of a dispute before deciding who is right. We too have two internal forces. We must not allow our natural instincts (derived from our “Animal Soul”) to voice their opinion before we listen to our conscience; our G-dly soul.
Fairness to our Good Impulse
Equality and fairness is one of the basic requirements of Jewish law, particularly in the execution of justice. From the verse of this week’s parsha: “Hear out your fellow man and judge fairly…” the rabbis derive the necessity for the judge not to hear one side of the case from one litigant, when the other litigant is not present. The first impression is likely to leave an indelible imprint on the heart and mind of the judge.
A story is told of the eighteenth century sage, Rabbi Yonatan Eibishitz, known – among other qualities – for his sharp mind and wit, who applied this principle to our own lives.
Once he was asked how he was able to prevail over his evil impulse before his Bar Mitzvah. According to tradition, the good impulse dos not enter the person until his Bar Mitzvah. How then did he manage to combat his evil inclination before his good inclination could assist him?
Rabbi Yonatan’s answer was that he invoked the principle of fairness and equality in judgment. “Whenever the evil inclination would come to me and try to get me to sin,” Rabbi Yonatan explained, “I would dismiss him by saying it is not fair that I should listen to your side of the issue without the benefit of hearing the other side, the side of the good impulse… The Two (Three?) Souls The Talmud states that we are in possession of two impulses. The mystical tradition of Judaism elaborates that we are actually talking about two distinct souls.. The first soul we possess is the Animal soul which is responsible for all of our natural impulses and drives, some of which are actually good such as compassion and kindness. But, the defining aspect of this animal soul is that it is self-centered and is driven by its emotional and selfish needs.
There is, however, a second soul, known as the G-dly soul which is actually a part of G-d (Tanya Chapter Two). This soul is driven by its desire to connect to G-d and to make G-d’s agenda a reality in our world.
Clearly these souls do not see eye to eye, so how is one to decide which soul to follow? Chassidic thought teaches us that there is a third entity that has to make the decision between the two “litigants.” This is the third soul, called the “Intellectual soul” which mediates between the two other souls. The mind, utilizing its ability to see things objectively has to decide which is the proper path.
In finding the proper path, the intellectual soul must never listen to the first litigant, without the input of the other. The import of this is that the intellectual soul can very easily be influenced by the animal soul’s penchant at rationalizing even the most negative and selfish behavior.
This would be similar to the judge who hears one side without the presence of the other litigant. The absence of a counterbalance to the first impression that is formed, will affect his ability to make an objective decision..
(Obviously it does not mean that we shouldn’t listen to our G-dly soul unless we first hear from our animal soul, because, the animal soul, in fact, has a “head start” as mentioned in the story of Rabbi Yonatan Eibishitz).
The Perennial Struggle
The struggle between the two souls possessed by each individual parallels the perennial struggle between the Jewish people and the forces of Galus. (exile, or spiritual alienation).
The paradigm for both the macrocosmic as well as microcosmic battles between the forces of holiness and the forces of evil is the struggle between the Patriarch Jacob and the guardian angel of his brother Esau. Their wrestling match, which lasted all night, is illustrative of the conflicts between the two souls and the Jewish nation versus the forces of darkness. The guardian angel struck Jacob and injured him in his thigh. This, our sages say, represents Tisha B’Av, the day that our enemies dealt us a devastating blow. And while they caused us untold misery and suffering, they could not destroy us.
The end of the story with Jacob and the angel is that with the arrival of dawn the struggle was over and the radiant rays of the sun healed Jacob’s limping gait. The analogue of this is that ultimately, with the dawn of the new day – the Messianic Age – the struggle will be over and the ills of the Jewish people will be healed by G-dly rays of light.
Close your Ears!
Our means of preparing for this final victory over the forces of evil is to never allow the animal soul within us to be heard without the presence of the G-dly soul. In practical terms this means that whenever we are driven to do something that is motivated by desire and self-interest, we should always endeavor to ask ourselves, what benefit will accrue from this behavior to our G-dly existence? How will this accomplish our life’s goal of making this world into a more G-dly world?
When the G-dly soul within each and every one of us begins to set the agenda, we will be prepared for the time that the light of Moshiach will transform all of the sorrows of the past into joy; Tisha B’Av will become the greatest day of celebration
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Devarim by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
