Nature calls it animal instinct. Kabbalah calls it desire to receive for the self alone. Whatever you call it, we all know it, those moments when the beast inside takes over and we can't control ourselves.

You might remember what it was like growing up, when kids were trying drugs or drinking and you had this one voice that said, "Get out now!" and another that said, "Stay!" We still struggle with these voices.

The Biblical character Joseph certainly knew about these competing voices. This week the Zohar tells us of an epic struggle he had overcoming his sexual desires. The story takes place after his jealous brothers sold him into slavery. Potiphar, a captain of the Pharaoh's guard, bought Joseph to serve as his slave, and upon realizing his talents, Potiphar quickly made Joseph overseer of the household.

Potiphar wasn't the only one who noticed Joseph's greatness. Potiphar's wife also recognized it, and she soon tried to seduce him. She was known as the most beautiful woman that ever lived, and Joseph was drawn to her.

At one point, she lured him into her room and began working her charms on him. But in an immediate awakening of his desire to overcome his primal urges, he ran away from her. The Zohar says despite her clutching at his clothes, he ran right out of them. He literally ran out of her house naked! After this incident, the Zohar says that Joseph became a tzadik (righteous person) because in the heat of the moment, he was able to run away from his desire. This is a great lesson for all of us this week.

The Sages teach there are two levels to restriction. The first level is where we can rationalize between positive and negative. Let's say you were dieting. The first level would arise if you were to pass a donut shop. Though it might be tempting to go in, if you're in a proactive state of mind, you might think through to the consequences of breaking your diet and decide it's not worth it. But the moment you walk in just to smell and see how the donuts look, you've entered a code red zone, where restricting becomes infinitely harder. Now you have that delicious, warm sugary smell lingering in your nostrils and glazed jellies dancing before your eyes. At this point, your desire for the quick fix threatens to override your higher instincts of perseverance and restriction.

We all have areas in our life where it is difficult to restrict, blind spots where our judgment gets clouded. So the question this week is, what act of restriction would help you as an individual to achieve your level of righteousness? For Joseph it was resisting sexual temptation. What is it for you?

Find your weakest point, and you have found your greatest opportunity to reveal Light.

The thing to remember is Rome wasn't built in a day. Just because you develop an awareness of your weak point(s), it doesn't mean you will master it by the end of the week. Awareness is only the first step.

All the best,

Yehuda


72 Name of the Week