The Tale of Two Souls
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
This year during a trip to New York for Yud Shevat, I got into a conversation with a yungerman about the Previous Rebbe's Yud Shevat maamar for 5710-1950 as well as the Rebbe's maamarim for 5714-1954 and 5734-1954. As is known every year the Rebbe focused a different chapter of the 20 chapters of the Maamar from 5710-1950 in depth and in detail. In the maamar the Previous Rebbe explains the animal soul is able to first hider and then cover over on the G-dly soul. The maamar explains briefly that the animal soul tries to fool the G-dly soul into passivity and complacency by first convincing it that there is no harm in skipping a small mitzvah or by transgressing a small aveirah (What is considered small or big is a subject for a different article). From there it lures the neshama further into greater complacency and bigger aveiras. The yungerman wanted to know why the Rebbe goes into so much greater detail in his maamarim than the Previous Rebbe, asking many questions and explaining how and why it is that animal soul is able to get the upper hand. What difference does it make how we got there, how our yetzer hara trapped us? What matters is that it happened and now it's time to get out of it! Just explain the best way out? Why all the explanations, what purpose does it fulfill?
Once, a Jew from Chicago asked the Rebbe for advice on an investment. The Rebbe told him not to invest. For whatever reason, he ended up making the investment anyway and lost his money. At a later date while in yechidus he told the Rebbe a story about a Jewish thief. The thief used to work by night entering homes through chimneys and windows. On one occasion he inadvertently broke into the house of the Rav of the town. By the time he realized his mistake he was standing face to face with the Rav in his living room. The Rav, not realizing why he was there assumed he came for help and asked him what he needed. He responded that he needed to know how to get out of this place! This man was telling the Rebbe I buried myself in debt by not listening to your advice, now tell me what to do I get out of my problems.
When an addict goes to therapist for help, he needs to be able to explain what caused him to fall into his difficulties. Once the therapist understands his situation, only then will he be able to help find a solution. So too spiritually it may seem to us like we have two different animal souls: one that comes to shul and disturbs us while another that the goes out into he world and gets caught up in it’s follies. The truth is that there is only one animal soul and its our job is to make sure that we recognize it and speak to the real challenges it faces. The same animal soul that doesn’t let us daven is the same one that wants to stay in bed and not go to shul. It’s the same one that wants to find the best restaurant and maybe watch a movie or go to Las Vegas. It’s not two different souls. The animal soul needs a good translation to properly define its experiences in order get above its challenges. Reb Gershon Dov Behar, a big chosid once said that sometimes while he is in the middle of davening he stops and translates the words of tefillah into Yiddish so that he'll know that it means him.
The question that we must ask ourselves is if we really understand and recognize that we have a neshama that is a portion of Hashem that is able to overcome any challenge. “Haneshama sh'nsata bi- The soul which you invested in me”, means me, Shimon, not someone else. Once I understand and realize the power of the neshama that is within me how could it possibly be that I am not fully capable to overcome any obstacle? How could there be any obstacle? How is it possible for the animal soul to stand in the way? This is what the maamar needs to explain. The maamar explains how the animal soul is able to place obstacles and how we have a portion of Hashem within us ("Chelek Hashem Amo") that gives us the internal wherewithal to surmount all of them. We can overcome all of them today in 2014 not just back in the old days in Liozna. Hashem will lift us up, above the obstacles. We just have to want.