9. Shemoit 5778: Give Up The Fight And Live In The Light

LiveFeed Link: (Recorded Live 1:06:34) https://www.facebook.com/TheLighthouseProjectMiami/videos/1773967506231900/ Written Notes: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c57326tqutc370b/9.%20Shemois%205778%20-Give%20Up%20The%20Fight%20and%20Enjoy%20The%20Light.pdf?dl=0 --- There is a movie called, Peaceful Warrior, based on a fictionalized memoir by Dan Millman called, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, about his own life’s struggle in being a gymnast who overcomes a motorcycle accident, which left him with shattered right femur. The very notion of a Peaceful Warrior is an oxymoron. Peaceful people aren’t warriors, and warriors aren’t peaceful. Yes, there are warriors who fight for no other reason than to protect liberty and peace, but their life is a life of war against enemies of peace and liberty. In Addiction Recovery meetings there is a Chip System, in which people pick up chips to denote their time of sobriety. The first chip is the White Chip, in which you are told to, “Give up the fight and pick up a white.” The addict has been fighting with his addiction, trying to stop, for so long, and in recovery the first thing he is told is that he has to give up the fight to stop drinking, drugging, sexing, or whatever the addiction is. What he is being told is that he has to become a Peaceful Warrior, or he will lose the war, over and over again. Why so? The Alter Rebbe in Tanya explains it with a simply quote of the Talmud “If the Almighty did not help him, he could not overcome his evil inclination.” Well, how do we invite the Almighty and His blessing of help into our life? The conclusion of the entire Talmud answers this question: “The Holy One, blessed be He, found no vessel that can [sufficiently] hold the blessing for Israel, save for peace.” Now, all my life I only thought that this Mishna speaks of getting along with others, and it took much study of Chassidus, on the level in which it is a guide and a way of life for a person who consistently has two antithetical screeching voices in his head. The Mishna is speaking of peace within self, in as much as it is speaking of peace with others. Rabbi Sholom Dov Ber of Lubavitch states, that he who is not at peace with themselves will not even be able to embrace with nature’s natural genetic love and peace one has for their spouse and children! Thus, ultimately, the only vessel for having G-d, and His blessing of help, in our lives, is to have peace with one’s self. Majority of our generation is either at war, or in a state of complacency. Either, is to live without G-d’s blessing of help in our lives, and without G-d’s help, “he could not overcome his evil inclination.” In this lecture, based on a maamor of the Rebbe in 1988, on the impact of commandment-performance, we will learn how to give up the fight, and live in the light.