Lech Lecha: Children of Desire
Imagine looking at a picture of the Beis Hamikdash on the wall. As you see it, allow your belief to tell you that this isn’t actually a picture frame hanging on a hook, but rather a window looking out of the house. With strong belief, what happens next is that your joy fills you as you see yourself standing in eyes-view of the holiest and greatest place on earth. Your demeanor changes from distance to closeness, and from dream to reality. This is the power of belief.
But what will come next is even more powerful. Since you can see yourself standing in the presence of Hashem’s greatness, you can’t help but wonder, “If I’m living in Yerushalayim, witnessing this glory in my midst, what kind of person would I be? What are the people living in my neighborhood up to? Since we live in Yerushalayim among the symbol of the world, we all become examples of the faith that this structure demands.”
Living with Hashem means that there is no ounce of worry or second of doubt in our hearts and minds. We are elated at the opportunity to live our lives intertwined with the love of Hashem. No bad can ever befall us since we see His governance and rule in every breath that we take. No stress can reach us since we are undeniably chosen and wanted by Him. This is the power of belief within the power of belief. Once you allow yourself to enter this realm, the possibilities of how far you can go are endless.
We all know of this trick. We use it all the time. We daydream about certain realities we wish to live in, some holy and some not so much. We allow our doors of belief to open, and once we’re in, we become possessed by the endless possibilities it contains. Within our minds, we live entire episodes within the framework we desire.
The heart holds the flame of desire, and that energy powers the gears in the mind to turn. On the positive and Mitzvah side and on the negative or sinful side, we find this to be true. When we have a desire to be intimate with our loved ones, be it physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, our mind channels its focus to raise the flames even higher. This is how we birth babies. The desire in our heart allows our inner eye to see beyond physical limitations and takes us to places unknown and unseen by the human eye. Our entire being changes due to our intense and in-depth thoughts. We physically become aroused as our spiritual, emotional, and mental states climb higher to their peak.
Through this flame of desire, we are capable of bringing life into the world. We produce children through our physical acts, and we also produce offspring in all other realms as well. Think about it in such a way: You have a job to wake up to each morning. With proper desire for the work and its success, you will be able to birth children through it. Not necessarily physical children, but spiritual ones. Your products, services, and customers will be your children. The same is true with sin. If we allow passion to be misused, we might come to focus our desire on the birth of illegitimate children. We spoil our seed and waste our energy by indulging in futile flames.
When we are passionate toward the Beis Hamikdash and see ourselves standing in its presence, we can only start imagining what a one-hundred-year-old man must look like if he never experienced heartache in his life. He is old and young at the same time, old in age but young in spirit. He can birth children with power and energy at his ripe age, just as we do during our youth. All that is needed is the desire to live among this reality and choose to believe that it is possible. The body, mind, and soul will follow on their own. Our creases will be removed and our scars lifted, our cry will turn to joy, and our aching bones will start dancing again. Whatever used to hold us back is instantly vaporized, and the doubt that plagued us is suddenly no more.
The power of belief requires desire, or in Hebrew, חשק. When one believes that their job is the key to their brightest future, that light will be the energy that charges the flame of Cheshek. If one is so broken and sad and is looking for some relief, they get sucked into some meaningless trap of pleasure, and that futile flame builds itself up in their belief system until it releases its child. Desire is the element that will latch onto your wish, and when it is a pure wish, it’ll bring forth fruits so large and abundant. And so, too, on the other end, with its tremendous destruction.
When we find things in our life that ignite our inner spark, it is our duty to use their birthing power for the good. Sometimes, it can be as we see unholy or earthly subjects, like the time in Kesubos 65a when Choma, widow of Abaye, came before Rava and asked for sustenance. She asked for bread, and he gave her some. She asked for wine, and Rava told her that he doesn’t need to give her that since Abaye never drank. She pointed and answered, “I swear on your life that he would serve me wine in such a beautiful cup!” As she pointed, her sleeve raised, and her beauty filled the room with light. Rava left the Beis Din and went home to his wife, daughter of Rav Chisdah, and asked for relations. The story ends with Rava telling his wife how his desire spiked, and she (Rava’s wife) chased her (Abaye’s widow) out of town, hitting her with her shoes while yelling, “You killed three husbands already! Now you want to kill another?”
There are many things that charge our desires, but as Rava did, we must birth only holiness through them.
As we spoke above, our Cheshek is the driver behind our creations. Depending on the flame and the amount of attention we give to it, the greater the result will be. When we see the window into Yerushalayim and gradually expand in its belief, our hearts grow to feel a light that we cannot live without. We see the truth and feel it deeply within. Our heart rate rises, and even beyond our physical body, our dreams, wishes, hopes, and prayers elevate to want and desire only this life. The result of spiritual elevation is the child that we birth through this intense belief.
Now let me ask you: “If you had a burning desire to be a dweller of Yerushalayim, attached to Hashem with zero doubt, how would you raise your child?” You would have him walk before you and guide him properly toward it. We do it to our kids all the time, like when we want it to be quiet in the house, we raise our voices and say, “Quiet!” We successfully guide our children toward our desires all day long, so why not guide them in the greatest direction of all, being one with Hashem?
If through desire we are capable of birthing actual babies, we can surely birth spiritual ones through it. The only difference is that the spiritual babies we produce aren’t separated from us with bodies. They actually become us. We start guiding ourselves as though we are guiding our children. Meaning, “How should a person conduct themselves on earth? Just as though he would conduct his son!” Your son was created by desire. All you have to do now is let this desire continue to expand until you and the dream merge into reality. As you conduct yourself accordingly, you will find yourself living a Yerushalayim lifestyle. The passion will continue to grow, and the flame will never extinguish.
This equation is evidently true in our physical world with our children. If we are passionate about something and instill it into our children with love and light, they will lovingly follow it to the end of the earth. They will know that the desire of their father was true and would be delighted to help him arrive at his desired resting place. The children we birth internally through our hopes and desires need to be nourished with a constant desire so that they can run on the fuel of the greatest flame of all.
But how do we keep ourselves remembering to focus solely on this desire? We have reminders! Look at the first Parshah of Shema, Devarim 6:4-9. “Shema Yisrael!” When we say these words, we speak to Hashem and declare our declaration to Him. We say to Him that we believe that He is the Creator, God, and Lord, Who is One and inseparable from the entire universe and beyond. But who else hears you say these words as you speak them to Him? You!
Your desire is to be a Yid in Yerushalayim, and in order to remain focused on that wish, you must remind yourself of it constantly. By having this Mitzvah in our lives to read Shema twice a day, we are reviewing our belief in our hearts. By doing so, we strengthen our love for Him and reaffirm our commitment to pursue Him. We must understand the words that we speak since they aren’t simply ritualistic prayers. They are the conservators of our belief. And if we don’t read the words and think about them, we may end up like many who say it each day and still feel unaffiliated and disconnected, albeit.
“Listen, Israel.” In Yiddish, you would say, “הערצו איד’עלע.” You are talking to Hashem all the while repeating those affirmations to yourself. Listen here, Israel, and I am part of Israel. You say to the spiritual child you’ve birthed, “Listen here, ‘Mein Yiddish Kind.’ Hashem, Who is our Lord, He is One and will be acknowledged as the One over the entire world soon” (Rashi’s explanation of the words). You tell yourself and hear what you are saying, not just ritually, but knowing it deeply, and remove all doubts while hearing yourself say it. Let yourself be transported into belief, just as you did into the image of Yerushalayim, and listen to the words coming into your ears and affirm their truth with surety and sincerity.
We have reminders of our strong passion and desire to live under the wing of Hashem. The flame that ignited as we saw the picture of the Beis Hamikdash and the eternal light it lit up our minds with can be a steady and eternal consciousness in our soul. All we need are reminders. Because once this reminder is activated, we extend the flame and grow it even more. We move on to Ve’Ahavta. In order for us to make our dream come true, we need to take this Cheshek and have it grow to an infatuated state so that it can birth us children. We love Him with all of our heart, emotion, and physicality. And we teach it to our children at home, on the road, as we lie down, and as we rise.
We make a physical reminder that will be strapped to our arms, and so it becomes טטפת בין עינך. As we see it through our eyes, the Tefillin become reminders that reinvigorate our hearts’ desire. And we write it in scrolls on our doorposts and gates.
Shema has a large ע at the end, and Echad has a large ד at the end. This symbolizes the connection between the first word of the Pasuk and the last. It is as though Moshe Rabbeinu uses poetry in his words to leave us a hint. “Would you like to become Echad, one, and completely attached through your belief? Shema, start by listening to yourself!” Tell yourself the words as though you are telling them to your child. And you will go from Shema, עד, all the way to Echad.
Bereishis 12:5-6: “And Avram took his wife Sarai, and his nephew Lot, and all of their assets they amassed, and all the souls they made in Charan. And they left to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to the land of Canaan. And Avram crossed the land, עד, until the place of Sh’chem, עד, until Ailon Moreh…” What souls did they make in Canaan? They didn’t have any kids! Rashi notes that this refers to the people whose beliefs they successfully transformed and whom they brought back to Hashem. The Ohr Hachaim in Parshas Tazria says that these souls refer to the spiritual children they birthed throughout their lives.
Their desire to bring forth light into this world expanded through their focused and attentive state of mind. They never veered away from thinking of Hashem. Their entire environment was one completely outfitted with reminders to remember their belief. And so, with this undying Cheshek, they were able to birth many children. They guided themselves through life as though they were nourishing their youth and looking only to feed them the healthiest and most beneficial diet.
They came to the land and merited to see their desires come to fruition. By living amidst Hashem and by birthing Yitzchak, they ensured that their father Avraham’s desire would extend all the way to our generation and even further, עד, until the end of days.
This is truly the work of Lech Lecha. What is your desire? Make sure it is a good one, because the things you love most will soon come to pass in your life as you guide yourself in their direction.
Good Shabbos
Duvi Lemmer
LemmerHypnotherapy.com