Tetzaveh

Author: Rabbi Moshe Pruzansky

How To Avoid Sin

The names of the twelve Shevatim were engraved on the avnei shoham, the stones on the shoulder straps of the Kohen Gadol’s ephod. Rashi (28:12) explains that one of the reasons for this was to “remind” Hashem of our forefathers’ merits. Interestingly, the shoham stones were mentioned earlier in the Torah as well. When yosef was tempted to sin with Potiphar’s wife, the image of his fa- ther, yaakov, appeared to him and convinced him not to sin. yaakov showed yosef the stone with his name on it that was destined to be on the Kohen Gadol’s garment forever. If yosef would sin, yaakov explained, he would forfeit this great honor and merit that he was on track to accomplishing.

Why did yaakov specifically use this information to persuade yosef? Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate to remind him that this was a married woman and that being with her would mean transgressing one of the three cardinal sins? Shouldn’t yaakov have pointed out to him that transgressing such a severe sin would earn him the worst place in Gehinnom?

Menachem Mendel, the Tzemach Tzeddek, was the grandson of the first Lubavitcher rebbe. When he was in elementary school he was among the smallest boys in the class. one day at recess, Menachem Mendel and his classmates decided to have a contest to see who could climb to the top of the highest tree in the school yard. Menachem Mendel, who made it considerably higher up the tree than everyone else, won. his grandfather witnessed the contest and asked him how he had pulled off such a feat. after all, Menachem Mendel was relatively weak and feeble compared to his stronger classmates. Menachem Mendel answered with a message that would shape his life’s direction: “My trick was simple. all the other boys were constantly looking down while they climbed, but I knew better. You can’t reach great heights if you are always looking down, at the consequences of failing. rather, I only looked upwards at the heights I could achieve if I continued trying.” Indeed, Menachem Mendel utilized his strategy of constantly striving to reach greater heights and of focusing on growth and positivity, to become the third leader of the Lubavitch dynasty; and he inspired thousands to follow his example of always reaching higher.

Instead of reminding yosef about what he would lose if he failed, yaakov taught him to fight his yetzer hara through positivity and re- minded him about the incredible heights that he would achieve if he kept on trying. He taught yosef, and us, that you should not avoid sin only by focusing on the potential for punishment, but by also focus- ing on your potential for greatness that will be compromised if you succumb to sin.

Yaakov’s lesson To his son yosef is a shining example of how to in- still the will to avoid sinning within our own children as well. Instead of scaring our children with the doom and gloom of punishment, it would be so much more effective to raise our children with a fo- cus on the positivity of fulfilling the mitzvos, showing them all of the greatness that they are capable of and the beauty of being all that they can be. Additionally, this focus should be used to motivate ourselves in our battle against our own yetzer hara. Just like yosef, we too have an incredible mission to serve our Creator and, if we succeed, our merits will stand for ourselves and our children forever as well. This mission comes into play every single time we are tempted to sin, for Chazal teach us that our life’s mission is to demonstrate Hashem’s rulership to the world and that we fulfill this paramount mission each and every time we refrain from sinning.

The next time that we are tempted to sin, let us focus on who we are and the greatness that we are all capable of attaining. Let us focus on our innate desire to retain the spiritual wholesomeness that Hashem has invested within us and the feeling of meaning, purpose, and accomplishment that we attain when we do so. Being a member of the Jewish nation affords us the opportunity for an infinite poten- tial for growth, accomplishment, and meaning that we will forever be proud of. Deep down, we all desire to achieve this greatness. May we internalize yaakov’s lesson to focus on these aspirations in order to overcome our yetzer hara, and always focus on the heights that we can accomplish if we continue to reach higher.