I heard a beautiful thought from the Elder of Kelm, quoted by Rabbi Nathan Kairey when he spoke at the Yad Yosef Torah Center not long ago.
The Elder of Kelm, in his sefer Hochmah U’Mussar (chapter 49), notes that it was after Hanukah, and although many Hanukahs had passed, and many days had passed, still the basic fundamentals did not take root. He explains this phenomenon with the concept that a person has things that are rooted in him from his young, wild-donkey age. That means in our heads, we have certain ways of looking at things, certain preconceived notions that are rooted in us. And even if we get a sudden epiphany of sorts, we revert back to our previous states. The Elder of Kelm used the example of Yosef and the brothers, based on some Midrashic background that many people might not be aware of. The Midrash Tanhuma says that when Yosef revealed himself and said, “I am Yosef,” the brothers were so scared that their souls left them and Hashem brought their souls back. They had what we could call heart attacks. Then, after Yosef showed them his Brit Milah and continued the conversation, they wanted to kill him, and Hashem had to protect Yosef.
Why did they want to kill him?
Because they had made a decision that Yosef was Chayav Mita/ deserving the death penalty, and even after 22 years, nothing changed. Although they had a sudden shock-wave initially, they naturally went back to their original, what he calls Hashrasha Rishona/ their preconceived idea of what Yosef was. And here, he says, we're talking about the Shevatim, so surely for us …
Regarding Hanukah, he says that the message of Hanukah is not just that there were miracles then, but, like we say in B׳Yamim Hahem, B’Zman Hazeh/ Today also, we have miracles. And so, the concept of En Od Milevado applies today as well. It's not just in stories of yesteryear or fairy tales. This is reality. There is a sefer called Yosef Ometz from Rav Yosef Yuspa Nordlingan. He was the Av Bet Din of Frankfurt a few hundred years ago. He said that people might think that we don't have the same miracles today as in yesteryear. But, he says, don't be fooled into thinking that. He says that there’s no difference today . And he says, if the Yetzer Hara tells you that today we don't see miracles, don't listen to him.
He says, I've heard many stories of miracles that happen today. God does them in a hidden way. We don't know about them, but don't think that anything's any different today. We have preconceived notions because we're raised that the world is natural. And because we were raised that the world is natural, we go back to that.
And this is not just about Bitachon. This is true anytime we want to change anything. Why is it so hard for people to keep their new commitments, whether it’s Jewish people keeping their Rosh Hashana Kabbalot or the New year’s resolutions of the secular world. Yes, everyone signs up for the gym in January, but stops going in February. You commit to the diet on Sunday morning, but come Tuesday, you forget about it. What happens?
What happens is that we have, in us preconceived notions, and these preconceived notions were hardwired that way. To change them takes a lot of effort. This is an important principle. Epiphanies don't last. You have to constantly repeat them and repeat them and repeat them until they set in. And that's why we can continue, year after year, doing the same things, and it doesn't seem to change.
Just because you have that sudden blitz of light on a holiday, it’s not guaranteed to last. The only way things last is by consistently repeating them again and again and again. And that's why we need to have all of these daily classes, because if we don't keep on repeating these lessons, they will dissipate and we will go back to our regular routine.
Have a wonderful day.