So here we are: Rosh Hashanah is finished, Yom Kippur is over, Sukkot has passed, and on Simchat Torah, we danced. Here we are in the month of Cheshvan. So let me ask you: how many of you made what the Goyim (non-Jews) would call New Year’s resolutions? On Rosh Hashanah, you decided: This year, I’m going to pray with the minyan (prayer quorum) three times a day. This year, I’m going to give tzedakah (charity), 10%, 15%. This year, I’m going to be nice to my wife, to my husband, to my kids, to my workers, to my neighbors. That doesn’t have to be all of them; it can be one of many. From now on, I’m going to class, and I’m going to start learning Torah. We make promises, we make resolutions, right? It’s Cheshvan. Do we still remember them? We enter every new year with the intent that we’re going to change, we’re going to be better, we’re going to take things upon ourselves, and we’re going to get closer to Hashem. There’s no question about it.
But the more we decide that we’re going to change, the more that the Satan (adversary) gets into the act. If we just say, for example, “You know what? On my way to work, instead of getting the coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts that may not have a hechsher (kosher certification), I’m going to get it from the kosher restaurant,” Satan says, “Okay, no big deal. He can have kosher coffee; I’ll let him do that.” But let’s say Yom Kippur was so emotional for you: the prayers were so beautiful—the people, the camaraderie of being together with everyone, shouting, screaming out to Hashem. You say, “I love it. I’ve wasted my life. I’m going to change, I’m going to be good, I’m going to do all these wonderful things.” Satan says, “Mm-mm, ain’t going to happen.” So that’s why, on Rosh Hashanah and even at the end of Kippur, we blow the shofar (ram’s horn). Why do we blow the shofar? It confuses Satan. This way, we can get in all those resolutions that he doesn’t listen to us.
But here we are, as I said, three, four weeks after Simchat Torah, and it’s all but forgotten. How do we even know if our sins were forgiven? Well, if we’ve forgotten our resolutions and we’ve forgotten Yom Kippur, then chances are all those resolutions that we made are also by the wayside. We’re glad that that day is over. Chances are, our resolutions are all over. So what did we do? We fooled ourselves. Not only did we fool Satan, but we fooled ourselves also. It’s a shame. It’s unfortunate. But I bet you didn’t know that Rosh Hashanah is not the only day that we fool Satan. We actually fool Satan every single day when we put on Tefillin (phylacteries). You see, we don’t know the power that Tefillin has in heaven. Satan does. Just how powerful are they?
A number of years ago, they did an experiment in Israel on some secular Israelis. What they did was they measured their energy field. I don’t know how you do that. Maybe the glow, maybe the body heat that comes off you, your energy that you give off. And they measured their energy field before they put on Tefillin. And they put on Tefillin unto them. Now, the people will say, “people definitely not feeling more spiritual,” because these were secular Israelis and didn’t really feel that the Tefillin had any change to them. But when they measured their energy field around them, they found that the energy was double when they were wearing Tefillin compared with when they were not—not because they felt more spiritual, but because they actually were.
So Satan wants to stop us from wearing Tefillin every day. So what should he do? Every day, he should make you oversleep. Your alarm doesn’t go off. You had the pillow over your head. You didn’t hear it. You heard it. You put the snooze alarm. You went back to sleep. For whatever reason. But he doesn’t do that. Maybe once or twice, you’ll oversleep. You’ll miss minyan. But otherwise, you’re there all the time. Why is that? What is it that’s so special about this Tefillin that Satan should want to prevent you from putting it on? This is probably something you never, ever noticed before. Maybe tomorrow morning, when you put on your Tefillin, you’ll notice it for the first time. When you put on the Shel Rosh (head tefillin), before you put it on, take a look at the front. You’ll see a few hairs sticking up. I always wondered, why don’t they just snip them off? What are they?
Well, we know that there’s parchment inside the Shel Rosh. There’s also parchment inside the Shel Yad (arm tefillin). And what do they do after they write out the klaf (parchment)? They roll it up, and they tie it around with cow’s hairs. And in the Shel Rosh, they take a few of those hairs, and they stick them out through the top of your Tefillin. Why do they do that? Well, we all know the story of the Egel HaZahav (golden calf). And when Satan sees that we have cow’s hairs that we’re wearing on our Tefillin, he says, “These people are still worshiping. They’re still worshiping the golden calf. I got no problem. I don’t have to stop them. They’re not loyal to Hashem. They’re still thinking about Har Sinai. And they’re still thinking about themselves. And they’re thinking about that wonderful time they had dancing around the Egel.” Now, Hashem says, “Oh my gosh! You’re still thinking about the Egel HaZahav?” He knows that we’re not worshiping the golden calf. And I bet you didn’t even know that’s what they were. So not only were we fooling Satan, but we were fooling you. All these years, you probably never even knew what that was.
So if it fools Satan, and we’re able to perform that special mitzvah (commandment) every morning, we can see the power of fooling ourselves. If we can fool him with cow’s hairs, imagine what we could do to ourselves with just a little bit of willpower. We may have fooled ourselves last Rosh Hashanah. But if we make those resolutions and decide we’re serious about it—“I’m not fooling around”—by this time next year, who knows? Maybe you’ll lose those 10 pounds. Maybe you’ll be in class every day. Maybe you’ll be praying with the minyan every day. And maybe you’ll be doing what you’re supposed to do every single day: study Torah, do acts of kindness, and think about Hashem.