"in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would encamp". (Bamidbar 9:17-19)
Taking Care of Yourself: Body and Spirit
If the air quality becomes saturated with pollution, the local government starts issuing warnings, and advises the citizens to limit their time outside, and, if they must go out, to wear a mask.
Despite the inevitable inconveniences, people are willing to follow the guidance of the government and forgo their comforts temporarily. They will listen and protect themselves from the harmful air.
There is a clear lesson we can learn from this: if people are willing to follow the advice of others to protect and preserve their temporary physical life, how much more so, should they do everything within their power to protect their eternal spiritual existence.
The pasuk says (Iyov 19:26), "and from my flesh I see godliness". The Baal Shem Tov, zt"l, interpreted this verse to be teaching this very lesson. A person needs to see how meticulously they try to take care of their health, and apply that same level of care to their spirituality and Avodas Hashem.
Spiritual Pollution
The air in the world is indeed spiritually contaminated and polluted.
R' Pinchus from Karitz, zt"l, said that the minds of non-Jews create impure thoughts which then enter the air, polluting it and potentially impacting and infecting the Jews who live there as well.
R' Pinchus explained that this is what Chazal meant when they taught (Nazir 54a) that during the times of the second Beis HaMikdash the Sanhedrin ruled that if someone travelled in the diaspora they were treated as impure as someone who had encountered a corpse. Chazal wanted to minimize the time that the Jews would spend in the diaspora being influenced by the non-Jewish thoughts that saturated the air.
R' Pinchus concluded with a firm warning for the Jews in this galus, during this exile, to be diligent and protect themselves from the impure thoughts that surround them. A person needs to recognize and utterly despise the ideas, thoughts, and viewpoints of the wicked. He needs to constantly remind his family that the philosophies and ideas of the non-Jews are not only inappropriate, but they can also destroy a Jew's path in life. By constantly remembering this fundamental idea, a person can protect himself and his family from being contaminated by the ideas and thoughts of the surrounding non-Jewish culture.
The pasuk says (Bamidbar 25:17), "Distress the Midianites, and you shall smite them. For they distress you with their plots". R' Yehoshua from Belz, zt"l, explained, that you must always despise the ideas of the Midianites, because their philosophies that fill the air can corrupt you. And, when you hate these ideas, when you learn to recognize these impure views, you can protect yourself from their influence.
This concept is even more relevant today when most Jews live in places like America, a culture defined by moral depravity guised under the banner of freedom and self-expression. The air in America is literally polluted with spiritual impurities. I heard that when the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, R' Yoseif Yitzchak, zt"l, arrived in America, he ordered that the windows of the shul be opened during davening and Torah study so that the holiness of the shul's air could flow out into the streets to combat America's spiritual air pollution.
On the Move: Our Job in Galus
Everything that occurs in this world is with Hashem's Diving Providence and Hashgacha Pratis. The Seforim HaKedoshim explain that the reason Jews find themselves living in random places throughout the world during galus, is to uplift and elevate sparks of holiness that are found there, by overcoming their spiritual tests and challenges in those places.
The Chida explains at the end of his work titled Sheim HaGedolim, that this explains why the Jews find themselves settling in so many different regions throughout the duration of the galus. Once they have fulfilled their mission in each place, once they have uplifted and elevated all the sparks of holiness, Hashem's Hashgacha Pratis sets in motion the events that cause them to uproot and relocate and begin the task anew elsewhere.
Our Challenge Today
Nowadays, as we find ourselves in the era before the arrival of Moshiach, the challenge of facing society's impure thoughts, deprived cultures and philosophies, is extremely difficult. There are movements and organizations who are constantly working to impose their radical, liberal ideologies on society. They justify and accommodate the gravest transgressions and lifestyles claiming that a person was born a certain way, and nothing can be done to change that.
They have successfully influenced society, because they constantly repeat their falsehoods in public with a proud, haughty, and loud voice. A lie can become believable when it is repeated often enough. People begin to accept falsehoods no matter how contrary they are to reality. Society embraces lies even after we have already seen the grave ramifications and outcomes of these philosophies: the violence, the promiscuity, the decay in morals and the overall destruction of societal behavior.
Advances in technology have amplified the impact of these viewpoints. The internet has become a hub for these views to gain traction and, through the internet, these distorted opinions and ideologies can reach nearly everyone. People are intrigued and drawn into a dialogue and conversation; they seek advice from these online sources. There is a grave danger that these ideologies and philosophies will find their way, bit by bit, into Jewish life and the Jewish home, may Hashem protect us.
During challenging times like this, Jews need to focus and teach their families to despise these non-Jewish philosophies. You must do everything that you can, to avoid exposing yourself and your family to these cultural influences, and to be aware not to become attached and addicted to devices and programs who are spreading those ideologies. As the Or HaChaim explained on the pasuk above (ibid), "Distress the Midianites", that those who are spiritually killing people, you should distress them even when they are doing some positive thinks, and this is a Segulah not to fall in their net.
The Way Forward
Given these challenges and the tremendous fog that clouds one's judgement, it is imperative that, when in doubt, the Jew seeks the guidance of a Torah scholar and tzadik. They are like the "medical professionals" who understand the ailments and treatments for your soul. They understand the challenges of this generation and can prescribe a course of "treatment". Therefore, Hashem commands us to follow their directives. As it says (Devarim 17:11), "According to the law they instruct you and according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left".
Our pasuk is providing guidance for when the Jews find themselves exiled:
The pasuk says "in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would encamp" - The Jews will find themselves in places that are shrouded in the clouds of impure thoughts and ideologies. But, you must remember, "At the bidding of the Lord, the children of Israel will travel". The Jews can survive despite these challenges, because they adhere to and strengthen their commitment to "the Word of Hashem". By studying Torah and following the guidance of the generation's Torah scholars and leaders, a Jew can protect his spiritual health.
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