Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler in his article on the inner preparation for Rosh Hashanah states: What a person wants - that's what he is. "The books of the living and the dead" which God scrutinizes on Rosh Hashanah refer to the spiritually living and the spiritually dead. A person who wants worthless things, "dead" things, is, in a deeper sense, dead himself. Only one who desires the things of the spirit is truly alive. That which belongs to the spirit is real. Material goals are "vanity", that is, illusory. To break with reality and choose to live in a world of illusion is to die spiritually.

So how do we change what we want?

The Path of the Just explains:

“The best way for a man to acquire “separation” is to regard the inferior quality of the pleasures of this world, both in point of their own insignificance and in point of the great evils to which they are prone to give rise etc…”

“an analysis of all the worldly pleasures would reveal that even their illusory good endures only a short time and that the evil which can grow out of them is so severe and prolonged, that no reasoning individual would consent to expose himself to the evil dangers that they present for the sake of the small amount of good which they offer. This is self-evident.”

Don’t waste this precious time before Rosh Hashanah. With a small amount of self-reflection during the month of Ellul we can, with G-d’s help, be written into the book of life.

Application:
From now until Yom Kippur spend 5 minutes a day to reflect on the true and real value of your desires.

Give 10 quick answers to the following sentence stems:
My worldly desires are…
If I were to stop chasing my worldly desires I would…

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rabbi Mitterhoff,

Shalom! I don't mean to break up a minyan on Shabbat, but:

"What you want is who you are"

I want some Riverfront property. Does that mean I am Riverfront property?

Shebot Shalom!

Does it mean that those who want that all Yidden would keep Shabbos are up the river?

First, in reply to Raybin and Rob:

I think we have to have a more sophisticated understanding of want. Let's start with wanting Riverfront property. That's not the real want, that's the product of what one really wants. One may want status, or luxury, or beauty (i.e., a beautiful view), or perhaps tranquility and reduced stress, and one may feel (rightly or wrongly, it doesn't matter) that buying Riverfront property will help achieve their goals [note: one need not be aware of one's deeper wants, oftentimes we aren't aware of our true motivations]. These deeper desires define our true concerns and goals in life, what it is that we are really after and concerned with. People are willing to work long hours and difficult jobs in order to make money to buy things that give them a certain status. Other people are willing to work long hours and difficult jobs in order to make money to send their kids to school. Both people are involved in the same action, but their concern and focus are radically different (it can even be the same job). These deeper desires show what we are really concerned about - status results from self-interest, namely a concern or desire for people to look at you in a particular way. Education results from a different concern, it could be education for it's own sake, or awareness that this will be beneficial to one's son or daughter, etc. This is how I understand the line you are what you want -- what you want defines your fundamental concerns and issues in life, it relates to your basic priorities.

The same, by the way, can be true for people who want all Jews to keep Shabbas. The question again is why do they want that. For some (the Tzaddikim) it comes from an awareness of what Shabbas is, it's importance, it's beauty and an understanding of what Jews who don't keep shabbas are missing as well as an understanding of what the Jewish world lacks by the fact that we as a nation don't keep Shabbat. For others, sadly enough, it can stem from less holy concerns such as the desire to control others. Even lofty goals can be desired for less than lofty reasons. Again, what you want (or rather why you want what you want) says a great deal about who you really are.

With that said I'd like to get to my second point, and that has to do with our attitude towards the physical world. This is a question which has always bothered me. G-d has created everything, including pleasure. What's more there are many pleasures which are sanctioned (or even commanded) by the Torah (such as Oneg Shabbat, joy on Yom Tov, etc.). As such, I don't readily understand this strict separation between physical and spiritual pleasure. There is a tremendous amount of spiritual pleasure contained within physical pleasures IF one understands that G-d created those physical pleasures and gave them to us because of His love for us. Isn't it our attitude towards physicallity which is misplaced, not our involvement in the physical? Let me explain what I mean. I don't mean that we should, heaven forbid, because hedonist, nor that we should desist from Torah and Mitzvot. Only that we should not look at physical pleasures as an inherenet evil, and that they have been created not merely to test us, but also to provide us with a means of seeing the greatness of The Creator. How wondrous is the creation in all it's facets, including the creation of pleasure. G-d created the apple and He created the pleasure within the apple, which, if one thinks about it, is a wondrous creation. G-d could have created fruit without taste. He could have created us without the need for pleasure. He could have made us content with a life without pleasure, but He didn't. And while it is true that man can be led astray and think that life is about pleasure, that is not the only attitude possible. Man can see pleasure as part of G-d's creation and when he experiences that pleasure he can be led to a greater appreciation of G-d's greatness. All of this seems true to me and seems to fit in with much that we find in the Torah, starting with Gan Eden which was full of fruit trees, as well as wondrous sites, sounds, and smells. With that said, the words of the Mesilat Yesharim seem to run contrary to what I say as well as a great many other central sefarim (books). Am I misreading their meaning, is there perhaps not a contradiction (if so, how should I read their words), or am I missing something in my understanding of the spiritual side of pleasure (if so, what am I missing)?

Be well,

Moshe Morris

Shalom Moshe,

The Vilna Goan in his sefer Even Sheleimah states:

A man should never say that pursuit of his physical lust and satisfaction of his acquisitive desire is solely for heaven's sake. For the honest scales of judgment are God's. He knows how many of man's intentions were justifiable, and what he did in order to satisfy his desires.... All the pleasures one enjoys in this world turn to bitterness in the grave. Also the lustful flesh is punished in the grave. There, every organ of a man's body that derived pleasure in this world not for the sake of a mitzva is judged. Even the righteous are punished in the grave, unless they intended their pleasure solely for God's sake. Such enjoyment is considered a mitzva, and their eating,a sacrifice offered to God.

There is nothing wrong with pleasures which are taken for the sake of heaven, but we have a lot of work to do to get to such a level. I hope this helped to answer.