The Greater the Person, the Greater the Battle
Stop for a Moment Put the book down for a moment. Think about yesterday. What bothered you? A traffic jam on the way to work. A word that should never have been said. A small annoyance that became a stone in your shoe and took a whole hour of your thoughts and your nerves. Now ask yourself: Was that really your battle? Because if it was, there is a question here that needs to be asked, and asked honestly. The Core Idea The Talmud states it plainly: “Whoever is greater than his fellow, his evil inclination is greater than his.” The evil inclination is the inner voice that pulls us toward wrong. This saying is short and simple, with no sentiment. But if we stop and think about it, it turns each of us upside down, along with every account we keep of our lives. What does it really say? Not that great people suffer more. It says this: the size of your tests measures your greatness. This is how things are built. It is not a punishment. Hashem guides every detail, and He aims every test with precision. He gives each person exactly the opponent that matches his level. Not less, and not more. Now look at it from the other side. Maybe a life full of small worries, full of problems that keep coming back and give you no rest, is itself the sign. Not a sign that life is hard. A sign that we are living in a place that is too small for us. Hasidic teaching speaks of a “small state of mind.” This does not mean a passing moment of weakness. It is a state in which a person’s whole world shrinks down into problems that are beneath him. Start from Above It is told that Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, a great Hasidic master, used to say: “From the very start, go over the top.” Go over from above. Don’t wait until you have fallen and then try to crawl through underneath. This is not just a saying. It is a whole way of doing inner work. Don’t wait for the test to come to you and then try to survive it. Go out to the great battle before it catches you small. As long as you are busy putting out small fires, you are not free for the real battle. And it is not because you have no time. You are not free for it because the small battles are sometimes the very way we run away from the big one. Take a young married man who spends an hour a day on an insult he received. He does not lack time. He lacks something worthy of him to do, work that would demand everything he has. The Victory That Lifts You Up In chapter 27 of the Tanya, the classic book of Hasidic thought, its author, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, explains that subduing the dark side, forcing the evil inclination to give in, is not only protection from falling. It is a real ascent. Every victory over a great inner pull creates an upward movement that cannot be reached any other way. In other words, the big problem you are running away from is exactly the key to the rise you are looking for. And that is the ceiling of your spiritual life. It is not your talent, and it is not your schedule. The ceiling is set by the size of the battles you are willing to go out and fight. The fear of the great test is the very wall that holds you back.
Putting It into Practice
The next time you find yourself swept up in irritation over something small, stop. Not to take a deep breath and “calm down.” Stop to ask yourself: What is the real battle I am avoiding right now? Maybe it is in your prayer, which has been waiting for weeks for you to really show up. Maybe it is a character trait you know you need to work on, and there is always a reason for “not yet, not now.” Maybe it is an hour of Torah study that you keep putting off because “the timing isn’t right.” Go out and meet the great battle. Once you begin to fight it, the small problems will not disappear. They will simply stop interesting you. The goal is not a life without problems. The goal is a life with problems that are worthy of you.
Questions and answers
Q: Was the small annoyance that took up my whole hour yesterday really my battle?
Rabbi Landau answers: Put the book down for a moment. Think about yesterday. What bothered you? A traffic jam on the way to work. A word that should never have been said. A small annoyance that became a stone in your shoe and took a whole hour of your thoughts and your nerves. Now ask yourself: Was that really your battle? Because if it was, there is a question here that needs to be asked, and asked honestly.
Q: What does the Talmud mean by "Whoever is greater than his fellow, his evil inclination is greater"?
Rabbi Landau answers: The Talmud states it plainly: “Whoever is greater than his fellow, his evil inclination is greater than his.” The evil inclination is the inner voice that pulls us toward wrong. This saying is short and simple, with no sentiment. But if we stop and think about it, it turns each of us upside down, along with every account we keep of our lives. What does it really say? Not that great people suffer more. It says this: the size of your tests measures your greatness. This is how things are built. It is not a punishment. Hashem guides every detail, and He aims every test with precision. He gives each person exactly the opponent that matches his level. Not less, and not more.
Q: What did Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch mean by "From the very start, go over the top"?
Rabbi Landau answers: It is told that Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, a great Hasidic master, used to say: “From the very start, go over the top.” Go over from above. Don’t wait until you have fallen and then try to crawl through underneath. This is not just a saying. It is a whole way of doing inner work. Don’t wait for the test to come to you and then try to survive it. Go out to the great battle before it catches you small. As long as you are busy putting out small fires, you are not free for the real battle. And it is not because you have no time. You are not free for it because the small battles are sometimes the very way we run away from the big one.
Q: According to Tanya chapter 27, why is overcoming the evil inclination a real ascent?
Rabbi Landau answers: In chapter 27 of the Tanya, the classic book of Hasidic thought, its author, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, explains that subduing the dark side, forcing the evil inclination to give in, is not only protection from falling. It is a real ascent. Every victory over a great inner pull creates an upward movement that cannot be reached any other way. In other words, the big problem you are running away from is exactly the key to the rise you are looking for. And that is the ceiling of your spiritual life. It is not your talent, and it is not your schedule. The ceiling is set by the size of the battles you are willing to go out and fight.
Q: What should I ask myself when I'm getting irritated over something small?
Rabbi Landau answers: The next time you find yourself swept up in irritation over something small, stop. Not to take a deep breath and “calm down.” Stop to ask yourself: What is the real battle I am avoiding right now? Maybe it is in your prayer, which has been waiting for weeks for you to really show up. Maybe it is a character trait you know you need to work on, and there is always a reason for “not yet, not now.” Maybe it is an hour of Torah study that you keep putting off because “the timing isn’t right.” Go out and meet the great battle. Once you begin to fight it, the small problems will not disappear. They will simply stop interesting you. The goal is not a life without problems.