Parshas Acharei Mos – Gaavah & Taavah
The Medrash in this weeks Parsha brings a story of a man who was planning an aveira with a woman and arranged to meet her in a certain place. For reasons not known to me, the lady backed out and secretly sent his wife in her stead. After their meeting, the man was feeling very low and remorseful over what he had done and approached his wife to admit his sin. She told him that it was really her, and scolded him saying that it was because of his haughtiness that he was tempted to do such an aveira.
We tend to think that if someone were to stumble in the area of taavah, chas vshalom, that they came to it because they are a bal tavah (a pleasure seeker). However, we see from this Medrash that the motivation can also come from gaavah.
The chidushei halev explains, that the more gaavah one has, the more they feel they deserve the pleasures of the world, and as a result they are tempted to seek them. However, the less haughty a person is, the less they feel they deserve the pleasures of the world, and as a result they are less tempted to seek them, because they are happy what with what they have.
This chazal gives us a totally new angle to help us tackle the challenge of taava in all areas of life, because sometimes we want it because we think we deserve it.
HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOS!
Rabbi Anton
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