Who Is the Fool? The Yetzer Harah or You?? The Chofetz Chaim's Startling Insight

Throughout Shas, the Yetzer Hara is called a fool. And that makes us very uh comfortable. We like to think of him that way. It makes us very comfortable to think of the Yetzer Hara like a fool. Because then you think to yourself, Mhm. One second. That then you think to yourself, "You know, I'm dealing with an opponent that I'll be able to defeat. Not an issue." So, the question though is, why is the Yetzer Hara called a fool? He seems to be a pretty smart guy. He has been successful in getting us to stumble in the most ridiculous ways. Ki adati es yitzri, the possuk says. In Tehillim perek kuf gimmel, ki hu yada yitzreinu, God knows our inclination. Veha chacham eikol adam korei osei melech zaken uksil. Koheles calls him an old foolish king. >> [clears throat] >> Veha kavano hu. Now, we're making a very big mistake in this name. We think the fool is the Yetzer Hara. We think the reason why he's called a fool is he's the fool. No, no, no, no, says the Chofetz Chaim. What do you call somebody who deals with shoes? A shoemaker. What do you call somebody who deals with cars? A car mechanic. And what do you call somebody who makes people fools? What do you call somebody who deals with fools? A foolish king. He is not the fool. You are. Says the Chofetz Chaim. Veha kavano hu. Lo ish hu ba'atzmo eikso, it's not that he's the fool. Ki lahepoch, an orein, we see the opposite. Ki yesh b'chochlei l'kol b'shusai, af es ha chacham >> He can trap in his net even the smartest person. Here you have a guy, yes guy. Is it important, is it valuable to learn Torah? Yeah, very valuable. How much is the s'char for learning? Oh, the s'char for learning? It's equal to all 613 mitzvahs. Okay. Is the s'char for learning Torah, let's say, more than a million dollars? Yes, yes, yes. Even for one word? Yes, yes, yes. The next thing the guy is sitting there scrolling on his phone for 20 minutes looking at absolute nonsense. Why are you doing that? Is that enhancing your life? Are you gaining knowledge? Is it Is it elevating your intellect? Is it giving you Olam Haba? Mhm, good good question. Very good question. And let's check out how much time you spent on your phone this week. No, no, no, no, don't look at it. I don't want to look at it. I don't want to look at it. You know, pal, in that amount of time you could have learned Bavli, Yerushalmi, Tosefta, Sifra, Sifri, with the Mechilta. So, who who got you to do that? Ah, the Oh, the fool, the foolish yetzer hara. No, no, no, no. The brilliant yetzer hara. The fool was on the other end. The name kasil is given for his work. Na'alam. A shoemaker is a guy who makes shoes. One who sews clothing is called a tailor. Because his job is to turn people into complete fools. sukkah. Here he gets a guy aggravated and upset and the guy is ois mench. I was in a shul and uh there was a guy in the side room. He was fuming. He was screaming. He said, "When I'm angry, I can't even daven." Nobody even knew what he was angry about. What was he so angry about? He got the guy so worked up, the guy couldn't even come to Mincha. Says the Chofetz Chaim, "Er macht alle men zum narr." The yetzer hara turns everyone into a fool. It's not him. It's the people he's dealing with. Have a good day, everyone. Kol tuv. >> Wait.