Day 26/50: The TaPHSiC Method

וּפַרְעֹ֖ה הִקְרִ֑יב

“And Pharaoh drew near”

(As explained by the sefarim, that Pharaoh’s chasing the Yidden “drew them near” to Hashem!)

If you’ve tried to leave the Mitzrayim of the Yetzer Hara behind, but now you feel like you’re standing before the raging sea and the Yetzer Hara is chasing you saying, “How could we have let the Bnei Yisrael out of our servitude? (Shemos 14:5)”, and if it seems there’s no way out, then the “TaPHSiC Method” may be appropriate and helpful for you. This technique involves making a shvuah for a short period of time (at first), to do something difficult (a k’nas) if you fall. (Listen to this short clip from Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zatza”l about using shvuos as a fence for temptation). 

A lot of thought went into creating this method in a very safe way, to ensure that you can keep the shvuah no matter what happens. 

To learn how the TaPHSiC Method works, click here for a PDF that explains the process clearly. (If you can’t access it, write to yaakov@shovavim.org and we’ll send it to you).

The TaPHSiC Method may appear a bit extreme to some people, but for those who are seriously struggling it can be a game-changer. And it’s especially appropriate for the week of kriyas yam suf because sometimes we have to be ready to do whatever it takes, like Hashem told the Yidden at the edge of sea: “Tell them to GO FORWARD! (Shemos 14:15)”. We must be ready to enter into the deep waters of commitment by doing things that feel like Messiras Nefesh, like Nachshon Ben Aminadov who went into the yam suf until his nostrils. Only when we have done all we can and we cry out to Hashem, “Save me Elokim, for the waters have come until my soul! (Tehillim 69:2)”, will the miracle occurs and the sea will split for us! And then we will finally experience real freedom from the Yetzer Hara.

“Hashem will fight for you and you shall be silent (Shemos 14:14)”.