In this week’s Hachana L’Shabbos we return to Yedid Nefesh and the words: “ירוץ עבדך כמו איל – May Your servant run like a deer.” Chazal tell us: “לעולם ירוץ אדם לדבר הלכה אפילו בשבת – a person should run to a dvar halacha even on Shabbos,” and yet the pasuk they bring says “אחרי ה’ ילכו – they will walk after Hashem.” So are we meant to walk… or to run?

With the help of the Chidushei HaRim, the Sochatchover Rebbe, the Klausenberger Rebbe, and the Piaseczna, we learn that inside every Jew lives a world of hidden kochos that usually stay asleep. A frail man who can’t carry a sefer suddenly lifts stones heavier than his own body in the camps. A mother flips a car to save her children. A Yid standing in a tunnel during a siren somehow stays calm for his wife and baby. In moments of danger, we discover that what we thought was “my limit” was often just a story.

The Torah of this shiur is simple and devastatingly hopeful: those kochos were always there. They’re not “emergency powers” Hashem hands us only in crisis; they are part of who we are, usually operating at a tiny percentage. The avodah is to live with the awareness of sha’as sakana — spiritual and emotional — without waiting for another October 7th, another breakdown at home, another fire to wake us up.

Practically, we speak about:

• Why “I’ll do whatever I can” is often a lie we tell ourselves, and how to start discovering what we actually can do.
• How to feel the urgency of lanus min ha’aveirah – to run from aveirah and toward mitzvah – without needing a catastrophe.
• Everyday examples of hidden strength: putting the phone away for five minutes, not snapping at our spouse or children, taking one small step toward kedushah even when we feel totally drained.

We are infinitely stronger than we think we are. Every step we run toward what really matters brings the Ribbono Shel Olam immeasurable nachas and pulls the geulah closer – not just bimheira b’yameinu, but teikef u’miyad mamash.

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