וַיְקַדֵּשׁ֙ אֶת־הָעָ֔ם וַיְכַבְּס֖וּ שִׂמְלֹתָֽם And he was mekadesh the people, and they washed their garments. Many bachurim think that they are alone in their struggles. They are dead wrong. Everyone has a Yetzer Hara. We all sin; even gedolim and Tzadikim. No one is perfect, so even if you sin over and over again, you can still become a gadol and a Tzadik. In fact,…
וָֽאֶשָּׂ֤א אֶתְכֶם֙ עַל־כַּנְפֵ֣י נְשָׁרִ֔ים וָֽאָבִ֥א אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֵלָֽי I bore you on eagles’ wings and I brought you to Me. In his sefer ‘Chayei Olam’ the Steipler Ga’on asks why Hashem created us with such strong taivos. Wouldn’t it be better if we were more able to resist temptation? The Steipler’s answer is profound. He writes that Hashem gave…
וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב משֶׁ֖ה לִשְׁפֹּ֣ט אֶת־הָעָ֑ם וַיַּֽעֲמֹ֤ד הָעָם֙ עַל־משֶׁ֔ה מִן־הַבֹּ֖קֶר עַד־הָעָֽרֶב Moshe sat down to judge the people, and the people stood before Moshe from the morning until the evening. In his many printed letters, the Steipler Goan advised bochurim who reached out to him about these nisyonos. Yesterday we brought four important Yesodos, and today…
וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב משֶׁ֖ה לִשְׁפֹּ֣ט אֶת־הָעָ֑ם וַיַּֽעֲמֹ֤ד הָעָם֙ עַל־משֶׁ֔ה מִן־הַבֹּ֖קֶר עַד־הָעָֽרֶב Moshe sat down to judge the people, and the people stood before Moshe from the morning until the evening. The Steipler Goan advises bachurim about these nisyonos in his many printed letters. Here are a few of his important points: 1. Don’t think about the past, but only look forward….
ה֣וּא הַלֶּ֔חֶם אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָתַ֧ן ה’ לָכֶ֖ם לְאָכְלָֽה It is the bread that Hashem has given you to eat. The Yetzer Hara’s job and goal is to cause us damage, and to do this he was given permission to use pleasure and “sipuk” (fulfillment) as a bluff to be able to harm us. Otherwise, how could he possibly do…
מַה־תִּצְעַ֖ק אֵלָ֑י דַּבֵּ֥ר אֶל־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וְיִסָּֽעוּ Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel and GO! The Vilna Gaon says that what a person says they want, and even what they feel they want, has no relation to what they actually want. The Yetzer Hara was given permission to make a person feel they want something…
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…
וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ דְּבַר־י֣וֹם בְּיוֹמ֔וֹ לְמַ֧עַן אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ בְּתֽוֹרָתִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא And gather what is needed for the day, so that I can test them, whether or not they will follow My Torah. Most of us probably said Parshas Haman yesterday. Is there a connection between “Haman” Harasha in the Megilah and the Parshas “Haman”? Chazal ask, “Where can we find Haman (Harasha) in the Torah?”…
וְאָמַ֤ר פַּרְעֹה֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל נְבֻכִ֥ים הֵ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ סָגַ֥ר עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם הַמִּדְבָּֽר And Pharaoh said about the children of Israel, They are trapped in the land. The desert has closed in upon them. Even if we started to slip, we can achieve the greatest levels of kedusha by stopping ourselves from sliding further. The Sefarim write that the Nachas Ruach we give…
