Day 30/50: Eight Gems of Advice from the Steipler (Part Two: 5-8)
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 we bring another four:
- Experience shows that the more a person overcomes his nature in this area, it becomes easier and easier for him to continue to do so until eventually the test will be negligible.” We see this in the Talmud Sanhedrin 107A “There is a small limb, if a person starves it, it will be satisfied; but if he feeds it, it will be hungry.”
- The times we failed are erasable, but every time we pass a test is a kinyan that’s ours to keep forever. Even if we successfully overcome the Yetzer Hara only once in a while at first, these small initial wins will ultimately lead us to overcome these tests completely.
- Anyone who keeps away from these forbidden pleasures is promised to receive great pleasures of life from other areas instead. (And conversely, the suffering we feel when turning away will save us much suffering in other areas of life).
- Make sure to always be in a good environment, surrounded by serious Yidden – ovdei Hashem, especially at times when you feel weak.
|