The Library

"We are put into this world for a purpose, and it's summed up by the Mesilas Yesharim: "laavod v'laamol v'laamod b'nisayon"--to work and to toil and to withstand ordeals."

"There's an endless well of greatness in mankind, only it slumbers within him. Vicissitudes are like salt that sweetens man.  Undergoing difficulties in life stirs this  greatness to the surface."

When I am faced with a big test, I see it as a personal smile from G-d Himself telling me face to face with love, "I KNOW you have a yetzer hara, and I also know that YOU, YES YOU and ONLY YOU, can overcome it. This is something that all of heaven and any angel doesn't ha...

I just want to share with everyone some statistics. After Yeshiva World offered us a great deal (based on this letter that Rabbi Twerski wrote to Jewish websites), I pledged $225 a month to run the current GYE ad on www.theyeshivaworld.com indefinitely. Guard thanked me a...

It says sur mayra vaasey tov, first turn away from bad, and THEN, and only then, do good. What does this mean for us? It means that you can't start enjoying the benefits of what a clean life means if you're still acting out. So in the 12 step groups, they want you to be s...

In the times of castles and moats, there lived a princess. An only child, her life was to be one of comfort, lavishness, and splendor from the cradle to the grave. She wore only satin and silk. She was served only the finest delicacies. She lived an enchanted existence un...

"The purpose of mitzvos is to refine people, to purify them. You become pure by saying No to yourself."

Here is the preface to a new e-Book written by Elya K. called "The Mask in the Mirror". Elya is a U.S. Hotline Moderator, Sponsor and Group Leader for GYE for already 3 years. To purchase the e-Book for $3 contact Elya by clicking here. Every person is born with an innate...

An alcoholic once exclaimed: "It's only human nature to drink" to which we reply, "Nature is what we were put in this world to rise above!" There is something literally miraculous in personal self-transcendence and transformation. And I don't use the word "miraculous" he...

NO ONE FLOATS INTO RECOVERY ON THE WINGS OF VICTORY

To enjoy the greatest pleasure in life, we need to embrace the half of the glass that's full and the half that's empty. What is life's greatest pleasure? It's not an easy question. Close your eyes a minute and think about it before you read any further. What did you come...

THINGS ARE NOT NECESSARILY GOING WRONG JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GOING MY WAY.

HUMILITY DOESN'T MEAN THINKING ANY LESS OF YOURSELF; IT MEANS THINKING OF YOURSELF LESS.

Sex and love are the deepest human emotions and fixing these emotions fixes a person deeper than anything else. That's why in Kabbalah, the Seffirah of "Yesod" refers to the Brit. "Yesod" means "foundation". Guarding the Brit is the foundation of Judaism. The positive com...

See Jack's 90-day journey time-line from 3 years ago here. Dear Guard, I'm approaching my 3-year anniversary in 'the struggle'. I can't say I'm perfect, and I've slipped along the way, but only about 5 times in the whole 3 years. What a difference from before I started,...

I was walking home from Shul. 3 attractive girls were crossing my path and as much as I tried at the time to switch off my lust it was difficult since these girls were quite bubbly and ever-present --hard to ignore! So I went for plan B and shifted into giving mode. I imm...

Every time you say "no" to your obsessions, it is priceless. It's another step up, and no step goes to waste. Remember this parable: Even if someone is heading out to the other side of town and on the way he slips on the ice, all he needs to do it just get up and continue...

When a large tanker is sailing fast through the ocean, it causes a strong current of water which also follows it's direction: quickly, and powerfully. Turning the ship around however, takes massive energy to first make the turn, and then, to go AGAINST the flow that the s...