Today I reached the BIG 90 and I am quite excited. I never dreamed I could go on for 90 days without a fall, but thanks to GYE's combined forces I made it.
That menuval!! Even on the last day he tried to make me fall. In previous situations he could have been successful, but not with friends like you all!! Thank you GYE.
Rashi tells us in this week's Parsha, that the middle of the ladder in Jacob's dream was above the Beis Hamikdosh. The question that struck me is, what do we have to know this for?
And I thought of an answer with a story (told over in the name of the Bal Shem Tov) of a king that promised his daughter to whoever will climb this massive huge building of 100 floors - till the top.
Loads of people started ascending the stairs, but they eventually became exhausted at some level. The strong ones climbed up till the 40th, others till the 45th floor, and then they gave up.
There was one person who was on the verge of giving up but he thought to himself,"if the king said climb to the top, it must be possible. It can't be that he gave a task that nobody can fulfill", and with this he climbed another 5 floors.
Upon reaching the 50th floor, he saw that the stairs finished at a lift, and as soon as he entered the lift, it took him straight to the top!!
The king just wanted to see who will trust him blindly; and he took care of the rest!
That's the lesson of Jacob's ladder. You are trying to climb up? Just do all you can, even if it seems impossible and you want to give up. Trust Hashem that if he gave you this task, you will succeed. And once you have done your part - that is like reaching the middle of the ladder ("our half" as opposed to "Hashem's half"). And Rashi is telling us, that the middle of the ladder is parallel to the Beis Hamikdosh, i.e. Hashem's lift that will shoot us straight to the top!
May we all continue climbing only upwards!
When G38 first joined, he posted the following:
Here I am. I am married, father of kids ble"h.
As many of us here, I have been struggling for 20+ years, knowing well that this is wrong - but clueless how to get out of it.
Since I came here the first time over three weeks ago, I am clean completely on p***, and no intentional m** either.
Here's my first thought:
I live in Europe and I have been a few times to the Swiss mountains. I noticed a simple yet inspiring point. When you climb up to the top, you go up most of the time, but also down sometimes.
Even on the downs, there is no doubt that you are climbing, this is just the way Hashem made it; to go down sometimes a bit as well, on the way up. No reason to panic!
Yet how do you now when you are shteiging?? When it gets hard, when you lose your breath, when your feet and back are hurting... in other words, whenever it's getting difficult then you are going up!!
R' Chaim Wosner writes in his sefer "Reai Chaim" about this problem, although he does not elaborate too much. His point is basically, "stop staring at the girl in the bank and you will see how your interest in your wife will come back".
Note: Along these lines, I'd like to call everyone's attention to the "Q&A" page on our site called "Do I like my wife?".
Even if you feel strong, don't forget that we are in middle of a war here. Just like in a war, there are times of calm and times of heavy fighting. When it is calm, you should utilize the time to rearm. As the Noam Elimelech says in parshas Emor, "Lehazhir Gedoilim al haktanim" means to shine from the times of high to the times of low. When you have no desire for this nonsense, that is the best time to fortify your soul. Get as much chizuk as you can now, it will come into good use when the fighting will begin again.
It says in the seforim that the convent of bris is opposite the convent of the tongue, i.e. if you guard your tongue, you will automatically guard the bris. So here is another good tip for our heroes: Speak clean and don't speak Lashon Harah - and you will stay clean!
I walk round happy as can be,
For you should know I am in GYE.
We are all involved in that battle together,
Each clean day, in our hat another feather.
Hey, look at him, where is that guy's hat?
How can he walk around just like that?
One second, maybe he is one of the fighters...
Those strong people, no little blighters?
Could he be the one to whom I turn,
When in my heart I feel the Y"H burn?
Look at his holy Yiddishe face,
Within his heart sooo much space.
Under that little Kippa, is that the big brain?
The one that gives me shelter from nisyonos rain?
Oh, my heart fills with warmth and love to the brim,
I should really go over and maybe thank him.
I am ashamed to approach a stranger just like that,
But I appreciate you all the same, with or without the hat.
Never rush to do what the Yetzer Hara is telling you. On a humorous note: After chava was enticed by the snake, it says in Rashi that she gave all the animals to eat from the tree of knowledge so that they will eventually die. Every animal had his share, but maybe since the tortoise came along slowly and wasn't running to sin, he got one of the longest life span - up to 400 years! So tell the YH, "ok I will do it, but I don't have to run. Let's wait till next week".
There is a saying from an old Slonimer chosid from Tzfas named "Luria": In the battle with the Y"H it's "a patch mir, a patch dir - a slap me, a slap you!" - as long as my slap is the last! So you got a slap? Get up and fight back using the good memories of the last slap you gave him!
There is this story of a Neshama of a Tzadik that got up to heaven and had to be cleansed before entering Gan Eden. As a punishment, he was given a hammer and told to break a massive mountain into little stones.
The Tzadik looks up at the mountain and at the little hammer in his hand, and he falls into despair. "How long will it take till I finish?" he starts to moan. But then he decides that, after all, he really wants nothing more than to do the will of Hashem. So if this is what Hashem wants from him, it doesn't matter how long it takes. And so he starts to chip away at the mountain, when suddenly the entire mountain crumbles into pebbles with a massive roar, and he is led to Gan Eden with great joy.
When we suffer in our battle, let's remember for who we are doing this. It will surely clear the path for us and turn the anguish into pleasure!
Follow in G38's footsteps and sign up for the 90-Day journey today!