I heard a good vort at shiur yesterday which gave me a lot of chizuk especially in regard to our struggles.

The first Mitzvah that was given to Klal Yisroel is in this week’s sidrah which is the Mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh. However, the first Mitzvah that involved an action is the Mitzvah of Korban Pesach, also in this sidrah.

What is the importance of this Mitzvah? Part of the commandment was to put the blood on the doorposts so that the Yidden would not be affected by Makkas Bechoros. Why should the Yidden have been more at risk from this Makkah as opposed to all the others which did not affect them at all? Also, why should blood on the doorposts help?

In the Hagadah we read that Makkas Bechoros was carried out by Hashem Himself and not through a Malach, Saraf or messenger. We can imply that the other Makkos were in fact carried out by Malachim and other heavenly messengers. The reason that the Yidden were not affected by the first nine Makkos is because these heavenly beings have no power over the Yidden as the Yidden are greater creatures (even when they are on the 49th level of Tumah). To give an example, it is as if the Malachim etc. are pouring dirty water down from the ninth floor of a tower building. The Yidden are on the tenth floor and therefore are not in the ‘firing line’ and cannot be harmed. However, Makkos Bechoros was carried out by Hashem. He is a much higher source and therefore the Yidden were at risk as well.

The only way that the Yidden could be protected was by becoming part of Hashem’s camp. Putting the blood on the doorposts signified that this home was a Mikdash Me’at and part of Hashem’s territory. It is a similar concept to an embassy building. For example, the Israeli embassy in England is considered as Israeli territory despite the fact that it is situated in London. Therefore, in Mitzrayim, the Jewish homes were not considered as being within Mitzrayim and were Passed Over. Hence the name of the Yomtov is Passover as this was the key element.

This is the fundamental of Mezuza. By putting a Mezuzah on our door we are declaring that our home is no longer in the territory of the goyim of England, America etc but in fact it is the territory of Hashem. Our homes become a Mikdash, totally separate from the schmutz around us.

If we bring the schmutz of the street into our homes we are totally contradicting the message of the Mezuza. If we do this our homes become the same as those of the goyim and may not be ‘Passed Over’.



On a separate note, the first Mitzvah is that of Kiddush Hachodesh. The posuk says ‘Lochem’ which signifies that we have control over setting the month.

What is the significance of this Mitzvah as the first Mitzvah given?
The answer is in relation to the issue of time. A slave is not in control of his own time. He gets told what to do and when. Whilst we were slaves to Pharoah we were not in control of our own time. At the time of the Geulah we became free and therefore gained control over our time and our activities. This is the message of Kiddush Hachodesh. Now that we are no longer slaves, we have control of our time and have to use it wisely in the service of Hashem.

How many of us waste hours and hours of time as slaves to our addictions. May we all have a full Geulah soon.

Mamesh a gevaldige vort! We must remind ourselves that we are a different breed which can help us stay above the temtations of society. Yasher Koiach!

Dear Modche!
Welcome to our community, you have finally come home!

GuardYourEyes (GYE) is a vibrant network and fellowship of Jews of all affiliations, struggling to purify themselves and break free of lust related behaviors. For the first time, there is somewhere to turn to for help in these areas. We're all in the same boat here. Tzuras Rabim Chatzi Nechama  .  Once you've arrived, there's no turning back. Everyone here will just grab a hold of you and pull you up with them!
 
In the last couple of years, the GYE network has helped roughly 1,000 Jews get back on a path of sanity, self-control and healing and has touched the lives of thousands more. GYE has become known throughout the Jewish world as the number one address for dealing with these challenges which have reached epidemic proportions. 

The tools of our recovery program were developed with guidance from the best experts in the field, such as Rabbi Dr. Avraham J. Twerski, and through the personal experience of hundreds of Jews who successfully broke free. We use a unique approach that recognizes that there are many different levels in these struggles.

Our network is comprised of a website, a pulsating forum, phone conferences, daily Chizuk e-mails, support hotlines, therapists, live 12-Step groups and a program of recovery for all levels of this struggle/addiction.

All our work is free of charge and we zealously protect the complete anonymity of all our members.

Here are some quick things you can do to help you jump straight into your journey:

1) See the "GYE Program in a Nutshell" (Right Click the link and press "Save Link/Target As" to save the PDF file to your computer) that can help you quickly identify at what level of the struggle you are at, and which tools and features would help you most at your particular level.

2) Install a strong filter (see this page for more info). It is hard to break free of this while having all the garbage within a mouse click away.  The filter gabai at filter.gye@gmail.com will hold the passwords for you. We also highly advise installing "Reporting Software" such as webchaver.org to give you some accountability.

3) Join the daily Chizuk e-mail lists to get fresh chizuk every day.

4) Join the 90 Day Challenge. Scientific studies have shown that it takes 90 days to change the neuron pathways created by addictive behaviors in the brain.

5) Post away on this forum, where hundreds of yidden like you exchange chizuk and post logs of their journey to recovery. You will internalize that you are not alone, and you will learn the techniques and attitude that work for so many others.

6) Join our free anonymous phone conferences, led by an experienced sponsor.

7) If you need more general guidance, write to GYE’s helpline at gye.help@gmail.com or call the hotline at 646-600-8100.

8.) Download and read the "Guard Your Eyes Handbook" (a hard copy can be purchased for cost price over here). This handbook outlines the GYE approach in detail, and makes our network much more effective and helpful for people. The handbook has two parts:

A) The first part, "The 20 Tools", detail suggested tools and techniques, in progressive order, beginning with the most basic and fundamental approaches to dealing with this addiction, and continuing down through increasingly earnest and powerful methods. No matter what level our addiction may have advanced to, we will be able to find the right tools to break free in this handbook!

The second part, "Attitude & Perspective", detail 30 basic principles to help us maintain the proper attitude and perspective on this struggle. Here are some examples: Understanding what we are up against, what it is that Hashem wants from us, how we can use this struggle for tremendous growth, how we can deal with bad thoughts, discovering how to redirect the power of our souls, understanding that every little bit counts, learning how to bounce back up after a fall, and so on and so forth…

Our souls cry inside of us, but we have accustomed ourselves to block out that cry. Today we can begin to be who we really want to be.

We are here for you.
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