A 12-Day Mission | Rabbi Pinchas Novoseller

On a recent trip to Eretz Yisroel with a group, a young soldier approached one of the Chevra and he says: Tell me, was that Rabbi ever in the army? So he said no. The soldier persisted and he said, But I recognize him from somewhere. Where could it be? Until he said: I got it. I know him from Vayimaen. So we began talking to him. He tells us that he's 19 years old and he goes into Gaza on 12-day missions. That means 12 days without a bed, 12 days without a hot shower, 12 days without a hot meal. And in Gaza, they watch Vayimaen together. And I was reminded of the following. It was one day in Ponevezh Yeshiva. Rav Shach called the Bochurim together and he says: Rabosai, On the way to Yeshiva this morning, I encountered a soldier and I noticed that he was missing a leg. I stepped over to talk to him and I learned that he had lost that leg in battle. Rav Shach turns to the Talmidim and he says: What can we do to up the level of the Torah that we learn and Avodas Hashem in general, to meet that level of sacrifice to this soldier that puts his life on the line? And I was thinking to myself, The Sefarim tell us and Tzaddikim reveal to us over the recent generations that the Avoda of תעניות וסיגופים, fasting and the like, is not for us. It's not something we're built for. It's not something we can handle. But the heiliger ראב”ד teaches us that there's something that can elevate us to levels of Kedushah which even fasting cannot, and that's Shmiras Einayim. If that young boy, with everything he has going on in his specific circumstance, still has the space in his mind to push himself and work on Shmiras Einayim, perhaps there’s something that we can do to put in some extra effort, as well. By pushing ourselves in this area and maybe even going on 12-day missions to try for another victory and then setting out for another mission, we'll be able to not only not detract from the כוחות הגוף, but to add to our Neshama’s ability to be Oved Hashem, with all of the blessings.