Holy Hadassim | Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair

I heard this story from someone called Shragi. Shragi was listening to a Shiur from R’ Ephraim Wachsman about someone who used to drive to Manhattan every day, and every day, he faced Nisyonos in Shmiras Einayim. So he decided to make a Kabbalah to overcome the Nisayon and give himself an incentive. He put a pushka in his car, and whenever he was in the Nisayon and looked away from something he shouldn't be looking at, he put a dollar in the pushka. Came Chanukah and he emptied the pushka, and there was $2,000 in it. So he bought himself a beautiful silver Menorah. That Menorah was made from 2,000 times he'd successfully been Omed B’Nisayon, 2,000 times he'd look the other way, 2,000 times. He couldn't believe he'd done it. But on Chanukah, the light that shone from that beautiful Menorah testified to each and every moment that he’d chosen greatness, that he’d chosen control over instinct. Shragi loved the idea and decided he'd do something similar. He put a glass jar in his car and whenever he was faced with a Nisayon, whenever he took control over his eyes and he looked the other way, he put a quarter inside the jar. When Sukkos arrived, he took $40 from the quarters that he'd collected and bought himself the best Hadassim that money could buy. Chazal say that Hadassim represent the eyes. The Hadas has the same shape as the human eye. All through Sukkos, Shragi was מלא שמחה, he was filled with joy the whole Yom Tov with his special Mitzvah. Those Hadassim that he'd bought with those 160 quarters represented 160 times that he’d turned away, 160 times he'd controlled himself, 160 times that he hadn't followed after his eyes and his desires. Every time he took up his Lulav, a feeling of tremendous Kedushah welled up inside him. Towards the end of Sukkos, Shragi started to feel a little sad that the Mitzvah of the Hadassim was coming to an end. So he decided to follow what Chazal tell us, חפצים שנעשו בהם מצוה, נעשו בהם מצוה אחרת. Objects that were used for a Mitzvah, use them for another Mitzvah. And so Shragi took the Hadassim and he used them as Besamim for Motzei Shabbos, for Havdalah. Now Shragi didn't really have a very nice Besamim holder, just a small plastic container, so he decided he was going to buy a nice glass Besamim holder. His in-laws had been in Eretz Yisroel for Sukkos, and when they got back, they called him up and asked him to bring the kids over. They got some presents for them. So they all went over and you know, the kids got T-shirts and all the other cute stuff and then they turned to Shragi and said: Shragi, we got you a gift, as well. And they handed Shragi a beautifully wrapped package. He undid the wrapping and inside was a black case. He opened it up and inside was the most stunning crystal and silver Besamim holder that he'd ever seen. The Aibishter doesn't always show us how Chaviv our Mitzvos are to Him, but there are times when He gives us a divine smile, so to speak, when we are Kovesh our Yetzers and when we work on ourselves. Every Motzei Shabbos, Shragi looks at that Besamim holder and he has such a feeling of Simcha from that constant reminder of how he rose up and dominated his Yetzer and of the special gift that Hashem sent him.