Never Let Your Guard Down | Rabbi Meir Simcha Sperling

Shalom u’Bracha to the entire Vayimaen family. I want to share something with everyone that might be hard to believe, but if we internalize it, we will, with God’s help, gain so much. We all know the amazing organization called Vayimaen and the incredible impact it has had on the world. Literally, thousands of lives are being changed. What a merit we have to be a part of such an organization. But sometimes the Yetzer Hara inside of us can ask, Do we really need it? Do we still need to constantly be reminded to protect our eyes? It's been over three years. Okay, I got the point. I still need to watch or listen to the clips? I'm on a level where, Baruch Hashem, I don't feel like I need this anymore. I'm good. And Rabosai, the answer to that Yetzer Hara is, Yes, you do. This is something that everyone needs to constantly be working on, no matter what level you're on, and we should consider ourselves lucky to have this awesome organization helping us out. Let me share with you something incredible from the holy Baalei Tosfos. Almost hard to believe. We all know that there are certain women that the Kohen Gadol is not allowed to marry. One of them is a widow. And the Baalei Tosfos ask in the Sefer Moshav Zkenim, What's the reason for this? A regular Kohen is allowed to marry a widow. It’s not like she did something that should disqualify her. She did nothing wrong. Her husband passed away. Okay. So why is she forbidden to a Kohen Gadol? And the answer they give is astounding. They say, What sets the Kohen Gadol apart from the rest of Klal Yisroel? One of the things is that on the holiest day of the year, in the holiest place, doing the holiest service, he says the Shem Hameforash. He says the name, the explicit name of Hashem. So he has tremendous, tremendous power at that time. Now listen to this. If the Kohen Gadol would see a woman and would want to marry her, and then he finds out that she's already married, he has the power in the Kodesh Hakodashim to cause the husband to die, and then he would be able to marry her. The Torah, therefore, protects him from ever having to encounter this type of Yetzer Hara, and says, You're never allowed to marry a widow. End of story. Now, one second. Who are we talking about here? We're not talking about just some random person. We're not even talking about a very important person. We are talking about the Kohen Gadol, the top of the top. You're telling me that during this most incredible, uplifting, spiritual moment in the Kodesh Hakodashim this is what we're worried about? We see from here that nobody is immune, not even the Kohen Gadol. And therefore, the Torah protects him. Unbelievable. Almost hard to believe. Now Rabosai, none of us are on the level of a Kohen Gadol. And not only that, but we're living in a time where the Yetzer Hara is everywhere. We don't have to go looking for him, thinking about him. He comes looking for us. He's on the attack and the reason is that he knows it’s almost his end. And therefore, he's using every tactic he has at his disposal. So if you think that you're good to go and you don't need to keep your guard up in these matters, think again. Like the Mishnah in Avos tells us, Never trust yourself until the day you die. This message of the Baalei Tosfos is something that we all must know, because knowing is the first step towards overcoming. Everyone is vulnerable. And now that we know, we can fully appreciate the awesome work of this organization, supporting us in this battle. And we will continue to fight every day, because we know we're not above it. May we all merit to continue strengthening ourselves through every challenge, bringing spiritual pleasure to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Rabosai, Good luck out there.