Nissan: Time for Transformation | Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Katz

One of the hard things for all of us when we work on guarding our eyes is some people could say, It's not me. It's not natural for me. I've tried many times and I'm still not perfect. And we can feel, It's hard for me relate to it and be that kind of a person. The month of Nissan is very auspicious for a fundamental principle in Yiddishkeit. In Yiddishkeit, we believe you could always change, you could always grow. In Nissan, the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah 14 says, the world was created. Why is it telling me the history of when the world was created? It's telling us what this time of year can bring. There could be a new creation. In Nissan, our forefathers were born. These eternal Tzaddikim were born in Nissan to tell us that you, the Tzaddik, could be reborn in Nissan, too. In Nissan, they were redeemed, to tell us that you can make a transformation in Nissan. It's a very, very, very auspicious time for that. The Jews went from a situation of crushing labor, in a physical way, to they were sitting and reclining in the Clouds of Glory. They went from being, the Arizal says, in the 49 Gates of Impurity to the 50 Gates of Holiness in a very short time. They made a transformation. They went from being hated, abuse, anti-Semitism, a world full of it, to be the important people in the world that everyone looks up to. Nissan is the time for transformations and it could be your time for a transformation, too. How do we make a transformation? So by them, they did it with the Pesach sacrifice. They used to worship idols, they used to believe in it, and they took it and they slaughtered it, to teach us the power that we all have inside. What we identify, what's important to us, who we think we are, we can slaughter it. We can make a change. Asked the Chofetz Chaim, There are 613 Mitzvos. One is enough? Says the Chofetz Chaim, They were in a tremendous exile, which was so hard. So Hashem said: Whatever you do, I'm going to take it, because I know your situation. Hashem turns to all of us and says, Whatever you do is dear and important to me to make that transformation, that change, because I know the exile you're in, the challenges you have. It's very difficult. The Medrash says by Yosef, He was a person also that made a transformation. He went from being in the prison to being the king. Says the Medrash, Yosef is a lesson for the Days of Moshiach for us. How did he make his transformation? ‘And he refused.’ He had the self-control. He controlled himself. And he made a movement. He made a new revolution. So every one of us, when we strengthen ourselves in our serving Hashem, and especially in guarding our eyes, that's the key for us to Hashem to help us to make a transformation inside of us. Don't feel it's not you. By nature, we all have challenges. Overcome. Keep on keeping up. Keep on trying. Keep on guarding. And you'll see you'll go much, much further than you'll ever believe. We should merit as a nation that everything, everyone should be transformed and merit redemption and salvations.