Chaza"l say, "Who is strong? He who subdues his evil inclination". A wise man once said. "Someone who serves G-d only with his heart needs to wage great battles to subdue his evil inclinations, but one who serves G-d also with his mind can subdue his inclinations without even a battle".

The Gemara writes "everyone knows that a woman is a barrel of excrement and that her mouth (allegorically) is full of blood, and yet they all run after her". Indeed, R' Nachman of Breslov once said that there is no greater foolishness than sexual desire, and that anyone with wisdom can overcome it.

The Beis Ahron of Karlin writes that Torah and Mitzvos need to feel fresh and new in our eyes every day. So he asks, how can we instill this in our hearts? Answers the Beis Ahron, we can learn a Kal Ve'Chocher from the Yetzer Hara himself. The Yetzer Hara tempts a person to sin and he listens to him and falls. But after the person sins, he becomes disgusted with the desire (and resolves never to fall again). And yet the very next day, the Yetzer Hara tempts him once again with this same desire and he renews the desire in his heart R"L, just like before. So how much more so, the Torah and Mitzvos, which are the life source of all the worlds and a person's very life - should feel new to a person every day!

Here's the original text:

If there would have been any other path I could have taken other than the 12 step path, I would have taken it! And I did! It was just that it was clear to me that I had exhausted everything else. I was already a frum guy and that had obviously not worked...what, does it only start to 'work' once you become a tzaddik?! What kind of religion is that? And other people saying stuff like, "well, then you didn't try it hard enough!" was not very helpful to me. I was sure that the RMCH"L or Reb Yisroel could have "fixed me"...but they were both gone, of course. And Mesilas Yeshorim was not working! It just was not: I wasn't clean, was I?

The most basic thing that AA really gave me was the acceptance that what was 'not working' was not "Mesillas Yeshorim", Hashem, or anything else - it was me. I was broken and needed fixing and obviously could not do that myself. I had been trying for 20 years. And it showed me how to go about that in a way that worked for me.

For me, this requires a group experience. The self-honesty, the work with other drunks, and the recovery, are medicines I will apparently need to keep taking till the very day I die. It just happens that I love that idea. I want my recovery - which to me means my personal honesty with no one else but my very own G-d, Himself - to be the very last thought I have on this earth. Him and me - and no one else, no thing else - nothing - in-between.

For me, my Recovery is the tube that all my Torah runs through. The clearer my recovery gets, the more clear and unobstructed my Torah will be, for myself and for others. May Hashem Give me more and more of His Torah to make mine - my chelek of it, going through me into this world.

Do you have a problem with obsessive and compulsive porn use? Have you seriously tried the tools on GYE and feel that you are not getting better? Maybe it’s time to consider joining a 12-Step program.

Porn Anonymous (PA)
If you’re compulsively acting-out with pornography and masturbation we suggest you explore joining Porn Anonymous (PA). If you need help deciding whether to join PA, call Michael at 347-699-2368, or email help@pornanonymous.org to schedule a time to talk. For more information visit pornanonymous.org (Hebrew: p-a.org.il / Yiddish: pa-yid.org).

Sexaholics Anonymous (SA)
If your compulsive acting-out has progressed beyond the screen (with other people, paid sexual services, etc.) we suggest you explore joining Sexaholics Anonymous (SA). To figure out if SA is for you, call Dov at 917-414-8205, or email Dov at dov@guardyoureyes.org to schedule a time to talk. For more information visit www.sa.org.