The Library

The gemara says that K'lal Yisroel were not re'uyin le'oso ma'aseh, they were not really on such a low level as to commit a terrible aveiro as idolatry, elo lehoros teshuvah lerabim, to teach everyone that even for such an aveira, they CAN still do teshuvah. Perhaps this ...

This weeks Parsha teaches us about the classic fall: The chet ha-egel - the Golden Calf. Many lessons can be learned and applied to our struggle. Here is one: (Bards-b-q style of course :-) We find when the Jews approached Aharon Hakohen to help the with their idol, he an...

Purim was a neis nistar, Hashem was hidden all through the story - all through it. We dress up in disguises or funny costumes, and are hidden too. Well, Hashem saved me from my own hidden life; my own disguise that I wore all the time - oh, it was incredibly draining! And...

Here is what caused my recent fall after 77 amazing days clean: Sometimes when I work, I listen to non-Jewish music (I know, that is just one more hypocrisy in my life, I prepare Torah classes while listening to non-Jewish music. Welcome to my private little island of hyp...

One of the main principles we learn on GYE is that after a certain point, it's not just a struggle with the Yetzer Hara anymore - it's an addiction. But many of us can easily say "oh, I am an addict" soon after landing here... Maybe we like saying that, because in some wa...

Here's one thing that came to mind recently, inspired by DC's call (but it's my own musings): When I'm outside, why is it so hard to guard my eyes? I think it's because I go on "TAKER" mode as soon as I step outside. "I'm gonna take, I'm gonna look at whoever there is to ...

Just finished day 80, and the Big 90 is only 10 days away!! The Yetzer Hara is pulling out the stops now, but I'm gonna stand tall. "Just Say No to Drugs-of-choice"!! I gotta remember it's like an allergy, I can't touch a drop of lust. CNN, outa here - I don't need to see...

Some people want to know if one cycle through the 12-Steps is enough to be fully healed. This question actually reveals an underlying character defect that all addicts have. We're all looking for that "magic bullet" that will give us the quick fix. "I want to be healed no...

Here is one Eitza that has worked for me (In addition to K-9 on my computer without knowing the password). I made a Neder that I would not touch any computer besides my own. Meaning, even if I want to check my e-mail- or a web sight quickly- I will not touch anyone else's...

We all know the old joke about the guy on the roof that drowned in a flood, and complained in heaven that G-d didn't personally save him when he prayed, and G-d answered - "What do you want from Me? I sent you 2 boats and a helicopter...!" I prayed and prayed for help, fo...

Sometimes when we're out there in the big world surrounded by all the temptations wherever we seem to look, we cry out in our hearts "Dear G-d, where are you? I can't see you, I can't feel you! All I see is a beauty of a different kind, wherever I look!"... But then the a...

When I first heard about getting a filter, I was very resistant. It was about a month or two until my wife and I sat down together, looked through the information and installed K9. One catalyst was my involvement on the forum. Posting messages like, "Woops, just slipped...

I heard b'shem the Chassam Sofer that when Haman slandered the Jews to Achashveirosh and said "Yeishno Am Echad..." (There is this one nation...) he was saying "YeShanu" (they are sleeping), meaning the One Nation is now sleeping in their achdus, they are spread out all o...

Someone wrote on the forum: I'm trying to defeat this giant, and I have faith that I will... I'm done. I just can't live two different lives anymore. I'm a Jew and I'm so very lucky to have a beautiful wife who adores me.. I better quit while I'm ahead... I'm sorry and em...

When the big chill came these past weeks, I paid to join a movie download site so we could get old Hollywood "kosher" movies (that you can't find anymore) so we could distract the kids who were cooped up and asking for them. I kept a copy of the program on my work comp, a...

I was addicted for twelve years, always looking out and wondering who can help me. On Sunday, December 31, 2009 while waiting for my wife to come out of a store, I was reading the news on VIN when I came across an article called The Roving Eye. As I was reading the commen...

I was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. As I face the thought of maybe not ever being with my wife again (at least for a year), I look back at the 20 years before I knew I was an addict and think about all of the times I manipulated my wife into being with me, when...

Ki Be'Simcha Taitzai'u! For with Simcha you shall go out (of your struggles)! Print out jokes from close to 50 pages of our "Depressed Person's Chill Spot" to read over at your Purim Se'udah and get everybody ROLLING! Messages heard on people's answering machines 1. Hi!...