Chizuk

I am going to share with you an absolutely mind-blowing moshol that I once heard years ago from Rav Mattisyohu Salomon, Shlita. If I am not mistaken, he got this moshol from R' Elya Lapian Zt"l. Imagine an Ehrliche Frum Yid travelling on business to the Far East. While ...

Someone wrote to GYE: I am a real sicko - a loser. I am so subconciously focused on lust and I am almost 50 yrs old. Why can't I just be normal? I agree everyone has nisyonos from time to time, but it feels like I'm always stuck in the mud! GYE replies with a parabl...

In the world of sensory stimulation – sounds, smells and images – eyes are our primary interface with the world. Eyesight accounts for 80% of what we learn and 80% of our memories. We need to choose our images wisely, as the Torah exhorts: "Don't stray after your heart an...

We all know the story of Yaakov and the shepherds from Parshas Vayetze. Did you ever wonder how Yaakov Avinu single handedly removed such a large rock from on top of the well? If he was an “Ish Tam Yoshev Ohalim” how did he have this kind of super-human strength? To answ...

I heard the following Mashal/parable from a wise Tzaddik: A man is walking down the street. He has been walking for an hour and is very hungry. As he walks, he passes a McDonald's and he can smell the food cooking inside. Oh, is he hungry! But he knows the Halachos of k...

Sometimes, I find the nisyanos and challenge of watching my eyes so difficult. At times, it can feel so unnatural - having to look away from so many things on the street, constantly on guard. And then I start asking myself why? Why would Hashem ask this of us? And what'...

A couple of days ago, I was leering at women with lust. How I got stuck back there, isn't really the point. I was stuck! I didn't even really want to look that way- I was seeing them that way, in spite of not wanting to. It was painful - I knew it was not good, and I a...

GYE Responds: First of all, there's no such thing as a disgusting being. Hashem doesn't make junk. He has a plan for you, and it's better than you can imagine! The feelings you express are very common for addicts, and I feel your pain and confusion. A few points c...

Recently, a number of deaths by drowning related to rip currents have hit the headlines both in Israel and in the United States. I dedicate this article to those who lost their lives in this tragic way. May their souls be elevated. Yesterday I received an email with l...

The winter months can often make us feel down and depressed. And when feeling that way, our natural instinct is to reach for those things that make us "feel good”, which we all know on GYE can lead us down a destructive path. So what attitude can we adapt to stay out of...

The Gemara in Chulin (139b) asks, where can we find “Haman” (from the story of Purim) in the Torah? Says Rav Masnah, "from the pasuk after the sin of the Eitz Hadaas when Hashem asks Adam: 'Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?'” In Lashon Kode...

Most of us have so many blessings to be thankful for in our lives, but the Yetzer Hara tries to make us believe that we MUST have that one “forbidden fruit.” He tries to convince us that Hashem is withholding the ONE THING we want most because He really doesn’t have our...

What does it mean to serve? Does this question touch a nerve? You got some nerve! To ask me to serve You want me to be your slave? Do you want me to build you a cave? Or dig a grave? Yea for you, I will dig a grave! Go away! Hide in a cave! I am for me Can't you see? I'...

My precious child, I want to wish you a shana tova, a sweet new year, and share with you a few things that I think you need you to know. When I look at you I see something very different than what you see when you look in the mirror. You see yourself as you are now. But...

I want to respond to a question that I have been asked numerous times over the years about Yom Kippur. It goes roughly as follows: we stand before God on Yom Kippur and say we are sorry. We admit that we have ‘transgressed’ and made mistakes in our lives during the past y...

Last night I received a prompt on my iPad, asking me to approve a software update to IOS 10. I was in the middle of something, so I clicked on “Later”, and then “Install Tonight”. I finished up whatever else I was working on, and went to sleep, counting on the update to o...

A chossid once came to his Rebbe crying about the setbacks he'd faced. The Rebbe, sitting behind a desk, told him to jump over the table. The guy thought he was joking. When the Rebbe repeated it the fourth time, the guy got up and took 3 steps back to be able to take a r...