A Ticket to Holiness | Rabbi Yoir Adler

The Gemara tells us in Masechtas Yuma, there was a period in Jewish history where Avoda Zora was rampant to the extent that Klal Yisroel were falling like flies to this temptation. Everybody was involved in Idol worshiping and the אנשי כנסת הגדולה saw that this is a terrible situation. And they decided to eradicate Avoda Zora once and for all. They fasted for three days and three nights consecutively, begging and beseeching the Aibishter to erase this challenge that Klal Yisroel weren’t strong enough to withstand. After three days and three nights of fasting, the Navi told them: Come over here, near the Beis Hamikdash, and you will see what you are looking for. All of a sudden, they saw a fiery lion emerging from the Kodesh Hakodashim, from the holy of the holiest. And the Navi told them: Grab hold of him. This is the Yetzer Hora of Avoda Zora, that wreaked havoc in Klal Yisroel, that caused the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. Right away they grabbed hold of this fiery lion and eliminated him till the end of time. There's a very obvious question on this Gemara. Where do we think we would see the Yetzer Hora of Avoda Zora emerging from? Perhaps a church, a monastery, somewhere in the Far East? And no. The Yetzer Hora of Avoda Zora emerged from the Kodesh Hakodashim. That's where he was? That's where he lives? That's the place that he resides in? And the answer is: What's the תכלית, what’s the objective of a challenge? Hashem Yisborach does not give us challenges to make it difficult for us, to make it hard, to put obstacles in our way to make us trip, חס ושלום. On the contrary. Every challenge, every Nisayon is an opportunity, is a ticket to get into Kodesh Hakodashim. When a person's faced with a Nisayon, it's an invitation from the Aibishter: Be strong. Find the strength within yourself to say וימאן. And with that, you'll have the merit to enter into the Kodesh Hakodashim.