Don’t Take Chances | Rabbi Yosef Palacci

Everybody knows there was a very famous boat, the Titanic. And this Titanic, they would praise it to no end. And they would say that even God himself can’t take this boat down. And of course, everyone knows the outcome. The first time it went out to sea, it sunk. What happened? There was an iceberg. They saw a very, very far piece of ice, and they realized: What's going on? Something's happening. Until it was too late. And the way it works is, you see a piece of ice on top of the sea, but below the sea, it's tremendously long. The ice is humongous. And the captain didn't catch it fast enough. Many years later, there was a fellow, he built a multimillion-dollar boat, a huge boat, spent a few hundred million dollars on it. And there was a captain on this boat, and he's very excited, the first time, he's so excited he’s going on this boat, and he sees from a distance, Oh, my goodness, there's an iceberg. And he sees it and he could turn completely the other way. He says: You know what? I know if I go this way, I can pass it, and that's what I'm going to do. And he did it, he passed it. He says: Wow, I'm such a hero. Look at that, I did it! Finally, he gets to the shore and the owner of the boat is waiting for him at the deck, and says: Tell me about your trip. And he starts telling him this, that. He says: Yes, and...? He says: And there was an iceberg, and I could have went the other way, but I didn’t and I made it through! The owner of the boat says: You fool! You fool! How do you take a chance with my hundreds of millions of dollars that I spent to build this boat? You took a chance that maybe you would crack it, heaven forbid. How? And it's the same thing. Hashem blew into us a piece of him, godly, we are צלם אלוקים. And God says: I’m in you! Please! Hold that Kedusha that I'm in with you! You're a צלם אלוקים! And therefore, He says, don't take any chances. If you're ever in a way where you can take two roads, this road or that road, don't take that chance. Because within every single one of us is something so precious, is something so great that Hashem himself put into us, so much Kedusha, and He says: Please, my dear Yidden, hold on to that tight, and please guard it with all your might.