For Future Generations | Rabbi Shlomo Landau

I want to share with you one of the most incredible things in the entire Chumash. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but for the 200 years that Klal Yisroel was in Mitzrayim, 200 years of living in the most decadent of societies, a place that was שטופי זימה, a place of טומאה on the highest level, not a single Yiddishe man, Yiddishe woman, teenager or young adult was עובר איסורים of Kedushah. Not a single one. So much so that the Torah itself is מעיד, the Torah testifies, when it lists the different משפחות, it has a Yud at the end, and a Hei at the beginning, as if to say, says Rashi, that they're surrounded by Hashem. There were no Kedushah issues for two centuries. How is that שייך? How is that possible? You're enslaved to these people. You're part of their culture. How did Klal Yisroel keep it together? Listen to this mind-blowing Midrash. The Midrash says that there were two events that transpired in Mitzrayim that ultimately fortified Klal Yisroel for generations. The first was שרה אמנו. She's captured by Pharaoh and he tries to make her be עובר עבירות, and she holds strong, as the Midrash teaches us. And when שרה אמנו wasn't עובר, when she didn't capitulate, when she held strong and she kept her level of Kedushah, on some level she planted the eternal seeds of self-control in the soils of Mitzrayim. And a number of years later, we have Yosef HaTzaddik with the story of Eishes Potifar. When Yosef וימאן, when he refused, when he controlled himself, he, too, planted the seeds of self-control in the soil of Mitzrayim. And we could have millions of Yidden, for 200 years, and not one person deviated. They held their level of Kedushah. How? Because of the actions of Yosef and the actions of Sarah. Think about this. The next time you're about to take a second look, the next time you're about to capitulate when it comes to levels of Kedushah, control yourself. But not for yourself. Control yourself because you have no idea that that self-control may impact future דורות. It may seem like a small, momentary decision, but in essence, it's a decision that will last for generations.