Titus's Mosquito | Rabbi Joey Haber

There is an incredible story in the Gemara in Gittin. You may have heard it before, and you may have thrown up your hands and said, What does this really mean? The Gemara writes, when it's talking about the destruction of the Holy Temple, that Titus was the general that destroyed the Holy Temple. Hashem punished him. He punished him. Titus went to a foreign island and he was on this island, and all of a sudden, a little יתוש, a little bug, I don't know if it's a gnat or if it's a mosquito or a fly, went into his nose and up into his head and started pecking away in his head and pecking away in his head. And it was driving Titus crazy. Until one day, Titus was passing by a blacksmith and the banging of the blacksmith, somehow the rhythm of the hammer calmed down the fly, calmed down the mosquito. And he said: Wow, this is working. So he said: I'm going to hire a blacksmith. The next day, he hired a blacksmith. And the day after and the day after and every day he hired a blacksmith, and it worked and it calmed down the mosquito and it calmed down the pecking and the mosquito stopped pecking away. And it worked for 30 days. Until after 30 days, the mosquito got used to the banging, and even with the blacksmith, he went on pecking away. Until eventually, it killed Titus. And when Titus died, they did an autopsy on him and they opened up his head, and they saw this little mosquito had turned into a robust bird with iron claws and a metal beak. That's what the Gemara says. The question is: What does it mean? A mosquito in his head, pecking away, the blacksmith stops it. I think this Gemara is so relevant to today. Have you ever had a day that's a regular, wonderful, normal day, and all of a sudden, a little thought goes into your mind, maybe it comes from a text message, maybe it comes from a comment somebody said, or an email or a meeting you were in, and all of a sudden, that little thought goes into your brain and it starts pecking and pecking and pecking away. I have asked many audiences, Are you afflicted with the disease of overthinking? In the case of men, maybe 80% raised their hand to say yes. Women it’s 100%. A lot of people have this disease and they just... they're thinking and they're thinking and they’re anticipating, What does this text message mean? And the guy didn't respond. Does that mean I'm in trouble? Maybe I'm in big trouble. And before you know it, the fly is pecking away in our brain, just like Titus. And then what do we do? We turn on noise. You ever go into a car and just stay quiet the whole time? Never. You're either on the phone or turn on the radio or turn on music, turn on a Torah lecture, you turn on something, because you can't just listen to nothing. Because your brain can't handle all the noise that's inside. And sometimes it gets to a point that even that doesn't help and the music could be on and it’s not helping you because the noise in your brain is so loud. And all of a sudden, a little mosquito turns into a robust bird. Every time you see something you shouldn't see, it's entering that mosquito into your brain, and it starts to peck away and creates all kinds of thoughts and fears and worries and temptations and desires and mistakes and problems and disappointments. All things you don't want to feel. So if I could advise Titus, and he was on a faraway island, and all of a sudden, a mosquito came coming towards him, I would tell him: Titus, get that mosquito away. It's the same advice I have to you. When a picture comes or an image comes in your vision, get that mosquito away. You don't need the pain, you don't need the frustration, you don't need the disappointment, you don't need the confusion that that mosquito can cause.