Heavenly Confirmation | Rabbi Daniel Coren

A couple of years back, I was about to get up and daven Neilah. Yom Kippur, the prime time of davening, the highest point. A good friend of mine comes over to me, a Chashuve Talmid Chacham, he’s a Balebos, and he says: We got to storm heavens. I knew what he was referring to. His wife was in critical condition. And I said: We're gonna do whatever we can. So we davened. I still recall vividly, it was a very special davening. I was at the Shliach Tzibbur, I saw him in the corner of the room, and we poured our hearts out. למעשה, in Shomayim, the answer was no, and she was Niftar not so long after Yom Kippur. About two weeks after she was Niftar, she came back in a dream to one of the family members. This family member actually describes, I spoke to him, personally, and he tells me, When she came in a dream, and she was shining white, pure, I didn't know, you know, I was startled. What do you do if suddenly someone from Shomayim is coming and speaking to you? And the first thing I asked her was, Is Moshiach coming? She told me two words, Of course. Then I said, What's the Nisayon of this generation? Two words, she said, Shmiras Einayim. I don't think I have to convince anyone. The test of this generation, Shmiras Einayim. And it's so difficult. I want to share with you two Eitzas that I personally use, and I've used it for years. One I call סור מרע and one I call עשה טוב. The סור מרע is anytime a person is driving, or in an opportunity where they could look and they want to look, because that's the Yetzer Hara, and that's the Teva, and that's nature, just think about the embarrassment, the shame. Imagine a person's driving and suddenly there's something he's not supposed to look at, and he looks and he's taking off and then... Crash. Can you imagine the embarrassment, the shame, of explaining to the cop: I'm sorry. Maybe you let me off the hook this time, because I was looking at... that. Or you have to tell your wife, This is what happened. Embarrassment is a power. You got to trick the Yetzer Hara. But then there's the עשה טוב, and this is my favorite. Years ago, in טובך יביעו, he quotes, I saw, from the Shomer Emunim. The Shomer Emunim says, When a person is being Misgaber, specifically about Shmiras Einayim, it’s a moment where the heavens are opened up. And when the heavens opened up, your Tefillah has so much more power to penetrate and reach the highest places. That's called עשה טוב. The Yetzer Hara, I say to him: Thank you for the opportunity. I don't need your interesting offer. Instead, I'm going to use it. Try this. It's worked all the time and it's incredibly powerful.