Just for Trying | Rabbi Yaakov Rahimi

What defines a hero? The Mishnah tells us in Pirkei Avot: Who’s a strong person? Who’s a warrior? Who’s a strong soldier? A person that’s able to overcome the Yetzer Hara, the evil inclination, to say no to sin. Rabotai, we read in the history books that unfortunately people lived in lands that were full of dictatorship and governments that were controlling their lives and were being evil. But here and there you had very strong people that were determined and had the guts to get up and try to topple the government. Some of them succeeded and took down the government, but many did not succeed. But for the fact that they even thought to go up against the government and fight for their freedom, they’re considered heroes in the history books. A person that tries to fight back for truth, for Emes, and is determined to actually be holy, that is considered a hero. That is considered a person that’s a strong soldier of Hashem. doesn’t only mean when you actually conquer the Yetzer Hara, you are a Gibor. Of course, if you actually take him down and you control your eyes totally, and you become a holy person, of course you’re a Gibor, and you’re a very strong person and a huge Tzaddik. But it’s even more than that. It’s every time you try to conquer the Yetzer Hara. Every time a person in this generation that the sins are all over the place, that the Pritzus is so viral, it’s all over the place, a person that even thinks to control his eyes, that wants to control his eyes, that has a strategy and a plan, and really deep inside his heart wants to take upon himself to take down this massive Yetzer Hara in our generation, a person who even thinks, who tries to do that, that is considered a hero. איזהו גבור הכובש את יצרו means: Who is a Gibor? Who is a strong soldier? A person that wants to conquer the Yetzer Hara. The whole world is going to the other direction against הקב״ה. More sins, more Aveiros. So a person who gets up against the whole culture and says, “I want to control my eyes,” sometimes you’ll win, sometimes you’ll lose, but from the fact that you even want to try, you are considered a hero in the eyes of Hashem.