The Heavenly Voice | Rabbi Mordechai Alster

In the story of Yosef and Eishes Potiphar, where Yosef prevailed in his battle against the Yetzer Hara, the Gemara in Sota adds a detail. The image of Yaakov Avinu appeared to Yosef in the window, and told Yosef: Don't do the Aveira. How many of us have stumbled in our battle with the Yetzer Hara, thinking to ourselves, if only one of the Avos would have appeared to us and told us not to do the Aveira, maybe we would have prevailed, and maybe we would have been more successful in our battle with the Yetzer Hara. What was so special about Yosef, and why aren’t we zoche to this Siyata D’Shmaya? Another obvious question is, If Yaakov Avinu felt that it was so important that Yosef shouldn't do the Aveira, why didn't he come into the בית, why didn't he come into the house, and tell Yosef: Don't do this Aveira. Why did the image of Yaakov Avinu stay behind the חלון, stay behind the window? You know, sometimes when we're about to do an Aveira, out of nowhere, a thought comes to our mind, we hear an inner voice telling us, Don't do it. Stay away from it. Do Teshuva. Where does that voice come from? In the goyishe world, they'll call it a conscience, but is there something more? The Mishnah in Avos, Perek 6 says, Every single day, a heavenly voice comes out from Har Sinai and says, The Bas Kol admonishes those that denigrate the Torah. He gives us Mussar and tells everybody to respect the Torah. Asks the Maharal, What's the purpose of that Bas Kol, if nobody hears it? The Toldos Yaakov Yosef brings in the name of the Ba’al Shem Tov, that every time someone is about to do an Aviera, and they have an inner voice or an inner thought saying, Don't do it. Or an inner voice of Teshuva, and you don't know where that voice is coming from, you don't know where that thought came from, it didn't come from nowhere. It’s that Bas Kol you’re hearing. That Bas Kol is not exceptionally loud, nor is it extremely quiet. It's loud enough that if you really want to hear it, you'll hear it and you’ll stay away from Aveiros. But if you choose to ignore it and continue on the path of חטא, you have that option, too. Yaakov Avinu did not come into the house where Yosef was. He stayed at the חלון. Just close enough, that if Yosef really wanted to see him, he’ll see him and he'll hear him. And just far enough that if Yosef would want to ignore it and just explain it away, that it's just a shadow behind the window, he would have been able to do that, too. What was special about Yosef is that he wanted to see it, and he actually did see it and hear it, and that's why he stayed away from the Aveira. Every one of us has moments in our life that when we're about to do an Aveira, we have an inner thought or an inner feeling maybe I shouldn't do this. That's the Bas Kol we’re hearing. And the question we have to ask ourselves, Do we really want to hear it and be victorious in our fight against the Yetzer Hara, or do we want to ignore it and continue on the path of decline, defeat and חטא. Yaaokv Avinu is at the window. Do we really want to see him?