You'll Never Lose Out | Rabbi Daniel Glatstein

Why do we have such a hard time with guarding our eyes? What are we afraid of? It's like FOMO. We're afraid to miss out on the enjoyment. We're just concerned maybe we'll lose the opportunity. Let's have the following perspective. We're familiar, the Gemara tells us a well-known account about someone who is careful in the Mitzvah of Tzitzis. However, he heard about a certain זונה. He made up to meet her at a certain place, at a certain time. He came at the time. He was allowed entrance. The Gemara tells us how he climbed up שבע מיטות, seven beds, but upon his ascent, he was hit in the face with his Tzitzis, and he then went to sit on the floor. He realized that his four Tzitzis, would serve as four עדים, four witnesses who would testify against him. And she asked him: Did you see an imperfection in me? Tell me, what was wrong with me? And he said: Actually, you're the most beautiful person I ever saw. She said: What happened? He told her the story. She said: Tell me, what Beis Midrash do you learn in? Who's your Rebbe? He gave her all the details. She wanted to convert. So she gave a third of her money to the Roman officials. A third of her money she gave to the poor. A third of her money she took with her. She went to the Beis Midrash of Rabbi Chiya. She said: Rabbi Chiya, I would like to convert. Rabbi Chiya said: You can’t convert, maybe you're converting just to marry someone. She told Rabbi Chiya the story, how she was inspired by this person's self-control. Rabbi Chiya said: In that case, go marry him. Says the Gemara, there's only one item she didn't give away. She didn't give away the linen that was going to be used for that Aveira. What do we learn from this Gemara? The גר”א writes in the אבן שלימה, Any pleasure that somebody thought that they would have in an illicit way, Hashem will make sure that you'll have that very pleasure in a permitted way. You never lose out in life. The Steipler writes that sometimes it's very hard for us to overcome sin because we're afraid we're losing out. Says the Steipler, You never lose out. In no short time, Hashem will make sure that you get that very pleasure in a way that is מותר. Now, not only is this comforting, but this is empowering because we could tell ourselves, There's no reason to have FOMO. There is a guarantee that that very sensation, Hashem will make sure that he makes it up to us בדרך מותר. So next time we're faced with a temptation, let's tell ourselves, We have nothing to gain.