Where Success Lies | Rabbi Yechiel Spero

Rav Michoel Raful was a young yungerman and he knew the Ponevezher Rav. The Ponevezher Rav was a Gaon, a Tzaddik, who rebuilt Torah after the war, built the Ponevezher Yeshiva among other institutions, and was an excellent fundraiser. And the Ponevezher Rav was once walking to fundraise in an area, and Rav Michoel sees him, and he figured he knows where the Rav is going. There's a house that people would go to to collect. But Rav Michoel had never had Hatzlachah, he had never had success going to that house. And so he told the Ponevezher Rav, Rebbe, I just don't want you to waste your time. It's not כדאי to go. She's not going to give you money. But the Ponevezher Rav knew a secret that Rav Michoel did not know. Because he was determined to go there, anyway, Rav Michoel was curious, and he asked the Rav: Can I come along? And the Ponevezher Rav knocked on the door of this beautiful home. But when the woman answered the door, Rav Michoel looked and he saw that the Ponevezher Rav’s face was looking down, away from the woman. The woman was not dressed Tzniusdik. Now, you would think that if you're going to collect from someone, and you're trying to get into their good graces, you're not going to look away from them. But the Ponevezher Rav realized that his success is not coming from the woman. The success would come from his Shemira, and from the great protection he took with his eyes. The woman began to converse with him, and the Ponevezher Rav did not look up from the ground, from the floor. The woman went to get her checkbook and wrote the Ponevezher Rav a huge amount on the check, far more than the Rav thought that he was going to get. Rav Michoel was astounded at the amount. And the woman looked at Rav Michoel, and Rav Michoel said, Do you mind if I ask you? You never gave me money. Why are you giving him such a wonderful check? And she said: Don't you see how pure he is? He's not looking at me. Even though you think that if he looks at me, I'm going to give him a larger check. He's an איש טהור. He's a holy man, he's a pure man. And therefore, I know that when I'm giving him money, it's going to a good cause. Sometimes we think that we're going to get into the good graces of someone that we're speaking to. Ay, Shemiras Einayim? Ay, we have to guard our eyes? If we realize where our success is coming from, and we realize that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is the one that gives it to us, and that by guarding our eyes, we are going to be able to succeed at a much, much higher rate and a much higher level, then and only then will we be able to succeed in the way that we want. We have to know that the treasure lies in guarding our eyes and never, ever compromising, no matter what.