Nobody Said That It Would Be Easy
It has been noted that a person sees more inappropriate things during the course of a fifteen minute stroll in Manhattan than a Jew saw in his Polish shtetl in seventy years. In two minutes on the computer the same feat is accomplished. Scary!
The foundation of our holiness is predicated upon "Shmirat Habrit" - guarding our holy covenant with G-d by being vigilant that we shouldn't see, hear, say or do anything immodest or impure. Many of us live in the USA known in hebrew as "Artzot haBrit" - The Land Of The Brit. That is a misnomer. It should be known as "Artzot Bli Brit".... Of course living in our global village the USA has spiritually invaded Israel. Today there is no "Busha" - Shame [soon there will be no "Bush" either. Go Reagan, go!]. Anything goes. We are a little bit [understatement?] desensitized but that should not prevent us for striving for purity.
Many young men are struggling with this issue [so are many middle aged and old men as well]. The struggle with the yetzer hara is nothing new but the bombardment with sexually explicit material at every turn is a modern innovation. Try reading ANY magazine or watching ANY movie or TV show without seeing female flesh [and much much more]. Better! Don't try. You won't find any. [Excluding the Jewish Observer, Jewish Action and other Orthodox publications.]
What should we do?
1] If you heave your computer into the Hudson River it is not the end of the world.
[Unless you hit a fish in the head in which case it will be the end of the world for him...]
2] If you need your computer then subscribe to a Kosher internet service or use this new service I heard about that sends your friends a list of all of the sites you visited. Others suggest to use your computer only in the presence of others. No Yichud.
3] Focus on learning, chessed, tefilla and exercise. Make sure that you don't have five free minutes in your schedule to see anything inappropriate. KEEP BUSY!!!
4] Get married. It is healthy. Good. Otherwise - "Not Good"! So sayeth the Lord.
5] Find someone in whom to confide. [You may call me if you like. I am not important, so I am not "too busy".]
6] Don't commit A SIN GREATER THAN ANY SIN IN THE TORAH.
DESPAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Assur li'hityaesh - you must never give up hope. We all stumble. In order to become great you MUST stumble. Hashem still loves you so don't stop loving yourself.
I have a lot to say on the topic but "Yishma chacham vi'yosif lekach" - I will let the wise reader use his own G-d given mind to think of more ways to pass the myriad of tests that we ALL face daily.
Love and blessings!
The foundation of our holiness is predicated upon "Shmirat Habrit" - guarding our holy covenant with G-d by being vigilant that we shouldn't see, hear, say or do anything immodest or impure. Many of us live in the USA known in hebrew as "Artzot haBrit" - The Land Of The Brit. That is a misnomer. It should be known as "Artzot Bli Brit".... Of course living in our global village the USA has spiritually invaded Israel. Today there is no "Busha" - Shame [soon there will be no "Bush" either. Go Reagan, go!]. Anything goes. We are a little bit [understatement?] desensitized but that should not prevent us for striving for purity.
Many young men are struggling with this issue [so are many middle aged and old men as well]. The struggle with the yetzer hara is nothing new but the bombardment with sexually explicit material at every turn is a modern innovation. Try reading ANY magazine or watching ANY movie or TV show without seeing female flesh [and much much more]. Better! Don't try. You won't find any. [Excluding the Jewish Observer, Jewish Action and other Orthodox publications.]
What should we do?
1] If you heave your computer into the Hudson River it is not the end of the world.
[Unless you hit a fish in the head in which case it will be the end of the world for him...]
2] If you need your computer then subscribe to a Kosher internet service or use this new service I heard about that sends your friends a list of all of the sites you visited. Others suggest to use your computer only in the presence of others. No Yichud.
3] Focus on learning, chessed, tefilla and exercise. Make sure that you don't have five free minutes in your schedule to see anything inappropriate. KEEP BUSY!!!
4] Get married. It is healthy. Good. Otherwise - "Not Good"! So sayeth the Lord.
5] Find someone in whom to confide. [You may call me if you like. I am not important, so I am not "too busy".]
6] Don't commit A SIN GREATER THAN ANY SIN IN THE TORAH.
DESPAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Assur li'hityaesh - you must never give up hope. We all stumble. In order to become great you MUST stumble. Hashem still loves you so don't stop loving yourself.
I have a lot to say on the topic but "Yishma chacham vi'yosif lekach" - I will let the wise reader use his own G-d given mind to think of more ways to pass the myriad of tests that we ALL face daily.
Love and blessings!
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