The nations of the world do not understand the restrictions that the Jews have, and how it is possible to live with all these many restrictions. The truth is, from the viewpoint of the goy, they are right, for a goy only sees what his eyes see. Therefore, his heart desires everything that his eyes see, and if we prohibit him from having what his heart desires, he feels bad, and his life is not worth anything. He feels that they took the pleasures of life from him. But this is not so by the Jew, for the Jew knows that there are things beyond what the eyes see. Therefore, even if he wants something specific, but he knows that this is prohibited by the Torah, he overcomes the urge, and not only does he not feel bad that he was deprived the item, rather just the opposite, he feels happy, pleased and satisfied, ‘I overpowered it, I won.’ Where does he get this strength from?
The parsha of the illicit relations in Parashas Acharei are so significant that it is read on Yom Kippur. It is well known that which is written in the holy seforim that the reading is right for the time. If so, then this Shabbos is a taste of Yom Kippur. Come, let us examine the words of the Torah (18:5), 'ושמרתם את חקותי ואת משפטי אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם' – ‘You shall observe My decrees and My judgments, which man shall carry out and live by them’, an on the end of the posuk 'אני ה'' – ‘I am Hashem’, Rashi explains, ‘faithful to pay reward’.
Rambam counts this as one of the 13 principles of faith, 'אני מאמין באמונה שלמה שהבורא יתברך שמו גומל טוב לשומרי מצוותיו, ומעניש לעוברי מצוותיו' – ‘I believe with complete faith that the Creator Yisbarach Shemo rewards with good those who observe His commandments and punishes those who violate His commandments’. Perhaps we can say that in this posuk is hidden the answer to all the questions. How does the person attain the status of ‘You shall observe My decrees and My judgments... and live by them’? By remembering that ‘I am Hashem – faithful to pay reward.’
Chazal say (Kiddushin 30b), ‘A person’s yetzer hara threatens to overpower him every day, and if not that HaKadosh Baruch Hu helps him, he would not be able to withstand him’. The holy Torah advises us how to overpower it, by always remembering that ‘I am Hashem – faithful to pay reward’, This we must remember, that every moment a person holds himself back from sinning, he receives a reward for this, and when the person truly believes that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will reward him in the future for his overpowering – then there is no difficulty for him, the opposite, it will be easy and pleasant, and this is how he fulfills ‘and live by them’.
-Tiv HaTorah - Acharei
