Rav Gamliel Rabinowitz
Rav Gamliel Rabinowitz once related that there was a young man, who when he was young, he went through a difficult time. It was hard for him in Yeshivah, with friends, with his Rebbeim, and with the Rosh Yeshivah. He also felt that the people in his house did not understand him, and because of this, the way to the street was short.
One day, as he was wandering the streets trying to find himself, a man approached him. He had a strange look, and he was clearly unpleasant. He gently asked him, “What is a Yeshivah Bachur looking for in a place like this?”
He Tells the Man About What Was Truly Bothering Him
At first, the Bachur tried avoiding him, but when he saw that the man was only looking out for his wellbeing, he simply told him the truth, that things were hard for him, nobody understood him, and he could not find himself in the Yeshivah. To his surprise the man told him,
“You should know, that I too was once a Yeshiva Bachur, and the reason I look this way is because it was also hard for me, and I did exactly what you are doing now. I left the Yeshivah, and I went out to graze in strange fields, but to my great disappointment, I did not find happiness. However, when I realized this, it was already too late, and I had changed so much that I could not find the strength to go back.”
These words entered the heart of the Bachur, and he immediately returned to the Yeshivah, and in time, he worked on himself and saw great success. And soon after, he even merited to establish a beautiful family.
The Power of the Merit of Just One Nice Act
Rav Gamliel said, “How many people can testify about themselves that because of one moment of difficulty or crisis, they lost their entire lives. As the Likutei Moharan said, that because of one small pleasure lasting 15 minutes, he can lose this whole world together with the World to Come. By the same measure, people can testify about themselves that all of their success was in the merit of one nice act, whether spiritually or physically.
The way of the Yetzer Hara is to confuse the person. We must be strong and remember that the challenge is only for now, but the rest of our lives and the lives of our children for generations depend on how we endure this challenge.
The very thought of this concept will give us the strength to withstand the challenge, as the Tanna said in Pirkei Avos (2:1), ‘Calculate the cost of a Mitzvah against its reward, and the reward of an Aveirah against its cost!’”
Reprinted from the Parshas Nitzavim-Vayelech 5784 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’Tefilah.
