The bachur was so broken it was hard for him to focus on the successes, but when the Steipler repeated his question, the bachur acknowledged that there were many instances that he did guard his eyes.
The Steipler replied with words of chizuk. We have his exact words because Reb Moshe Blau wrote them down immediately after this meeting. The Steipler said, "I am not exaggerating, and I am not lying. I am not exaggerating, and I am not lying. If I had strength, I would stand up for you. It is about a thirty-five-minute drive from Bnei Brak to Tel Aviv. Each time that you guarded your eyes, you performed the mitzvos of 'ה את ואהבת ...ישראל בני בתוך ונקדשתי ...מאלקיך ויראת נפשך ובכל לבבכך בכל אלקיך, fearing Hashem, sanctifying Hashem's name, and to love Hashem with all your heart and soul. You will be punished for the times that you failed, but each time you were strong against the yetzer hara, you amended the past. Therefore, why should you cry? Each time you were cautious with kedushah, you were on the level of Yosef HaTzaddik, mamash, mamash, mamash (literally, literally, literally)! The main thing is to fight, battle, and keep waging the war!"
In a letter (Kreina d'Igrasa vol.1, 106), the Steipler writes to a bachur who failed a test: "Although you fail sometimes, r'l, nevertheless, there were many times that you conquered the yetzer hara and you overcame your temptations. When you overcome the temptations that burn so strongly in you, you draw a light of kedushah on yourself and all worlds... We cannot measure or imagine the great kedushah that comes on a person who overcomes his yetzer hara when the yetzer hara is burning in him. At these moments, he is like Yosef HaTzaddik. The rule is that when a person fights with the yetzer hara, sometimes he wins and sometimes fails. Just as the sin is very great, so too, when he succeeds and wins many times, he has great merit. He will amend in his lifetime all his sins."
The main thing is to set boundaries and gates that distance us from aveiros.
Let's learn from our enemies. This year, on Shmini Atzeres, the resha'im broke the fence that borders Gaza and Eretz Yisrael. After the gate was breached (מגדלי חומות פרצו), the Arabs were able to come in. Similarly, we must make boundaries that distance us from the yetzer hara because when boundaries are breached, we are at risk of sinning.
In parashas Vayeitzei, Yaakov told Lavan how he worked loyally for him. He said (31:40) מעיני שנתי ותדד בלילה וקרח חרב אכלני ביום הייתי, "This is how I was: By day scorching heat consumed me, and frost by night." Why didn't Yaakov come into Lavan's home to warm up or get some shade? Why did he remain outdoors?
It is because Yaakov wanted to distance himself from Lavan, his avodah zarah, and his evil ways. This was among the boundaries he set for himself in Lavan's home so he could keep the Torah there. As Rashi (Bereishis 32:5) writes, שמרתי מצוות ג"ותרי גרתי הרשע לבן על, "I lived with Lavan the rasha, and I kept the 613 mitzvos." He accomplished this because he set boundaries for himself. He wouldn't even enter his home because he didn't want to be exposed to his bad influence. This is a lesson for us on how we should distance ourselves from tests!
