The Midrash (Tanchuma, Behaloscha 10) states, "The Jewish nation says to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, 'Ribono Shel Olam, you know the great strength of the yetzer hara. [How can we possibly overcome him?]' Hakadosh Baruch Hu replies, 'Remove him little by little in this world, and I will remove him entirely from you in Olam HaBa.'" It is true that it is hard to overcome the yetzer hara and to guard the eyes. Therefore, sometimes, it is best to take on small kabbalos to help us improve, and Hashem will help us succeed.
A group of top bachurim of the Slonimer yeshiva came to the Beis Avraham zt'l after Pesach, and the Beis Avraham said, "Kinderlach, you certainly said the Haggadah", and he repeated the pasuk (Yechezkel 16:7, which is said in the Haggadah) ועריה ערום ואת ...עדיים בעדי ותבואי ותגדלי ותרבי, "You have increased and grown, and you have come with perfect beauty... yet you were naked and bare." He repeated this pasuk several times, and his intention was clear. He told them they grew up and are getting on in life, yet they are empty of mitzvos. He was silent for a long time and moaned deeply. The bachurim stood there in fear. Then the Beis Avraham completed the verse (Yechezkel 16:5), חיי בדמיך לך ואמר חיי בדמיך לך ואמר, "I said to you, 'With your blood, live,' and I said to you, 'With your blood, live.'" His message to them was that their fighting with the yetzer hara, חיי בדמייך, that will give them life. Their battles with the yetzer hara will elevate them to the highest levels.
Some years ago, erev Shabbos Eikev, someone was learning in the beis medresh of his bungalow colony when he received a call from another member of this bungalow colony. The caller began the call with: "Baruch Hashem, everyone is well. No one is harmed. Your wife was in an accident, but she is fine. If you want to hear the details, call this number. This person was present when the accident occurred."
The husband immediately called that number and once again heard that his wife was well. "But your van is gone. It was a head-on collision with a large truck. It's a miracle everyone is well." Generally, when a car is totaled, the passengers do not escape injury, or worse c’v, especially when the accident involves a large, heavy truck. The husband was relieved to hear that his wife was well.
He went to the site of the accident. He found his wife and the other passengers standing at the side of the road, together with the large truck that crashed into them. Their van wasn't there anymore. It was towed away.
The couple tried to figure out which good deed they did granted them this miracle, but they couldn’t think of anything special.
Some days later, the junkyard called and asked them to come and remove anything they wanted to salvage from the van before they destroyed it. The couple went to the yard. They saw the van's body torn upwards above the chassis, like the cover over an opened tin can. The wife showed her husband where the truck's fender tore through the car and stopped a centimeter before ramming into her. They noticed that the truck stopped precisely at the place where they had installed an additional step, some years before.
Thirteen years before, in Lakewood (ח"תשס), there was a large gathering to discuss the importance of tznius. The meeting was well attended, and many roshei yeshiva and rabbanim spoke. After the gathering, many women discarded their questionable clothing and bought new clothing with a higher standard of tznius. A member of the Hatzalah organization in Lakewood noted that for a week after the meeting, Hatzalah hardly received any calls. And when there was a call, it wasn't anything too serious. And that was starkly different than how it generally was. One wise person said that it is hinted in the pasuk (Devarim 23:15), 'ה כי ...להצילך מחניך בקרב מתהלך אלקיך, this pasuk discusses tznius and it states להצילך, that Hashem is your Hatzalah. Because when there's tznius, you don't need Hatzalah. Hashem performs the Hatzalah work for you.
This couple lives in Lakewood, and they attended this inspirational gathering. A few years later, the message of the asifah was still on their mind. Therefore, when they bought an eight-seater van (to accommodate their growing family), the wife requested that, for the sake of tznius, another step be added so people going in and out of the van wouldn't need to take large strides. The truck stopped right before that additional step. The couple now understood the root of the miracle. The merit of tznius protected them.
The Skulener Rebbe of Monsey Shlita related that someone once came to his father zt'l seeking a segulah for parnassah. The Rebbe told him to say היראה פרשת (printed after shacharis in many siddurim). The man thought the Rebbe misunderstood him, so he repeated that he was seeking a segulah for parnassah, not for yiras Shamayim. The Rebbe replied that it states (Tehillim 111:5), ליראיו נתן טרף, "'Hashem provided food for those who fear Him.' When you fear Hashem, you will have parnassah."
Reb Yehudah of Nasod zt'l was once on a train in a private compartment when an elderly woman boarded. The Rav jumped off the moving train. His students asked him, "Why were you moser nefesh to jump out of a moving train? There was nothing to fear. She's an old woman!" He replied, "I wasn't afraid of her. I was afraid of the aveirah of yichud."
The Koznitzer Magid zt'l would offer private audiences to men who came to seek his counsel and brachos, but he didn't admit women to his room. Once, when the gabbai wasn't around, an elderly woman entered the Magid's room. The Koznitzer Magid hurried to the window and was ready to jump out. Fortunately, just then, the gabbai returned. The gabbai asked, "The woman was old, and you're ill. What were you afraid of? Why were you ready to risk your life and jump out of the window?" The Koznitzer Magid replied, "When the yetzer hara takes control (קאמאנדעוויט), he can make an old woman appear young and a sick person healthy."
The Midrash tells that Klal Yisrael responded, יודעין אנו אין, that they don't know Torah. Hashem replies, "Cry before me, [daven], and I will accept it. Your fathers were enslaved in Mitzrayim; didn't I save them due to their tefillos? As it states (Shemos 2:23) ויזעקו העבדה מן ישראל בני ויאנחנו. In the days of Yehoshua, didn't I perform miracles for them because of tefillah?"
So, the Midrash has two explanations for 'ה אל ושובו דברים עמכם קחו. One approach is to do teshuvah by studying Torah, and the other is with tefillah. In this section, we are studying the Midrash's first path. We do teshuvah with words of Torah.
The Gemara (Succah 49:) states, "If a person has chen, you can be certain that he fears Hashem." This is another explanation as to how Noach attained chen. Noach had chen because of his yiras Shamayim.
