Tuesday, December 18, 2012

CLD #762

If you enter an American college at this exact moment there is probably over 100 students sleeping in the library overnight. It is 'finals week' for the fall 2012 semester across our country. What can we learn from this? Being in a college library is like a safari. An individual can see people in all different types of outfits: some people are in fancy clothing as if they just came back from work, some people are in their pajamas like they are ready to get tucked in and some people are in casual workday/school day clothing. However, there is one similarity between 99% of the people in the library: they are all studying and putting as much effort as they can to get the best possible grades.

A Jewish individual is always either going up or down in their spirituality and Avodat Hashem (service of Hashem). The are two alternatives for every single Jew: either they are rising up the spiritual ladder or being pulled back down by the force of the Yetzer Hara (spiritual power that inserts an evil inclination for a Jew). Therefore, a Jewish lifestyle is like a roller coaster that is going up or the opposite. Obviously we want to go up, but how do we stay 'up'? The answer is in our own hands.

Like most college students at this exact time, they went through the semester sometimes coming to class and sometimes missing class. It doesn't matter what happened, now the goal is to get the best possible grade. For us Jews it is the same thing with our Avodat Hashem. We all go through minor nisyonot (spiritual challenges), sometimes on a minor scale we fail or succeed. However, every once in a while we are hit with a big nisayon that is like a tidal wave!

If we are in a point of deciding what to do, to give in or to stay strong and reject the option to sin, then we must use our brain. It is known that the human being decides based on their heart and brain. When the heart, the emotion and feelings take over, the brain shuts down. For each individual their own 'finals week' is like a big nisayon. Whether it be the decision to look at the girl barely clothed or to choose a long skirt today or a mini skirt or maybe the decision to send out that text to that girl to 'come over,' Hashem yaazor, it doesn't matter: the time is NOW to choose good. A nisayon is like a final, its all up to the decision now whether or not we will get the A or not get the A! Therefore at these times we need to ask our brain and shut the heart down: IS THIS WORTH IT?

Judaism=Think.

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