We live in a society that pushes at every step and every way we turn, pushes us to the brink where we can either give up or say, “You know what? It’s just too difficult.” First of all, I speak to myself. I live in Olam Hazeh (this world), just like everybody else does. I have to travel, just like a lot of people have to travel. But at the end of the day, I know that when there is a control factor, I’m much happier. The Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) that’s within us, that’s built within every single human being, has a goal: to make us unhappy. That’s his goal.
And this subject that the Vayimaen group focuses on is one of the main issues of our society. That’s what we’re faced with on a daily basis, every minute, wherever we go. Even in the supermarket, I was buying cereal the other day. Even in the cereal aisle, wherever you go, I’m thinking to myself, “How is this possible?” So if we can take a little bit of advice, constant advice on a daily basis, and try to move forward and not look back and say, “You know what? It’s easy to give up,” but say, “You know what? I’m going to try step by step.” I have a Yetzer Hara that wants me to be unhappy. And really, the way to be happy—Hashem said this in the Torah. Of course, it’s a daunting task. But if we speak about it as normal people and say, “You know what? To the Gadol HaDor (greatest sage of the generation) of this generation, we’re close to Him, but I have an opportunity because I live as a normal person, as a father, as a family figure, as an example.” And how do I make an example? First of all, to myself, not to show anybody else that I’m doing anything to myself. To be happy, to be a happy person. We want to attain happiness. Every single person wants to attain happiness. And happiness is about control. Happiness is: “Hey, I had this sight, and I looked away, and I was able to be so godly in that act.” That act right there—turning away, refusing, refusing what’s really enticing—and you’re normal. If that’s enticing to you, you’re normal. But yet you look away and you shield what’s really enticing, and you give yourself an opportunity to elevate yourself and to be a much happier person. And that’s the happiness we’re all looking for.