What defines a hero? Who is a strong person? Who is a warrior? Who is a strong soldier? A hero is a person who is able to overcome the yetzer hara (the evil inclination) and say no to sin. We read in the history books that, unfortunately, people lived in lands full of dictatorship, and governments controlled their lives and were very evil. Here and there, you had very strong people who were determined and had the guts to get up and try to topple the government. Some of them succeeded and took down the government, but many did not succeed. The fact that they even fought to go up against the government and fight for their freedom means they’re considered heroes in the history books.
A person who tries to fight back for emet (truth), who is determined to actually be holy, is considered a hero, a person who is a strong soldier of Hashem. Eizehu gibor (a strong soldier)? Hakovesh et yitzro. It doesn’t only mean that you actually conquer the yetzer hara. You are a gibor. Of course, if you actually take him down, control your eyes totally, and become a holy person, of course you’re a gibor and a very strong person and a huge tzaddik (righteous person). But it’s even more than that. It’s every time you try to conquer the yetzer hara.
In this generation, the sins are all over the place, and the pritzut (immodesty) is so viral—it’s all over the place. Every time a person even thinks to control his eyes, wants to control his eyes, has a strategy and a plan, and really deep inside his heart wants to take upon himself to take down this massive yetzer hara in our generation, a person who even thinks to try to do that is considered a hero. Eizehu gibor? Hakovesh et yitzro, it means who is a gibor, who is a strong soldier, a person who wants to conquer the yetzer hara.
The whole world is going in the other direction, against HaKadosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One, blessed be He). More averot (sins). It’s a person who gets up against the whole culture and says, “I want to control my eyes.” Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But the fact that you even want to try means you are considered a hero in the eyes of Hashem.