Throw Away the Devices of Impurity and Sanctify the Mind

The Daily Chizuk of our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a: "One must discard all vessels of impurity, guard one's eyes, and sanctify the mind."

Monday, 27 Tevet 5785 – These are his holy words:

"Before Mashiach, everyone must pass through this thing..."

"Rebbe Nachman says it is impossible... until a person passes through all types of sitra achra (the other side/forces of impurity) in the world, they cannot see Mashiach."

"And today, in this generation, there are types of sitra achra that did not exist in the generation of the Flood, nor in any other generation. For in the generation of the Flood, Noah built a city, and Methuselah built a city. Enoch ascended to heaven with his body, but before that, he built a city: 'And she bore Enoch, and he became a builder of a city, and he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch' (Genesis 4:17). They built a city with great walls, and certain people brought the food, so a person would leave the city [and there they were protected from all the vanities of this world]."

"But today, everyone has in their pocket not just one iPhone, but five iPhones. They can see five sights of impurity at once, such impurities that were not seen in any generation. The greatest wicked ones never saw such sights of impurity as those with which children, young girls, and the youth are being led astray today. Children at the age of ten are already seeing such things of impurity that they feel there is no reason for them to be religious, no reason at all."

"Because until a person gains understanding, the yetzer hara (evil inclination) rules over them: 'The inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth,' from the moment he is shaken from his mother's womb. The yetzer hara precedes the yetzer hatov (good inclination) by thirteen years, and after that, it already becomes the master of the house. And a person reaches the age of twenty and the yetzer hara rules over them; they cannot manage to free themselves from it."

"A person must know that the first thing is to discard all the iPhones, all the smartphones, and the new technology that renews itself every single day. It is called a geometric progression, which multiplies itself and jumps infinitely—the sitra achra jumps infinitely."

"Rebbe Nachman says that when one sits to learn, and places their thoughts and heart into the Torah, and immerses themselves in it, they must understand what they are learning, Rebbe Nachman says, and they must innovate new insights, for 'the Torah is called poor in one place and rich in another.' And they must, at every moment, innovate more and more insights and write them down."

"Moses our Teacher grew up in the house of Pharaoh, and he did not open his eyes. We are inside the house of Pharaoh today. Today it is worse than the house of Pharaoh; in the house of Pharaoh, they did not see forbidden sights like those seen here by every boy and every girl. And everyone has these vessels of impurity, the smartphone and the iPhones and the other terrible devices, and they do not know how to get rid of them—it is written, 'bound to him like a dog.'"

"And therefore, Joseph is called 'the Tzaddik,' because he guarded his eyes, and in his life, he never lifted his eyes. For one hundred and ten years, he did not lift his eyes, and therefore, 'a gold chain on his neck,' because he did not stiffen his neck, and 'the second chariot,' because he never lifted his eyes."

"The goal of a person is to reach a fast and sharp mind, so that they will have the fastest and sharpest mind in the world."

"And that is the goal of this yeshiva, that every boy should reach the sharpest intellect..."