Staying Torah-True in a Wide-Open World

Content Description: The gemara teaches us how to live in an open, free world, by using the form of the letter hey. Elaboration of the statement that "one who comes to sin is facilitated, whereas one who comes to elevate himself is assisted." Two types of sin, and the change a person undergoes when immersed in a spiritually damaging environment. The meeting of Gan Eden and Gehennom; a wise person flees from the border zone. Explanation of the special status of ba'alei teshuvah. Contemporary society has deteriorated into a world full of ba'alei ta'avah of one sort or another, with the common denominator being a focus on self, without care for the other.

Citations: Gemara Menachos 29b with Rashi, and Chidushei HaRashba, Gemara Shabbos 104A with Rashi and Tosfos, Da'as Torah: Ma'amarim page 44, Tomer Devorah ch.1,