The following are excerpts from remarks made by Ponovezh Rosh Yeshiva HaRav Gershon Edelstein at a talk in his home:
Recently there have been more attacks from the sons of Yishmael. We must know that nothing happens by chance, but rather everything is under Heavenly Providence. As the Rambam writes in his commentary at the end of parshas Bo, everything is the result of a decree from Above. If there are merits, there is reward and there is success. If there are no merits then the opposite happens.
The only way to look at things is to realize that things are not the result of our power and the might of our hand, but rather we must do teshuvoh and good deeds.
What do we have to do teshuvoh for? What are the common things that people stumble over?
Loshon hora is one thing that many have problems with. Chazal said, "Everyone [transgresses] avak loshon hora." There is a very strong yetzer hora for loshon hora. It is a very serious problem. Therefore the reward for someone who is careful not to speak loshon hora is large.
Especially during these days when the middas hadin is stretched out, we should be especially careful about this. All idle chatter is very serious but we have to be especially careful, at least, about loshon hora.
We must also be careful about bittul Torah. Chazal said that just as talmud Torah is balanced against all other mitzvos, so bittul Torah is also similarly weighted.
Also in matters of bein Odom lechavero. A person does not want to back down. But there are Torah laws of monetary affairs, there is a Shulchan Oruch, there are expert dayanim. But sometimes a person just decides for himself what he thinks the din is. This is especially common in disputes between neighbors. There are some people who are basically very good people, but when something comes up which affects them in a matter having to do with their neighbors, they turn into different people. They no longer behave like they used to behave. This happens in issues of money and it is especially noticeable when kovod is at stake. It is awful, oyome venora.
The Mesillas Yeshorim wrote that kovod stresses a person more than all the taavos in the world. One has to know that if one enjoys kovod this can cause him to lost a lot of Olom Habo. And the contrary is also true: if one suffers humiliation he gains Olom Habo and is saved from the suffering of Gehennom.
These are the things that need chizuk: to be careful not to speak loshon hora, bittul Torah, to increase one's love of his fellows and general bein odom lechavero, and that one's interest in money and kovod should not bribe him to act improperly.
