A woman came to me numerous times, each time relating a different problem which troubled her. She constantly asked for my blessings to be spared from her difficulties. I wondered to myself: “What is causing her so many problems?” I began investigating this woman’s lifestyle and discovered that she was steeped in sin, rachmana litzlan.
I asked her, “How can you ask for Hashem’s berachah, when you don’t make yourself into a fitting vessel to contain it? Don’t you realize that your sins are destroying you, allowing any berachah you are given to seep out?!
“If you truly desire Hashem’s berachah and deliverance from the mess you are in, you must do complete teshuvah for your sinful ways. You must accept upon yourself the yoke of mitzvot, like any fine Jew. Then you will be a suitable vessel to contain Hashem’s blessing.”
