Hope Is Kosher, Quitting Isn’t

A quiet epidemic is spreading, and it doesn’t look like a fever. It looks like old dreams shelved, alarms snoozed, and a heart that once burned now running on dim. We name that sickness—Ye’ush, the giving up of hope—and we take it head on, not with slogans, but with a return to the core of Jewish identity: the will to keep fighting when it’s still dark.

We start by tracing the subtle signs of surrender that creep into adult life. The goal posts move, the expectations shrink, and “realistic” becomes code for “I stopped trying.” Then we turn to the story of Yaakov wrestling the angel. The blessing is not a trophy; it’s a new name, Yisrael, “for you have fought.” That shift is everything. Outcomes belong to God; effort belongs to us. This lens reframes prayer, punctuality for minyan, learning with patience, building a career, and shaping character. The question is no longer “Did I win?” but “Did I fight today in a way that honors my soul?”

We also revisit the early warning to Cain: why let your face fall when the path to repair runs through the next right act? The remedy for despair is structured action: small, protected habits that guard big values. Set a modest arrival buffer for tefillah and keep it. Fix a daily learning slot and let consistency outweigh intensity. Choose one trait to refine this month, track it with a cue, and reset quickly after slips. Measure progress by process, not perfection, and let streaks of honest effort build momentum. That is how we grind with hope in 2025—one deliberate rep at a time, anchored in the knowledge that we are Bnei Yisrael, the people who do not quit.

If this message hit home, follow the show, share it with someone who needs a lift, and leave a quick review so more people find it. Tell us: what fight are you choosing to re-enter today?

Chapters

• 0:00 Naming The Spiritual Sickness
• 0:25 Signs Of Quiet Despair
• 1:10 Yisrael Means We Fight
• 2:26 Cain’s Warning Against Giving Up
• 3:02 Daily Practice Of Not Quitting

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

There's a sickness that's going around these days that's more contagious and more debilitating than the influenza virus or the common cold. It is a spiritual disease that way too many people have caught. It was a disease that was going around in the times of Rabisral Salantar. It was his assessment of the sickness and just how rampant it truly is. The sickness he turned, redeemed, is called that of Yiyosh, giving up hope. Nearly every other person you'll meet on the streets. Ask them about their life's dreams and life's aspirations. And see if they still have a beating heart and a pulse that is pushing them to accomplish that. Or see if they've given up on fighting against their Yatsahara. See if your friends who once dreamed of living as perfectly on-time, healthy, happy Jews, see if they still have that same drive to fully achieve that. See if this friend of yours that grew up wanting to be a millionaire, see if he now at age 40, with his$80,000 salary, has he given up on the chance to make it big. See, those of us that crave to Davin with intensity, to be on time to minion, and to learn Hashem's Torah with patience and clarity, see if we are not also guilty of Yeush of giving up on that. But we must remember, we must internalize, and we must know that when Yaakov Avinu was fighting with the Sarishal Aesov, with Aesub's angelic form back in last week's Parshal, they fought through the night and they dusted up with a real skirmish, a tangle that would go down in history. Yaakov Avenu would not take no for an answer, and he succeeded in overcoming the Saroshal Aesub. And the Aesub angel said to Yaakov, you've achieved a new name. Your name is no longer Yaqov, but it is Yisrael. Jews are called Yisraelin. Why? Why the angel continues when he gives this name to Yaakov? The explanation of Yisrael is Kisarisa, because you have fought. King Kara Shemo Yisrael. A Jewish person is B'Ne Yisrael because he fights and he never gives up the fight. We're not called winners. That matters not to us winning and losing. That's in the hands of God. But that we fight and never stop fighting? That's what makes us Jewish people. At the very beginning of time, Hashem saw after Cain killed Hevel. He said to him, Why are you angry? And why have you has your face fallen? Why have you found yourself giving up at the hope of repentance? Hallow and Tayt al-Saiz. Improve yourself. Wake up tomorrow and you can do it. Why have you given up? We need to know that what makes us Jewish is that we never stop fighting. What makes us Bene Israel is that we never stop hustling. We never stop grinding and we never give up. That's the most important mindset for living as a Jew in 2025. Remember this. Remind yourself this. Pray over and over. Never give up. Continue to push every day because that's what makes us Jewish. Because Kiso Risa, because we'll never give up the fight until the day we die.