One Moment Of Self-Reflection

“Come, let us reckon” (Bamidbar 21:27).

 Rav Yosef Pinchasi merited to bring many Jews back to teshuvah. Once, during an ordinary drive, the Rav was waiting patiently at a red light when the driver in the car beside him noticed who he was.

Recognizing Rav Pinchasi, the driver lowered his window and called out teasingly:

“Rabbi, until the light changes, you have a chance to bring me to teshuvah!”

Think about that for a moment. How can a person inspire someone to do teshuvah in less than a minute?

Most people would have ignored the comment, dismissing it as little more than a joke. But Rav Pinchasi responded immediately.

“Go ahead and drive,” the Rav said. “Why are you waiting?”

The driver looked surprised.

“I can’t drive,” he answered. “The light is red.”

“Why should that stop you?” Rav Pinchasi replied. “There’s no police officer here.”

The driver protested.

“What do you mean? There could be a hidden camera. They’ll catch me, I’ll get a hefty fine, and I’ll lose points on my license.”

Rav Pinchasi then delivered a single sentence that changed the man’s life:

“And perhaps there is also a camera above?”

At that very moment, the light turned green, and the two cars continued on their separate ways.

Several months later, an older bearded Jew approached Rav Pinchasi and greeted the Rav warmly.

Not recognizing him, Rav Pinchasi asked, “Who are you?”

The man smiled and replied:

“I’m from the camera above — the one from the traffic light.”

It turned out that those few words had pierced his heart. That brief exchange stayed with him, stirred him deeply, and ultimately led him to complete teshuvah.

This story teaches us the extraordinary power of a single moment of cheshbon hanefesh. Sometimes one sincere thought, one honest realization, or one moment of clarity can accomplish more than countless speeches and arguments.

The Mesillas Yesharim writes in its timeless style:

“For the yetzer hara knows that if people would pay even the slightest attention to their ways, they would immediately begin to regret their deeds. That regret would continue to grow stronger within them until they would abandon the sin entirely.”

How sharp and penetrating these words are.

The yetzer hara is not afraid of great resolutions nearly as much as it fears a person who pauses for a moment and thinks honestly about where life is heading.

Sometimes all it takes is one red light, one question, and one moment of cheshbon hanefesh.

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Based on teachings from Rav Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, zt”l, and Naeh Doresh. Rabbi Leeor Dahan, a graduate of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim/RSA, is a noted scholar and teacher, well-versed in halachah. He currently leads Kehilat Avodat Hashem in Hillcrest, Queens, inspiring his congregation to delve into Torah study and embrace its eternal teachings.