There is a story related by R'Yaakov Galinsky z'tl who was sent to hard labor in Siberia by the Russians. While he was in captivity there was another man that was there as well. R'Yaakov realized that every night in the middle of the night when everyone was sleeping this man would sneak away for a few minutes. R'Yaakov went to see what the man was doing every night and he saw the man pull out a set of clothing from a hiding place and put them on. The man would then proceed to stand in these clothes and wave his hands back and forth for a few minutes and then remove the clothes, return them to their hiding place and go back to sleep.  

One day R'Yaakov finally decided he was going to approach this man and ask him about his strange custom. At first the man tried to deny that he would do this nightly, but after he realized that R'Yaakov had seen him a number of times he understood he would need to divulge his secret. R'Yaakov promised him that he wouldn't tell anyone what the man was doing and he therefore agreed to tell R'Yaakov. The man explained that he was a captured general from the German army. He used to command 100's of soldiers that would move right, left, back and forth with the simple signal of his hands. The Russians tried to break him both physically and mentally with the hard forced labor and difficult conditions. The only way he could keep his strength is by remembering who he was and his stature. He continued to explain that he was able to smuggle into the labor camp his old uniform and every night he would don the uniform and pretend to motion and move his troops with the signal of his hands.

R' Yaakov explained that we are often faced with temptations to commit sins. We live in a society that is "free" and people can do whatever they want. It means we see many people acting like animals, chasing and pursuing every pleasure and temptation in the world. We therefore have to remember who we are first and foremost, that we are people and not animals and beyond that, that we are part of the Jewish People. We are chosen to be a princely nation among the nations and we should always remember that and act accordingly. If a person feels like they are no different than an animal then they will act like an animal. If a person feels like they are no different than the Nations of the World then they will follow the actions of those people. If we understand though that we were given the Torah and a covenant with G-d then we will be able strengthen ourselves and act accordingly.

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath