A Life changing Story From My Mother

0:07My mom told me a story one time that puts things in perspective. She said a rich person once had somebody knock on their door and ask them, "Can I buy your house?" He said, "I'm sorry, it's not for sale." "Okay, but I like your house," the person replied. "You can like it all you want. It's not for sale." But I really like it. I understand you like it. I built this house. It cost me $10 million to buy this house. And they build it and revile it and all the things. I'm not selling it. Okay, okay, fine. Can I just buy enough space in your house to put one nail? One nail. No, no, leave me alone. Do me a favor. I have the house. I'll pay you $10,000 for it. $10,000 for one nail. The guy has money, which means he likes money. You can't have money unless you like money. So he says, $10,000 to put a nail in the wall? I put nails in for free. Okay, okay, fool. Come, come, wherever you want, put the nail. Just make sure the check is made payable to cash. So the guy comes in, he puts the nail nicely in the entrance over there. He finds a nice clean place on the wall. He's excited about it.

1:27It's like, that's my nail. He goes, that's your nail, buddy. You got it. The guy leaves. He goes, honey, I'm a genius. She asks, why? He responds, I just made $10,000 for a nail. She replies, honey, you really are a genius. He's happy. He’s ready. He goes to sleep thinking, oh, I'm going to sell nails to the whole community. The whole house is going to be full of nails. I'll buy a $100 million house next month. Until 2 o'clock in the morning. At 2 o'clock in the morning... Hello? What? Huh? Huh? He rushes to the door in his robe. Poor guy. What's going on? Who died? Who did this? What happened at 2 o'clock in the morning? He asks, "What do you want?" It's the guy with the nail. He asks, "What do you want?" "I have no more nails. No more nails. I'm going to sleep. What's wrong with you?" "No, no. I have a hat. I have a hat. I want to put it on my nail." "Excuse me?" "Because my hat, my hat, I finished using it for today. I want to put the hat on my nail."

2:27You couldn't come earlier? I didn't finish with the hat until now. If I had finished earlier, I would have put it earlier, but I needed the hat until now. Can I put my hat on my nail? So the guy is still excited about the 10,000 he got a few hours ago. He says, okay, buddy, go, go. Just do me a favor. Next time, come a little earlier. He goes to sleep. He puts the hat up. Everything is good. The day's over. Next day, 2:15 in the morning. Hello? Hello? Opens the door. He's in his robe. Poor guy. What do you want? Again? Two o'clock in the morning. He goes, no, no. Listen. Not the hat. The hat again. The hat's still here. He goes, no, I don't want the hat. He goes, what? My jacket. My jacket. I'm finished with the jacket. I want to put my jacket on my nail. He goes, what's with you at two o'clock in the morning? You can't come at twelve, at ten, at eight like normal people. I'm just finished with the jacket now. I don't need the jacket now. So what? I'm going to carry it for no reason. It's heavy. It's a big jacket. Can I put it on my nail? Okay, put it on the nail. getting a little frustrated, but the next day at 3:30 in the morning, "Hello, poor guy, what do you want now?" "I need my hat." "The jacket too?" "No, no, just a hat."

3:43Why couldn't you come sooner? I just needed that. I didn't need it before. And every day, the poor guy, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock in the morning, every day for 10 days straight, he's coming. He says, "Listen, after 10 days of this," he tells him, "Listen, no more. Here's your $10,000. I'm finished with you." He goes, "No, no, no. No refunds." No, what do you mean? I bought it. It's mine. It's my property. He says, I don't want to. I respond, we signed the deal. You cashed the check already. The check cleared. I don't want the money back. I like my nail. He says, stop coming at 3 o'clock in the morning. I reply, I come whenever I have to. It's my nail. It's my property. I'll take you to court. He says, take me to court. They go to court. Now, the millionaire thinks that... This is ridiculous. Every normal judge is going to judge it in his favor. He goes, "Your Honor, this guy is crazy. I'm willing to give him his $10,000 back. I'll give him $15,000. Just leave me alone." The judge says, "Listen, according to this contract, there's nothing you can do. It's his nail. He's allowed to go and see his nail whenever he wants. You have to comply with this." He couldn't believe his eyes.

5:01He leaves the court with a long face, trying to figure out a solution, but realizing he doesn't have one. And over the next 10 days, he suffers even more than he did the first 10 days. Each day feels longer as he wrestles with the problem, hoping for clarity. The burden grows heavier, and he struggles to find solace in his usual routine. 1 o'clock in the morning, 2 o'clock in the morning, 3 o'clock in the morning. The hat and the jacket and the shoes and this, and I just won't look at the nail or touch the nail. Maybe I'll put a picture on the nail. After another 10 days, the guy shows up at 3 o'clock in the morning. He says, "Here you go. Here are the keys to the whole house. I'm leaving." That's the mashal. That's the parable. What's the Nimshal? The Nimshal, Rabotai Yekarim, is that the millionaire is us. The guy that bought the nail is the Satan. Satan comes to you and says, "Listen, I want to take your entire essence all at once." You say, "No, are you crazy? I was born religious. I was born with a kippah. I came out of my mom's womb with a kippah already. What are you talking about? I'm religious from birth. I did teshuvah. I did this, no. I won't give up my whole faith." So he says, "Okay, fine, fine." He comes back a few years later and suggests, "How about one meal? How about one little sin? How about a skirt that's one and a half inches too short?"

6:28It's not a mini, like the rabbi keeps saying. It's not a mini. It's like instead of covering the knee, it covers like three-quarters of the knee. Come on, what, people are paying attention to inches? Hashem really cares. He has nothing else to do but to start looking at inches. He has a whole world to run, and He's looking at inches on my skirt. Just one inch. That's how the Yetzer Hara comes to you. One small sin. Make this small sin with this girl. Don't touch her. Just look at her once. She's not your wife. It's okay. Just look once. Just go into McDonald's one time. Get the coffee. Coffee? What do they have? Pig feet in coffee? When was the last time you ate pig feet and coffee together? It's just coffee. Why, do they have black coffee with pig feet in it? No, it's just coffee from McDonald's. No. One little nail. One nail. One nail. That's the yetzer hara. The yetzer hara tells you, I just want one nail. And then he comes at two o'clock in the morning. He says, how goes my nail? How's my nail? I want another nail. I want another nail.

7:46I want another nail. And unless you know what's going to happen to you in the grave, unless you know what's going to happen after the grave, unless you know that HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not let anyone go, guess what? Eventually, you're going to give him your whole house. You're going to give him the whole house. You're going to go and meet with the Pope and say, Pope, I agree with you. Eventually, we're going to convert all of them. It doesn't start with everything. Starts with a nail. This is why it’s critical to teach yirat Shamayim. It’s the only way people stay religious according to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Without yirah, nothing works.