Amazing Story About Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt”l

0:28I don't know, I'm reading in the Torah, he says, I'm reading in the Torah that there's somebody named Hillel. Hillel Hazaken. Hillel was Kodesh Kodashim. He never got angry. He was holy. He prayed to Hashem. Is there such a person as Hillel today, 3,000 years later, 2,000 years later? He says, if there's a person like Hillel in our generation, I'll do teshuva. But if there's no person in the generation like Hillel that's righteous like him, then why should I do teshuva? If everybody's reshaim, why? Is Hashem going to punish everyone? Point is that he says, if there's nobody in a generation like Hillel, why should I do teshuva? So why did this chutzpan, this rude person, decide to challenge the rabbis? He decided to test them. He got a phone book with the names of the poskim in Eretz Yisrael, all the big rabbis. He decided to call them at 2 o'clock in the morning. Not 2 o'clock in the afternoon, but rather 2 o'clock in the morning. Hello? Yeah. Rabbi? Yes. Yes.

1:43Listen, if I have sugar on my apple, do I have to... What blessing do I have to say? Is it ha'etz or is it shehakol? Now, obviously, these rabbis are still human beings. Call them at 2 o'clock in the morning, and they're not exactly ecstatic. Unless you're a teenager, you don't want anybody calling you at 2 o'clock in the morning. So, a lot of the rabbis hung up the phone on him. So he's going one after another, after another, after another. They keep hanging up on him, or nobody's answering the phone. He got to the last rabbi. He says, "If this rabbi doesn't become Hillel, I've done my job, Hashem. I tried. I've done my job." He calls the number. "Hello? This is... How can I help you?"

2:43Harav Mordechai Eliyahu was the Gadol Hador, the leading rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, meaning he just called the biggest rabbi in the world at 2 o'clock in the morning, 2:30 in the morning. And Harav Mordechai Eliyahu says, "Hello, this is Mordechai Eliyahu. How can I help you?" And the guy says, "Oh, Rabbi, if I have an apple and there's some sugar on it, which bracha do I say? Do I say borei pri ha'etz? Do I say shehakol?" And he's expecting the rabbi to hang up on him or say, "No, chutzpan, you call me at two o'clock in the morning. What's the matter with you? Call tomorrow at a normal time." Which bracha do I say? Do I say borei pri ha'eitz? Do I say shehakol? And he's expecting the Rabbi to hang up on him or say, "No, chutzpah! You call me at two o'clock in the morning. What's the matter with you? Call tomorrow at a normal time." Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu says, "Oh, my son, that's a very good question." He says, "See, in the Torah, we have 'tafel' and 'ikar'. We have something that's insignificant and something that's significant." And he starts giving him a shiur about which bracha to do at two o'clock in the morning.

3:44And he's so patient with them. He says, listen, if you're going to eat the sugar separately from the apple, then you do shehakol and you do ha'etz. But you first bless ha'etz. But if you're going to eat it together, since the sugar is insignificant in comparison to the apple, you just do ha'etz and it includes the sugar as well. And he's giving them a shiur, a half-hour shiur. But why do this blessing at two o'clock in the morning? He says, any more questions, my son? And he says to him, "You know, Rabbi, I have to tell you the truth." And he tells him the whole story of why he called. He says, "I was looking for a reason why I shouldn't do teshuvah. But apparently, we do have a Hillel in our generation. And because of you, tomorrow I'm going to start going to yeshiva."

4:44Why? Why did Rav Mordechai Eliyahu have such a merit? Because he knew, yes, you can yell at people. Yes, you can scream at people. Yes, you can do a lot of things. But you have to know when, how, and who. Most importantly, regardless of what shita you're going to use, regardless of what strategy you're going to use—some use a loud voice, some use a low voice, some use jokes, some use scary stories, some are straight to your face, some are behind your back—whatever it is, make sure you act with love. This is the confusion that a lot of people have when it comes to Mussar. They think that if you're screaming fire and brimstone, it means you hate people. It's the opposite. It's the opposite. If you're telling people things, you spill your guts, you tell people, please do teshuva or this is going to happen, or that's going to happen. What are you telling people? Please do teshuva because I'm trying to warn you. There's a fire. It's on the way. If you don't get out of the way, you're going to get burned.