Be Friendly and say Hello

0:06the pshat of this Mishnah is: Be nice to people, that's the pshat. That's the basic meaning. Rabbi Matya is saying: Initiate hello. You see a person, say hello. Be the one that says hello. Don't wait for people to say hello to you. You know, you never meet those people, and you see them; you see Steve, and he says, "Hey, I saw you, say hi." No, no, I'd say, "Why don't you say hi? Let him say hi to me."

1:32Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky, zatzal, had a yeshiva at one point. There used to be a convent, not a church, next to it with nuns living there and such. One day, one of the nuns came to one of the other rabbis and asked the rabbi, "Why is it that every time somebody from your yeshiva comes out and they see me or any of the other nuns, they run away or they look away? They don't even say hi, except that one older rabbi, that elderly man, who... One of the nuns came to one of the other rabbis and asked the rabbi, "Why is it that every time somebody from your yeshiva, or whatever you call it, comes out and they see me or any of the other nuns, they run away or look away? They don't even say hi, except for that old rabbi, that old man." How come he's the only one that says hello? How come all of you run away from us? How come he's the only one that shows us a kind face? How come? Apparently, it's because he's the only one that learned this Mishnah. Rabbi Yochanan told us already in Gemara Masechet Berachot: You want a long life? Say hello to everyone, be nice to everyone, show a kind face to everyone. Don't look like Tisha B'Av.

2:55Because Tisha B'Av in your life doesn't mean it's everybody else's fault. Just because you're angry, and your wife is angry, and your kids are angry, and everyone's angry, does not mean you have to make everyone else suffer because they have to look at your sad face all day. Put a smile on. It's just the opposite of your frown. It's upside down. Put a smile on. Say hello. Don't wait for other people to say hello. Don't wait for other people to say hello. Don't think you're Mr. President. Don't think you're Kvoda Rav. Why? Because the real Kvoda Rav, Rabbi Yochanan, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky, Rabbi Matya ben Charash, what are they saying? They're saying, say hello. Say hello. What's the big deal? Say hello first. First, say hello. To the nice person, to the less attractive person, to whoever, say hello. Kindface, I'm not saying go become a playboy and start saying hello to every single girl that moves. I'm saying, kindface, let's not twist the Torah. Because I know today, you have to be very careful with the words you say. So that's the pshat; the pshat is to say hello, that's the pshat. But the reality is that Abaye is not here to tell us to say hello. Why? You see from the rest of what he says I...

4:21He says, be the one that's makdim b'shalom, be the one that's first to have shalom. Shalom means hello, but also be the tail for lions rather than the head of foxes. Tail for lions means to connect to tzaddikim and chachamim that are higher than you. It's better to be at their tail, behind all of them, trying to just catch up and... Because they're all smarter than you, they're all more righteous than you. It's better to be a tail than to be the head of a bunch of reshaim, of a bunch of people who don't know anything. It's better to be the tail of the chachamim than to be the head of the criminals, the head of the ignorant. Criminal doesn't mean killing people. Criminals can be criminals against Hashem. So how could saying hello be connected to that? Obviously, there's a deeper meaning here. The deeper meaning is that the Torah tells us that Hashem Yitbarach has multiple names, specifically 72 names. If you misuse any of them, you have a serious, serious problem. For all those ignorant individuals who like to pronounce the Name we have in the Torah, the Yud Hay Vav Hay, it is particularly important to respect and be cautious with it.

5:47They want to pronounce it the way it sounds, especially Christians and Messianic Jews, as they call themselves. You should know the Torah specifically says that anyone who pronounces that name literally has no Olam HaBa, whether at the beginning, middle, or end. Keep Shabbat and keep mitzvot. Feline, I've been told or been taught, whatever anyone pronounces that name—Yud, Heh, Vav, Heh—rabbi, is actually how it sounds. Which I'm sure all of you have seen on the internet, starts with a "Y." Anyone that pronounces that name has no Olam Haba. They could be kind, precious, or whatever, but no Olam Haba. So there's plenty of ignorance on the internet; they type it all over their page and... They make banners and posters of this. One of the many names that Hashem has is Shalom. Shalom is actually a name of Hashem, so Rabbi Matya is actually telling you something completely different. He's not just telling you to be the first one to say hello; he's saying be a makdim b'shalom.

7:13Corrected Text: one that brings Shalom to the relationships. Be the one that brings God into the relationship. Be the one that brings God to people. Go do kiruv. Go help people do teshuvah. Go help people learn Torah. Go help people do something that's meaningful in their life that's connected to Hashem Yitbarach because without it, it's all worthless, and The billions the Saudi Arabian princes have is worth nothing right now. It's sitting in jail waiting for their execution. Mark my words, not one of them is gonna survive. I don't know who they are, what they did, or anything like that. It's just a reality that Hashem is giving us. He is showing us a reality. Of us that are chasing money every single day, day and night, trying to be one of them—who doesn't want 50 billion dollars? Raise your hand if you don't want 50 billion dollars. Raise your hand if you don't want 50 billion dollars. Raise two hands, three hands, four hands, five hands. Who doesn't want 50 billion dollars? Huh? Nobody, right? Everyone wants 50 billion dollars. Well, 50 billion dollars right now sitting in jail about to get executed. Hashem is teaching you Mussar. He's telling you 50 billion dollars can't save you from Yom HaDin.

8:32Can't save you from Yom HaDin. Can't save you from Yom HaDin. When the time comes, it comes. What's gonna save you? Mitzvot, Torah, Maagdil B'Shalom. Hashem is saying you have to bring Him to people. And the reality is... People are scared to do it. People are scared to bring Hashem into their life. And I don't mean into their own personal life; plenty of people are doing that. Plenty of people are frum from birth. Plenty of people are religious from birth. Plenty of people have done teshuva, baruch Hashem. There are many, many more who need to do it. But very, very few, very few... ...enough love for a Shmittah break and enough chutzpah to bring Hashem into their real-life, meaning to bring it to the world around them. And the reason why is because to be a "mukdam b’shalom" means you have to bring Hashem everywhere, including all the places that don't want Him, and...