Daily Chidush: Small Steps Vs. Big Steps (9 minutes)

1:15I think it's shiur number 71. A lot of people liked it because it really helped to put this whole thing I'm going to say in 10 minutes into perspective over a couple of hours with a lot more details. But when it comes down to teshuvah, when it comes down to doing things, a lot of people believe that, listen, if you take it one step at a time, step by step, small steps, small steps, eventually you're going to get to the prize. Maybe in life... It works that way in some things, but when it comes to teshuvah, it only works halfway. Meaning, imagine you want to boil water because you want to make yourself tea or you need boiling water and nothing less. Obviously, there's nothing more, but you wait, you wait, you wait. And then maybe one minute before the water actually gets to boiling, you take it off the pot. and then you put it back on the pot, and then one minute before it gets to boiling, you take it off and let it cool, and then you do it again. So, in so many words, you realize that it's never going to get to boiling. Why? Because it's always small steps. It's always small steps, but they're never big enough to get you to where you want to be. When Hashem is sending us a test, when Hashem is sending us a message,

2:44whether it's that the message is to wake us up out of this blindness, out of this foolishness, out of this lie that we live, and the fabrication that we've created in our mind, and let the Yetzer Ha'ra take over to make us believe that everything we're doing is perfect and we have nothing to worry about. When Hashem sends us a message to wake us up, He's going to send it in several ways. Sometimes He's going to create different problems that didn't exist before, whether it's chas v'shalom, shalom bayit issues, children issues, or all types of things. If our ways continue, the problems become bigger. He sends us money problems. If we don't listen, then He starts taking away a lot of money. They call money "zuz" in the Gemara because it means "move," as it moves from place to place. And why? Because it moves from place to place. Hashem decides who to give His money to based on their actions. It's not your money; it's His money. All of it, everything is His. So He decides who to give it to, and sometimes He decides to take it away from somebody He lent it to, whether it be me, you, or anyone else who deserves that test, in order to wake them up and see if they look up at Shamayim and realize that it's all coming from Him in the first place.

4:13Also keep in mind that when someone loses a lot of money, it's generally the best news that they ever got because the money is also called damim in the Gemara, which means bloods. Chazal teach us, why is it called bloods? It's because Hashem actually has a decree. The mekatreg, the one that's actually coming to Hashem and showing off all of the sins we made, tells Hashem, "Hey, listen, you know, you built the world on justice, and based on the sins that this fellow made, he deserves a death penalty." Hashem obviously doesn't want to kill us, but at the same time, He has to be the God of justice. So He says, "Okay, instead of killing them, I'll take away their money because money is blood. Money is a replacement for blood. Why? Because people spend their entire life, and in essence, all of their blood, to get money." tells Hashem, "Hey, listen, you know, you built the world with justice, and based on the sins that this fellow made, he deserves a death penalty." Hashem obviously doesn't want to kill us, but at the same time, He has to be the God of justice. So He says, "Okay, instead of killing them, then I'll take away their money." Because money is like blood. Money is a replacement for blood. Why? Because people spend their entire life, and in essence, all of their energy, to get money. So sometimes when we lose a lot of money, which obviously we take as bad news—naturally, we do—it's actually the best news we ever got. Because if you had a million dollars or a hundred million dollars, but you're not here, it's not worth anything to you. You can't take it to Olam Haba. If we still don't listen, then obviously it becomes more difficult, and health issues become a major problem. And Hashem is not just going to take us out of this world...

5:33and make us believe that this is it. Okay, you failed your test and that's it. He's going to keep trying us and trying us and trying us. Why? Because He's trying to build us. When we realize that this is all a test, this is all part of the purpose, then we can move on to the next step. Then we realize that all of these difficulties are happening for a reason. Hashem is trying to wake us up, and He's telling us, my son, my daughter... You did the step by step. You got the water hot. But it's not boiling. I need it to boil. I need you to take a big step. No, not a small step. A big step. To show Hashem that we're genuine. To show Hashem that our teshuva is legitimate. To show Hashem that we actually believe in Him. Once in a while, we have to take a big step. Get the water to be boiling.

6:34Once it boils, we get our tea, we drink the enjoyable tea, and we take small steps. Small steps, small steps, small steps, and small steps. And once in a while, it's time to take a big step. Now, it's your choice whether you're going to take the big step on your own or you're going to wait for Hashem to tell you that you need to. Obviously, the suggestion is for you not to wait for Hashem to tell you because Hashem is not like me, sending you text messages in the middle of the night. Hashem sends you messages in a different way. And my suggestion is, you probably don't want to hear those messages. You probably want to just do it on your own. The point being here is that, yes, small steps work, but only if they're combined with big steps once in a while to show that we're serious. This is the secret of teshuva. This is the secret to life. And this is the secret to success in anything. You can't just take small steps forever. Bunting in baseball may get you on first base, but you're not going to win the World Series with just bunting. You're not even going to win the game with just bunting. In sports, if you have a guy running one yard each time, yes, it's nice to see the guy beat up a bunch of people on his way down, but it's still not going to get you the first down.

7:55Doing small deals every day, you know, making a hundred bucks—yes, it's nice. It's an extra hundred dollars you didn't have. But it's not going to pay the overhead of a large growing company. The same concept works with Hashem. Yes, the small steps help out, but their only purpose is to prepare you for the big step because the big step is what Hashem is waiting for. We all take this very seriously. and realize that in the end of days that we find ourselves in, we always have to think about, if Mashiach showed up today, have I taken big enough steps to see him and not be embarrassed? Consider this. B'ezrat Hashem, you'll know the right decision.