Don't Be A Horse Or A Donkey

1:04So, every day they're showing up with a new coffin. It's full of merchandise. The guard says, "What is this?" "Oh, somebody died at the time." They mention a name. "Okay, go." One day, one week, two weeks. Eventually, the guard starts noticing: "I don't understand. So many people are dying, but they're all happy. The people are taking this coffin, and they're all very happy. It's supposed to be sad." So he starts, you know, it starts becoming a little suspicious. So he stops them today. He says, "Listen, stop, stop, stop. I want to see what's in the coffin." So the people say, "No, come on. This is a bizayon. This is disrespect for the dead. You know, you've got to give respect to the dead." He responds, "Listen, open it right now." What are they going to do? They open it. He sees the diamonds, the sneakers, and all the other merchandise in it. They already know how much jail time they’re going to serve. They all start crying. The guard says to them, "You fools, if you would have cried before I opened it, I would have just let you go. Why did you wait to cry until after I opened it?" Same thing with us. If we cry now during Elul...

2:18We cry now before we go to the Yom HaDin. We won't need to cry after. You understand? The other thing is a story from the Maggid of Dubna. An Ish Kodesh is a person that was a holy, holy person. The Maggid of Dubna, every time somebody would ask him a question, he would answer it with a parable. So, one time somebody asks him, how come you always answer every question with a parable? He goes, well, let me tell you a parable about it. So, the Maggid of Dubna says, what do you think? The students come to him, they say, Kevod HaRav, what do you think about Jewish people who, during the month of Elul, didn't wake up? He says, oh, let me tell you a story. ...One time, there was an exporter, someone who was trading in different cities and countries. However, his specialty was transferring illegal goods on the black market. He hired a horse and carriage driver...

3:35The guy that was riding, you know, in those days it was horses, horse and carriages. So you had the guy that was, you know, riding the horses. And the guy that was riding the horses was getting paid enough to pretend like he didn't know what was in the bag. But every time he took a trip with all of his merchandise, the exporter was very concerned. Until they got to where they were, he was very, very worried. Why? Because he knows that if he gets caught, he goes to jail for his whole life. So he was worried right from the beginning. The guy that's leading the carriage, he wasn't worried. When did he become worried? As soon as he got to the border, he got worried. Who wasn't worried? The horses weren't worried. The horses were not worried at all. So the Maggid of Dubno says this is what we're talking about. The ...

4:48Exporter, the one that's worried right away, he's the smart Jew. He's the righteous Jew. He knows who he's dealing with. He's dealing with the Creator of the heaven and the earth. He knows he needs to be worried. He knows that he's not perfect. There's no such thing as a righteous person that never sinned. There's only four people mentioned in the Gemara in history. But in general, there's no such thing as somebody that doesn't sin. So even if somebody is the Gadol HaDor, he knows he sins. He has obviously his own level of sins, not like us who sin every second. But the point is that every one of us sins. So someone who has an acknowledgment of who the Creator is and who he is, knows he's sinning. He should be worried right now. It's Elul. I'm getting to Yom HaDin. I'm getting to the Day of Judgment. I should be worried. So the scholar is worried. The guy that's leading the horses... He's the guy; he's not worried until he gets to the border. He's not worried during Elul; he starts becoming worried when he gets to the Beit Knesset on Rosh Hashanah. Who's the horse? The horse is everybody else. Not only are they not worried about anything during Elul, but even when they go to the Beit Knesset, they're still not worried. They figure, ah, it's a nice culture. It's nice. I pray.

6:06I say a few things, maybe I give some tzedakah to the Beit Knesset for some strange reason, they do this auction, I give it to them, and then I go and have my barbecue on Shabbat. Because that's the horse. So he uses a very good verse in Tehillim, it says in so many words, don't be like a horse or a mule. Don't be the one who's not worried—not before, not after. Don't be that guy. Worry. Because as long as the light is on, as long as the candlelight is on, you have an opportunity to do teshuva. But if you don't even acknowledge the fact that you need to do teshuva, then unfortunately you're the sus. You're the horse.