Facing the issues and not hiding behind them

1:12I'm here to give a reality check. I'm here to address the problem. The problem is that we're not facing the problem. That's the problem. The problem is that we're running away from the problem. We want to go to neutral classes, to talk about positive mindsets, and think that if I think it’s okay, it'll be okay. If I think good, it'll be good. What about the fact that you drive on Shabbat and desecrate it on a regular basis? Does that not matter? Just thinking good isn't enough. If I think my marriage is gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay. What about the fact that you cheat on her every Tuesday with your girlfriend? That doesn't matter? Ignore that? If I think, "Okay, I'm eventually gonna lose weight," so the fact that you eat burgers every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, that's not gonna affect your weight? It's mysteriously going to disappear? We have to address problems. That's what the Torah is for. The Torah is not meant to give us some mystical enlightenment that transports us to a different world where there are no problems. The Torah is an instruction manual on how to deal with and manage life's challenges.

2:27And the reason why I started with such a negative subject is to get that type of attention, to get somebody to become uncomfortable. Because the only way you're going to get yourself off the chair to deal with the problem is if you're uncomfortable. But if I gave you all sofas and beds, you'd all fall asleep. Because no one thinks it's a problem that there are people who think the rabbi is God, or that Christians believe that some individual who died on a cross is God. And that 7 billion people think that somebody is God and not God. The fact that we're ignoring the problem is the problem. The fact that we want to hear nice things. No, I'm here to learn shiur Torah. What kind of Torah do you learn? What kind of Torah do you learn? Let me tell you the Torah I learned. Yehoshua ben Perachya, do you know who he was? He was Jesus' rabbi. That's who he was. Does anybody know that? Do you know why he said this Mishnah? Do you know why Yehoshua ben Perachiah actually said this specific Mishnah? The sixth Mishnah in the entire Pirkei Avot. Sixth one, which means level of importance, level of closeness to Har Sinai. Because of the issue that happened with Yeshu. That's why he said it. This whole Mishnah is about what happened with Yeshu. And we need to know what happened.

3:55Because, number one, there are plenty of missionaries who are taking advantage of naïve individuals who have no clue what’s right and what’s left. They are leaving pure Judaism and Torah, spreading Hashem's name inappropriately, and turning to Christianity and other forms of avodah zarah (idol worship). We also have very nice people who have no clue what the truth is, but some people do know what the truth is. that makes everybody healthy, but doesn't actually really work. You just have to keep getting money every month, and maybe one day it's going to work, but just make sure you use the chemo, because that can help. They make all these weird things, and they make people do weird things, and they fill up football fields full of people, 50, 100, or 250,000 poor people, to give this one guy—who's a very clever speaker—an audience. And then a jet, a 50- or 60-million-dollar jet, because he's a good speaker. And he's speaking about idol worship. And the fact that we ignore it and we let them do it, when we are commanded by the Torah to be a light to the nations, is a poor job by us. But even if we ignore the goyim, even if we say, listen, let them deal with their own problems. We're not necessarily obligated to go convert everyone. An audience. And then a jet. A 50 or 60 million dollar jet. Because he's a good speaker. And he's speaking about idol worship. The fact that we ignore it and let them do it, when we are commanded by the Torah to be a light to the nations, is a poor job by us. But even if we ignore the goyim, even if we say, listen, let them deal with their own problems, we're not necessarily obligated to go convert everyone.

5:19Fine. You could ask some sages that you could rely on for that. Fine. What about the Jews? What about the Jews that are idol-worshiping? What about the Jews that are worshiping their own rabbi and going against their own Torah? What about the ones who said that Rabbi Nachman from Breslov said to go to his gravesite on Rosh Hashanah, but then they add, which he did say that you should go, but they added something. ...under all costs. And that's why you see people completely leaving their marriage, creating Shalom Bayit problems, leaving their kids, leaving their wife. The only time of the year they actually have together is during the holiday time. The wife doesn't want them to go. The kids don't want them to go. It's finally when they saw their dad for the first time in the year. He works 90 hours a day. And no, he's not going to be with them. He's going to go to a grave site with 30,000 other people. Now, if your wife agrees to it, and she's okay with it, and the whole house is cheerful about it, go to a gravesite and pray for me too. I need some prayers. But if your gravesite praying is going to create Shalom Bayit problems, then you have a mental issue. You're going against the Torah that Rebbe Nachman actually taught. He didn't tell you to create Shalom Bayit problems. Do you know what Shalom Bayit is? We learn it from this week's parasha.

6:48This week's parasha, Parashat Lech Lecha, teaches us about God's willingness to erase His own name for the sake of shalom bayit (peace in the home). This is evident in the issue of the Sotah, when a woman is suspected of being unfaithful to her husband. Hashem provides a way to determine her fidelity, because in those days there were no private investigators. You take His name, write it on a scroll, and then you put it into the holy water—the same water the Kohanim used to wash their hands and feet before serving in the Beit HaMikdash. The woman then drinks the water. If she has been unfaithful, she will suffer consequences; if not, she receives the blessing of the Kohen Gadol, the holiest man of the land. You put it into the holy water, the same water that the Kohanim used to wash their hands and their feet before they would do the work of the Beit HaMikdash. You put it into that water where the ink would come out of the scroll, and then the woman would drink the water. If she cheated on her husband, she would blow up and die instantly. If she didn't, she would get the blessing of the Kohen HaGadol, which is the holiest man of the land. If she had trouble giving birth, she would be able to give birth. If she was giving birth to unattractive children, her children would be beautiful. Different magical, mystical, amazing things directly from Hashem, but it's through a process that's essentially a sin. We are erasing Hashem's name. You're not allowed to erase Hashem's name. It's one of the commandments. You can't do it.

8:00You're not allowed to erase Hashem's name. Hashem says, no, no, no. You are allowed to erase My name because by erasing My name for this matter only, you'll create Shalom Bayit. The husband is either going to know that his wife is righteous and he's wrong. Or he's going to know that she cheated on him, and obviously he's not allowed to be with her anymore. And she gets punished for it. But for Shalom Bayit, you're allowed to erase God's name. So do you think that Rebbe Nachman didn't know this? You think I know anything that he didn't know? You think Rebbe Nachman said, "Hey, listen, come to my grave and pray, and it doesn't matter if it creates Shalom Bayit problems?" What crazy person thinks that? Go ask Rabbi Arush, tzaddik that he is. Read his book. Ask Rabbi Lazer Brody, giant chacham, giant tzaddik, the protege of Rabbi Arush. Go ask him. Ask him what he thinks. Does he have Shalom Bayit problems when he goes to the game? No, because his wife is on the same page as him. They go, they're excited, they go. But if you have Shalom Bayit problems because of it, if you're putting your whole life at risk, obviously you're not supposed to do it.

9:13For it, obviously, you're not supposed to do it. So, the whole issue here is not the rabbis. The whole issue here is the students not listening to the rabbis. And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Perachya is telling us here, Aseh lecha rav. Make yourself a teacher. Make yourself a rabbi. Meaning, you can't buy a rabbi. Like he said, acquire yourself a friend. Because if you buy a rabbi, then he's no longer your rabbi; he's your employee. They said that the Torah declared bankruptcy the minute rich people started giving money to rabbis, because they were no longer rabbis. As soon as rabbis started accepting huge sums of money from people, They were no longer able to rebuke them. Because if I rebuke you, knowing that you're going to give me a million dollars each year to fund my Beit Knesset, to fund my this, to fund my that, I'm going to think twice before I do it. Wait a minute, if I tell them, listen, you're not allowed to drive on Shabbat, by the way, they're going to say, okay, I'm not allowed to drive on Shabbat, okay, so I'm not allowed to give tzedakah either.

10:43Hey, by the way, your wife, can you please tell her to put some clothes on? Oh, okay, I'll tell her to dress modestly for a different Beit Knesset. I'm not going to come anymore. The rabbi I want, the rabbi I'm going to give a million dollars to, is the rabbi who is going to do whatever I want. He's going to change the Torah for me. That's not a rabbi, my friend. That's not a rabbi.