Greater Than The Akedah

0:04So today, we learned a chiddush in the Zohar that was a scary chiddush. It says, what's bigger? If you ask a normal person, what's bigger? Doing kiruv, helping people do teshuva, or Akeidat Yitzchak? What Avraham Avinu did. Every normal person would say, Akeidat Yitzchak! Avraham Avinu waited for his son for a hundred years and finally got a son. Hashem says to kill him, to make him a korban. Avraham Avinu, a tzaddik, doesn't ask any questions, doesn't complain about the weather. What does he do? He immediately wakes up first thing in the morning, four o'clock in the morning, before Netz. Before nets, I'm going to slaughter my son. No questions asked. And to this day, we're benefiting from that. To this day, every time we say "chet," or "avon," or "pesha," and all the things we did, do it for Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Why Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov? Because Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, look what they did. But the Zohar HaKadosh says, I believe it's in Parashat Terumah, it says,

1:29At the end of times, the situation is going to get so bad that we're going to make so many sins that in Shamayim, the Shekhinah is going to come to Hashem and say, "That's it, they ran out of Zechut Avot. They ran out, no more, no more Zechut Avot, meaning Akeidat Yitzchak, you used it up, finished. Whatever you did, finished." There's so many sins. Okay, used it, Patah Mikdash Rishon, Sheni, Halakhta, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta. Fine. Saved you once, twice, three times. Every day today is a miracle. At the end of days, he says there's going to be so many, what, these gay parades, this, you know, Reform, Conservative, missionary, this, all this stuff that's happening in the world. Says the Shekhinah is going to say, that's it, they finished. Too many sins. No Zechut Avot. Meaning, what does it mean? No zechut Avot? Hashem says, yes, destroy the world. But how does Hashem respond? The Zohar says, yes, you're right. They ran out of zechut Avot, but there is one zechut that's eternal, just like the stars. I created the stars; they're never going to disappear. There's one thing like the stars. What is it? It's the people that do Kiruv. For them, their zechut is forever.

2:56When I heard this with Sunny, both of us were in shock. So I started patting myself on the back. I'm like, yeah, we're in Kiruv. You just gotta survive. As soon as you pat yourself on the back, you get a tikkun. Your back starts hurting or something. So anyway, the Chazal say that doing Kiruv is a big thing. Baruch Hashem. But now you have Avraham Avinu, who did some big things. Tzadik, navon, everything's great. Right out of zechuyot. Yaakov, his grandson, asked Hashem, "Listen Hashem, I understand there's tests, I understand there's all types of things, I'm not complaining to you. I just don't want one test. Don't make me poor. Don't make me poor. I can't stand that test. I can't do it." Even though the bigger test is being rich. Poor, I can't survive. Just give me enough to eat. I don't want to starve to death. Give me enough to eat. Give me clothes to wear. So we see that even the Avot, there are certain points where they, too, knew their limits. They knew where they would break, where their emet would break, and where they would no longer be able to tolerate.

4:23So, to fulfill the Torah means that you not only need to fulfill the Torah, but you also need to know where you stand. Like, where is your line? How far can you go beyond that line? Can you get better this year? Can you do more? And the life of a rebuker, the life of a person that gives mussar to people, is the ultimate level. The reason why kiruv gets such a high level is because it's... Much as I love kiruv and as passionate as I am about it, it's a nightmare in reality. So much on a daily basis, everyone thinks, "Oh, it's great, you give lectures, it sounds like fun." I said, "Yes, if I talked about shalom bayit, it would be fun. If I talked about how to raise kids, it would be fun. But since you're telling people, 'Listen, your whole life is wrong,' it's not so much fun because people don't like to hear it. But they still do teshuvah." So, Baruch Hashem, you have fantastic stories. Like I got Motzei Chag, some woman that's been watching the shiurim for a year, sends me a letter. She says, listen, I want you to know, I've been looking for my way back to Judaism for many years. And for the first time, I watched your shiurim a year ago. I started, continued following. I knew it was the right place. And for the first time in 36 years, I kept Yom Kippur. So for me, this was Akedat Yitzchak.

5:50This is as great as it could be. The beauty is that you hear this every day. Every day there's somebody like this. Every day, I kept Shabbat for the first time. I kept Yom Kippur. I, Baruch Hashem, didn't have an abortion. I had a kid. Baruch Hashem, several people that, Baruch Hashem, we helped them avoid having an abortion. Several people got married. One student is getting married to another student. Baruch Hashem, there are many, many blessings. That's the fun part. Getting there is tough. The lecture is the fun part. What happens after and before the lecture, that's the tough part. That's the part no one wants to do. People think, oh, it's all glamour, but you don't see all the videos made against me and the people that write against me and all that stuff. They embarrass you in public on a regular basis. They think it's fun. They think you become like a dartboard. Somebody's bored, what do they do? They throw darts at you. Somebody was a very... Happy student, liked me a lot. All these different, all these descriptions that I care less about. But people like to give respect. Whatever you want to call it, it doesn't really make a difference. Just don't be an enemy. Just don't be an enemy. I don't care; don't call me. Just don't be an enemy. Please.

7:07So, Kevod HaRav, Kevod HaRav, Kevod HaRav, Kevod HaRav, Kevod HaRav. Okay, Kevod HaRav. B'seder. You have questions, I answer. I don't know, I go find out. No problem. First time, I don't know, I've known the guy for two years. Two years, maybe. First time ever, I rebuked the guy once. I told him, listen, on this specific thing, you're wrong. You're wrong. You're 100% wrong. There's no two ways. There's no like, maybe you're right. You're 100% wrong. But wrong to such a point that it's damaging. It's not like I could not say anything. If you're wrong, like you, I don't know, you did something, it just affects you, most of the time I'm not even going to say anything to you. Unless I know that you're going to listen for sure. But if what you're doing is damaging other people, then you're causing a Chilul Hashem. You're a problem. So I have to say something. So this guy... Kvod harav, kvod harav, kvod harav, kvod harav, two years. I tell him the first time, my friend, you're wrong. You're wrong, whatever, it doesn't really make a difference what it was, you're wrong. All of a sudden, ah, but you don't really know me anyway. Well, I just watch your shiurim once in a while. You don't really know too much about me, so thank you, but I don't agree. Thanks. What happened to kvod harav? What happened to... What happened? What happened to all this...

8:30It's all shtuyot. It's all shtuyot. It's all nonsense. All this kavod harav is nonsense. Why? Because nobody wants to hear when they're wrong. Nobody. Only if you're an ish emet. If you're an ish emet, you have to. That's why Shlomo HaMelech says someone who doesn't like to hear the truth, he's like a dead person. Why is he like a dead person? Soneh tochacha, nechshav met. Why? Why nechshav met? Why? Because he's never going to do teshuva. He doesn't like to hear that he's wrong. Hearing that you're wrong is terrible; it's painful, but it's necessary. We are meant to be a light unto the nations, not to follow their misguided practices. Remember, every Jew has to remember that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless. It's a zilzul, a disrespect, to the Torah and could lead to Chilul Hashem, desecration of Hashem's name. Stick to our holy Torah and our own Yomim Tovim. That's the path of a true Yid.