HELPING A SINNER

0:32The Torah says that if there's, let's say, a hole in the ground and your friend's donkey falls into it, and you know that if you don't save this donkey, it's going to die and your friend is going to lose money, don't just walk past it thinking, "Oh, it's not my donkey, so I don't care." You know, like sometimes people see garbage on the floor here in the Beit Knesset and just walk by as if they didn't see it. Why? Because they think the Rabbi can pick it up. So Torah says, don't be selfish. But don't be selfish, not with your friend or even with your enemy, someone you don't like. Why don't you like him? Oh, he's a sinner. Oh, this guy's a sinner. This guy, you know, he steals in his business. This guy violates Shabbat. So I shouldn't help him. No, no, no, my friend. If he's a Jew, you have to help him unless he's an idol worshiper.

1:42He's an idol worshiper, or he's someone that leads other people astray. Then it says, "Let his donkey die; let him die too. If he's stuck in a hole, the idol worshiper stuck in a hole, let him die, don't save him." But how do we actually act in the world? We act in the world, and we save them too. Why? If you are a doctor and you get a call... On Shabbat, if someone is at risk of dying unless you come to the hospital and perform some type of surgery, if it's a Jew, it's a mitzvah for you to go save this person's life. It's a mitzvah for you to drive in a car on Shabbat to go save somebody's life. It's not a sin; it's an actual mitzvah to drive on Shabbat and perform any necessary actions to save a Jewish life. But what about if it's not a Jew? What about if it's not a Jew? If you're a doctor, you still have to drive on Shabbat to save the non-Jew. The reason for this is not because there is a mitzvah to save the non-Jew per se, but rather because if you don't save the non-Jew, non-Jewish doctors may eventually refuse to save Jewish lives. This would indirectly harm other Jews. Therefore, you must also save the non-Jew. It is not considered a sin. No, it is not a sin, because you are acting for the betterment of Am Yisrael.

3:07But the point is that, in this specific example, you have to ensure that your judgment of other people, even if they're sinners, is not too harsh and not heavier than God's. You're not allowed to hate the sinner; you have to hate the sin. The Gemara in Masechet Berachot has a debate between Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes and his wife Bruriah. Booya was a Talmida Chachamah, a very wise woman, who knew a lot of Torah. She saw that her husband, the Gadol HaDor, Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess, was being insulted and bothered by these avaryanim, these gangsters outside. Every day these little gangster kids would bother him, call him names, and all types of things. So they bothered them so much every day, every day, every day, that one day he found himself starting to pray for them to die. And before he finished the prayer, because had he finished the prayer they would definitely die, his wife, who heard this, stopped him in the middle of the prayer. She said, "My dear husband, don't you know that Hashem doesn't want them to die? If He wanted them to die, they would already be dead. Don't you know that you're supposed to hate the sin and not the sinner? Rather than praying for them to die, pray for them to do teshuva."

4:21My dear husband, don't you know that Hashem doesn't want them to die? If He wanted them to die, they would already be dead. Don't you know that you're supposed to hate the sin and not the sinner? Rather than praying for them to die, pray for them to do teshuva. Rabbi Meir says, you're right. You're right. I should pray for them to do teshuva. He prayed for them to do teshuva, and they ended up doing teshuva. So that means, Rabotai, that if you see a Mechalel Shabbat, driving on Shabbat; you see someone married to a non-Jew; you see a Jew married to a non-Jew; you see a Jewish person going to a casino gambling; you see a Jewish person eating pork on Yom Kippur, don't hate him. Sin, of course, you should hate the sin, but do not hate the person himself per se, because he's not, normally speaking, committing the sin out of hatred towards God. I'm not talking about all situations, but generally speaking, most Jews are dear people, and they're simply sinning because they're ignorant. They're clueless about the law, and even if they know the law, they don't know the consequences of violating the law.

5:37So, they're eating pork because their belly is of higher value to them than the Torah. If their desire is for immorality, that's because their passions control them, rather than their mind and heart being led by the teachings of the Torah. If they're dishonest in business, it's because they have made money their idol, a trap that many religious people can fall into as well. So, don't hate the sinner; hate the sin. Unless, unless the sinner is one who leads other people astray. If the sinner makes fun of the Torah, The sinner leads people to Christianity, idolatry, atheism, Islam, or away from God altogether for no reason. He leads them to nightclubs or encourages them to commit various crimes against Hashem. He does this knowingly and doesn't care, leading them astray on purpose.

6:39He makes fun of the Torah. He writes things against the rabbis who are tzaddikim. He mocks God, things like that. Then he's a machti harabim, a person who leads the community to sin, and he's a mesit, an instigator. A person like that, who leads people astray, it is a mitzvah—it is truly a commandment—to pray for that person to die. It is a mitzvah to pray for that person's demise. No, it's not an exaggeration; it is a mitzvah to pray for such a person to die. You pray for them to die without even knowing it, three times a day, in the Amidah prayer. This is a part of your Amidah, said three times daily. Why? Because they lead people away from Hashem. Every Jew who prays Amidah includes this segment. If you're a woman, you pray this once a day. If you're a man, you pray this three times a day. Why? Because these individuals are adversaries. So those people, it is a mitzvah to hate them, and a mitzvah to wish for them to die. However, when it comes to a regular, average Jewish guy who is clueless and just doesn't follow the Torah, no, that guy, you pray for him to do teshuva, and b'ezrat Hashem, he will; hopefully, he will.

7:55You know, sometimes they don't like my cousin, unfortunately. Nonetheless, it's somebody that you need to help. But again, if you see a person like that who violates Shabbat or other things—not on purpose, not to anger God, and so on—you see his donkey in a hole, go help him. Go help. Why do you go help him? because that could potentially be your opening to not only show that you don't hate him, you hate his sins but not him. But also, further than that, that could also be a way for you to connect to this person and show him the beauty of Judaism. I know that many times when people learn the beauty of Judaism, the true beauty of Judaism, their entire perspective changes. When they actually understand that we have rules for everything, but that's to mankind's benefit, they realize how beautiful Judaism is.

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