How Much Worse Can The World Get?(17 minutes)

1:29You know, Hashem says it's here. You know what? I'll tell you this, I'll tell you this, I'll tell you this: Baruch Hashem, what happened today in this shiur, you guys don't even understand what just happened. This shiur wasn't supposed to happen b'chlal. It's Monday. We don't have shiurim on Monday. To get to a shiur on Tuesday and Wednesday is already a challenge; the whole world has to collapse in order for me to make it to the shiur. So to have it on a new day, it's mamash like the Satan gets up off his chair and tries to prevent me from reaching the shiur. If I tell you just what happens to me on a daily basis to get to a shiur... You guys would say, why do you even do it? But that's not the point. I understand now why the shiur happened. It has everything to do with what you're saying. You're saying, how much worse can it get? Right? So let me answer the question. Let me answer the question. You see, Hashem is very kind with us.

2:54Likes to give us support, likes to give us a push here and there when you're doing good. It likes to give you a push. When you're doing bad, nothing happens well, sometimes you get punished. So b'ezrat Hashem, these last several months we've had an extraordinary amount of siyata dishmaya, Torah baruch Hashem, a lot of chiddush in the organization b'ezrat Hashem, growing leaps and bounds and... Other organizations invested millions and millions of dollars, yet we're either getting it for nothing or for a price that we can actually afford, which is pennies. We're not that big in terms of financials, but whatever we're doing, we do have movies that big organizations are asking us about, asking me how many people I have on my staff to make these movies. There's a new movie coming out tomorrow night, part three of Torah and Science and Ancient Wisdom.

3:55It's the best part out of the three, by the way. The first two are amazing, but part three is better than both. It's amazing, truly amazing. Phenomenal production. So, months in the making, we have another movie that's also probably about two weeks away, one week away from being finished, and a few others. We have a TV station that's going to go live very soon. We have a lot of amazing things, a few books, and so on. But Tachlis is, how do you know it's working? How do you know it's working? So once in a while, Hashem sends you a gift and He says, "Listen." Letters come in: "I started watching your shiurim. I keep Shabbat. I started watching your shiurim. I kept Yom Kippur. Started watching shiurim. I took off the wig." One woman, Baruch Hashem, just two weeks right before Rosh Hashanah says, "I bought a wig and..." Day later, after I bought a wig for thousands of dollars, I saw your shiur about wigs. The wig is in the garbage right now. Now, this is a person that's worn wigs her whole life. It's not like it's her first wig. All her life, she's been wearing wigs. She shows, and she said, "I know it's true. I know it's true. It's hard for me. It's hard for my husband. I know it's true. The wig goes in the garbage." So, he sings, "Yes, this is why you're seeing my master’s results every day." Baruch Hashem. Sin is a struggle we all face, but with learning and commitment, we can align ourselves better with the Torah's teachings.

5:23But you ask the question, how much worse can it be? Sinners we have. Plenty of sinners, unfortunately. The chidush we got today from Rabbi Ephraim and the Zohar HaKadosh was that at the end of times, I don't know if you were here yet, but at the end of times we're going to run out; we're going to make so many sins that we're going to lose all of our merits that our forefathers have that we're still surviving on. Merits that our forefathers have that we're still surviving on will run out, meaning we won't go from trouble to disaster. So you asked, "How much worse can it get?" Now, I have people that watch the shiur in all parts of the world: Tahiti, Australia, Israel, all over the US, and the UK. Hasidic people, Ashkenazi, Sephardic, religious, atheist; I actually even have a couple of people from Arab countries, from Abu Dhabi, from Saudi Arabia. I think I have one guy from Afghanistan who watches the shiur.

6:38No, no, I actually have people that, much to my surprise, said they even actually donated a few dollars to it. It's unbelievable. Thank you. So, I'm gonna watch this shiur. Okay, maybe just somebody's like looking to criticize me, but actually donating money—donating money means they actually like this shiur. So, now you have people from all kinds of backgrounds. For the first time today, you got your answer. You asked, "How much worse can it get?" Right? So, Hashem sent you a Holocaust survivor. The tzaddik that just left the shiur, he's 94 years old. Apparently, he's a big fan. I met his wife right before Rosh Hashanah, and she said, right when I moved to the community, "I can't believe I'm meeting you. We've been watching your shiurim." Then she said, "My husband's very upset that I met you before him because he's an even bigger fan."

7:41So you asked, how much worse can it be? Hashem sent you an answer. He sent you a Holocaust survivor. The Holocaust, which occurred right before, mirrors today in many ways. Before the Holocaust, Jews were in positions of power, wealth, and influence, but many were distanced from Torah observance. Intermarriage had become widespread and socially acceptable. Everything that's happening right now. You ask, how much worse can it be? I should have asked him. Right now, it's going to be worse, isn't it? That's why I do what I do. Somebody asked me on a holiday, saying, "Aren't you enthralled by all the compliments they give?" I try to get to the point. He goes, "Listen, you can go back to Wall Street, go make money and...

8:42Go make 50 million dollars, go make a hundred million dollars, come back, do Q&A, maybe pay other people to do it. So I thought about this Mishnah and I said, let's say we listen to this guy. I go back to Wall Street and I go make money, but then this Mishnah came up... Mishnah says if you fulfill the Torah despite not having any money, despite being poor, despite not having a penny, despite not knowing how you're going to survive next month, next week, next day, eventually you'll have wealth. What kind of wealth? It can be material, it could be spiritual, it could be both. But if you neglect the Torah because you're chasing wealth and eventually you'll have poverty. Eventually, you'll end up with poverty. So yes, if I go back to Wall Street, I'll be like these guys. There's no doubt in my mind I could be on the Forbes 500 within a certain amount of time. No doubt, skillset-wise, I'm better today than I was ever before. I have a clearer mind, and I'm healthier, Baruch Hashem, no questions asked. But then, what's that going to do?

10:04There's one less guy that's actually helping people do teshuvah. There's not that many to begin with. I'm not the only guy. There are obviously other ones. There's Rabbi Mizrachi, there are a few others, Rabbi Reuven, Rabbi Zitron, and a few more. But we still have 80% of Am Yisrael that doesn't even keep Shabbat, which means that whatever we have is definitely not enough. So to lower it by one more, how much worse can it be? That's why we don't go back to Wall Street. That's why I don't care about money. It's not some big deal. I'm not some big tzaddik or anything like that. It's just the reality we live in, and I dream about what's possible and what's likely. Those who are going to survive are the ones who actually listen to this Mishnah. Everybody else is...

11:06disaster, so everyone has an opportunity to invest. You can invest in your building. You can invest in your next house. You can invest in the next kitchen. You can invest in the next car. You get a second car and a third car, maybe get your 16-year-old kid a car, and get a big iPhone. Bigger iPad and a bigger this and a bigger that, and maybe some more magazine subscriptions. You can look at other people's money just in case they have more than you, but you can't take any of it with you. Nothing happens. When we die, all that stuff dies with you. Somebody else takes it. By the time you actually get to have all the stuff, you leave it to somebody else, and they don't want it. Or you can start investing... Your life should be dedicated to fulfilling the Torah. Use your time for Torah. Use your money for Torah. Why? It's the only thing that's going to protect you from experiencing what he experienced. He saw it firsthand. He was in the Holocaust. Somehow, this truth that he's hearing here, he says, this is what we need to hear. And what he said to me in quiet was because it was the scariest part.

12:29what he said to me right now in quiet because it was the scariest part. And he whispered to me in my ear and he says, why so few people? Why so few people? You know why he said why so few people? Because if there were more people listening to Rabbi Hillel Michael Maya Of Wasserman and all of the rebukers before the Holocaust — if there had been more before the Holocaust who listened to the truth of the Torah, there wouldn’t have been a Holocaust. He went through the Holocaust. He saw it. You know why he knows why it happened? He didn’t say one time when I mentioned the Holocaust, "God did it," and he didn’t say, "No, no, no." He knows why it happened. He knows very well why it happened, and that's why he's asking: Why so few people? Because if there were more people before the Holocaust listening to the truth of Torah, there wouldn't have been a Holocaust. There wouldn't have been. There are two options in the days of Mashiach: the good way and the bad way. The good way is if everybody does teshuva.

13:58Badawi Gog and Magog disaster makes the Sages and previous generations debate about different things, and they start talking about the end of times. They began discussing what's going to happen, saying that what just happened in World War I was only the beginning. The next war is going to make World War I seem insignificant, and... Why are people still wondering, "Should I give $10, or should I save it for my IRA account? Should I donate the thousand to the Beit Knesset so they can tell everyone, 'Look, this guy bought an aliyah for a thousand, for five thousand, fifty thousand,' or should I donate $20 to go help somebody do teshuvah? And in the Beit Knesset, everybody has money and..." Why so few people? Why are people still wondering, should I give $10 or should I save it for my IRA account? Should I donate a thousand to the beit knesset so they can tell all, "Look, this guy bought an aliyah for a thousand, for five thousand, fifty thousand"? Or should I donate $20 to go help somebody do teshuvah and to the beit knesset? Everybody has money, and...

15:26Everybody has money to buy an aliyah during the holidays. Everybody has money. Even if you don't have money, you're gonna buy an aliyah. Why? Because you want to show everybody else you have money. Bidding goes from five hundred to five thousand. Everybody wants to show they have money. To save souls from going to spiritual devastation, it's twenty dollars. Sorry, it's so little, I'll have more next time. Why so few people? That's what he said. Why so few people? What happened? What happened? Where are they? They're donating in the Beit Knesset, kissing the Sefer Torah, and Hashem says, "Don't kiss me, just listen to me." So next week, I don't know if we're going to do a shiur on Sunday or Monday, because it's Chag on Tuesday and Wednesday. But I'll try to do my best to do a shiur, probably most likely Monday. If we do a shiur on Monday, it's going to be a big, big mess to get it done. We do a show on Monday. I want each one of you to do everything you possibly can. If you have to beg, bring at least one, two, three, four, or five people with you. Why? I don't want to hear what he said again. I don't want to hear why there are so few people. Because he knows, he saw it. I just dream it, and instead, I...

16:54When the guy who saw a ganav tells you what it looks like, you start listening. You understand? Any questions? Baruch Adonai le'olam. Amen ve'amen.