How to Deal With Bothering Thoughts?

0:08Both Epstein says in Parashat Bechukotai, chapter 26, verse 17. This discusses different levels of punishment from Hashem that He tells us we will receive if we don't listen to Him. One of the punishments, unfortunately, is something we've all dealt with or are still dealing with: stress. Not normal stress. Stress where we feel like we're under attack. It says, "And I will turn My attention against you. You will be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you will subjugate you. You will flee with no one pursuing you." Jeremy, these people were one of those people. We felt like everyone was against us.

1:17You're in an office and everyone hates you. No one actually told you they hate you, but you feel like they hate you. Or you're in a neighborhood. No one ever said anything to you, but you feel like you're not welcome. And not only are you not welcome, but everyone wants you to fail. Everyone's rooting against you. Maybe there's a conspiracy against you. I remember when I was on Wall Street through the last years that I was there. I was convinced—telling you from my own experience—I was convinced there was some type of behind-the-scenes blackball against me. How could it be that everything I was doing was going wrong all of a sudden, when for years everything went right? How is it that all of a sudden everything's going wrong? For years, everything's right, and then all of a sudden everything's wrong. All of a sudden, everyone's disappearing—all the contacts, all the like—just craziness. I was convinced. The only thing is, I was right. She wasn't coming from Wall Street. So Hashem says, "You will flee, but no one is pursuing you," meaning you're running away. Usually, if you run away, it's because somebody's chasing you. But no, no one's actually chasing you. You're running away from nothing. You're running away from your own mind. You think that someone's chasing you, but no one's chasing you.

2:40What's causing this? What's causing this feeling? All the sins you made, all the demons you created, all the problems you created for yourself. That's what's chasing you. Now, in Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) it says, "V'Elokim yevakesh et hanirdaf" — Hashem helps the person that's chased. If someone is chased, if someone is the victim, Hashem helps them. Hashem helps the underdog. Someone is chased by people, Hashem helps them. So if Rabbi Baruch Epstein says, what's the chidush? In Parashat Bechukotai it says the opposite of what Kohelet says. Kohelet says, if you're being chased, Hashem will help you. Parashat Bechukotai says, no one's chasing you. But you're running away. So why isn't Hashem helping you? So Rabbi Baruch Epstein says the real punishment is that Hashem makes you feel alone. The real punishment is that, yes, no one is chasing you, but you feel like you're the victim. You feel like something is wrong because your neshama realizes that Hashem is hiding from you. Hashem makes you feel alone.

4:04makes you feel like there's nothing to live for, there's nothing to do. Why? Your fault, you made some sins. So now a lot of these people that we're upset about, that are mechalel Shabbat, that are still Christian, that are doing all these different things, and we want to rebuke them, you have to understand that they have this feeling that They have this feeling of emptiness, they have this feeling of being a victim, they have this feeling that everyone's against them many times because Hashem is not with them many times. So if you go at them and attack them and call them reshaim and rebuke them out of anger instead of out of love, all you're doing is... Confirming their belief. If you're going at them and yelling at them and screaming at them out of anger, not because you love them, not because you're passionate and you love them, and I love you, and I really want the best for you. Listen, I know I'm passionate. I know my voice is loud at times, but I love you. But listen, you should keep your modesty. But listen, you should put clothes on. Yeah, I bought you an outfit, something like that.

5:27you're doing it out. You're showing them your love, not just words, and you're showing them your love and your passion. That's fine. But if you're just full of hate and animosity, and you just think that they should die because they're going against Hashem, it's not because of Hashem. It's because of you. It's going to be a pride, and all you're doing is you're confirming their fears, you're confirming their stresses. They are scared to death because they feel like God left and they're not gonna tell you that. They're gonna tell you "JC Penney's here." They're gonna tell you whatever all this nonsense is. It's nonsense. They're all empty. They're empty. They pretend to be happy, but they commit suicide a week later. Sometimes they're religious Jews, sometimes they're religious Christians, sometimes they're Noahides, sometimes they're secular people and sometimes they're your friends. Sometimes they're your family. Sometimes they're your spouse. They're all walks of life. Where the Chazon Ish says you have to stand for the truth, but there's a way to do it. There's a way to do it. If you're gonna be one of these horrendous people that's very easy to hate because you're always the person that says, "Oh, I told you so," and

6:53you're not only not doing a mitzvah, you're making a sin. You're distancing them away from Hashem.