How To Defeat The Satan

1:04So shouldn't you take care of him first, tie him up first, and then take care of the guy that fell? Because the guy that fell, you know, he's struggling, but I don't want to lose this other donkey. The Gemara says, no, no, no. First you go take care of the one that fell because it's Tza'ar Ba'alei Chayim. There's the idea of preventing the suffering of a living creature. And then go catch the one that maybe walked away from you. So what about, the Gemara asks, if I have two donkeys... Both fell, one belongs to my hater and one belongs to my lover, my friend. So, can I at least go save my friend's donkey first? The answer is no, you go and save your enemy’s donkey. What is the pshat, the understanding here? Why do I have to go save my enemy’s donkey? I hate the guy; I just work with him to make a living. I don't like the guy. Why do I have to go save his donkey before that of the guy I like? Says because if you go save the one that you don't like, it's worth it. Why? It's going to be working on your middot because you don't like him, but you're still doing the right thing. It requires you to overcome your flaws and your character traits. Now, how is this applicable in real life? I'm going to ask you a brief question, and then I'm going to tell you a story, and then you'll go to the next question.

2:27If somebody came to you, rabbi, you are all rabbis, even the girls are all rabbis, okay, and said to you, listen, I'm new in this Torah world. You said a lot of stuff—Gehinnom, Kaf HaKela—all this stuff, fine. Moshe Rabbeinu, great. Muktzah, fantastic. Listen, I can't handle all of it. I've got to pick one of two mitzvot that you said: Shabbat or Taharat Mishpacha, family purity. which one should I do? I'm not doing both, maybe down the road, but right now either taharat mishpacha or Shabbat? Which one should I do? The Satan in the background says both are hard, but at least he's not causing his wife to sin, and that is part of the challenge as well. So you have to want it, okay? Who says Shabbat, and why Shabbat? Shema Shabbat, okay. Who has a different opinion or a third opinion? I think that I would say for him to keep Shabbat because when he keeps Shabbat, it will bring his family together. Okay, bring his family together by keeping Shabbat, no? Chabad? It's not pick and choose. I mean, you gotta go...

3:51No, no, no. I have one. I know it's not "pick and choose," but I'm doing one. Which one? Tell me, Rabbi Joshua, tell me. Thank you very much. You've gotta keep both. I'm picking one; give me one. I understand I'm not going to do nothing, so I shouldn't do zero. One. Give me one. Start with one. Which one? You're not a good Rabbi right now; you've gotta give me one. 50/50 chance. Okay, he's not lenient at all, this guy, he's a tough rabbi. Satmar? No, one of them is okay. So if you say it does, tell me which one should I keep. I'm a new Baal Teshuva. I have one mitzvah to keep, which one should it be? That's the question I'm asking you. Which one would you say? If I was a new Baal Teshuva, I came to you, I said, give me one. It's not an easy question. It had to go to the Gadol Hador. This question had to go to the Gadol Hador. It's a real question. It came to the Gadol Hador. It went to Rav Elyashiv. Give me a reason. Okay, why are you thinking? No, give me a reason. Okay, so Shabbat. Shabbat.

5:15Well, I mean, technically, taharat mishpacha is also bein adam lamakom. It's taharat mishpacha from Hashem. It's not from your wife. Hashem said to keep taharat mishpacha, not your wife. Hashem also said to keep Shabbat. Both of them are karet. That's the point. Both of them are karet. Which one should I pick? Either way, I'm in trouble, but the bottom line is at least I'm keeping one of them. At least I'm going to be in less trouble. So, there are seven yemot Gehenom either way, but the point is at least less time. You know, only a million and a half years, not two. No, no, no, you said your answer. You stick with your answer. I want other people to give me answers. You guys don't know hypothetical situations, huh? You guys are not such good rabbis. You're fired. No, no, give me one. Shabbat because... Okay, Shabbat, if you will. Okay, so it's a tough question, guys. It's a tough question. It had to go, it's a real situation, it had to go to Gadol HaDor. Who? Rav Elyashiv. The Rav came to Rav Elyashiv and said to him, listen, Rabbi, this guy's a tough cookie. I deal with Kiruv and Chozrim B'Teshuva, I try to help people do Teshuva, this guy says, listen, I like you, I like what you're saying, I'm just not going to do it.

6:35I'm going to do one mitzvah. Tell me which one: Taharat HaMishpacha or Shabbat? Which one? Rav Elyashiv said Taharat HaMishpacha. Why is it Taharat HaMishpacha? Why is it Taharat HaMishpacha? Rav Elyashiv said Taharat HaMishpacha for two reasons. He says, first of all, Taharat HaMishpacha has to do with two people. Shabbat is one person, so at least when he does that, two people are fulfilling a mitzvah, and two people are not committing a sin. Whereas with Shabbat, it’s just him keeping it. It’s just him; yes, his wife may join or may not join, but the mitzvah itself doesn’t force her to be a part of it. So that already is better. But secondly, which is the most critical... Is what we learned from this Gemara, from the donkey of your enemy, similar to what we learned from the donkeys? What did we learn from the donkeys? Here, we learned that if there's a donkey that fell and it's owned by your enemy, and there's another donkey that fell and it's owned by your friend, you go and help the donkey of your enemy. Why? To work on your middot (character traits).

7:48You keep Shabbat, but it doesn't help your Middot. Why? You keep Shabbat, and there's no real desire to go violate Shabbat. You don't have some crazy desire to turn on the screen for no reason and not watch it. Ha ha, it's on. No one cares. It's not a desire. But to be with your wife and not be with her for a certain part of the month, that requires you to overcome your character traits, to overcome your desires, to put everything under control and not be like an animal. If he learns not to be like an animal, eventually he's going to keep Shabbat. That's why Hashem says, you have to do Taharat HaMishpacha. Not that Taharat HaMishpacha is more important than Shabbat, but rather we're going to gain more with this one. Because this mitzvah requires two people, and on top of it, it requires him to work on his middot. And if he works on his middot, eventually he's going to keep the entire Torah. If he doesn't work on his middot, eventually he's going to violate the Torah anyway. There are many people who keep Shabbat, plenty.

8:55This is one of the most important things. Why? Because the Satan tells you, "Listen, you learn, you don't have to have good middot. You keep Torah, you don't have to have good middot. Why? You're stingy, you're this, you're that; you're doing the mitzvah. So what if you told the homeless guy, 'No, no, go get a job.' So what if you told the rabbi, 'Listen, I don't think you know what you're talking about' in front of the students, or at all. So what if you embarrassed your wife a few times, you yelled at her, you gave her a nice punch, maybe." one said, listen up. My wife gets on my nerves, so I show what's going on with me. So, we shall see what's going on. What do you mean now? You know, last time, I thought she didn't understand, and I did not speak English to him, or he would only want... She said, no, she just did something I didn't like, so I gave her a nice elbow. She never did it again. I said, ah, tzaddik. Tzaddik, again. No, I'm not going to cook for you. And in this world, if they had a beit din, they'd cut off your hands. Tzaddik. Tzaddik, you show your rabbi. Rabbi. You thought you were doing good? Why? Because she didn't cook the children the right way? Because she didn't say Kriyat Shema the right way? Tzaddik.

10:12poor women cry to me on a weekly basis because of these reshaim husbands and sometimes the opposite. Poor husbands calling that they're reshaim wives because they think they're tzaddikim. They think they're doing mitzvot, but they're hurting each other in the process. You have to be very careful. Why? Because the Satan comes to you with mitzvot. Comes to you with mitzvot. And if you're not prepared from yesterday, you're going to fall into his hands. You're going to fall into his hands, where you'll also have newer features that allow you to use the app while you're using other applications on your phone. You'll be able to share the lectures directly from the app. You'll be able to donate online and support our CUVE and the Torah work that we're doing. where you'll have also newer features where you're able to use the app while you're using other applications on your phone. You'll be able to share the lectures directly from the app. You'll be able to donate online and support our kehilla and our Torah work that we're doing. And the most exciting feature is that you'll be able to actually ask questions directly on the app and get answers from the rabbis directly from the app. This is something unprecedented, and b'ezrat Hashem, we will be able to offer it. Thank you again for all of your support. Check it out, and make sure you have the Kosher Torah that will re-energize your neshama each and every single day. Kol tuv and hatzlacha!