In Defense of Artscroll (2) The War Against PRIDE!!! (24 Minutes)

0:58From the same verse: one, you're not allowed to eat it; two, you're not allowed to cook it; and the third time, you're not allowed to derive benefit from it. This means that if you want to work as a chef, you're not allowed to work in a non-kosher restaurant. Why? Because you're not allowed to cook, eat, or even derive enjoyment or make money from non-kosher foods. If you own a non-kosher restaurant, you must get rid of it. You are not allowed to be a cook or make any money out of non-kosher food. Not allowed. That’s why that specific verse is written three times. So there's something called exegesis, where the sages understand multiple messages from the Torah. And this is how the Torah is endless. Now this also helps with the whole argument that we had last week about ArtScroll. I don't know if you guys have been following, but apparently some of the reshaim (wicked people) of the world sometimes have a kippah (yarmulke) on, sometimes have a hat on, sometimes they think of themselves as tzaddikim (righteous individuals). So last week, we talked about how...

2:05To tell people you're not allowed to learn from ArtScroll, aside from being foolish and ignorant, it's ga'avah. It's ga'avah. Why? Because ArtScroll has made it easier to learn the basic pshat, the basic meaning of Gemara. It doesn't give you any major secrets. You're not going to become a kabbalist from learning ArtScroll. You're not going to become Moshe Rabbeinu from learning ArtScroll because of how... No, you're going to learn the basic pshat. The basic literal meaning of the Gemara. What is the Gemara trying to tell me? Basic meaning. So some guy that started learning Gemara six months ago. Now I'm not saying, I'm not even exaggerating here. He actually wrote an article about a month ago. It said, here are the rules of how to learn Gemara. I started learning Gemara six months ago. Now, immediately, anyone that has a little bit of seichel should at that point say, "Whatever he says, I'm not doing." Why? In order to teach, you first have to learn. You can't tell me you learned how to learn in six months, my friend. You can't.

3:18You can't teach me after you've only learned for six months. I remember I used to train various guys who worked for me for the Series 7 exam. The Series 7 is a test consisting of 265 questions that you must answer over seven hours. It's a challenging test, and the passing grade is 70. So, I would train my guys on how to pass this test. Certain things you need to know, certain things you need to focus on, and so on and so forth. The funniest thing is that sometimes I would have some of these guys, they would just barely pass their test. They get a grade, they passed their test, they got a 70, 71, 75, whatever they got, and a week later, they're trying to tell me how to run my business. It's funny; it's like little kids, like a little three-year-old kid. You look at him like you can't be upset at him; he's three. The problem is, some of them were 30. So you can't really, you know, it's silly. But it's the same thing here. The guy started learning Gemara six months ago. He's telling people, these are the rules of what you need to do. I learned from Chachamim, from Tzadikim, from Nevonim, from all these different people. And he wrote, first rule, don't use ArtScroll. First rule, don't use ArtScroll. So now, I said what I said last week. If you guys remember, we made a clip out of it. Which is, obviously, this is shtuyot. This is nonsense. If you have the ability to learn with a rabbi that's going to oversee you, definitely use regular Gemara with Rashi. But if you're learning without a rabbi, if you're learning on your own without guidance, you must use ArtScroll. Not using ArtScroll is a mistake. Why? Because what ends up happening is that you learn Gemara and you might come to the wrong conclusion, and then you build on that incorrect understanding.

4:44... ability to learn with a rabbi that's going to oversee you, definitely use a regular Gemara with Rashi. But if you're learning without a rabbi, if you're brand new, you don't know how to learn yet, you're just learning on your own, you must use ArtScroll. Not using ArtScroll is foolishness. Why? Because what ends up happening is that you learn Gemara and you reach the wrong conclusion, and then you continue building on it, but it's wrong... So that's what happened to this generation, is that a lot of people think that they're smarter than what they really are, even if they're in yeshivot. And they get to the Gemara, they don't learn what Chazal actually said; they decide what they said. They make the laws, they make the things, and they build on the wrong conclusion. So what ends up happening is that you're putting, it's like putting seasoning on rotten food. No matter how much seasoning you're putting on it, you're still going to get food poisoning at the end. It's rotten. Understand, so now, when you reach the wrong pshat, the wrong basic understanding, you're guaranteed to make the errors even bigger. Guaranteed. Why? Because you're building on the wrong foundation. It's never going to turn into something correct; it's always going to be flawed. So, when you learn ArtScroll, at the very least, what happens is that...

6:10You know, if you study it carefully and you read everything that it says on a page, most likely—not 100%, but most likely—you'll arrive at the correct pshat, the correct basic meaning. Which means that anything you build on it will be built on a solid foundation. It doesn't guarantee that everything you're going to say after that is going to be right, but you have something to stand on. So, anyone who says otherwise is essentially telling you that anytime somebody teaches Gemara, when a rabbi teaches Gemara and he's explaining the pshat, he's sharing different interpretations. But if someone says "No, no, I don’t want to hear it; I want to learn it on my own," this is theoretically wrong. Because when rabbis teach Gemara, you're their student; they teach Gemara, and they share insight from what they've learned. If someone insists, "No, I want to learn it on my own; I want to arrive at my own conclusion," this is already theoretically incorrect. Moreover, beyond that... What's really, really wrong about this is that when you have the wrong conclusion, it usually stems from the wrong place. You don't have the correct teaching. So, this guy wrote this article. We explained ourselves, as you know, and now included. I don't mention his name. I'm not trying to ruin anybody's life. He's not the only one, by the way. This is a common thing. This battle has been going on for two decades.

7:31He's not the first one to mention this. But again, somebody made a mistake, no problem. I don't mention names usually unless I have to. But nonetheless, I said this, and it came out. Apparently, the guy that wrote the article saw it, and he decided to say, "Here's why Yaron Reuven doesn't know how to learn." And he makes a seven-minute recording of himself repeating the same insults 18 times, publicly humiliating me. Now, Baruch Hashem, this is beneficial for me. It's good for my neshama and for my tikkun. It's no problem. I'm not losing sleep over it. But this is a chaval (shame). This is someone who just thought he knows Gemara. He taught how to teach you Gemara. Now, to learn Gemara is already a high level. To teach Gemara, that means you not only know how to learn, you know how to teach. A giant. You know all the laws. You're a giant. You're like Moshe Rabbeinu of this generation. Teaching Gemara.

8:35Not only does he not know how to learn, but he also doesn't know the basic law. David HaMelech says that someone who embarrasses another person in public has no share in the world to come. Why is this so? You mentioned a month ago that you didn't like the Mussar I gave you. The same day you wrote it, I sent the guy to Mussar. I told him, listen, you're wrong, you're not doing right, you should take this thing off. It's Lashon Hara. Aside from being theoretically wrong and practically wrong, ArtScroll has G'dolei HaDor signed off on it. You have videos of Rav Moshe Feinstein, of Rav Chaim Kanievsky studying from it, Rav Steinman studying from it, from ArtScroll. Rav Dovid Feinstein has a whole interview talking about how great it is. The Gedolei HaDor are signing off on it. You, little peon, roach, who started reading the book and learning how to read six months ago, are saying everyone is wrong because someone told you something that you misunderstood. So, you're like the mussar that I gave. I told him, listen, this is wrong. This is lashon hara also. You're going against the Gedolei HaDor.

9:55What does he do as a response? He destroys me. He goes and he calls the shiur "Yaron Reuven." So don't misunderstand. Yaron Reuven is no rabbi, no bubkis. Yaron Reuven doesn't know how to learn. And he makes a seven-minute recording insulting me. And since he only has three subscribers—him, his mother, and some other friend that subscribes to his SoundCloud channel—nobody heard it. So what did he do after? He made sure to type everything he said. And he posted it online again. It wasn't enough to kill me the first time. He wants to mot yumat. He wants mot yumat. Like the din karet for some Mechalel Shabbat. Mot yumat. He wants to kill me twice. So he typed it also. Tembel. Tembel. Tembel. Tembel. Mefager. He sent it to me. He sent it to the group I was in. But, okay, so now, I'm going to ask you. I'm going to ask you a question. Before Torah, what would I do? After Torah, what would we do? Before Torah, I'd probably go to his house. But Baruch Hashem, we have Torah. We have Torah, we thank God for the zechut, for the merits. The only thing I responded...

11:23It's something that it says in the Gemara in Bava Batra, not Bava Mitzia. Bava Batra 75b. In Bava Batra 75b, Hashem Yitbarach says to a wicked king called Hiram. Hiram was a wicked king who thought that he was a god. So what did he do? He built a castle with seven levels separated by water. Hashem has seven Rakiaim, seven heavens, and He's at the top of the heavens. Hiram made a castle, in essence separated by water in seven ways. So Hashem sent a prophet to him and says to him this: I looked at you when I created the world... I saw you coming in the future. I saw your arrogance, what you're going to have. And because of you, because of you, I created holes in the body. Why holes in the body? Because how much confidence can you possibly have when everything that you put inside your body goes out stinky?

12:42What are you so proud about? You think you're a god? You just had diarrhea last week. You had a headache. You had a broken back. You have a foot fungus. I saw you. You arrogant fool. And because of you, I did it for Am Yisrael, to separate the sheker from the emet. You don't even read the Hebrew that I wrote you. You don't even know how to read. So I said, this guy learns Gemara, Tosafot, this one, that one, don't use Artscroll, don't use that one. So, of course, he's going to understand what I mean. So I sent him this little clip. I just sent him the verse with the Gemara page. I'm assuming he understood. What is the response? I'm doing it for Am Yisrael to separate the Sheker from the Emet. I'm saying you don't even read the Hebrew that I wrote you. You don't even know how to read. If you knew how to read, you would understand that this has nothing to do with anything. It just shows you have too much pride. You're making all this stuff up, destroying people in public for no reason. What happened, my friends? What happened is that somewhere along the line, people forgot that Hashem is everything. There's a verse in the Torah where Hashem says He has a treasure chest.

13:54Hashem has a treasure chest. The whole treasure chest holds one thing. He used to have two treasures. One was Shabbat, which He gave to us. What remains in this treasure chest is Yirat Shamayim. Yirat Shamayim, Yirat Shamayim. In the Gemara Masechet Shabbat, it is stated that the primary purpose for which Hashem created the world is for humanity to have Yirat Shamayim, fear of Heaven. It's not about love initially. Love for Hashem is something that comes afterward. First, it is about giving Him a reason to have created the world by fearing Him appropriately. When there's no Yirat Shamayim, there's no connection to Hashem Yitbarach. There's no connection. There's nothing. There's a bupkis. So now, to elucidate this concept with an example from ArtScroll, I'll share a chidush from their commentary. Now, the basic pshat that discusses this Yirat Shamayim in Gemara Masechet Shabbat, page 31, states, Yirat Hashem Hi Otzaro. Everything that has a treasure chest is the yirat shamayim. So it says, what is it like? What is it like, this yirat shamayim? It says, even if you know the entire Mishnah, you know the entire Mishnah by heart.

15:05No yirat shamayim, nothing. It's worth nothing. You know the entire Mishnah, the entire foundation of all Torah—everything. Even if you don't need it written out, it's etched in your memory. You know Tosafot, you know Rashi, you know Aruch HaShulchan, you know Bavli, you know whatever you want. If you have no yirat shamayim, it's worth zero. First thing. This is Aruch HaShulchan, it says, it's Rashi, basics. He says, "What is this like? Tell me, tell me more, tell me more." He says, "Tell me more." He says... When someone goes to heaven, there's the Beit Din of heaven. He died. 70, 80, 120, however many years, he goes to heaven, to the Beit Din of heaven. There's no more joking around. You have to pay the bill. They ask him questions. There are a few questions they ask. The first question they ask is, did you conduct your business with honesty, with faithfulness?

16:07Or are you a dishonest person? Why didn't they ask him, did you go to Beit Knesset (synagogue)? Or were you honest in Beit Knesset? Why not? In Beit Knesset, everybody could pretend to be like Tzadikim (righteous individuals). In business, there's no pretending. Why? Money. Money. You're not pretending. If you're honest, you're honest in your business. If you're a liar, you're a liar in your business. Bottom line. First question, did you conduct your business? Second question, did you make time for learning Torah every day? Or were you one of those guys that says, no, no, I'm working really hard, I'm going to study later. I'm going to make my millions, I'm going to study later. Later, after I have a few million in the bank, I'm going to study all the Gemara you want, Kvod HaRav. I'm going to study all this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to give tzedakah. Everybody blames Hashem for their lack of tzedakah. They say, listen, I don't have that much money now. I only make $50,000 a year. I can't give tzedakah now. When Hashem gives me a million dollars, or $100,000, or $200,000, or whatever number they have in their heads that makes them believe that's the number that allows them to give tzedakah, when I have that, I'm going to give tzedakah then.

17:23This shows that not only do they not understand what tzedakah is, but the yetzer hara has got them on a little leash. Because he's convincing them that they need more in order to give. The reality of it is that the tzedakah of the guy that doesn't have much is, sometimes, more valuable than the tzedakah of the guy that has a lot. Why? The guy that made 30,000 dollars last year who gave 300 bucks, who gave 100 dollars, is going to have much more merit than the guy that gave two million, five million, a hundred million, but didn't feel it. He didn't feel it got a billion dollars, so he gave you 10 million, big deal – it's interest over a couple of months. The guy that gave 300, you know what? He had to eat a little less this month. is going to have much more merit than the guy that gave two million, five million, a hundred million but didn’t feel it. He didn’t feel it; he's got a billion dollars, so he gave you 10 million. Big deal—it’s interest over a couple of months. The guy that gave 300, you know what he had to eat a little less this month. You understand? So someone says, "No, I'm going to give tzedakah when I have more." Obviously, you don't understand what tzedakah is. You don't understand who gives you the money and so on. There's a lot more we need to learn about that. So he gets to the next question, "Did you make time for Torah?" If you didn't make time for Torah, we have a problem and so on and so forth. He says, let's say you answer all the questions correctly. I'm going to fast forward because it's late already. He says, let's say you answered all the questions right.

18:38Everything's right. You made time for Torah. You are honest in your business. You were waiting. You were hoping for the Mashiach to come. You have to wait for the Mashiach. It's one of the main things you're being asked. You brought kids to the world or at least tried. You don't have to just stay single because you don't like people. You have to find a zivug. You have to actively look for it. Whether you find it or not is not your problem; it's Hashem's problem. You have to look. You have to try. Says, let's say you answered all the questions well. You got a checkmark next to each one. The last question is, did you have Yirat Shamayim? If the answer is negative, then the judgment is negative. Everything goes to nothing. So now this is pshat. The Gemara says, we want more. Give me an analogy. I need more. The Gemara says, okay, I'll give you an example. Let's say a guy says to his servant, "Go to the, what is it called, attic. Go to the attic and put my wheat. Organize all the wheat, put it over there. Put all the wheat over there." The servant, being a good servant, goes, takes the wheat, and puts it in the attic. He comes back down after a few hours and tells the master, "Yeah, I finished."

20:05He says, "Did you put chumtin, did you put the preservative on the wheat?" He says, "No, no, I didn't put it." So the Baal HaBayit says, "It was better off you didn't do anything." Why? Before you did it, the wheat was fine. It was still in its place; it was fine, it was preserved, it was fine in its nature. But now you put it in the attic, and there's no preservative, which means it's all going to go bad because of you. So it's better you didn't do anything. The Gemara says, that's Yirat Shamayim. The wheat is all the mitzvot. All the mitzvot, you did this, you did learn Torah, you went, you had Chanukah, you had Purim, you had Shmittah, everything you had. The chutmin, the preservative, is the Yirat Shamayim. It says you have no yirat shamayim. It's not worth anything. It's not going to preserve. It's not going to last. This is basic gemara. You learn it in any gemara in the world. This is Rashi on basics. Now, the extra part that they add, one of them, and Rashi says, you should know, if you sell the...

21:28wheat in a sack, and let's say it's, I don't know, 50 pounds. But out of the 50 pounds, really, it's 45 pounds of wheat and five pounds of preservative, chumtin. You still sell it, it's still honest, it's still right business, it's still kosher business to sell it as 50 pounds of wheat, not 45 pounds. Why? The Sfas Emes says, because if it wasn't for the five pounds of chumtin, the 45 wouldn't last anyway. So this is ArtScroll. You just learned Daf Gemara, page 31A. Or at least most of it, of this last section, the last third of it. What's the chidush that was not in the Gemara, that was not in ArtScroll, that shows you that now that you understand the basics, you have a basic understanding, it's endless how much you can build on it. What's the chidush? The chidush is that the chumtin, the chumtin, the preservative, that's ArtScroll. Meaning, if you have a situation where you're learning Gemara and you get to the wrong conclusion because you don't have a rabbi overseeing you,

22:53have a rabbi overseeing you. If you don't have one, you're just arrogant; you think that you can arrive at your own conclusions. Page 90 says, if you don't have a rabbi overseeing you, Hashem hates you. God hates you. Why does He hate you? Because you could live 70 years being wrong without even knowing it. Why? Because you have too much ga'ava, pride, to check yourself. So he says... Now, if you arrive at the wrong conclusion, you continue building on it. You arrive at the understanding that this is kosher. In reality, it's not kosher. It's not kosher. But you keep not only eating it; you recommend it to the whole neighborhood. "No, go ahead, eat." You start selling it. You start marketing it. You start giving it to the world. You put it on Facebook. You put it on Google. You're selling it. It's not kosher. But you arrive at the wrong conclusion. That's what happens. Art Scroll gives you the right basic conclusion. Basic conclusion. Pshat. That's the chamtzan. Now, why is it chamtzan? Because if you're getting the pshat and you're getting to the correct way, it's the same price, it's the same thing, it's the same product, it's still kosher. You still sell it as the same thing.

24:15But if it's without it, you're risking losing the whole thing. You risk arriving at the wrong conclusion. Why would you arrive at the wrong conclusion? Because of what the Gemara was talking about in the very same chiddush I just gave you. No yirat shamayim. The same Gemara that explained to you what ArtScroll is, is the same Gemara that told you, no yirat shamayim, you got nothing. You got nothing.