Recommendations, SEFARIA,Waiting To Convert, EGO, Da'at Torah, REWARD OF WICKED-STUMP THE RABBI (63)

0:17We're back doing our Wednesday night shiur of "Stump the Rabbi," asking questions. Hopefully, you guys have some questions tonight. Couple of nice updates that we have, Baruch Hashem, for everybody. Tonight's shiur will be for Ilui Nishmat Moshe ben Chaim, Sarah bat Barel, Simcha ben Sarah, Nissim ben Zekiah, And lehavdil, refuah shlema for Rabbanit Levana bat Sarah, Rav Efraim ben Shulamit, Ayla bat Marsha, David ben Esriah, Doris bat Jorah, Rabbanit Sarah bat Anat, Yitro ben Avraham, Talia bat Sarah,

1:39Jonas ben Sherry Haley, Yosef Yitzchak ben Bayla Rachel, Stefan ben Katarina, Yitro ben Avraham, and Ari ben Aziza, Shlomo Yaakov ben Chaya Sara, and Moshe ben Sara. And also for Shaul ben Farzaneh, Yitro ben Avraham, And all of Am Yisrael will have a refuah sheleimah, especially those that are our partners in all the amazing work that we're doing. A few nice updates, Baruch Hashem. We just got a video that was made of just one of the areas, a place called Yavne'el, where they did the distribution of food to about 400 people or so, and it wasn't enough. Actually, last night, I told her to help some more, probably another 100 or so. We sent the money for that, and

3:00You see these people, and the video doesn't show their faces, but you hear the words that they're saying. Because for the sake of their kavod, we don't like to disclose who it is, even though nobody here knows them. But still, they're already suffering enough, there's no reason to show who they are and so on. You see how much they appreciate this food and clothing that they get for the holidays. It's amazing because, you know, for many people, this is like weekly shopping. You know, many people, like, you know, we give them the meat. You know, they're getting a lot of nice things, but at the same time, For an average family, sometimes this is what they deal with every week. And so you see how much people appreciate it. It's really amazing. And it warms your heart that you have the ability to be used as a vessel for HaKadosh Baruch Hu to help His people. So, Baruch Hashem, the drive continues. We're continuing to raise as much money as possible to help people for the holidays.

4:05We're going to have another distribution in the next few days, getting the people and the food together. But then we're going to do a much larger distribution, b'ezrat Hashem, right around before Sukkot. So anyone that wants to be involved in that, please do. Second thing is, we just launched our Rosh Hashanah campaign. Like we did last year, many people make the largest donations of the year, usually during this time, and they go to the synagogue, buy an aliyah so they can go up to the Torah and make a mitzvah, maybe get a little bit of kavod. And, if you're Sephardic, there's usually a bidding process right in front of everyone. If you're Ashkenazi, it's bidding prices behind the scenes. But at the end of it all, although it's very important to try to contribute to your communities and to good things, many people that have contributed to Kiruv have seen much greater reward, not only in Olam HaBa, but also even in Olam HaZeh, because we did this campaign last year, and many of the people that were part of it told me that, you know,

5:24Despite the economic crisis and life crisis that's happened over this COVID-19, Baruch Hashem, they got a blessing. So Baruch Hashem, it's working. So this year we added a little bit more. Last year, anyone that bought the blessing got a video from Rabbi Efraim with a special customized blessing with your name and so on. This year, Baruch Hashem, we'll... do our best to do both of us. He'll do one video, and I'll do a video for the people that are buying these blessings. And there's also another level where someone can do that as well as get a lecture dedicated to themselves, or even, if somebody has the financial means to do it, get to a point where they get to sponsor an entire series because we're coming to a close on a couple of series, and we're going to start a new one. Anyone that wants to sponsor a series can be part of it. Of course, these things are not, uh, they're not five dollars, so don't ask me, "Oh, why is it so expensive?" If that's your question, do me a favor and don't ask. It's not about it being expensive; the point is you're supposed to help us build organizations so we can do more good. Trust me, it's not paying my rent.

6:39It's not paying a lot of friends' rent. It's simply to build the organization, help people with food, distribute CDs, and so on and so forth. And that's actually one of the things that people saw in the video that we published last night. short one and a half minute video of the enormous achievements that the team, b’ezrat Hashem, has made over the last year. Just a few things that stand on the top of my head are that over 60 million minutes of our shiurim have been watched over the last year. 60 million minutes. So just imagine anyone that took a part of it and, let's say, gave enough money to take, let's say, 10% of it. So you're talking about 6 million minutes. Okay, I'm sorry, six million minutes. Six million minutes, no, yeah, six million minutes that have been learned, you know, and you have it in your account. Now, even if you study 24 hours a day yourself, you're not going to get to that. So, for a person to be part of such a thing, it's an enormous merit. And again, it doesn't necessarily need to be 10%. It can be 5%. It can be 1%. The point being that when you do kiruv, you have exponential rewards because even if that person is thinking, "Yeah, but I only donated $1,000 over the last year. So how much could that get me?" Well, think about it. Okay, so let's say that $1,000 got you, I don't know, let's say 1,000 minutes. $1,000, let's say, 1,000 minutes, just for argument's sake.

8:06Now, that thousand minutes doesn't end there. Why? Because the person or the people that learned during those thousand minutes are now going to do mitzvot because of those thousand minutes. They're going to do teshuva. They're going to get closer to Hashem. All of that goes to that person's account. So, it's an exponential reward that never ends. And that's why people who are very smart about their investments for Olam Haba, invest as much as they possibly can into kiruv, because they want to make sure that they don't just have a nice house and a nice kitchen here. They have a nice house over there. And this doesn't come cheap by any stretch of the imagination, not because we take big salaries or any of that, but simply because we're trying to reach as many people as possible. To reach 60 million minutes In one year, it's not a cheap thing. You have to do a lot of different things to get to people. And just to give you guys a statistic to compare it to, you have an organization that, so no one gets offended, I'm not going to mention their name, but everyone that is in the Torah world knows who I'm talking about. They have somewhere in the neighborhood of 930 to 950 rabbanim.

9:18On their network. And they raise millions of dollars. Millions. They have campaigns where, in 24 hours, they raise a million and a half dollars. And they do it a few times a year. Let them have a hundred million dollars. I don't really care. There's no money coming out of my pocket if somebody else makes money. But just so you understand, to host 900 rabbis and have all of the newsletters, the videos, and the staff, and so on, costs a lot of money. So they have 930 to 950 rabbis that they're hosting, and every day there's new shiurei Torah, and many people get chizuk out of it. Now, their entire network and their whole budget and what they're doing is that they're saying, with this budget, with these millions of dollars that we've raised, another million dollars recently for new servers, and another million dollars for this, another million, a lot of money, We are hosting 900 rabbis. Great, how much are we reaching people? They say nine million minutes. I'm sorry, nine million hours. Nine million hours, so nine million hours is 540 million minutes, which is 9 million hours.

10:27Okay, so they say, oh, so that's nine times better. Yeah, you can say that if you want. If you just simply look at that, yeah, technically it is more. But you have to look at it this way: 950 rabbis with 9 million hours. Two rabbis... with one million hours. So you could do the math of what's more, what's less. The point being is there's an enormous amount of effort that is helping us reach a lot of people in all walks of life. Some are ba'alei teshuva, some are frum from birth, some are in between, some are huge, enormous talmidei chachamim, which as a side note, There's a dear friend of mine that I've been in communication with for this last year or so, and I tell you guys that I'm always surprised that he watches my shiurim because he's a genius. And I'm not saying it because he's my friend—he's simply a genius. He is doing the limud of Rav Avraham Erlanger, which in essence is very similar to what Rav Chaim Kanievsky does, where he completes the Shas Bavli and the Shas Yerushalmi and the Midrashim and the Shulchan Aruch and the Tanakh and a few other things that I can't even remember the names of every year for the last, I believe, four or five years.

11:29Rav Kanievsky does, where he completes the Shas Bavli, the Shas Yerushalmi, the Midrashim, the Shulchan Aruch, the Tanach, and a few other things that I can't even remember the names of, every year for the last, I believe, four or five years. Now, I don't know how he finds time to do such a thing, needless to say, watch my shiurim, but because he loves Am Yisrael, he recently started doing videos. He teaches short videos, short movies. I promoted it a little bit last week, this week, or last week. I told people to watch it; we put it on our channel. His name is Rav Adam Summers. Videos are not only pleasant to hear and very good, but it's not a regular person. It's a genius. So I highly recommend everybody to subscribe to his channel, listen to his Divrei Torah. It's wonderful that people who have real, serious chokhmah are willing to jump into the fire of kiruv because there's a bunch of idiots in the world, and they're already, you know, they're the fire. They're actually causing the Gehinnom fire that we have in the world today.

12:35But see, when you have somebody that actually has real chokhmah, that actually studies the Shas, studies the Shulchan Aruch, complies with it through thick and thin, he's willing to teach, Baruch Hashem, it's a big gift to Am Yisrael. So we have some serious Talmidei Chachamim that are watching our shiurim, from Chabad, from Ashkenaz, from Sephardic, Some people that are very famous, whose names I'm not going to mention simply because I don't know if they want me to mention their names, watch the shiurim. And the point is that there's a lot of people benefiting from these shiurim. And many of them, when I ask them, "How come you watch the shiurim? I mean, you're a Talmid Chacham," they say, "Listen, Musar everybody needs." Musar everybody needs. And if you want to get it in English, they claim that this is the place to be. So why does everybody need Musar? If you want to be an Eved Hashem, a servant of Hashem, first and foremost you have to know that you have to soften your character traits and make yourself more humble, more giving, more generous, and obviously a person that Hashem wants to make into a vessel.

13:45To bring good to the world. And this requires Musar. Because you cannot get it simply by learning just one other subject or any other one subject. So, Baruch Hashem, many people are benefiting from this. So, a million hours in the last year and growing. We have, Baruch Hashem, distributed over 5,000 books and newsletters over the last year. We've helped... ...over 10,000 people, whether it be food or clothing, over the last year. That's one of my personal favorites, to see some of these really amazing people eat. It gives a person a certain pleasure to know that you had a little part in it. You know, you pressed the "pray" button, you pressed the button. That's what I did; I pressed the button. And if you have both of them, you have a little merit. The thing is though, it's a... it's amazing that there's so much good that can be done, and you know there are some people that are doing it, but hopefully that list continues to grow. So, the Rosh Hashanah campaign has several choices. Like I said, one is to get the blessing where we pray for you on Rosh Hashanah. You're also going to get a personalized video from myself and from Rabbi Ephraim. And then there's a second choice, which is to do A, as well as have a lecture dedicated to you. Or C is to have A and also have a whole entire series dedicated. Now again, it's for anyone that wants to do it or knows someone that wants to do it, b'chavod.

14:58from myself and from Rabbi Ephraim. And then there's a second choice, which is to do A, as well as have a lecture dedicated to you. Or C is to have A and also have an entire series dedicated. Now again, it's for anyone that wants to do it or knows someone that wants to do it, b'chavod. Aside from that, another piece of good news is that although we don't necessarily recommend people on a regular basis, when I find something good, I love to recommend it. Because that's, in essence, the whole key. The key is to share the good. Now, last week, I think it was, or two weeks ago, I told you guys about BneiIsraelBooks.com. Baruch Hashem, many people are very happy and already placed orders and started getting books. And, you know, they've been looking for this type of stuff for a while. And they were very happy that we recommended them. Now, there is another thing that I've recommended to many people privately but never did it on a...

16:02on a public scale, simply never thought of it or just never got to it. One of the most difficult things that we have in this generation is teaching kids. But this particular thing is really not just for kids. I believe this is for everybody, especially Baalei Teshuva, converts, people that are serious about Judaism, but also, of course, for kids. It's tough to teach people today because, more or less, everyone is like a kid today. We have a very difficult time focusing because we have distractions: you have the phone, you have the iPad, you have the notepad, you have this pad, you have the TV. You have all types of things distracting you, and it's tough. This is also part of the reason why we make some of our videos in a movie format. Because it's to capture your attention for those five or ten minutes and give you the chizuk to keep going closer to Hashem for the rest of the day.

17:08Now, but to learn halacha, to learn the laws, whether it's how to blow a shofar or what lashon hara really is, because everyone is confused about what lashon hara is, generosity, different things like that, it gets a little bit more complicated. Why? Because it involves a lot of intricate details, and the person that learns it, knows that you have to learn a lot of information and then be smart enough and have enough to put it in a box, in a video format of 5 or 10 minutes. Now, I believe that no one is doing it better than Torah Live. It's an organization that I've been familiar with for a little while. They are a wonderful organization. They're run by Rabbi Roth. And he's a serious Talmid Chacham, a very nice person too. He started the organization and called me the other day, and we spoke for a little while.

18:15And he invested his own money into this organization. I mean, one of the main ways that they have this organization is utilized by yeshivot. Different yeshivot use Torah Live. in order to, you know, teach their kids because, if you know, the old-fashioned way is not working for some people. Some kids want a tablet, some kids want something interactive. They don't want just a book. You obviously have to always stick to the book, but they want something more too. So some schools have been utilizing Torah Live's curriculum to teach, but they also made it available for the average person, especially during this whole COVID-19 where a lot more people are on the internet. I can tell you personally, my own kids have been listening to Torah Live for, I don't know, the last year or so, maybe less, and they amaze me. I watch some of the videos with them, and I always love the videos. Aside from that, I see how my kids react to these videos and how some other people I recommended them to react to these videos, and they absolutely love it and it impacts them.

19:27Now, one of the most difficult things in recommending people is that many times people tell me, "Listen, why don't you host my friend? He's a rabbi. He wants to maybe come to your shiur." I always say, "Thank you, but no thank you." "Oh, why don't you do something, you know, an event with such and such rabbi?" "Thank you, but no thank you." Why? Because if I do an event with you, that means I have to vouch for you. now, if I know you and I know that you're an ish emet, I don't mind. I'm more than happy to actually, you know, we did some things with Rabbi Mizrachi. I know who they are. But somebody I don't know, I can't do it. Why? Because if you come back next week or next month and you start becoming like Mirvis or like some of these other people that distort the Torah, then all the people that I recommended, they're going to fall with you. So I can't do it. One of the beautiful things that I've noticed time and time again with each and every single video that Rabbi Roth has made at Torah Live is that it's emet. They teach emet when it comes to mussar, they teach emet when it comes to halacha, they teach emet, which is absolutely beautiful.

20:35beautiful to uh to uh uh to see available to the English-speaking public. You know, some of this stuff is available in other languages; other organizations have it. But in English, in my opinion, this is really the one that has it, and I recommend it really for both adults and for children, not just for children. Now, you could go to their website, torahlive.com, and sign up for free, or you could be smart and get even more than that. How? By being a Be'ezrat Hashem student and watching the shiur today. Because now it means you're going to get a special code that will give you a lot more access. If you get something for free on your own, it's good. You're going to get access to some of the videos. But Rabbi Roth, God bless him, gave us, out of the goodness of his heart, special access for all of the students of Be'ezrat Hashem. You can go there, put the code, and you'll get access to the whole thing. which is something that usually you have to pay for. So you'll go to TorahLive.com slash B-E-Z-R-A-T.

21:46You go there, it's going to tell you to put this code, B-E-Z-R-A-T, in this box, which in essence means you have to just know how to copy and paste, and you get full access to Torah Live's material. There's a lot of wonderful things there, and b'ezrat Hashem, you'll enjoy it. I love recommending good things, especially since today we need it more than ever. So, with that being said, you know, we have a... opportunity to ask questions each week. Some of you are very good at asking questions, but only when the camera is off. I'm hoping today that you guys will ask some questions when the camera is on. But, you know, there's obviously other material we can go over. I think there are a couple of questions that people have sent me that I could ask. But, who wants to start with some questions? Everybody knows the entire Torah; nobody has any questions? Okay, listen though. All right, so, oh, here we go, probably, you know, so, um, so what is it? Your wife is not coming, so I don't get any water anymore? Okay, um, when someone is, per se, purchasing their blessings, right? Okay, okay, okay. But, um, their heart is not really in it. Are they receiving that same blessing as...

23:09What do you mean the heart is not in it? Like they don't really want to do it? I mean, they're just giving the money to give it, but... they don't really want to do it? Yeah. Okay. So it seems that the question is, if somebody is doing a mitzvah, let's say he's donating, but he doesn't really want to donate. Does he still get the mitzvah? Better yet, we'll add to this question: if somebody, let's say, comes to a shiur Torah to learn Torah, but he doesn't really want to go. He doesn't really want to go. Does he still get a mitzvah? Should he still go? No. The Gemara says in a couple of places that even if a person does a mitzvah without willpower, he doesn’t want it, he doesn’t want to do it. In fact, he hates it. HaKadosh Baruch Hu still wants him to do it because once he does it, he’ll get the merit to see another mitzvah. And that other mitzvah will have an opportunity again. And the more he does, the more he connects to these mitzvot, eventually what ends up happening is he starts liking them because he starts tasting the sweetness of the Torah. In the beginning, many times, people learn Torah, they get inspired by a shiur or something like that, and they want to learn from the books.

24:27But the books are very different than a lecture. Why? Because in a lecture, I give you everything on a silver platter. I'll tell you where the source is, I'll tell you who said it, we connect all the different subjects, all the different books, everything is given to you on a silver platter. Now if you go take one of these Gemarot, and you start learning it on your own, you see that it's a world apart between the Gemara and the shiur. Why? Because the Gemara is going to talk about one particular subject for ten hours. All the different walks of life about this particular subject and every possible question that you can think of and can't think of. They're going to ask and they're going to answer, and they're going to tell you debates about it. But it's in so many words. It's focusing and it's narrowing on one particular thing. It's not giving you anything on a silver platter. In fact, you have to toil in order to even understand what is even being said there. So it's a world apart. So many times when people start learning the books, they say, "Oh, this is, it's not, where's the sweetness? Where's the sweetness the rabbi keeps talking about? Yeah, he's talking. He has all the information already. So yeah, maybe for him it's sweet, but I'm just learning this thing. It's not sweet at all. It's bitter. It's hard. It takes me six hours to finish one page. Who wants to do this?" So the Gemara says...

25:43Exactly that. Initially, you don't want to do it. Initially, it's bitter, but keep going. Why? The more you keep going, the closer you're going to get to that sweetness where eventually you're going to start seeing how things add up. And now that you've arrived at the right conclusion on your own, you feel like this now has become yours. You've become part of the Torah. Not just a reader of Torah. Like if you read math, if you learn science, you do all these things, okay, so you're knowledgeable about certain things. But when you learn Torah the right way, the Torah becomes part of you. And that is the sweetest thing that could ever exist in the world. So everyone needs a little bit of shiurim, a little bit of the actual sefarim. Obviously, there are different levels of learning, different levels of shiurim, and different levels of sefarim. But the point is that even if a person does not want to do a mitzvah, whether it be learning Torah or giving tzedakah or whatever it is, he should go and she should go and do it. Why? Number one, Hashem said so.

26:57That's already enough of a reason. Number two, it's good for you. Yeah, but I don't like it. It's good for you. Do it. Antibiotics, you don't like them, right? They taste disgusting. All of these technological advancements, they still haven't figured out how to make the antibiotic taste like anything edible. But guess what? If you have an infection, you have to take it. Why? It's good for you. Why? Because if you don't take it, you're going to die from the infection. So sometimes we have to take something because HaKadosh Baruch Hu said it, and that's enough of a reason. But sometimes we are stubborn people. We need something extra. Okay, it's good for you. When is it going to be good for me? Trust me. It's good for you. It's just that you're not going to see the benefits of the cure right away. It may take a little time. It may take a day. It may take a week. It may take a month. But the point is, eventually you're going to see it. Eventually you're going to get it. And when a person does the will of Hashem, simply because Hashem said it, they'll eventually taste the sweetness of Torah. Now, as we learned the other day,

28:00From the Chazon Ish, we learn that one of the most difficult things for a person to overcome in acquiring the sweetness of the Torah is the fact that he himself is holding himself back because he or she has terrible character traits. She wants to learn a shiur Torah but still walks around with half her clothes. You know, she wants to learn Torah and be holy and read Tehillim, but she doesn't want to cover her head. He wants to learn Torah, but he also wants to watch basketball. He also wants to curse like a truck driver. He also wants to, you know, do all types of things that Hashem says are forbidden. And he has bad character traits. And the Chazon Ish, thank you. And the Chazon Ish says these flawed character traits are what's holding you back from the sweetness of the Torah. So yes, you can still get some sweetness, some sweetness, without perfecting your character traits. But to get the ultimate level of sweetness, you have to perfect your character traits. Why? Because you have to make your physical body a vessel for this pure spirituality that HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants to gift you. So the way to do it is by doing things that Hashem said, even if you don't want to. Next question.

29:27Good question. Thank you for the water. That's why we call her the better half. Okay, so, I'm going to get to that. Yeah, I got that. Okay, so. Someone heard me talk and asked me about Sefaria. It's a website on the internet that has many Sifrei Torah, Sifrei Kodesh that were translated to English. Some not, but many have, probably more than any other website that I know of, at least. They have an app that's very interactive. And someone asked me, should I use this website? Is this website kosher? And I responded, I think it was off camera, so I'll respond again.

30:31if you have the ability to buy the book, let's say, for example, there's a book you want to read. You want to read a certain Gemara, or you want to read a certain Chumash, or you want to read certain Mussar books, and that book is available in English for you to buy, then do not use Sefaria. Go buy the book. Go buy the book, okay? For a few reasons. But if it's not available in book format, for whatever reason, then obviously you may have to use Sefaria or websites like it. There's another one called Merkava, M-E-R-K-A-V-A, I think it is, that is also very good. And that one is actually, from my knowledge, 100% kosher. It doesn't have as many things translated as Sefaria, but nonetheless, they're getting there. Uh, the point is why, why, why, why buy the book and not just, uh, get a free ride? For a couple of reasons. Number one, it's always good to have sifrei kodesh in your house if you're going to read them, not if you're just going to collect them as furniture pieces. I'm talking about books you're going to read. It's always good to have books you're going to read in your house. Number two, Sefaria is not available on Yom Tov or on Shabbat. Why? Because you're not allowed to use it.

31:52So if you want to read that book on Yom Tov, how are you going to do it? You need a book. That's number two. Number three, when you hold the book, if you're a reader, you hold the book, that book becomes like a little baby to you. Okay? You don't want to leave that book. You read something on the internet, it's almost informal. It's like, you know, it's like a friend. like a friend. Oh yeah, I read something. I don't really remember where, but it was on some website. But if you read something in a book that impacted you, you know where it is. You know what it is. You know the page number. You know the three words before and 87 words after. Why? That's your baby. That's your baby. We just moved to a house recently, and, you know, we had to reorganize my books and so on. So I have some books, my books, and some of the kids' books, and some books that are neutral that I let them use also and so on. So I told my wife, "Okay, let's put the books over here—my books and the ones that I use all the time." She said, "Okay, fine." So she started putting the books and then she stopped. So I went and I

32:56got a few more books because what I told you I put all the books you said I said yeah yeah but I also need that one oh okay and then I also need that one oh okay and before you know it I'm carrying like piles and piles of books and she's laughing at me and she goes you can't you can't let them go can you I'm like I don't know why they're next to me I know if they're next to me they're going to be okay if they're next I need them to be next to me Now, I want to read... a thousand books a lot of no but the next why because it's books. That's another reason for me again. Anyone that's a reader, having a book is a world apart from having a website, if you will. Now, of course, again, there are many, many good sources that I use, and many other people use to learn on the internet and online books. Even on our website, there is an e-book section where you can download some books for free and print them out. But if you have access to get a hard copy, it's always better. Now, that's the easy part. The hard part is what this question is. The last part is, as I said, is that Sefaria is not reliable.

34:09And that's the reason, that's really the biggest reason why I don't recommend you use it unless you have no other option. And what do I mean by Sefaria not being reliable? Number one, many of their translations have certain issues because they use not just Orthodox teachings, not just Orthodox rabbis, but also Reform and Conservative. You know, like, in people that have not been really reliable as far as their translations and their doctrine. But if that wasn't bad enough, they also use Christianity. They also use it at times—not all the time, but at times—they use Christianity as sources for commentary. So, yeah, you can have Rashi, you can have Tosafot, you know, Rambam, you have Yeshua. where did this come from? When I first ran into it, I was certain this is a mistake. I started thinking somebody planted a bug. There's no way these people are Jewish. Why would they have some Christian sources for commentary? Why would they do such a thing? So I contacted, and somebody else also contacted Sefaria and asked them, "You know, if there's a mistake on your website, there's Christian commentary..."

35:33It's Christian commentary. And they said, no, it's not a mistake. And also the Reform. I also asked them about that. This commentary, it's wrong. There are certain things that, yes, it's used by Reform people; Conservative people are translating the words this way, but it's wrong. They said, no, it's not wrong. We use these specific sources, which also include the Reform, Conservative, and Christianity at times. It's a... Free for all. So it's not a mistake. Now, you're going to say, yeah, but I never saw it. Okay, so I'll give you a source. Because nothing is valuable without a source, as we always say. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus has a sefer called Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer. and it's a Midrash commentary. It's very, very well known. It was published somewhere in the neighborhood of about 500-600 years ago. And it has some fantastic stories and background and so on. In that particular book, you will see that they have Christian commentary.

36:44which obviously completely does not belong there, completely is inappropriate. So that's one source. I'm sure you'll find other sources on your own. Like I said, they have some good there too. They have some good there too, but unfortunately, like all other Conservative and Reform mentalities, it cannot be relied upon. cannot be relied upon, meaning it's to be used as a last resort. If you need something really quickly, and you already have a good understanding of the material but don't have the book right then and there, yeah, maybe it's a viable option. But if you have access to the book, get 20 dollars together, 30 dollars together, however much it costs, and go buy yourself a book. So, that's the reason why Safaria is on my "bad list." for that. And again, I also use them at times. I also use them at times, like I said, for those desperate times where I need something specific and last minute before a lecture. If I need to print something out, I'll use it because I can also translate. I don't need to rely on their translation many times. But the point being is that if somebody is selling you

37:57let's say food, okay, somebody's selling you food. Why do you eat food? Because you want to live, right? So somebody's selling you food, and you go to a store on a regular basis. You eat, and everything is good, right? But then another guy opens a store next door, and he has Better-looking food. Much better-looking food. His apples are much redder, much greener. His chocolate is from all types of places you've never even heard of. His meat looks like it's jumping into your mouth. You can't wait to shop there. But then, right before you enter, right before somebody comes, hold on a second. And he gives you a little note. Here it is. You read the note. It says, you see the guy's picture. You see this, oh, this guy has killed a thousand people. This guy has killed a thousand people with his food because sometimes he likes to put poison in it just to see what happens, just to give everybody a chance. You know, every apple, there's a thousand apples, one apple has poison in it. Let's see if you're the lucky guy. I'm not putting poison in every apple, not putting poison in every book. Once in a while, you're gonna find poison. Are you gonna go buy?

39:04It looks delicious. Are you going to go buy? No, you're not going to go buy. Why? Because it's not reliable. Same concept here. Same concept with other rabbis that speak well and say nice things and have even done nice things. If they have the wrong ideology, if they state things that are against the Torah, page 17 says you're not allowed to study from them. ...what now? Let's study Torah. Not to study anything, because if they're not reliable when it comes to Torah, they're not reliable in regards to anything. You can't say, "Oh no, but I can learn from him." No, no! If he's a heretic, openly distorting the Torah when it comes to law, you cannot learn from him. Simply can't. Simply can't! So that's the thing: one little bit of poison... put there intentionally is already more than enough. Now, once in a while, somebody makes a mistake. Somebody makes a mistake, and you know, he's cooking, and instead of putting some salt there, he puts some chemical that he has in his chemist lab.

40:12you're a chemist, I'm sure you have some things that look like salt, right? You put something that looks like salt in the cholent, and somebody dies. It's not good news, right? But it was an accident. You can't tell that guy he's a murderer. He made a careless mistake, but you can't say that guy's a murderer, the worst guy in the world. Mistakes happen. Mistakes happen. You don't judge people based on mistakes. Mistakes are just that—mistakes. But if somebody intentionally puts the poison there, and even after you bring it to their attention, the damage that it could cause, and they still don't care, that's not a reliable person. That's not a reliable person. That's a person that says, listen, I'm going to sell a thousand apples. One of the apples is going to have poison in it. You want to use my apples? At your own risk. At my own risk. Here you go. I don't want to take a risk at all. How about that? That's it. That's a simple yes. So, you go to Tanna D'vei Eliyahu, you'll see commentary by Christians, I'm sure you'll see it in other places too, but the point being is, even without this, I still would recommend books. You go to reliable publishers, whether it be ArtScroll, Feldheim, Oz V'Hadar, and several others that I can't remember off the top of my head, depending on what kind of books you want.

41:28There is a, you could go to Ben Israel Books, you can go to Sefarim Center, you can go to ArtScroll, you know, there's a lot of websites that sell Jewish books, Judaica stories if you want. Point being is, you have to make sure that the books that you're buying are coming from kosher publishers, because the publisher is even more important than anyone else, because even the publishers have certain metrics. that they're willing and not willing to publish. You can't, let's say, for example, an atheist or a person that's a missionary cannot call one of these Jewish publishers that I just mentioned and say, listen, I want to publish a new book about Yeshu. They can't. Why? Because this goes against the nature of the company and what they stand for. So you have to rely on the publishers a lot. And why? Because they don't want to put their readers at risk. I don't want to put you at risk, and that's why I say the things that perhaps other people don't want to say. But it has to be said. Next question. Ken. This year, the first day I was in Shana...

42:40So with regards to candles, Shabbat. Shabbat is what you... I'm sorry, the Yom Tov and Shabbat, in essence, you're lighting both of them at the same time. It's not like a, it's the same, it's simultaneous, the whole thing. But the big thing, the big change is more than the candles. The big thing on Rosh Hashanah this year is that Rosh Hashanah is falling on Shabbat and also on Sunday. Because Rosh Hashanah, whether you're in the exile or in Israel, is two days. Now, one of the important mitzvot of Rosh Hashanah, aside from eating the meal, being happy, not getting angry, and praying to Hashem, is also blowing the shofar. Blowing the shofar. But since it's on Shabbat, There's no blowing the shofar on Shabbat. It is not allowed to blow the shofar on Shabbat, not yourself or anybody else. If you're at a place where they are blowing the shofar, that’s news. That place is Reform. There’s no shofar blowing on Shabbat. But you have to blow the shofar on Sunday. But that’s already the Rabbanan.

43:53That's really the biggest change. Now, you have to go and you have to listen to the shofar if you have a shul that's open next to you and is able to have a minyan and so on of kosher people. Go there, listen to the prayers, be part of it, listen to the shofar. If you do not have it, either because your place is closed because there's still a COVID-19 situation, then you have to blow a shofar, which means that you have a very short period of time to learn how to blow the shofar. So I recommend you go to Torah Live. They have a whole section over there teaching you how to blow a shofar. I already know a three-year-old that knows how to blow a shofar. I'm not going to tell you who, though. Baruch Hashem. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Never seen it in my life. Something unbelievable. Anyway, next question. Next question. Chasdei Hashem. No? You had 500 questions yesterday. That's it. I'm going to keep tearing you up until you give me questions on camera. Okay, that's it. 500 questions yesterday. Now I have questions outside anymore. That's it. Camera's off. He said it's 500 questions. The questions are so good. That's what makes me upset. It's not like terrible questions. It's like good questions and camera, you don't want to share it with nothing. You want to keep Torah to yourself. Didn't you guys already complete Masechet Avodah Zarah?

45:18Oh, so that's what you have to do next time. Why? Because you get to Masechet Avodah Zarah, I think it's page 16, 17. You see, since somebody learns Torah for his own sake but not to share it, it's like someone who doesn't have a God. So maybe that's going to scare you enough, you're going to start remembering questions. Instead of learning all the Masechtot one after another, you're swallowing up, you and Netanel, swallowing up the Gemara like it's food, you have to start, yalla, no? Okay, you got a question. I know there's a Okay. A question I heard from somewhere, but it was about the same subject. Okay. They said during the time of Terach, with his father being the father of idols, and during that story about him breaking the idols and saying, oh, they were in a fight, but he said, when his father asked him, he said, you know that they, They can't do anything. They don't move or do anything like that. But they said back in the time of the kings, and he was putting idols everywhere, and the idols were like doing miracles. So if back then, when we know all those Avodah Zarah had powers, after that, Avraham Avinu says,

46:36Good question, good question. So the question is, you know, we know that the Tikkun at the time of Egypt, at the time of the Beit HaMikdash, was that the idols were given powers by HaKadosh Baruch Hu in order to test the people. So now, since this is a later period than Avraham Avinu, the question is, to the idols that Terach, the father of Avraham Avinu, made, also move and do different things. I don't remember ever reading a source that says that they were moving, especially since it would go against the pshat, that Avraham Avinu, like you said, said to his father, "These idols don't move," and Terach agreed that they don't move. But there's a reason for that. One of the main reasons is that the Gemara says that ten powers, ten levels of witchcraft, were gifted to the world, and nine of them were given to the Egyptians.

47:40Nine of them were given to the Egyptians. So it appears from that particular Gemara and Midrash that the superpower-type idols began in Egypt rather than beforehand. The other thing is that at the time of Beit HaMikdash, this is obviously after Egypt, so this continued to spread around the world, and also the test was still there. Now, how come you're not going to see any idols walking around in a Walmart today? That's because the Chachamim, the Gemara says, prayed for HaKadosh Baruch Hu to remove this test from the nation because they simply couldn't stand it. They couldn't stand it. One of the Gemarot says that Rava was teaching his students, and he was teaching them about Torah, and then he mentioned Menashe. He says, our dear friend Menashe, you know, Menashe was a king of Am Yisrael, who for a period of time was a very big rasha who literally committed every crime under the sun.

48:50He killed his grandfather Yeshayahu. Yeshayahu HaNavi was his grandfather. He killed him, chopped him to pieces. Killed a bunch of tzaddikim. Raped his family. I mean, he did everything. Literally every crime under the sun. Put idols in the Beit HaMikdash. Horrible stuff. Eventually, he did teshuva. Eventually, he did teshuva, which we talked to you about that teshuva. But years later... At the time of the Gemara, one of the tzaddikim says, oh, our dear friend Menashe, you mentioned him as you. That night, the Gemara says, Menashe comes to him in a dream and says to him, how dare you call me your friend? I don't know you. Who do you think you are? You don't know anything. You're an am ha'aretz next to me, meaning you're an ignorant am ha'aretz. You don't know any Torah next to me. Call me a friend, you are at the same level of learning Torah. You don't know anything. ...you probably don't even know which part of the challah you're supposed to use as the first piece for the motzi. You know, on Shabbat, you have the challah, you do the two challot. Both challot have to be complete. Don't cut your challot before you do the motzi, okay? And also, don't do motzi on a challah that's partially eaten or partially cut. It has to be two complete challot...

50:12Okay? So now you do the, bring the challot, you do the blessing, obviously this is after you've washed your hands, made a blessing on that, and then you have to take a piece out of the challah and eat it yourself, and then give it to the rest of your family. So Menashe tells one of the Gedolei HaDor, someone that can revive the dead, "You are probably such an Am Ha'aretz, such an ignoramus," he calls him. Imagine what we are next to him now. He's an ignoramus. He says, "You are such an ignoramus, you probably don't even know this simple thing, like which part of the challah you're supposed to actually use as the first piece." So the Rabbi says to him, "You're right, I don't know. But if you're such a big Chacham, how come you worshiped idols?" I know so much Torah, how come you worshiped idols? So Menashe answers him in a dream, and he says to him, "If you lived in my generation and you saw the way the idols were in my generation, you would chase them worse than me, to the point where you would raise your cloak and tie it around yourself so you could run faster after the idols."

51:28So don't judge me. You weren't in my generation. So Chava says to them, okay, you're right. That's what the law is, that we're not allowed to judge somebody unless we were in his shoes, in his situation. But can you at least teach me what you said, though? Which part of the challah do you actually take? He says, yes. He says, you take the one that was cooked the most. The challah is not cooked evenly. Especially if you cook it yourself, you bake challah yourself, you have the merit to have such a tzaddeikes wife, or if you're a tzaddeikes yourself, you make challos, it doesn't bake equally. Sometimes there's a little bit of a spot somewhere here and there that's a little darker. That's the first piece. That's the first piece you take, that's the first motzi. After that, it doesn't make a difference. But that's the first piece of motzi. That's what we learn from a dream. Imagine the kind of Torah you learn from a dream. We have to be awake. I'm still not getting Menashe to join us. Maybe one day. So, again, the idols, the test of the idols was not always the same. There were ups and downs. The Chida says that the test for the world, obviously the nation of Israel, was divided into three. It was divided into three. For the first 2,000 years,

52:52There was a test of idolatry, then there was immorality, and the last 2,000 years, which is where we find ourselves, is the test of money. The Chida says those are the three major tests that were divided in this world that's going to be only alive for 6,000 years. We're about to hit 5781. So we're in the last 2,000 years. Our test is making money into idols. Making money into idols. That's actually one of the things that it says in this week's parashat Nitzavim. Parashat Nitzavim, chapter 29, verse 16, says, ותראו את שקוציהם ואת גלוליהם, עץ ואבן, כסף וזהב, אשר עמהם. says through Moshe Rabbeinu that you know and you saw their abominations, meaning the other nations' abominations. You saw their abominations and their detestable idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, that were with them. So these are different idols, obviously not all idols are

54:12I had a chiddush one time where the etz, the wood, represents Christianity. The stone represents Islam. Silver, also kesef, says silver, but kesef also means money. And gold, pride, kavod. Four different idols. worshipping high Christianity, worshipping all types of heresy, thinking that Muhammad is bigger than Moshe Rabbeinu, all types of nonsense. Even though the Rambam says that Islam is not idolatry, they believe in the same God, but still, it's obviously not what Hashem wants. uh then worse, obviously Christianity is much worse because it's 100% idolatry according to the Rambam and most poskim. But then, even unfortunately in some cases, even worse is when people idolize money, kesef, because they could be completely frum, keep Shabbat, keep mitzvot, keep this, but when it comes to money, no, no, no, they'll kill you for money.

55:21kill you for money. They'll do anything for money. So that's a person that's made money an idol. You know, he doesn't want to have any more kids. Why? I'm set to have more kids. Yeah, but we don't have money. What do you mean you don't have money? Who's not going to give you money? He's going to give you the kid, but he's going to let him starve to death? Doesn't make any sense. People sometimes are idolizing money to such a point where it distorts their mindset, even if they are religious. Needless to say, if they're not religious. But one of the worst of all is the last one, ga'avah, meaning pride. People want to be show-offs. A lot of times, people do things just to get some type of audience. They'll say things even if they don't mean them. They'll say things even if they don't believe them. They'll do things even if they shouldn't. They'll do things even if they couldn't. Why? They want to be praised by the public. They want attention. They want popularity. They want likes. Pride is perhaps the most dangerous of all of them because it could literally be in you without you knowing. You could be a prideful person without even realizing that that's the reason why you're suffering so much. I'll give you a couple of examples of how terrible pride is. Many times you tell people, "Listen, why don't you do teshuva, do this, do that, da-da-da."

56:46And many times, they listen. And then you tell them, okay, you have to read, you have to learn, you have to do this. No, no, it's too tough. Maybe I'll do something else. Maybe I'll do something easier. And they complain about the difficulty of what you're asking them to do because it's going to take an extra half hour or an extra hour. But they complain about it for six months. Why? Because they want it catered to them a certain way, a certain size, the way they want it. They want you to nurse them for their whole life. They want to be babies. They don't want to be grown-ups. And what ends up happening is that they're so focused on having things their way, they forget to realize that had they not complained about the difficulty and simply did what they were supposed to do, did what they were told to do, they'd actually be finished by now. I had this situation happen to me many times with people. You know, many times with people. I had one time, a wonderful, wonderful person came to me, learned, wanted to convert to Judaism. Now, I told him, you would be a great Jew because you have good character traits, you're a nice person, you like to learn. And he learned with me for a while.

58:06And one of the requirements is that you have to live in a Jewish community. So after being with me already for a couple of years, I told him, listen, you're ready to convert. You've already been ready. The only thing that's missing is you don't live in a Jewish community. Just move to a Jewish community and I'll convert you tomorrow. I'll take you to the Beit Din. I'm more than happy to do it. You're a good guy. You're perfect. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm still looking. I'm still looking. looking for that long? Okay, all right, well, I'm not gonna be a babysitter. Well, look, whenever you're ready, let me know. But months would pass, and I would see him every week. Another three months, another six months. "Hello, you ready or what?" "No, no, no, I found something, but it's still $200 more expensive." I said, "What? What do you mean $200 more expensive?" "So it's $200 more than what I'm spending now, so I'm waiting for the market to drop a little bit." And then I'm going to move. I wanted to eat his head. I said, "Are you kidding me? You're going to delay moving in order to save $200? Like, this is where we're at? No, come on, Rabbi, I know, I know. You say, 'I know, I know, you're right, you're right, you're right, you're right, you're right,' but he's not going to do it." Now, because I like him,

59:29And I hope he's listening to this. I'm going to say this: that was the biggest mistake of his life. Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu doesn't have an open-door policy that remains open forever. And what ended up happening is that he didn't take the advice that I gave him to just simply find a way to come up with the extra $200. Find a way to do it. Don't delay becoming part of the chosen people for a measly $200. Just get it done. And he had a way to get it done. Unfortunately, it was a very serious disease that, like I said, is idolatry of money. Just having, "I want things my way. I want things to fit my budget and my Excel spreadsheet and my QuickBooks and the way that I'm used to things." Where does that come from? Number one, it's idolatry of money. Number two, it's ego. It's ego. You want things your way. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, oh, you want things your way? How about this? You're not going to become a Jew. How about that? And you know what happened? For another year, I waited for him. Another year, he kept coming to my shiurim. And I liked him so much. And I said, I can't believe it's been a year already since I already told you to move. And you still haven't paid the $200. He goes, yeah, I know it's not available. And eventually, what ended up happening, one day he just disappeared.

1:00:52He came to every single lecture. Some of you know him, and everyone loves him. He came to every single lecture. He was one of the best. And one day, Hashem just simply took the desire to convert out of his heart. For no reason, like nothing happened. We didn't get into a fight. There wasn't a disagreement. Nothing. Just one day, he just disappeared and stopped desiring to be a Jew. And he wanted to be a Jew for many years even before he met me. Why? HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, if you're not willing to take a $200 risk on Me, we can't be close. We can't. And that's what happens. That comes from ego. At another time, another person, I told him, listen, I understand that you believe that you are Jewish. And you may be right. But according to there's a doubt whether you're Jewish or not. So you need to convert. No, no, you have to understand my mom converted and she's like, I said, yeah, but you told me that she converted and she doesn't even keep Shabbat. Her conversion is, I don't know what it was, but it's not a valid conversion. You have to convert. He took offense to it and guess what happened? Instead of taking the advice, the guidance that's for free—not $10,000 like some reshaim say it is—

1:02:23What ended up happening? He stayed his course. Why? Because he wanted things his way. Another time, another person told him, "Listen, I understand. You want things your way, but it doesn't work that way. You have to learn these things in order to go through a conversion. Even though you believe you have a Jewish neshama. You know, a lot of people believe they have a Jewish neshama because of different reasons. Sometimes it's real, sometimes it's not. But you can't, you don't—that's not how Judaism is. Like some idiots think, 'Oh no, no, I checked my DNA.'" And I'm 70% Jewish, so that definitely doesn't make me anti-Semitic, even though all I say is anti-Semitic remarks. There are some people that make videos on the internet; they're completely anti-Semitic, but their disclosure is, no, no, I'm not anti-Semitic because I'm 70% Jewish, because I checked my DNA, so I'm allowed to make fun of Jewish people. People think that Judaism is determined based on DNA. So anyway, this wonderful person, I told him, listen, you have to learn these things. Either way, you need to know because if you're going to live as a Jew, you need to know all these things. Yeah, but I really believe that I'm Jewish, and I don't know, and I don't know, and I don't know. I said, just do it anyway.

1:03:33Just go, learn this information, I'll take you to a Beit Din, they'll ask you some minimal questions, you pass, then you have this certificate that pretty much eliminates all doubt. Meaning, if you are already Jewish, that certificate is nothing. It means absolutely nothing. That certificate is just another paper that tells you your high school graduation. It means absolutely nothing. But if you're not Jewish, that certificate is everything. So, it eliminates the doubt. You can get married. You can have kids. It eliminates all doubt. Just get it done. That's it. Okay, okay, okay. People always say, you know, okay, guess what? Months would pass. Nour, how are you doing? Are you ready? It's not that much information. I'm not asking you to become a rabbi. Are you ready? No, no, I still haven't gotten to it yet. What do you mean you haven't gotten to it? You said you watch all my shiurim. Yeah, I watch the shiurim. I just, I don't know. I'm having a tough time really learning because I really feel like I'm Jewish. I don't think I need to do this. It's one of the most frustrating cases I've had many times. A year would pass. A year would pass. A year and a half would pass. Instead of a month or two months.

1:04:44Finished now. "I didn't start yet." Are you retarded? Is something wrong with you? Did you fall on your head? What happened? Why are you still the same as you were a year and a half ago? What happened? "No, I really feel like I'm...I don't know. I don't think you're right, Rabbi." So why do you call me if you don't think I'm right? Why do you ask me if you don't think I'm right? Go live your life and do what you want. What do you want from my life? Why do you bother me, then? And what ended up happening is that all this time would pass, and guess what? Had they simply done what I said to do, not only would they have known a lot more information than they know now, but they would have already finished the conversion 15 times over. It's only a couple of months, two, three, four months worth of studying. That's it. But no, your insistence that you're really Jewish in your neshama and this and that, you're gonna insist. You're gonna insist and you're gonna insist and two years will pass, and you're still insisting, but nothing changed. Nothing changed, and that all comes from ego. Ego. And unfortunately, this is part of the job. You have to deal with other people's ego constantly.

1:05:59constantly. In order to help them. And I can tell you cases from here until the world ends, and it won't finish, where people simply destroy themselves because of their ego. You tell them, "This is what you have to do. That's according to the Torah." "Yeah, but let me see if I can find some other answer." So why do you ask me? Why do you ask me? Why? Do you have to listen to me? It's not necessarily that you have to listen to me, but why do you have to waste my time? If you're not going to take my answer, go search on Google. Other people that I deal with take my answers. If you don't want to take my answers, go find it somewhere else. Don't waste my time. I have hundreds of families that are waiting for an answer, and I'm taking my time with you. And that's the reality, that people have such a big ego, they get in their own way, and unfortunately, this is one of the biggest destructions that a person could have in their own life. Simply allowing their ego to run their life. Next question. You had a question, I think, right? So in Midrash Yalkut Shimoni, Chapter 11, Section 15 of Vayikra, Ramchal cites in Ch.M. 102a, we mentioned the story before. Slow down. Ramchal mentions what?

1:07:17Oh, sorry. Ramchal cites Sanhedrin 102a, where Hashem says to Yerovam ben Nevat, repent, and then I, you, and Ben Yishai will stroll together in Gan Eden. And the Midrash, in the first one, mentions that this term, to refer to someone as the son of so-and-so, is a term to disparage him. And so, and he actually used that same name, Ben Yishai. And so I understand why Tim Shaw would be Very good question. So the question is that, you know, the Mesilat Yesharim and also Tanna d'bei Eliyahu, and the Gemara, Masechet Sanhedrin, page 102a, says that Yerovam ben Nevat was one of the biggest resha'im that we had in Am Yisrael, but he also knew a lot of Torah. And the merit of his Torah was big enough for Hashem to come to him Himself and say, listen, if you do teshuva, you and I and Ben Yishai, Ben Yishai is David HaMelech, will walk together in Gan Eden.

1:08:19So the Midrash Me'am Loez says that when you refer to somebody instead of their name, Hashem is referring to somebody instead of David, He refers to them as the son of Yishai, maybe it's disparaging. So I can give you a couple of ideas in regard to that. It's not necessarily, chas v'shalom, disparaging David HaMelech, but rather to show two points. Number one, number one, HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows His creation, and He knows that Yeravam, his weapon of destruction—rather, weapon of self-destruction—was his ego. So if HaKadosh Baruch Hu would refer to David HaMelech as David HaMelech, and He's not referring to Yeravam as a Melech, Yeravam would be insulted. So in essence, for the sake of helping Yeravam do teshuva, to please his ego, if you will, to soothe his ego, if you will, He referred to David as if he's lesser. The second thing is, the second thing is, is that if you notice, after HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to Yeravam ben Nevat, you and I and Ben Ishai would walk in Gan Eden, but then Yeravam responds and he says, who's walking first?

1:09:47and Hashem says, David ben Yishai is. But it doesn't make any sense. Why? Because if David was going to walk first, ahead of Yeravam, it should say, me, meaning Hashem, and David ben Yishai, and you, would walk in Gan Eden. Which means that originally, originally, if Yeravam was going to do teshuva, HaKadosh Baruch Hu was going to let him walk ahead of David HaMelech in Gan Eden. But because Yeravam's ego was so big, he was the type of person, when you gave him a compliment, and he heard what you said. So what did you say again? What did you say? What did you say again? Oh, what? Good chiddush? My chiddush? Oh, my chiddush is good? Oh, you meant me? Oh, okay, okay. Oh, what? You mean? Oh, like those people. You know, sometimes you tell somebody, hey, chazak u'baruch. Oh, me? What did you say? What did you say? Me? Me? Oh, oh. They want you to repeat it. Why? Their ego is enormous. It's so big, it's not enough one compliment. It's not enough. Yeravam ben Nevat's weapon of mass self-destruction was his ego. It's so bad that he said to Hashem, what would you say again? What would you say again? Who's going to go in Gan Eden? But Hashem said it already. You have to repeat it.

1:11:07Too much. I told you you're going to walk first. But now you want me to repeat it? Okay, now you're second. You can still go to Gan Eden. Who's promising us Gan Eden? You can still go to Gan Eden and walk with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. But now, because of this disgusting, filthy ego, now you're going to be behind Ben Yishai. Now you're going to be behind him. And that was too much for him to handle. He says, no, if I'm not walking first... I'm not doing teshuva. And until this day, Yeravam ben Nevat is burning in Gehinnom and he will never leave. says is one of the people that has no share in the World to Come. And for that stupid ego of his, that filthy, despicable ego of his, he got a personalized invitation from Hashem. Which one of us here could say, "I got a personal invitation from Hashem?" He got a personal invitation, but the ego that he had was so filthy that he says, "No, no, no."

1:12:10I rather not do teshuva. Why? He never saw Gehinnom. But now that he sees Gehinnom, he can't get out. Why? There's no door. It's a dead-end street. Once you go into Gehinnom, there's no... Finished. The seventh level is just a... No coming out. And that's what happened. Why? For ego. Ego is a very, very dangerous thing. And it's, like I said before, one of those things that's perhaps more dangerous than many other things because you could have an ego and not even realize that it's destroying you. The Gemara says that ego is so detestable, so detestable that even a person's family hates him. When a person is an arrogant person, even his own wife and kids hate him. He thinks they hate him because they only care about money. He thinks they hate him because they're not nice. No, no. They hate you because you have a big ego. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu is trying to teach you to do teshuva, but no, no, no. They'll do teshuva. They need to do teshuva. Everybody else needs to do teshuva. And this ego comes in different forms and sizes. The thing is, ego is one of those things where...

1:13:19It doesn't come in an obvious way. You have the obvious way, like a Donald Trump. Donald Trump, no one can say he's a humble person. It would be like a joke. It's like an oxymoron putting Donald Trump and humility in the same sentence. He's an arrogant person. He's proud to be arrogant. And people elected him because he's arrogant, because the society is upside down and they want arrogance. It's praisable to be an arrogant person in today's warped society. Okay? So there's the obvious arrogance, which is pretty much a person that says, I'm better, I'm better, I beat you here, I'm better here. That's the obvious one. But then, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov says, there is the worst form of ego, the worst form of arrogance, which is the exact opposite, as far as its expression. It's a person that pretends to be humble. He pretends to be humble. He walks around, "Yeah, yeah, I don't know anything, I don't know anything. Yeah, no, yeah, who am I?" And in his heart, he thinks he's better than everybody else. He's pretending to be humble. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov says, that's the worst type of arrogance. Worst type. But then there are the ones that are in between. The ones that are in between, that are like Yeravam ben Nevat, that want to...

1:14:40Do over. You say, "Hey, listen, you did a good job." "What? What did I do? What did I do?" "I said you did a good job. I was right next to you. It was two feet from you. You didn't hear me?" "Oh, no, no, no. I heard, but I wasn't sure if you were talking to me. I did a good job? Oh, okay, okay. I did a good job." Listen, you said I did something before. I forgot what you were saying. What'd you say? I did what? You say to my wife, "Is picking me up," I'm confused. What'd you say? I said you did a good job. Oh, I did? Oh, yeah, see honey, I did a good job. That's ego. That's ego. It's disgusting. It's gross. Makes you want to vomit. Why? Because ego is considered an abomination in the eyes of Hashem and... And many times, people do not even know that they have an ego. They don't even know they have an ego. They don't even know that it's arrogance. Or they don't even think it's that bad, perhaps. But in reality, it's poison. It's poison. And a person needs to know that someone like Yeravam, who knew the entire Torah, knew a lot of Torah, the Gemara says he had 127 chidushim on every single subject in the Torah.

1:15:57You can't even imagine such a thing. What killed them? Ego. Same exact thing. Same exact thing. Many people that were chachamim, heads of the Sanhedrin, are in Gehinnom to this day. Why? Ego. Ego. I want things my way. That's ego. That's ego. You don't want to eat your wife's food as is. You have to, you know, tell her, no, no, no, no. Do it over. Why? It's not well done. It's like, well, it's not like well done. You got to do it over. Just throw this one out. Ego. You're going to get a divorce probably or a miserable marriage. Ah, son, what? Only 95? Nah, come on. It's ego. What? A 95 grade is not good for your son? Why not? Why can't you encourage him? Maybe next time he'll do better. Why do you have to, you know, nothing is good enough for you? Ego. All of these things come from ego. Believe it or not, rebuke. Rebuke, many times,

1:16:59many times it doesn't work. You rebuke somebody, it doesn't work. Why? Because you're rebuking with ego. You're not rebuking him because you want to help him; you're rebuking him because you know that you have the right answer and he doesn't. He is ignorant of the Torah. He never heard in his life that he is considered an idol worshiper. you want to tear him up. Look, it says in the Rambam, chapter 30. I even remember it, even though you just saw it yesterday. Yeah, look, so he says you're an idol worshiper. Guess what? It's not gonna work. You know what's not gonna work? His neshama is repulsed by your neshama, even though you're right. He's repulsed by you. Why? You're not trying to help him; you're trying to prove him wrong. That's ego. Many times people will start doing teshuva because they want to be better, but then they'll torture their household. They'll torture their wives, husbands, kids, neighbors, and everybody else by telling them what they hear in a shiur. And then they come back to me and say, "Listen, I tried doing what you said in a shiur, but it doesn't work." Wait, you tried doing everything I said in a shiur only for everybody else, not for yourself.

1:18:18In the shiur, I didn't just say Shabbat is a violation. I also said ego is a violation. I also said a lot of other things. Middot, character trait flaws, are a violation. So all you're worried about is telling everybody else. Meaning, you wanted to fix everyone else except you. Guess what? It's not going to work. Why? Because you are doing it out of ego, not out of care for other people. know if you, you know, I'll give you a small indication. You could check yourself; you don't have to tell me. If you want to help people do teshuva or you're already doing it, okay, you're already doing it. You're rebuking people. You see somebody that's driving on Shabbat, you tell them something. You see somebody that's walking around, you tell them something. You know, you're trying to help; you try to fulfill that mitzvah, but you see it's not working. Now, maybe it's not working because perhaps Hashem wants you to do it in a different way, or Hashem wants you to try even harder, and so on and so forth. But it could also be because it's coming from ego. How do you know if it's coming from ego or not? I mean, obviously, you should know if you have an ego or not, but let's say you like to lie to yourself and deny that you have an ego. So how do you know if you actually care about these people or you're doing it simply to prove them wrong and prove yourself right, to look better? How do you know?

1:19:44If you know somebody is living a life that's against Hashem, and you rebuke them, you tell them the truth, you tell them the da-da-da, and they listen, they don't listen, whatever the case is. Now, usually after the first chance, it doesn't usually work right away. Now, if you simply continue to do it just by talking, but you don't pray for them, You don't pray to Hashem. You don't cry to Hashem. You don't beg Hashem for mercy to open up their heart. No, you don't pray for them. You don't do anything. You just think they're going to do teshuva your way. Guess what? That's ego. You're not trying to help them. You're just trying to look good. And it's not going to work. I mean, a broken clock is right twice a day. It may work here and there. But on a larger scale, it's not going to work. Why? Because it's not coming from the right place. If you really want to help Am Yisrael do teshuva, get used to crying for them. Now, it's hard to get from zero to crying for Am Yisrael. Why? Most of them you don't even know. So what do you do? Just start praying for them, period. We're not crying. Just pray for them. Pray for Hashem to have Am Yisrael do teshuva. Do things to help Am Yisrael do teshuva. Care about people. Care about people doing teshuva.

1:21:10The more you care about them, the more likely it is that you're going to get to a point where you actually cry to Hashem for them. But if you've never cried for Am Yisrael, it's very, very likely that your rebuke is not going to work. If you're trying to make your brother, your sister, your cousin, your mother, or whoever, do teshuva, and you saw them violate Shabbat even after you told them what you told them, and you didn't pass out, just check yourself. How come it doesn't bother you? No, no, it bothers me. I told them, and they don't want to listen. Yeah, okay. It's not just about, "I told them, and they don't want to listen." How come you don't cry? How come you don't, like, beg Hashem to give them a little bit more time and not kill them? How come? How come you don't? Because, in essence, again, it could be that it's not coming from the right place. I mean, it could very well be that it's coming from the right place; you just don't know how to do it. But the point is, we have to make it a daily task that...

1:22:11To pray to Hashem for everyone else, not ourselves. All day we pray for ourselves. Hashem, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. Give me, give me, give me. If that could be the only word in our vocabulary, we'd be perfectly happy. Just give me, give me, give me, give me. Enough with the give me. Enough with the give me. No, not at all. I'm not saying not at all. You could keep saying give me. But say also, Hashem, please, have Am Yisrael do teshuva. Strengthen Am Yisrael. Wake them up. Use me as a vessel. Use me as a tool so at least I have a purpose in the world, to get people to do teshuva. Or even if You don't want to use me, at least get them to do teshuva so they can do Your will, so they can get to Olam HaBa, get to heaven, and so on. Pray for Am Yisrael. Pray for them. Pray for them to do teshuva. Once you start praying for them, guess what? Eventually, you'll start caring about them. And not just because they're your sister or your brother or your cousin. Even if they're complete strangers. You'll start caring about them, and you'll see something miraculous happen. Your rebuke starts working. Your tochacha starts working.

1:23:24What you're trying to do starts getting results. But not just one-time results. The guy said, no, no, I'm going to keep Shabbat. He keeps two, three, four, five Shabbatot and then he stops. Permanent results. Real results. But that's because it comes from a place of care. And that takes, that takes, you have to show, you have to show that you care. Not just with the words you say to them, but also the words you say to Hashem in private. Next question. Next question. Yes? Yes? It's a good question. The question is, how come Shlomo HaMelech made a takanah that The day of the inauguration of the Beit HaMikdash was Yom Kippur. But he says this is such a big day that we don't have to fast. We don't have to fast. And everyone ate a big feast on that day. And the Gemara in Masechet Moed Katan discusses this, where some people were very scared. Wait a minute, we just ate on Yom Kippur. It's Din Karet. Maybe...

1:24:45We took it too far. Maybe we should have eaten Motzei Shabbat. Maybe we should have eaten tomorrow. Why do we have to do that? And they didn't listen. They didn't have 100% comfort listening to Shlomo HaMelech's da'at Torah. Shlomo HaMelech says this is da'at Torah. This day is such a big day. We just put a house for HaKadosh Baruch Hu in this world. By putting this house, by putting this Beit HaMikdash in the world and having a place for the Shechinah to be at all times, that is the ultimate Tikkun of the world. Yom Kippur is a Tikkun for that year. But to have the Shechinah, we can do Teshuva every day, on the spot. We can know what Hashem wants every day, on the spot. We can fix everything, every day. On the spot, why? We have the Beit HaMikdash. We have the Shechinah, it's here. It's such a big day that Yom Kippur can be skipped this year. That was Da'at Torah. And the people had an uncomfortable, uncomfortable time listening to this Da'at Torah because it was so far.

1:26:04So in order to fulfill His own words, where HaKadosh Baruch Hu says that He makes the righteous right among the public, meaning if His Chachamim say something, even if that something is wrong, Hashem will make it right. Hashem will make it right. I'll give you guys an example. It's actually one of the things I wanted to talk about. where you'll understand what is Da'at Torah, because that's actually one of the problems that we have today, is that people think that if, let's say, Rav Kanievsky says something, or the Steipler Gaon's father said something when he was alive, or Rav Wasserman, Rav Chaim Kanievsky said something, or the Steipler Gaon when he said something, or someone that's even alive today, but is a gadol baTorah, yirat shamayim, he said something, you can't just say, I don't have to listen to him. I can maybe listen to somebody else. Like the doctor said, everybody has to wear a mask. Rav Chaim Kanievsky said that you don't have to wear a mask if you're learning Torah.

1:27:24If you learn Torah in yeshiva, the specific people that he was talking to, you don't have to wear a mask. No, but Rav Chaim Kanievsky, no way. Doctors know more than Rav Chaim Kanievsky. So people have a misunderstanding of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Torah, and doctors. Why? They think that the doctor knows better than Rav Chaim Kanievsky because he's a doctor. So, The mistake is that people compare the Torah to secular subjects, and this is also part of the reason why many people in, perhaps, let's say, the Modern Orthodox world and the regular secular world have an impossible time being glued to Hashem as He wants it. but rather customize the Torah to fit their own life. You know, they accept Shabbat, but whatever they feel like. They accept Kashrut, but their own standards, not Da'at Torah standards. Why? Because they don't think that Da'at Torah, the opinion of the Torah, the opinion of the Chachamim,

1:28:36It's really a, you know, firm opinion of Hashem. They think, he is human, I am human. The Rambam is human, I am human. So, why should I listen to him? That's the mistake. Now, to take it even deeper, before we get to the answer, the Gemara in Masechet Eruvin, page 13, says, says there's machloket between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel. There are over 300 machlokot between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel in the Shas. Something around 360 machlokot between them. Most of them, halacha goes like Beit Hillel. Most of them. The chachamim say that in the next world it goes like Beit Shammai. After Mashiach comes, Beit Shammai. Most of them. But needless to say,

1:29:37The Gemara here says that Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel had a machloket. Halacha is like Beit Hillel in this particular machloket. But, zeh v'zeh divrei Elokim chayim. Both this and this are the words of the living G-d. So, this is confusing. Why? If they're both words of the living God, why is Hillel right? Why is Halakha like Hillel? Shouldn't it be Halakha like both of them? If it's both the words of Hashem, why is there machloket? This question was asked over 800 years ago, almost 700 years ago, by the Ritva. The Ritva comments on this Gemara. He says, when the Gemara states that both of these words are the words of the living God, the question is, how could both be?

1:31:02the words of the living God, if it is like one of them, whether it's, it doesn't make a difference, but how can they both be the words of the living God? And the answer is one of the most important questions and answers that we have to understand Judaism and the right ideology. Hashem left certain judgments open for the Chachamim to conclude and pasken. to become to the point where there's a rule of meaning that there are certain things that we do not learn from but rather we only learn from the Chachamim on this issue. Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu did not give us the Torah complete. Rather, He left certain parts of it open for interpretation by Moshe Rabbeinu and by the Chachamim until this day, to make us partners in the Torah. So much so that there are certain things that happen in the Gemara, and a bat kol says, "This is what the halacha is."

1:32:28And Chachamim said, no, we don't learn from bat kols. We learn from the rules that Hashem gave us at Mount Sinai of how we pasken halacha. So we don't learn the Torah from heaven this way. We learn it based on the principles that Hashem gave us on Mount Sinai of how to pasken halacha. And unless there's something that's black and white that we already know from Moshe MiSinai, there are certain things that HaKadosh Baruch Hu left open for interpretation by the Chachamim who are using these rules in order to pasken. So much so, the Ritva continues. that once the Chachamim pasken here, this becomes the Halakha in Shamayim. Meaning, if let's say the Halakha in Shamayim that Hashem left for interpretation, but obviously Hashem knows what the Halakha is. Let's say He picked red. He picked red in Shamayim, but He left it for interpretation for the Chachamim here. And the Chachamim use the tools that they have that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us,

1:33:34and they arrived at blue. They arrived, halakha is blue. At that moment, HaKadosh Baruch Hu changes the halakha in Shamayim. Why? That's the rule. That's the rule that He instilled into the world. Now, to give an example of this, to give an example of this, The Midrash comments on the verse in the book of Psalms, chapter 57, verse number 3: "I will call upon God, Most High, to the God who fulfills for me." The Midrash says that

1:34:35This verse is where HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells us that when you call upon Him, you honor Him, you fulfill His Torah, you learn, you toil in it, it is God who fulfills for me. Meaning that Hashem agrees with the Chachamim with their Psak, even if His Psak originally, that He left for us for interpretation. Even if His Psak is different, He fulfills our words. Meaning He now repaskins in Shamayim because of what the Chachamim did over here. And the Midrash says there's an example. There's a rule in the Gemara that says that if, lo aleinu, lo aleichem, a little girl has an accident or chas v'shalom gets raped before the age of three years old And obviously, this breaks the hymen. Now, the Gemara says and concludes that if it happens before three years old, the hymen reconstructs and comes back as if nothing ever happened. If it happens after three years old, it remains broken. Let's continue again; if it happens before three years old...

1:36:01Hashem built the world in such a way that the hymen will reconstruct when she is older, as if nothing happened. But if it happens after three years old, if the hymen is broken after three years old, that's it, it remains broken. Remains broken. So then the Chachamim ask, okay, but what about a Shana Me'uberet, a leap year? A leap year. Why? Because a leap year is when we have Adar Sheni. The Chachamim add a second Adar seven times every 19 years. Two Adars. There’s one Adar, but they add an Adar Bet. Now, who decides this? The Rabbis, the sages decide it. Not Hashem. Hashem left it for us, and the sages decided. They put a mathematical calculation until Mashiach comes, that we already know ahead of time, every year that's going to have two Adars. But back in the times of the Gemara, they used to decide this based on their own calculations in real-time. Now we already have it known until Mashiach comes. But at that time, they used to conclude when the month began, when the month ended, based on the moon. Based on the renewal of the moon.

1:37:15but that also means that the Sanhedrin would decide which year they would add a 13th month, and this happened seven times every 19 years. You see all the details of this. Now, the question is, when it pertains to this rule, it's a physical rule. Meaning, there's a physical thing here. There's a girl, and something physical happened there, a trauma happened there, an accident of some kind, it broke her hymen, but you're saying that if she's below three years old, it reconstructs. If she's above three, it doesn't reconstruct. So what happens if the day of her birthday, the Midrash says, the day of her birthday, the day she turns three... The Sanhedrin poskins, no. We are going to have a second Adar. We're going to add, in that moment, we're going to add a 13th month. So technically, technically, she's three years old, but she's less than three years old for another month. She's still technically in her twos.

1:38:35So does the Haman take that into consideration? The Midrash says, absolutely. Hashem changes nature and will reconstruct this girl physically for the sake of showing that the Chachamim are right. That's how valuable Da'at Torah is in the eyes of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. That's how valuable it is. So when we see that Am Yisrael is glued to Hashem, you see that they are—what does that mean, glued to Hashem? It means you're glued to Da'at Torah. People that think that they can just connect to Hashem and ignore the Chachamim, just listen to them when they want, and not listen to them when they don't want, have no idea what they're talking about. There is no such thing as an intermediary in Judaism, but Chachamim are not intermediaries. Chachamim are simply telling you what Hashem said.

1:39:45Because you don't know what He said. Because you did not toil over the Torah for all of the decades that they had. You cannot interpret the Torah like they can. And that's the reality. If you think you can, then ego is your problem. Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu is willing to change nature for the Chachamim. He's not necessarily willing to change nature for some average Joe. Because those Chachamim, they're His representatives. They're the ones that He relies on to give the message to the rest of us. And they're such a favor in His eyes. He loves the Chachamim so much that He literally changes the world for them. They say something, He fulfills it. And this is one of the most valuable things that a person needs to know when they're asking a Talmid Chacham, someone that has Yirat Shamayim, or perhaps a Gadol. They're asking a question, and the response that they got doesn't sit well with them.

1:40:59take that opinion of yours that tells you this response doesn't sit well with you, take it, crumble it inside a little piece of paper, put some oil on it—cooking oil or oil from the car, whichever one you prefer, whatever is faster access—then take a match, perhaps a lighter, depending on your preference, put them in a bucket so it doesn't cause a big fire, and burn that opinion of yours. burn it as soon as possible. Why? Your opinion doesn't matter. If you asked a chacham a question and he gave you an answer according to the Torah, you do it just as if God said to do it. Why? Because now that you've asked the question and he gave you an answer, listen to him. I'll give you an example. Somebody came to Rav Kanievsky. He said, "Kvod HaRav, I'm about to retire in some months and I was wondering whether I should take all my pension money and buy a house in such and such community." Rav Kanievsky says to him, "Come back to me when you have the money."

1:42:16Now, Rav Kanievsky is not one for many words. He doesn't have conversations with people. He says a few things, finish, next. The guy gets up, confused, more confused than he was before. He says, why is Rav Kanievsky telling me to come back when I have the money? Is he really telling me? That I'm not going to get the money. That after 30 or 40 years of working for this company, they're really not going to give me my pension. The whole thing is a fraud. I'm going to lose everything. What's going to happen? I don't know. Why did he say it? So for the next several months, he doesn't know where to go. He doesn't know what to do. He can't wait to get this money, but he doesn't have access to it yet. After several months, finally, he retires, and he gets the money. He comes back to Rav Kanievsky, and he says, "I got the money." So Rav Kanievsky says, "Good, you should buy the house." He said, "But why couldn't the Kavod HaRav tell me six months ago?" So Rav Kanievsky says to him, six months ago it was a hypothetical question because you didn't have the money in your hand. So I didn't have the special assistance from Heaven to tell you the right answer. I only had my opinion. But now that it's a question that's actual because you have the money in hand, you ask me a question, I'm giving you an answer and I'm relying on the fact that Hashem is the one that's putting the words in my mouth for your sake.

1:43:43Because now it's an actual question. It's a realistic question. It's a question of right now. It's not a hypothetical question anymore. So now I have the answer for you. Six months ago, I didn't have an answer for you. Now I have an answer for you. You ask a Rav something, it's a real question, he gives you an answer, you don't like the answer, that's too bad. Why? If you are not going to listen to the answers, don't ask questions. Don't ask questions. And this is one of the things that hurts a lot of people. Because they look for Rabbi Noach. You know what Rabbi Noach is, right? You guys ever hear of Rabbi Noach? Noach is not only Noach from the Torah. Noach also means comfort. So they're looking for the rabbi that is going to give them the most comfort. Meaning, whatever is comfortable for you. So what did he say? Do it? No, it's not comfortable for me. What did he say? Maybe? No, it's not so comfortable for me. What did he say? No, do whatever you want. Oh, I like this guy. This guy is gadol hador. He told me I can do whatever I want. This guy is tzaddik. Give me a hand. Let me kiss it. Let me kiss it. He told me I can do whatever I want. This guy is like Noach. Rabbi Noach.

1:44:51Rabbi Noach. So that's the thing. You have to understand. HaKadosh Baruch Hu loves the Chachamim. Loves the Chachamim. Because they invest their whole life. Invest their whole life for the sake of the Torah all day. And when a person understands that, he asks a question, he receives an answer, and he goes with it. Same thing with girls, obviously, same thing. Next question. We're almost done. Okay, Chavrutah. Why is Hashem called so many different names, but not the Infinite One which we cover in the best way? You mean the 72-letter Name? Why is He not called by that? No, why is He not called the Infinite One? Oh, the Infinite One. So, there are different words that mean that. So HaKadosh Baruch Hu has many names, and some of the names that He has, they represent His different natures. So there's a... It says... And, you know, in the beginning of the Torah, Hashem is called Elohim, obviously with the "he." And then later on, it says the other name, the one that's Adonai. Now, why does it say Elohim and then later on it says a different name? So the Chachamim explained to us that initially HaKadosh Baruch Hu was called, represented Himself as Elohim because that represents His midat ha-din, His judgment.

1:46:17where initially He created the world with just pure judgment. Meaning, you make a sin, punished right away. No teshuva, nothing. But He obviously knew that the world could not sustain such a thing. So later on, He gave us His other aspect, which is the other name that He has, which represents Midat HaRachamim, His trait of mercy. His trait of mercy. So, different names that He has represent different things. One of the other names that HaKadosh Baruch Hu has is Makom. Makom means place, but because HaKadosh Baruch Hu is not in one place, but rather every place, He's called Makom, meaning He's everywhere. In English, that's translated as the omnipresent. Omnipresent meaning He's everywhere. So, in essence, it's the same exact thing as what you mean by infinity. Or perhaps omnipotent. The omnipotent God is, in essence, also the same thing as the infinite. There's no limit. He has no ups, no downs, no past, no present, no future. He has no limitations. So, it's the same exact thing as what you're saying, just used in different names. Omnipotent, omnipresent, Makom, Elokai, and so on and so forth.

1:47:36And there's also the term "Selah" referred to Him. Tzur, Hashem has different names that represent different things that we need to learn from Him at that moment. And to say simply that He is unlimited is not going to do the job of teaching us that specific lesson. Meaning, if Hashem was always called, let's say, the Omnipotent G-d, at all times, we would have never learned that He has an attribute of mercy and an attribute of decree. Some people that are politically correct say, "No, He's always mercy, mercy, mercy." So when somebody gets into a car accident and dies, they're like, "Oh, I don't understand. What's going on with this God? Mercy? Where's the mercy in this? I thought He's the God of mercy." They don't realize, no, it's not just mercy; there's also judgment. There's also judgment. So Hashem uses His name as a way to teach us about His different natures. In essence, different ways for us to meet Him. And the more a person learns about the different attributes of Hashem, the more he understands what his own or what her own role in the world is, and how to serve Hashem the right way. The Mesilat Yesharim, the Path of the Just, has a chapter, chapter 10. It's called cleanliness. But not cleanliness like physical cleanliness, where at the time of the Rambam, if you took a shower once a week, that was enough. In today's world, surely you have to take a shower more than once a week. Some people do it like, you know, three times a day, that's a little bit too much. But the point being is, that's not the cleanliness that we're referring to.

1:48:44role in the world is, and how to serve Hashem the right way. The Mesilat Yesharim, the Path of the Just, has a chapter, chapter 10. It's called cleanliness. But not cleanliness like physical cleanliness, where at the time of the Rambam, if you took a shower once a week, that was enough. In today's world, surely you have to take a shower more than once a week. Some people do it like, you know, three times a day, that's a little bit too much. But the point being is, that's not the cleanliness that we're referring to. The cleanliness that the Ramchal is referring to is when a person needs to be clean, not based on the acts that are obvious to the world, but the acts that he does in private. Meaning, a person is not going to go rob a bank, but he could still be a thief and not be clean. How? He works for a company. And Rav Feinstein said this in a shiur just the other day. where he says a person can work in a company, and he works hard, or he thinks he works hard, or she thinks she works hard, and sometimes she works overtime, and sometimes she does things that are not even her responsibility, but for the betterment of the company, she does it. But she doesn't feel like she's being recognized. He doesn't feel like he's being recognized. Why? They haven't gotten a raise in a year or two. They haven't gotten okay for a vacation. They haven't gotten a chazak u'baruch.

1:50:12special email, they weren't recognized at the recent awards dinner. In so many words, "I'm not getting recognized. I'm doing all this work and no one is even noticing." So you know what? Some of these pencils, these pens the company has—they don't need all of them. It's only me here. I'm gonna take some of them and give them to my kids. It's just pencils. Schedule says 9 to 5. I'll show up at 9:30. Why? I'm going to buy some groceries in the morning, and I'll just get the job done. Yeah, but you're getting paid for eight hours. You're not getting paid for seven and a half hours. Yeah, yeah, but anyway, they don't notice. so, she steals a half hour here. She steals some pencils. He steals some pens. He takes, oh, this picture's nice. It's going to look good in my living room. He puts that in his pocket, too. And he starts taking all types of things. Why? Because he doesn't think they value him, so he's going to pay himself with the property and the time of the company. And that's a thief. Now, if the company finds you,

1:51:21Stealing its pens, is it gonna fire you? No, it’s not gonna fire you. It sees that you took one of the pictures to your house. Are they gonna fire you most likely? No. If it notices that you were late or you just decided to take off because you wanted to take your kids to a park, even though you didn't let them know but you figured that the boss is on vacation anyway and won't notice, you'll just work from home at some point when you get a chance. You'll make up for it when you get a chance, even though it's not what you agreed to. Make your rules. They're not going to fire you, even if they find out most of the time, especially if you're decent at what you do. But in Shamayim, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, look at this filthy person. Not that I hate him, but he's filthy. Why? He's not clean. Yeah, he's not going to go rob a bank in broad daylight. He's not going to go murder people. No, but he's still not clean. He doesn't have the cleanliness, the trait of cleanliness, because he's still trying to get away with different things.

1:52:23different ways when no one's looking, as if Hashem doesn't see it or as if nobody can. And that's the thing a person needs to know, that Hashem is omnipresent. He's everywhere, He's watching everything. And part of our servitude to Hashem is not just with the obvious but rather with the hidden, the small things, the things no one else is going to see. And the Gemara says that one of the Chachamim... Rabbi Hanina came to his rabbi, and his rabbi, Rabbi Yossi, rebuked him. He says to him, "Don't you see that there's a decree in the world not to teach Torah, and you teach the Torah in public?" And Rabbi Hanina replies, "Rabbi Yossi says to him, 'I'm telling you real things, and you tell me I'd be surprised if they don't burn you with the Sefer Torah.'" Now, of course, Rabbi Hanina knew that his rabbi was not cursing him, but rather his rabbi saw that this was, in essence, the outcome of this. You're living al Kiddush Hashem, you're going to die al Kiddush Hashem. What does Rabbi Hanina care about? He says, "But rabbi, do I have a share in the world to come?" Imagine someone who built yeshivot and was teaching Torah in Nazi Germany.

1:53:46Thousands of people, even with Hitler sitting over there, don't care. He's asking, "Do I have a chelek l'olam haba?" What was the response of the Beis Din Shel Ma'alah? "Tell me a little bit about your acts." What, opening a hundred yeshivot is not good if I was a big tzaddik? Not so. What do you mean, "Tell about your acts?" You didn't see this yeshiva, that yeshiva; all of them have the same logo on them. Who do you think opened them? Look at all these Baalei Teshuva. There's an army of Baalei Teshuva, an army of converts, an army of people that are closer to Hashem. What do you mean, show you my acts? That's why I'm not Rabbi Chanina. What does Rabbi Chanina say? Rabbi Chanina says, one time, I was collecting some money for the poor people, for Purim. And when I got the money, I realized it got mixed up with my money. It got mixed up with my money. So what I decided to do is donate all of it—donate all the money to the poor people, including my money. Even though my money was supposed to be for me to pay my bills, I decided I'm gonna take all my money because it was mixed up. Because I didn't know exactly how much was my money versus how much money was for the poor people, I just combined all of it and I gave it all away. Rabbi Yossi said, "Oh, may my future be like your future."

1:55:13May I have an olam haba like you? He starts singing to him, "Oh, what a tzaddik you are." Now the question is, rabotai yikarim, wait a minute, why didn't he get that Rabbi Chanina was a tzaddik by teaching Torah? He didn't get that Rabbi Chanina was a tzaddik by opening all the yeshivot? How could he find out, how could he confirm that he's a tzaddik with a little bit of money that he gave for tzedakah and not from the yeshivot and teaching Torah? How come? You see, Rabbi Chanina, was, but the only way that you can verify that is not by the acts that are open to the public. Why? You opened a yeshiva, right? Yeah, but you got some kavod out of it, right? They gave you some honor every time you walked in, they stood up for you, kissed your hand. You know, maybe you got some salary out of it, possibly. You were teaching Torah. It's nice, right? But maybe you did it because you like the way people say, "Wow, what a chidush, kavod harav. You changed my life. Wow." So the reality is all the things you did—you built the yeshiva, you taught Torah, you did this, you did that. Maybe, yeah, it's nice, but maybe you did it because you benefited from it.

1:56:28because you got all this honor, so it's not really that you did it because of the Torah itself, but rather because you were getting a financial benefit, some type of respect, or honor. You know, we can't really see if you did it for the right reason or not based on these public acts, but we can know who you really are based on what you did when no one else was looking. When you decided, Rabbi Chanina, to take the money that you had and combine your money with the stock of money, because you weren't sure if there was a penny this, penny that, you're not sure which one is your money, you decided to give it all away. That means that not only were you righteous in that act when no one else was looking other than HaKadosh Baruch Hu, If you had taken all the money, nobody would have known. Except HaKadosh Baruch Hu. But not only does it mean that you were righteous in that act when no one was looking, but it also means that all of your public acts

1:57:31All of your public acts were for the right reason. You opened the yeshiva for the right reason. You gave lectures for the right reason. All the things that you did were also for the right reason, for the sake of the Torah. And Rabbi Yossi says to him, "May my future be like your future." Why? Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu tests you on the small things in private. Because in shul, everyone looks like Rabbi Akiva. No, no, no, I just came here five minutes ago. Oh, okay, wow. I saw a light on your face. No, it's not light. My wife and kids put some glare on my face. You know, it's a light. Everybody looks like a tzaddik in the Beit Knesset. Everyone. What are you doing in private? What are you doing in private? And that's also when you know, when you have arrogance, you don't have arrogance, you have anger, you don't have... It's private, private. We're almost done. I think, perhaps, maybe one or two questions, and then we'll finish for the night. Anything else from the women's section? Anything? Oh, that's about it. When they teach that,

1:58:55Okay. Okay. Mm-hmm. When they teach that... So the story of Pharaoh is that initially he was a rasha merusha where he, in Egypt, tortured Am Yisrael. He was gifted the ability to do it from Hashem, but nonetheless, he took it overboard, and Hashem initially gave him an opportunity to free Am Yisrael. He didn't want to, so eventually Hashem hardened his heart and took away his free choice. Because He took away his free choice... So the story of Pharaoh is that initially he was a Rasha Merusha where he, in Egypt, tortured Am Yisrael. He was gifted the ability to do it from Hashem, but nonetheless, he took it overboard, and Hashem initially gave him an opportunity to free Am Yisrael. He didn't want to, so eventually Hashem hardened his heart and took away his free choice. Because He took away his free choice... Hashem gave him the, you know, He didn't kill him like He killed the rest of the Egyptians. And after Pharaoh saw how his entire world collapsed, and he was the only one left, he went and he actually did do teshuva, to the point where he went and became king of Nineveh. Now, Nineveh was doing terrible things...

2:00:15...terrible things, and Hashem sent the prophet Yonah to Nineveh to warn them to do teshuva. Initially, the prophet Yonah did not want to go. The whole story of Yonah being swallowed by the whale and the reason why Yonah did not want to do it is not that he didn't want to do the will of Hashem, but on the contrary, he did not want... teshuva of the goyim to look back for the Jews that have not done teshuva. So he's like, why should I be used to go help goyim do teshuva? Let me go help Jews do teshuva. You know, it's just like, for example, when someone asks, "Should I focus on helping non-Jews do teshuva and become Noahides?" much easier than helping Jews do teshuva. Now, you're 100% allowed to help non-Jews do teshuva and become Noahides, but not at the price of Jews. Meaning, if you have Jewish people to teach versus non-Jewish people to teach, you must teach the Jewish people.

2:01:21You must choose the Jewish people first. It's a priority. Now, it's hard to accept at times because it's much easier to help non-Jews. They don't have the same type of yetzer hara. They're also... They have... don't necessarily have as many life changes that are necessary. But the point is that the first priority you have when you're teaching is to teach Jews. If you're able to teach both at the same time or simultaneously, no problem. Perfectly. Chazak u'Baruch. But sometimes there are certain rabbis that try to focus only on non-Jews, and that's a mistake. That's a mistake. It's not a good idea. Now, either way, Yonah did not want to be used just to help non-Jews do teshuvah. So he was, in essence, trying to run away from this mitzvah. But eventually, he got to Nineveh, and he told the king that God is warning him. And the king, who had already seen what happened in Egypt, took it seriously, put a sack on himself, and had everybody repent.

2:02:29And that's why Hashem did not destroy Nineveh. So now you ask, why is Pharaoh in Gehinom? Because that was only for that period of time. They stopped sinning; they did teshuvah. But then time passed, and they went back to their sins, and Hashem destroyed them. And that's why Pharaoh is in Gehinom. So the story that we have, the basic story that we have in Yonah, is that we have the part of the teshuvah, because that's the part that we can learn from. But the other part in the Midrashim discusses how they eventually went bad, and Hashem destroyed them, and that's why Pharaoh is in Gehinom. Good question. No question. Anybody else? You had a question in the back, and I didn't... You had one, no? Yeah. Okay, come on. So, chapter 65 of Tehillim, in verse 2, says that silence is praised to You. Or, what is that supposed to mean? Silence is praised? Yeah, no, silence is praised for You. So, silence is praised. Okay, so there are a couple of ways that we learn that silence is praiseworthy. A few things. Number one, Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon says in the Mishnah in Avot...

2:03:50this is the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, says that all of his life he was next to wise men, meaning he listened to wise men, and he learned that the most valuable trait is to be silent. to be silent. Why? Number one, when you're silent, you're able to learn more. You're able to learn from others, from the Chachamim. Number two, when you're silent, people don't really know anything about you. So if you're really a fool, as long as you remain silent, you don't look like a fool. You know, many times people expose their own foolishness by their words. And, you know, sometimes they do it in a public forum. And, you know, they expose their own foolishness. It's like, you're not only a fool for the things you said, but you're a fool for exposing the fact that you're a fool. Like, until now, everyone thought you were smart because you didn't talk. But now you talk, and everyone knows that you're a fool. Why did you tell everybody your secret?

2:04:50So, silence, in essence, also is an indication of wisdom. Because you could learn more, and if you are really a fool, no one would know. That's one thing. The other thing is that silence also represents patience. That's in essence the attribute of Hashem, that no matter what we do, Hashem does not react right away most of the time. Hashem has patience that's insurmountable. It's something beyond our comprehension where there are certain people that literally curse Hashem on a regular basis, and Hashem doesn't react. He lets them work. He lets them live. He continues giving them oxygen. He continues giving them food. He gives them a house. He gives them a wife. He gives them kids. He gives them all types of things. And they're going against Him on a regular basis. Their whole career, their whole livelihood, their whole life is davka against Hashem. I'm not just talking about somebody who just violates Shabbat. I'm talking about somebody whose whole life is going against Hashem, and Hashem just sits there silently and

2:05:58Chachamim say that's extremely praiseworthy. Why is it so praiseworthy? Because it shows that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is very different than us. Very different than us in such a way that He doesn't lack control. himself like we do. He doesn't have moods like we do. He is just sitting there, and He knows that at some point, this person may do teshuva. This person may be exposed to a possibility of doing teshuva, and there's no need to react to the things that he's doing because even the things that he's doing, Hashem is going to utilize them for good in some way or another. And many times, people actually end up doing teshuva as a result of bad things that happen in the world. Obviously, everybody knows my story. I got sick as a result of mistakes that I made. But also, in the practical aspect of the world, the doctors made mistakes.

2:07:05The doctors made a very, very serious mistake that I'm only going to know the details of once I get to Olam Haba. Hashem's going to show me what really happened in that surgery room. But the point being is that a bunch of people made a lot of mistakes, one after another. The doctors, the lawyers, the insurance companies—everything that could go wrong went wrong. But all of the bad and the stealing and the cheating and so on that was happening, Hashem utilized it for good in order to navigate me onto a unique road that, Baruch Hashem, we are on today. So, in essence, Hashem's patience is very different than what we have because we're thinking, oh, you just crossed me? Okay, I'm going to pretend like I don't care. I'm going to stay here quietly. Wait till I get you. And you wait. And you wait. Until you get them. There's actually a story I heard from Rav Meir Eliyahu. He's an enormous talmid chacham. And he says that there was one time a young girl that said something that her father didn't like. I think it was in New York. In New York or Florida. And her father gave her a nice chapchah.

2:08:21gave a nice chapchah to her. But as you would have it in today's world, you know, she called the cops. She called the cops on her father. The cops showed up, arrested her father. After everything was done, finally he got back home and he didn't do anything. He didn't do anything, he didn't hit her, he didn't do anything and continued as if nothing happened. And two years passed. Two years passed, and one day she asked her father, "Hey Dad, can I go visit the family in Venezuela?" And he said, "Sure, you know what, I'll go with you. It's a good idea, let's go to Venezuela." "Oh, you're the best dad! Yay! Yay! Right?" So he buys a ticket, and they go on a plane. They land in Venezuela at the airport. As soon as they're in the airport, pah, pah, and he beats the living sense out of her. Why? In Venezuela, it's allowed, first of all. Recommended even. But while he's beating her senseless, which got to the news—that's how bad it was, it got to the news. While he's beating her senseless, he's saying, "You make me go to jail? You make me go to jail? When?" Two years ago he's been sitting on this.

2:09:49Two years he's pretending everything's okay. Two years. HaKadosh Baruch Hu is not like us. HaKadosh Baruch Hu has a different thinking, a different thought process. He's not mad the whole time. He's not looking to take revenge. He's looking to help us do teshuva. But unfortunately, if we run out of time, if we run out of this, then HaKadosh Baruch Hu has to punish us. There is a very good story that I heard from Rav Nissim, again, says that there was a famous Chalabi Rav, Talmid Chacham, a Rav named Rav Mordechai Levaton. Rav Mordechai Levaton was a very big Talmid Chacham. And in that time, it was very unusual to see a Syrian Jew violating Shabbat. Very, very unusual. They were all religious Jews. But there was one particular guy in the community who was very, very rich, very wealthy, very successful in business, and kept absolutely nothing, not Shabbat, not kosher, nothing. So one time, Rav Levaton came to him and said, "Yah Binti, my son, don't you understand that HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants you to do this? You have to keep Shabbat, you have to keep kosher, you have to keep this, you have to keep that."

2:11:14He says, "Listen, Rabbi, I appreciate it, but I like the way I live. I'm living okay. Everything is going well for me. What do I need to keep? I never kept mitzvot. Everything is going well. Look, I have boats, I have this, I have that. What do I need to keep Torah for? For what? Because Hashem said? My son, that's what Hashem said. Hashem said, Hashem said, whatever He said. Listen, He's giving me, obviously, He's okay with what I'm doing." So Rav Levaton says to him, "No, no, my son, you're not understanding. The fact that everything is going well for you is a bad sign. Because there is a verse in the Torah, Parashat Va'etchanan, one before the last verse, where HaKadosh Baruch Hu says that HaKadosh Baruch Hu pays His haters in this world to destroy them." So you're getting a lot of reward for something that you did because HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not want you to even see His face, to see nothing. You're going straight to Gehinnom. The rich guy, the cocky guy, says to the Rav with a mocking tone, "Rabbi, thank you, but..."

2:12:30I don't think you got it right. There's nothing for Hashem to pay me for. What did He give me all this money for? I never made a single mitzvah in my life. Never kept Shabbat, never kept kosher. I never did anything. So what are you saying He's paying me? He says, Rav Leviton says to him, you're wrong. See, maybe you didn't mean it. But when you were eight days old, your parents circumcised you. So you have a mitzvah. Even though you didn't mean it, you have a mitzvah. And for that one mitzvah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is giving you everything that you have. But He's going to destroy you if you don't do teshuva. This jokester says to the Rav, he says, "How about this, Rabbi? I'll sell you my brit milah mitzvah for $50." The rabbi says to him, "Deal." They get a shtar iska, a real shtar iska. Witnesses, they write a contract. "I'm selling my brit milah mitzvah for 50 liras, 50 dollars, whatever it was of currency at the time." Sign here. The rabbi signed, finished.

2:13:39The rabbi leaves. That day, not the next day or next week, that day already this guy understood something is not going right. All of a sudden somebody shows up, "Listen, boss, I'm sorry to report, one of your boats just sank. All the merchandise is gone." Moments later, the boss hears, "Listen, the other boat is gone, and we have no idea where it is. It's gone." Next thing you know, the building catches fire, the house catches fire—literally one after another, over a relatively short period of time, he starts losing every single penny that he has, to the point where the only thing that he can do is mop floors in a local office for somebody else just to make money to eat. He loses every single penny. Eventually, he gets back to the Rav. He realizes he's an idiot. And he says, "Kvoda Rav, have some mercy. For the honor of Hashem, have some mercy. Give me back my Brit Mila mitzvah." The Rav says to him, "The only way I'm going to give it back to you is if you keep the entire Torah. If not, go find yourself some other way." And the guy says, "No problem. I'll keep the entire Torah." He did teshuva. He did teshuva. "Here's your Brit Mila mitzvah. Here's your Brit Mila back."

2:14:57a person makes fun of the Torah, mocks the Torah, thinks that Hashem is not watching, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is watching. It looks like you're winning right now. Why? You got a brand new Beamer, you got a brand new Benz, you got a new Bentley, you got a few houses, you got a company that's on the internet, you got a company that's in a building. It looks like you're winning. 30, 40, 50 years old. Everything looks good. You've got bling on both arms. Your wife looks like she just came out of some magazine. Everyone admires you. Everyone likes you. It looks like you're winning even though you're going against Hashem. HaKadosh Baruch Hu sits quietly. sits quietly. He sits quietly. He waits. He sends you a messenger here and there. Somebody maybe comes to put tefillin on you, and you say no. Somebody says give me tzedakah, and you say no. Somebody says come to a shiur by Rabbi Yaron Reuven, and you say no. A CD shows up anyway, and you say no. You keep saying no, time and time again. He gives you chances, and you keep saying no.

2:15:59One day you're thinking, ah, great, got to my 50th birthday, 55 years old, I'm gonna retire early, I got 100, 200 million in the bank, I'm living large. All of a sudden, you get a phone call. What happened? One of your kids just overdosed. Shortly later, your wife tells you that she has a boyfriend on the side. It’s the guy that cleans the house. Shortly later, you get a letter. Yes, IRS. We are looking into your books, the company that you own and you run. Who invited you? No one. We invited ourselves. We're the IRS. All of a sudden, your whole life goes into a basket full of dung. In one second, life collapses. And it happens time and time again, but we don't learn from it. Why? We only learn from the first phase of the movie, where it looks like the people are winning, so we want to be like them.

2:17:01HaKadosh Baruch Hu sits silent and He says, "My dear sons, my dear daughters, yes, there are a bunch of people that look like they're winning even though they're going against Me. And it is Me that is feeding them and is giving them the houses and the cars and the popularity and everything else. But don't think for a moment they'll continue winning permanently." At some point, I'm not going to be so quiet anymore. I'm going to give them chances in their own way, in their own time, and through different things. And it's going to look like I don't care. But don't worry, I still run the world. I still pay attention. And at some point, everybody pays the bill. Everybody. So that attribute of Hashem is simply not possible for a human being to even comprehend, needless to say, do. Because we, even if we're patient, we're not patient because we have some ultimate good behind it. We're patient to get our way in because we have to be. Perfect plan. The sweetest thing in the world is revenge.

2:18:14You know, so we're willing to pretend like we're friends for two years until we find you in Venezuela, at the airport. So that's what happens. That's what happens. So HaKadosh Baruch Hu has. There are obviously enough commentaries about that particular verse or others to have a million hours' yield. But those are just a couple of tastes that I can give you, one on one end from the human perspective or another end from HaKadosh Baruch Hu's perspective. But there are many, many other things we can discuss. Yeah, the last question and we'll finish for the week. Anything else? You guys know the rest of the Torah? I had a question. Kind of had a question. I have a question. I have a question. But before Rosh Hashanah, we have to get rid of all our debts, right? If we owe somebody money, we should pay them back. No. To pay it back before Rosh Hashanah? No. No. If you have a debt agreement with somebody, whether it be a credit card company, mortgage, or a personal loan, and that debt agreement is being serviced, meaning you have the money either in perpetuity until you pay it back and you're paying interest on it, or you are supposed to pay it back within a certain time frame, as long as you're honoring that debt agreement, you don't have to pay it before Rosh Hashanah. But if you do have the money...

2:19:39If you have the money and you want to pay it back, you can, but you don't have an obligation to pay it back before Rosh Hashanah. Now, as far as, let's say, to even add to the question, let's say I have a debt of $10,000, but I also want to donate money. And let's say I have the $5,000. I don't have the whole $10,000. Or let's say I have the $10,000. I have a debt of $10,000, I have assets of $10,000, and I have an opportunity to donate money. Let's say to donate $10,000 or $5,000, or whatever it is. What should I do? Now, a person, if you owe the money, the $10,000, and it's due now, Meaning, you have an obligation to pay for it now, then obviously you have to pay the money now, you have to pay the debt now. But if there is an agreement between you and the debt holder, that as long as you comply with that agreement, by paying a certain amount of money every month, or whatever it is, and you don't have to pay all the money back now, you could pay for it over the next two, three, or four years.

2:20:41As long as you're complying with that agreement, you can use that $10,000 to do whatever it is that you want to do, whether it be to give tzedakah or anything else. The only time you have to pay back the debt before you use it for something else, like tzedakah or something else, is if the debt is due now. You know it’s, and you’re simply choosing not to pay the debt by using it for something else. Like sometimes people—I actually had a person ask me this recently—where somebody was selling some assets that they had. She had jewelry and said, "Listen, I have a bunch of jewelry, and I want to sell this jewelry so I can give some tzedakah. But the only problem I have is that I owe $14,000 in rent, and..." So what should I do? Should I rely on Hashem, that if I give that tzedakah, He'll send me money some other way to pay the rent? Or should I pay the rent? What's the answer? The answer is you have to pay the rent. Although it's admirable that you want to give and sell your gold or whatever you want to sell in order to give tzedakah, it's admirable. And if you have debt that's due right now, you fulfilling that so-called mitzvah of selling your assets to pay for...

2:21:59Instead of paying for an obligation, it's not a mitzvah from Hashem. It's a mitzvah from Satan. Satan says to you, go give some tzedakah. Yeah, but what about the guy that you owe money to? He owes now. You don't owe it from like 10 years from now or a month from now. You owe it right now. So you have an obligation to pay him right now. The Satan will make you think like you're doing a mitzvah by giving the tzedakah instead. I had one time a woman that told me that they had an enormous amount of debt, and they made some major financial mistakes, but they have to pay back over time, and so on and so forth. She said, "Yeah, but the thing is, if I pay back, I won't be able to give any tzedakah." I said, "Okay, no problem. Don't give any tzedakah until you pay back because you owe the money now. You're actually already late. And for like four years, all she would send would be something like $18 a month. Even though they were making hundreds of thousands of dollars during that time, she would only send $18. Why only $18? Because I'm the one that told her, 'Don't send any tzedakah until you pay off the debt because your debt is overdue.'"

2:23:10It's not due; it's overdue. And you can't use money that's overdue to give tzedakah. It's nice, thank you very much, but a mitzvah is, you have to know, there's a time and a place. There's a time and a place for everything. So you don't have an obligation to pay back all of your debt before Rosh Hashanah unless it's due before Rosh Hashanah. But if you have an agreement with the debt holder that allows you to carry the debt for a period of time, as long as you comply with certain conditions, you pay every month, you pay a certain amount of interest, or whatever it is, no problem, continue, and then you can use the money for whatever you want, whether it be tzedakah or whatever it is. But if it's due right away, then you have to pay for it right away. Okay, Chazak u'Baruch, good question. Like I said, we'll have some shiurim next week. We'll have some shiurim next week, but anyone that wants to... go to TorahLive.com. You can use the B'ezrat Hashem code that I gave you. B'ezrat Hashem, it will probably be posted on the website also, or in the WhatsApp groups. Also, the campaign for Rosh Hashanah, as well as the campaign for helping the needy and the poor in Eretz Yisrael, continues for anyone that wants to contribute, or perhaps someone wants to use this opportunity to donate for the

2:24:31uh... the campaign to complete that continues. We're actually trying to get some money together to order another million CDs. We've given out over three hundred thousand CDs in the last year. We want to make this year much bigger, so we need a lot more money. Anyone who wants to contribute could also do that. Or you could do nothing; it's up to you. It's your money. I'm not going to necessarily tell you what to do with it. I'm just giving suggestions. But I think that people who... come to Rosh Hashanah with not only more Torah, more mitzvot, but also a better plan to help more people do teshuva, surely are more likely to find favor in the eyes of Hashem, not just in good judgment, but also in judgment to give you more money, to give you more of the things that you want anyway. Why? Because you're already using your money for the sake of bringing Hashem's children back. So it's like the king gave you, say, "Hey, listen, your salary is $10,000 a month or $5,000 a month," and you take all that money, or you take a big part of that money, and you go free his own kids from jail.

2:25:43And he's so happy to see me. "Wait, where did you get the money? How did you free my son?" "Oh, I used most of the money that you gave me to go free your son." "You used the money that I gave you to go pay your own rent, to pay your own bills, to go buy a watch, to go buy a car, to go buy ice cream. Instead of buying all those things, you went and used that money to go free my kid from jail?" know what it's worth to give you money. You know, from now on, your salary is fifteen thousand a month, not five thousand. Why? Look how smart you are; you care about my kids like I care about my kids. It's worth giving you more money. And that's, again, any normal rational person has a very easy time understanding that. And again, it's, uh, I think, a big opportunity for a lot of people to do more than anything else. You don't have to have money to do. You don't have to have money to do. You can do if you are completely broke. You know, this is not a sales seminar. The point is that if a person has more than what they need, they should take advantage of the time. If they don't, focus on the other stuff. Either way, focus on doing teshuva and perfecting your character traits because no matter how much money you have, if you don't perfect your character traits and don't do real teshuva, the money is not going to help you anyway. So teshuva comes first, and then everything else follows. Baruch Adonai l'olam. Amen ve'amen.

2:27:00Baruch Hashem, we've completed another year, b'ezrat Hashem. Rabbi Ephraim and I are very proud to announce some major milestones that we've achieved, b'ezrat Hashem, and with your help, our dear partners. Over 60 million minutes of our Torah has been watched over the last year. That's a million hours of Torah to help people do teshuva and get closer to Hashem. Over 300,000 CDs have been distributed around the world for free. We've also made over a thousand lectures between the two of us, as well as with Rav Chaim being added to the roster. Over 60,000 regular viewers are watching our Torah right now across the board. Over 200,000 answers regarding halacha, family, shalom bayit, and different topics are being given to people on a regular basis. Over 10,000 people have been helped, whether through food or different financial issues. 1,000 families of Torah scholars are being helped by Igud Be'ezrat Hashem.

2:28:00We've published and distributed over 5,000 halachic books, kuntresim, newsletters, and mussar books around the world. We are also currently helping over 130 families complete their conversion to Orthodox Judaism. Our TV channel continues to grow, our YouTube channel, our Facebook pages, our WhatsApp pages—everything continues to grow, Baruch Hashem. Thanks to Hashem, and thanks to our dear partners. B'ezrat Hashem, much more next year. where you'll also have newer features allowing you to use the app while 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 kiruv 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 Baruch Hashem, we will be able to offer it. Thank you again for all of your support. Check it out. Make sure you have the Kosher Torah that will re-energize your neshama each and every single day. Kol tuv b'ahavat l'chem.