SELF SACRIFICE

1:14Who says that you like it? But who says that you like something that's right? Maybe your understanding is wrong. So you need to have a Talmid Chacham who is essentially telling you which way is right and which way is wrong. Plus, how are you going to serve Hashem? How are you going to pray during the holidays? What are you going to do for a minyan by yourself? There's no minyan by yourself. You know, during the holidays, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, which are coming up, you have to listen to the shofar, and you have to do all types of different things that are only done in the kehillah. During Sukkot, you have to have the lulav and the etrog. If you live on an island by yourself, where there's no community, where are you going to get these things from? Do you even know what to do with them? So, a person who wants to live a kosher Jewish life must reside in a Jewish community. Now, of course, there are times in a person's life when they will move around, and there might not be something available at that moment. But as long as there is something coming in the very near future, it's being worked on, there's money being gathered, there are people being gathered, and something's coming in the near future, that's fine. That's fine. Because sometimes Am Yisrael had to travel from place to place and restart all over again.

2:27But if a person simply says, no, I was born here, I'm going to die here; if Hashem wants there to be a synagogue here, He'll bring it here—type of mentality. Okay, buddy. We'll see if you have the guts to say that when you get up there. You have to make sure you do whatever you can to go find the Torah. Go chase the Torah. The problem today is that people think that HaKadosh Baruch Hu owes them something. They may say, "If He wants me to be religious, why didn't He send the Rabbi here? If He wants me to be religious, why didn't He send the community here? If He wants me to be religious, why didn't He make everybody else agree?" It doesn't work that way. If HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted robots, He would have created robots. when you have achieved the level of mesirut nefesh? The sages have a discussion regarding this profound commitment. It's when you're willing to forsake your own desires and comforts for the sake of fulfilling Hashem’s commandments. Mesirut nefesh is a test of one's devotion and dedication to a life of Torah and mitzvot, beyond the superficial appearances of religiosity. This level of dedication requires introspection and honest evaluation of one's priorities and actions.

3:38that you are an Eved Hashem, a servant of Hashem. Everybody thinks that they're a servant of Hashem as soon as they put a kippah on or a long skirt or dress. Maybe peyot, maybe a tzitzit—everything. No, no. I'm a servant of Hashem all day. I'm watching shiurim. Yeah, you're a servant of Hashem? You have to test yourself. How do you know you're a servant of Hashem? I pray—it doesn't mean you're a servant of Hashem. I learn Torah—it doesn't mean you're a servant of Hashem. I do mitzvot, but that doesn't mean you're a servant of Hashem. Who is a servant of Hashem? Moshe Rabbeinu was a servant of Hashem. But you're also obligated to be a servant of Hashem, an Eved Hashem. How do you know? We're all obligated to be an Eved Hashem— the women, the men, everybody. Not to be Moshe Rabbeinu; everybody's on their own level. But the point is, we're all obligated to do it. How do you know you're there? How do you know you've gotten there? How did you get there? As soon as you come to the conclusion that you're going to do what Hashem said, even when you don't want to, that's when you start understanding the role of an Eved Hashem. If your servitude to Hashem is only on your conditions, you are as far from being an Eved Hashem as Bilaam was.

5:00If you are going to serve Hashem only when it fits your agenda, only when it fits your schedule, only when it fits your budget, only when it fits your lifestyle, you're not an Eved Hashem. You're just another person that maybe does some mitzvot. An Eved doesn't have his own or her own will. An Eved has the will of the Master. Now of course that doesn't necessarily mean that he wants to do it. But he's going to do it because the master said so. So that means that the master said wake up early in the morning. I don't want to wake up in the morning. Who wants to wake up early in the morning? No one wants to wake up early in the morning. But the master said to wake up early in the morning. So guess what you have to do? Now, of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that he wants to do it. But he's going to do it because the Master said so. So that means that the Master said to wake up early in the morning. I don't want to wake up in the morning. Who wants to wake up early in the morning? No one wants to wake up early in the morning. But the Master said to wake up early in the morning. So guess what you have to do? you want to be an Eved Hashem you have to wake up early in the morning. If you don't want to be an Eved Hashem or you want to pretend, wake up at 12, 1, 2, 3, or 5 o'clock. Go on and pretend. In your head, being an Eved Hashem means you have to learn Torah.

6:04Yeah, but I don't like to learn Torah. Okay, so you're not going to be an Eved Hashem. No, no, no, but I want to be an Eved Hashem. Okay, I learn Torah when I get a chance. That's not an Eved Hashem. I learn Torah when I have time. That's not an Eved Hashem. I learn Torah when I'm in a good mood. That's not an Eved Hashem. I learn Torah when I feel good. That's not an Eved Hashem. You know what an Eved Hashem is? You learn Torah even when you don't want to. Even when you're sick. Even when you feel like you're about to die. Even when you feel like you're on fire. Even when you are tired. Even when you are busy. Even when you hate it. Even when you don't understand it. Even when you simply want to run away. You know what you do? You learn Torah. That's the name of the game. Yeah, but I feel like I'm wasting my time. Perfect. Just do it. Yeah, but I'm not benefiting from it. No, you're benefiting. You're being an eved Hashem. Yeah, but I'm not learning anything. I'm learning. I'm reading, reading, reading. I don't understand a single word. Perfect. Who said you have to understand? Who said you have to understand? Learn Torah.

7:06Learn Torah. He didn't say you have to understand it fully—just learn Torah. Obviously, you should try to understand, but make sure you learn Torah. You might wonder, "Why don't I just read, say, a kid's book or something?" If there's Torah in that kid's book, then by all means, read it. But if it's not Torah, focus on what you should be reading. Why is that? Because that's what HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants you to do. But you might say, "It's hard." Excellent, that’s perfect. What do you think? Is it supposed to be an easy job for the eved? An eved Hashem, Rabotai, is the person... that when someone insults him, when someone yells at him, especially when it's his wife, especially when it's her husband, and she knows, Hashem doesn't want me to respond. Hashem doesn't want me to curse back. But I want to. I want to curse him to make sure his mother is reminded of what I think of him. I want to do something to this person that he's going to remember for the next three generations. But you know what I'm going to do? Nothing. I'm going to sit quiet, tattele. I love you, honey. Why? He's cursing me. Yes, show me he's crazy. I love you so much. You're so cute when you curse. You're so adorable. What do you want to eat? What do you want to eat? You want a salad with the steak? Why? Because Hashem doesn't want me to do it. I want to do it and I actually think he deserves it. What am I going to do? Nothing. I'm going to sit quietly. Tatale, I love you, honey. Why? He's cursing me. Yes, showing me he's crazy. I love you so much. You're so cute when you curse. You're so adorable. What do you want to eat? What do you want to eat? Do you want salad with the steak?

8:30Why does Hashem want me to stay like this? Because if I fight with him, you know what's going to happen? It's going to get worse. So I'm going to do what Hashem wants me to do. What Hashem wants me to do is stay quiet. Yes, but he's insulting you publicly. He's writing things against you on the internet. He wrote eight, nine, ten articles about you. He called you names. He did this. Baruch Hashem. What do you mean Baruch Hashem? Why don't you respond? Why? What purpose is there to show who you are showing? If he insulted Hashem, no, he insulted you. Who cares about me? If he insulted Hashem, that's something for me to respond to. If he insulted me, who cares about that? Why does Hashem care about these things? The only thing that matters is... ...means that you're going to do a bunch of stuff that you don't want to do. Why? Because Hashem wants you to do it.

9:33And as soon as we realize that that's the life we're supposed to aspire to be, that's when we begin our journey of being an Eved Hashem. Not quite yet an Eved Hashem, but that's when we begin our journey. where you'll have also newer features where you're able to use the app while you're using other applications on your phone. You'll be able to share the shiurim 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 u'b'hatzlachah.