SHEMOT: BRIT KODESH - Stump the Rabbi (188)

0:01we're back here on our Wednesday night "Stump the Rabbi," where after some Divrei Torah and some updates, you guys will then ask some questions, and because of Hashem, we will give you the answers. Tonight's shiur is going to be for the Refuah Shlema for Rabbi Efraim ben Shulamit, Rabbanit Sarah bat Anat, Rabbanit Levana bat Sarah, Avi Mori David ben Nesria, and Imi Morati Doris bat Zohra. and all of Am Yisrael and all the righteous Noahides that continue to watch our lectures, learn with us, and grow with us. And of course, anyone that donates to the organization is very much appreciated. The website to donate is beezratHashem.org, always. Or if you want to go to one of the specific campaigns that we have, either to build a building, uh in a community here in Florida you could go to bhyeshiva.org or bhyeshiva.com. And also, if you want to do one of the tikkunim for past mistakes and immorality, you can go to tikkunhabrit.live.

1:21which, b'ezrat Hashem, we will discuss tonight. So just a couple of brief updates. Of course, we're looking forward to our big event next week here in South Florida. Looking forward to seeing so many of you next week, b'ezrat Hashem. We have some people coming from the community here, but we also have quite a few people coming from all over the place. Some people coming from Texas, New York, Canada, I believe there's even one person coming from Brazil. And Baruch Hashem, we have people coming from all over the place, different countries, different states, to be part of the exciting event next week. And as anyone that's been at the events in the past knows, the events themselves are exciting. The questions after the event are very interesting and exciting. And then certainly the blessing that everybody gets after it is usually the best part for some people. So anyone that comes is going to get B'ezrat Hashem a blessing after the lecture. And B'ezrat Hashem, we're looking forward to guiding and helping anybody that comes. Aside from that,

2:37We just got our copy, Baruch Hashem, today we got our copy of the new edition of the Igeret HaKodesh by our own very dear Rabbi Yaakov Bar Nachman, the 26th generation descendant of the Ramban. It really came out absolutely beautiful. And he actually added quite a few things to this edition that were not available in the past, very useful and informative prayers. special prayers that are from the Ramban. In addition to that, also the famous debate between the Ramban and the leaders of the church that happened in Barcelona about 700 years ago. The translation of that debate is in here as well. And a few other things: pictures, beautiful pictures of the Ramban's community, and really something special. And also, there are a lot of corrections on the translation itself for anyone that's been watching our series of Jewish intimacy, this is the book that it's based off of, and uh

3:44As just simply a side note, anyone that buys this particular edition will also be happy to see our first haskamah, or one of the first haskamot that we gave, as our dear Rabbi Baruch Nachman, for whatever reason, asked us to give him a haskamah, and we were happy to do it. Baruch Hashem. So this was definitely a very big zechut to be a part of it, and Baruch Hashem, We're looking forward to continuing to teach that series. We just started or restarted the series last night, and I already got quite a bit of feedback from people that have watched it, that it was... ...simply extraordinary how much holiness is in our Torah and how relevant it is today more than ever before. So I highly recommend for anyone that hasn't started the series to start it as soon as possible because it will simply fix your marriage, it will fix your life because you'll get a better understanding of some of the mistakes that are simply common mistakes...

4:54behavior today that you could easily get rid of and, of course, certain ways that you could sanctify yourself and bring some holy children to the world. So with that being said, we are starting, you know, this week, the zman of the Shovavim. We're starting Sefer Shemot, the Book of Exodus. And, of course, everyone that has been, you know, learning with us over the years, anyone that's been learning in general over the years, Very much familiar with the story. This is when Am Yisrael, in essence, begins becoming a nation. Although it all started with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, the next chapter is really when we all became slaves in Egypt and suffered tremendously. until the salvation eventually came, and who gave us the Torah. But in between the lines, there is a common denominator, a common denominator that you will find across the entire Torah. The message that's between the lines that is teaching us about kedusha, so much so that you literally see it everywhere in the Torah, not just in random places but literally

6:14Every single part of the Torah, you will see extraordinary and important teachings about kedusha, about morality, about, of course, the prohibition of immorality, and on wasting seed, and adultery, and all of those things that, unfortunately, have become all too common in our generation. But the constant teaching and the repetition and the reappearance of the teachings of kedusha is show us that kedusha is the foundation of Judaism. Achieving holiness, specifically when it comes to morality, is the foundation of Judaism, as the Sages repeat over and over again. Now, where do we see the teachings of kedusha in the parasha? That's some of the things we'll discuss tonight, and there's going to be some beautiful things that we'll bring also from Rabbi Aharon Rata.

7:14that we haven't said in the past, despite the numerous lectures we've given about this topic, things that literally are earth-shattering. Now, these are the names of the children of Israel who entered Egypt with Yaakov each man and the members of his household entered. So here we see that this is all, in essence, taking us a little bit back, giving us a little bit of background that This is how we got to where we are. Yaakov Avinu came down with his family to Egypt. There were 70 souls, and this is specifically counting mainly the men with the exception of two women. So, there were more than 70 because, of course, everyone was married and so on. But the point is that the 70 souls mentioned are repeated several times in the Torah. We discussed this particular point.

8:23in last year's lectures, we're not going to repeat it, why this number 70 is of utmost importance and why it's repeated so many times. But then we see something very interesting that perhaps we missed until now. Where we see here that after it's giving the names of the tribes, Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehuda, Yissachar, Zevulun, Binyamin, Dan, Naftali, Gad, and Asher, all of the persons who emerged from Yaakov's loins and entered Egypt were 70 souls, and this includes Yosef, who was already in Egypt. Now, in today's language or

9:25way people speak today generally, when you say, you know, this is, uh, Yaakov, and you'll say, this is his sons, this is his daughters, or this is his family, and if you're gonna say, oh, this is what came out of his loins the average folks out there immediately have inappropriate things coming to their minds, inappropriate things pictured in their minds, and if they were connected to artificial intelligence that is going to take their thoughts and turn them into pictures of what would actually come out. But our holy Torah repeats this multiple times, where it says, all the persons who emerged from Yaakov's loins. Why do I need to know this specific detail? Obviously, if they're his sons, that's how they came out. What is this biology lesson that I'm getting here? Know this: kedusha is highlighted in the Torah.

10:45anytime there is kedusha, and I don't just mean holiness superficially—holiness like a holy mitzvah or a holy deed—but rather specifically the matters of kedusha, the matters of morality. That's how it's called in the holy language: kedusha. Kedusha is highlighted in the Torah because from hakadosh, kedusha comes out. just like the Gemara says, something that is unholy creates things that are unholy, but here also the Torah shows us that holiness can also create holiness. Not always, because we see that Avraham, he had Yitzchak, but he also had Yishmael. Yitzchak, had Yaakov, kodesh kodeshim, but he also had Esav. "At Esav saneti"—now, generally speaking, the wickedness of Ishmael or Esav was by their choice. In fact, the Ma'am Lo'ez by Rabbi Yaakov Culi, written about 300 years ago, who used to fast

12:08one week at a time from Shabbat to Shabbat as he was writing the Ma'am Lo'ez, and all this he was doing in hiding. No one knew that he did it until it was disclosed by one of the students who found out. But Rav Culi brings up the point that Esav was actually given tools that were even greater than Yaakov, so much so that he was supposed to be the father of half of the tribes. He had a potential that was even greater than Yaakov. Initially, they both started on the same righteous path, but then eventually Esav abandoned the world of Torah and followed his desires. Yaakov, on the other hand, became HaKadosh Baruch Hu's favorite, and thereby gave birth to all 12 of the tribes. This is highlighted here, specifically in the words that all of these holy people, the 12 tribes, emerged from Yaakov's loins.

13:28Now, why does it want us to know that this happened specifically this way, even though you can simply understand it on your own? To emphasize the importance of kedusha. It's not incidental that the time of Shovavim... that is the auspicious time to do teshuva for immorality, specifically wasting seed or anything connected to it, whether it's addiction to pornography, LGBTQ behavior, adultery, or promiscuity, both for men and women. This is the auspicious time where HaKadosh Baruch Hu opens up the gates in order to help you do teshuva for it if you simply so try.

14:30The book of Shemot that begins this time starts with this first lesson: the foundation of Israel comes from Yaakov. Why Yaakov? Because Yaakov was kadosh, not because he prayed three times a day, not because he learned Torah. rather because Yaakov protected his brit so much so that the first seed that ever came out of his body, as we learned in last week's parashah, was the seed that was used by HaKadosh Baruch Hu to bring Reuven into the world. The first seed that ever came out of his body was at the age of 87 years old. have young men and sometimes women that tell me that they're struggling to protect their brit. It's been too long, it's been a week, I don't know if I can handle it. He told us a shocking story recently where one of the avreichim that learns at a different kollel that he knows came to him for help.

15:51What was the help that he needed? Was it a sugya in Choshen Mishpat? Was it different complicated questions when it comes to purity and impurity? No. He was addicted to wasting seed, even though he's married, even though he's an avrech. How often? Every two days. Hashem yishmor, Rav Shavit, who told us that the first shiur he ever gave in his life many years ago when he was 16 years old was about kedusha, was about the issues of morality, to a bunch of young guys that weren't exactly religious or kadosh. So he has some extensive experience here. He helped the guy, spoke to him, taught him, sat with him, and after recently meeting him again, several months have passed already this avreich was happy to say that things have improved drastically. He's now at only once every two weeks. Now, even though this is still not a complete teshuvah, it's a world of difference from where he was just a few months ago. So, Sefer Shemot starts off by letting us know...

17:20Am Yisrael's foundation came from Yaakov Avinu, and the reason why HaKadosh Baruch Hu chose Yaakov Avinu is because Yaakov Avinu protected his brit from the moment that he was brought into this world. From the moment that his eyes opened up, he protected his brit, and no seed left his body until he was 87 years old. Such a holy person. one of our forefathers. Now, if a person simply understood just this, it would be—it should be—motivating enough for one to do teshuva. But what can we do that most people don't really understand the magnitude of this? And therefore, the Torah teaches us further, where it says that Yosef—in the same sentence—what does it mean Yosef...

18:21What does it mean that Yosef was in Mitzrayim? Yosef was buried in Egypt. Unlike his father, who was buried in Me'arat HaMachpelah, Yosef was buried in Egypt. But only temporarily. Where HaKadosh Baruch Hu made sure that Moshe Rabbeinu took out the bones of Yosef HaTzaddik out of Egypt and buried him in Eretz Yisrael. bones of Yosef HaTzaddik out of Egypt and buried him in Eretz Yisrael. Why? Because Yosef was a tzaddik. Why was he a tzaddik? Because he protected his brit when the beautiful Eshet Potifar, which the Gemara says was one of the most beautiful women that ever lived, came on to him on a regular basis as he was a servant in her house and tried to entice him to be with her. He refused time and time again to the point where eventually he landed in prison for 12 years just for the sake of protecting his brit. Rabbi Aharon Rata, one of the holiest men that lived in the last century, writes,

19:46In his sefer Taharat HaKodesh, it states that when someone protects their brit, HaKadosh Baruch Hu protects them and ensures that all matters relating to them, He Himself takes care of, just like Yosef HaTzadik. And even beyond their life. So, when it says that Yosef was in Egypt, that's because his bones were in Egypt temporarily. Then it says Yosef died, and all of his brothers and the entire generation. It doesn't mention the names of his brothers. It specifically mentions Yosef. And thereafter, it says, the children of Israel increased, reproduced, multiplied, and became mighty, very, very much so. And the land became filled with them.

20:52Another lesson that Chazal teaches is that Am Yisrael had an extraordinary blessing when they were in Egypt, where every woman, aside from the women of Shevet Levi—the ones that were from the Tribe of Levi—every one of the other tribes, every time they gave birth, it was six babies. Six children at a time, hence the reason why the adjectives used to describe the expansion and reproduction of Am Yisrael are six different words: increased, reproduced, multiplied, became mighty, very, very much so. Why did they get this blessing? Why do we have all of this blessing? And what does this have to do with Yosef dying? This is to teach us, Rabotai. that when a person protects their Brit, just like Yosef HaTzadik did, when they sanctify their Brit Kodesh, using it only with their spouse and for holy purposes, and not for things, unfortunately, like animals, even though they call themselves humans.

22:24When someone protects their brit and realizes that this brit, this is the covenant between me and HaKadosh Baruch Hu, HaKadosh Baruch Hu ensures that they give them a blessing of children. Several times people have come to me where they have problems bringing children into the world. Young, healthy, sometimes they have money, sometimes they don't have money. They love their wife, everything is good, except married for four, five, six, seven, ten years, no babies. There's nothing more miserable than that, both for the husband and the wife, especially when they don't even know the reason. And Baruch Hashem, not once and not twice,

23:25When I spoke to the people, I told them that it all has to do with their brit. If they protect their brit, if they do tikkun ha'brit, they'll have blessings. Now, of course, this seems ridiculous because it doesn't agree with science. It doesn't agree with logic. It doesn't agree with society. It doesn't agree with a lot of things that have become normal ideology today. But it doesn't need to agree with it because our Torah has always been our Torah. The fact that everyone else is wrong doesn't matter to us. If it says it in the Torah, that's the truth. Everything else is irrelevant. When a person believes it, he'll see it with his own eyes. She'll see it with her own eyes. I had a young guy, a Chasid. Good guy. Tell him he's together with his wife, loves her, adores her, everything is good, but the doctor said there's no way they could ever have kids. I told him, make sure that you protect your brit. No more pornography, no more looking right or left. No more of that garbage. Furthermore, for whatever you did, which I don't need to ask, in the past,

24:52Do a tikkun. "Rabbi, I'm not rich." "You don't need to be rich." "No, but if I calculate how many times I wasted seed in comparison to how many, I mean, if it's $400 every time I have to do a tikkun, I don't know, I have to have $50 million." He said, "No, no, no, you don't have to. You don't have $50 million, right?" He says, "Right." He said, "God knows you don't have $50 million, right?" "Well, yeah." "He's the one that didn't give it to you." "Oh." But maybe you have a different amount. You don't have 4,000? No. You don't have 2,000? No. You have 400? Yeah, I have 400. Okay, so do 400. Do one tikkun a month. I can do that. Okay. Not a year passed. He tells me, "Rabbi, my wife is only a couple of months away from having our first child." She's the Ba'al Shem Tov. He didn't wait for him to do a million and a half tikkunim before he gave him a blessing. He saw that he's serious and gave him the blessing. Other times, I saw people that were newly married. Two years, the wife is crying every day. Why? She wants a baby. She says, "Rabbi, that's the only reason I got married. I want to have kids. I love my husband, but I want to have kids." I had a little chat with the husband.

26:18told me, "You know that the fact that you're on the computer at two o'clock in the morning?" I said, "Yeah." "You're not watching shiurei Torah, are you?" He goes, "No, not always." I said, "Okay, cut it out." "Why, is it that big of a deal, Rabbi?" "Well, it's most likely gonna land you in Gehinnom for a very long time, in addition to the fact that you're probably gonna get divorced if you don't stop." "I don't think she knows, Rabbi." "She knows." How do you know, Rabbi? Our neshamah knows everything. Our neshamah knows what your neshamah is doing even if our body doesn't. You really think it's going to work? I don't think. I know. Six months later, Rabbi, when should I tell my parents that I'm pregnant because everyone has been crying about this non-stop? I said, keep it a secret for as long as possible. I tell all the young women, keep your pregnancy a secret for as long as possible, until you can't, where pretty much the body's disclosing the secret. Why? Blessings are best kept out of people's conversation. Yeah, but it’s going to make them happy. Fine, I'll make them happy in six months from now also. Don't worry. Nothing's going to change.

27:46just try to keep it; if you can't, you can't, but it's better to keep it a secret. There are a lot of people, especially those who have this issue. As I have said many times, I've seen young people who have never even heard about the fact that immorality and wasting seed is such a big deal. Judaism to the point where it's literally the foundation of Judaism in so many words: if a person protects their Brit, Rabbi Aaron Ra'ata says in the name of the Zohar, in the name of the Arizal, if he protects his Brit, HaKadosh Baruch Hu will make sure that he does not go to Ge'anom, even if he makes other sins. Even if he makes other sins, HaKadosh Baruch Hu will make sure he doesn't go to Gehenom. If he protects his Brit. Why? He'll give you whatever difficulty you have to have, whatever suffering you have to have, whatever punishment and rebuke you have to have in this world. Why? You protected your Brit? You're not welcome in Gehenom. Rabbi Aaron Rata says that a person that protects their Brit, Rabotai Yekarim, does not suffer chibut hakever.

29:11the extraordinary benefits of protecting your Brit are literally unimaginable. We're thinking about doing a whole shiur about this at the big event next week, b'ezrat Hashem. It's a lot of information, a lot of preparation, and if HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives us the strength, the ability, the siyata d'Shmaya, b'ezrat Hashem, that's what we'll do. Because the amount of information that you are unaware of how important morality is in the eyes of HaKadosh Baruch Hu literally would change your life, even if you're already religious, even if you're a rabbi, even if you have Olam Haba. The amount of information that's available out there from our holy sages, from our chachamim If one were to know it, literally they would make this issue their number one most important thing in their entire life, more than anything else. More than money, more than their job, more than anything. If they knew how many benefits they get for protecting their Brit. Rabbi Aharon Rata teaches that the entire salvation of HaKadosh Baruch Hu bringing Mashiach depends on the Brit.

30:36of Am Yisrael. It depends on the morality of Am Yisrael. After Mashiach comes, the Beit HaMikdash depends on the Brit of Am Yisrael. The entire foundation of this world only has reason to exist because of the Brit of Am Yisrael. When a person protects their Brit, they give themselves benefits that they cannot even imagine. Even if we review it, each one of them is bigger than the next, and you can't even imagine the first. So when a person achieves the Extraordinary insight that Kedusha has to be their number one priority in their life. For men, of course, protecting their Brit; for women, of course, the same thing. Not just in that particular matter, but also modesty and everything that has to do with the issues of Kedusha and morality. If you're walking around immodest, you're not only...

32:02Losing the Kedusha that you could easily acquire, but you're actually causing Tum'ah to come to the world. The loss is unimaginable. Even without considering the punishment that ultimately will be given to those women who walk around immodestly. Even without considering all the teachings we have in the film Gehinnom. ...of how the sinners get hung by different body parts that they sinned with. Even without considering that, the loss that is created by you walking around immodestly, by you looking at immodest women, by you doing things that are antithetical to the Torah when it comes to the matters of kedusha, the loss that you have in this world is literally unimaginable how much you lose...

33:02By the time a person gets to the Beit Din of Heaven and is told how much they lost because of immorality, the Zohar HaKadosh says, and even the Gemara as well, the person themselves says to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, "Put me in Gehenom. You are the righteous judge. Put me in Gehenom." That's how much the loss is. If the ground could swallow them, they would do it. So when a person achieves the major milestone of realizing the importance of Kedusha, they start going on the path of protecting their eyes, of not going to certain places, that they know that it will lead them to look at things that are inappropriate, act inappropriately, commit adultery, commit promiscuity, destroy their Kedusha. They go on the path, but of course the Satan is also on that same path trying to ruin it for you. Each time you don't look, each time you don't act,

34:29You could ask for a specific blessing from HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And as you protect your brit more and more, for a longer period of time, you start gaining things: protection, prosperity, perpetuity. HaKadosh Baruch Hu becomes your personal protector. Those that want to destroy you, those that want to hurt you, those that want to take from you, now have to deal with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. They have no permission to go next to you. And you see this with your own eyes. Sometimes years after the fact, sometimes months, sometimes moments. But you see how certain things were according to the nature of the world that were supposed to happen. But it didn't happen. Why? You protect your brit, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, I protect you. Prosperity. When a person protects their brit, they start getting more blessings from HaKadosh Baruch Hu when it comes to money.

35:53all of a sudden, the money that they're making doesn't just increase in quantity, but there's an increase in blessing, meaning that whatever you're getting, you're keeping more of it. I know a bunch of guys that make a lot of money, but they simply have no blessing. I have a guy that I know makes no less than $150,000 or $200,000 a month But for him to make a $500 donation is literally like he has to move things from account to account. It might even be easier for him to donate a tooth or a limb or some other body part. Not because he doesn't want to. It's just because there's simply no blessing. As soon as the money comes in, it has to come out for something. There's a bill, there's a fine, there's a problem, there's a this, constantly. No blessing in the money. 200,000 a month, literally teenagers donate more than he does. When a person protects their brit, automatically they start getting blessings when it comes to money. First thing, they stop

37:15the big losses. Because each time a person commits acts of immorality, and I don't recommend you test this, but if you want to test it, by all means. Especially if you have money. You'll see. Immediate loss. I had a guy invest a few million dollars in the stock market. I told him this. He didn't believe it. And then he tells me, "Rabbi, I just lost $25,000 this morning." I said, "Okay, well, you have money." He goes, "Yeah, but I did everything right, except the thing you said about the brit." Well, he didn't learn the lesson. The first time wasn't enough. He lost money, so he was upset. So he wasted his seed again. The next day he lost another $25,000. And the next day he lost another $25,000. Literally, he lost over half a million dollars in a month. And he still didn't get the point. No, it was just a bad market. Everyone else benefited except you.

38:41promise you this is not being made up. This is what the Torah says: You waste seed, you act immorally, you will lose. The first thing you lose is money. Why? Because Hashem takes money instead of your life. According to the letter of the law, a person that wastes seed, a person that acts immorally, a person that's promiscuous, is supposed to get the death penalty. Since we do not have the Sanhedrin right now, and Hashem is merciful, He doesn't kill you right away. He gives you time, but you still have to pay. What do you have to pay with? That promotion you were supposed to get—you're not getting it. That car you just bought—now it's in the shop because somebody hit it, and you have to spend fifteen thousand dollars to fix it. That new house you just got... The air conditioner is shot. You have to spend $10,000 to fix that. All types of problems. You start losing money left and right. Why? It's because of that. The Gemara says that if a person sees that he's losing money, check your actions. Specifically this. Specifically this. If a person is protecting his brit,

39:58You'll see the opposite. You'll start seeing that you're getting blessings. All of a sudden, money shows up. All of a sudden, you have enough when mathematically you didn't. All of a sudden, things work out. Why? The Brit is the foundation of the Torah. We have protection, we have prosperity, and then we have perpetuity. What's perpetuity? an endless blessing that's even beyond your life, as we see with Yosef HaTzadik. Yosef was in Egypt, buried inside the Nile River. They hid him; they didn't want the Jewish people to take out the source of their blessings. They wanted Yosef to stay. HaKadosh Baruch Hu made sure that Serach, the daughter of Asher, lived for hundreds of years before He took her to Gan Eden alive, so she could be the one to tell Moshe Rabbeinu where Yosef is buried because no one else from that time was still alive who knew. Furthermore, Am Yisrael continues to benefit from Yosef's holiness. How? Each mother

41:21Despite the circumstances of what's going on in Egypt, she carries the babies, delivers six babies. An average family, young. They get married young. They're not playing PlayStation. They're not going nightclubbing. They're not testing their bodies out until they're too old for anyone to want them. They get married early. Which means that she's getting married in her teenage years. By the time she's 25, she's given birth seven, eight, nine times. Even if it's only five times. By the time she's 25, she's got 13 kids. And she doesn't stop at 25. Am Yisrael continues. We have a woman that we know, Hashem give her She just gave birth to our 15th kid. She is 55, 56 years old. 56 years old, she just gave birth. Why? HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives you blessings. Her husband is an avrech, tzaddik, kadosh. B'ezrat Hashem, HaKadosh Baruch Hu will continue giving them blessings and protect them from all evil.

42:49We see that Am Yisrael gives birth six at a time. A woman gets married in her teenage years. By the time she's 25, she's got 30 kids. By the time she's 35, she's got a small little army. By the time you figure out what everyone wants for breakfast, it's already dinner. But what a blessing to have. Sometimes people say, "No, listen, we already have two, three kids. We stopped." "What do you mean you stopped?" "No, you know, we did the procedure to stop or..." "So what's the question then?" "No, we figured we're trying to ask you because it's not because of the kids. We're just, we're having financial problems." "You don't have financial problems. You have mental problems." No, no, no, Rabbi, we're good. We'll keep Shabbat. We'll keep kosher. We give tzedakah whenever we have. Right now, we don't have, and we haven't had for at least two, three years. Let me ask you something. Entertain me for a little bit. Did the financial problems start somewhere around the time when you decided to stop having kids? Whoa, Rabbi, how'd you know?

44:08Were you a prophet? No, no, I'm not a prophet. Even though Rabbi Aharon Rata says in the name of the Zohar that a person who protects their Brit and teaches Am Yisrael about Tikkun HaBrit will go to heaven and be considered as one of the prophets. Why? Because this is the foundation of Judaism. But I'm not a prophet. But I can tell you... This is what our Torah says. It's not a coincidence that your financial problems started when you decided to stop having kids. Because our sages teach us in countless places: Each child brings a blessing. With each child, HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives you money. You stopped. You closed the store. There's no more income coming in. Are you sure? Do you believe in the Torah? Yeah, okay, so I'm sure. And what ends up happening, when people are clever enough to listen, they see things change. All of a sudden, the contracts go through. All of a sudden, life works itself out, and all of a sudden, they have what they were longing for.

45:36They figured, listen, I already have a couple of kids. I have a boy, I have a girl. But we're having financial problems right now. Things are a little tough. The tuition for school is high. So let us make a little more money and then we'll have kids. It doesn't work that way. Bringing children to the world is one of the ways that you show HaKadosh Baruch Hu you believe that He's the one that will sustain you. You stopped having kids because you're waiting for money to come in. You're doing the opposite. The kids come, the money comes. Yeah, but what if I try and it doesn't work? It's not your problem. Your responsibility is to try. Whether HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants to bless you with it or not is irrelevant. You have to try. Now, of course, there are breaks in between pregnancies for health reasons. Both mental and physical health of the woman usually could be anywhere from as little as six months to as much as two years. But the point being is that when a person doesn't care about holiness, they don't realize how much they're losing. And therefore, when a person achieves the milestone of knowing that Kedusha is the foundation, I'm not even saying the milestone of achieving Kedusha, because that's already a purpose of life, when they simply understand

47:03that they must prioritize Kedusha in their life. That morality is of utmost importance. There's nothing more important than that. They can get the protection, the prosperity, the perpetuity. And as Rabbi Aharon Atta says, they are now partners in the building of the Beit HaMikdash. They are now partners in bringing Mashiach. And as an added benefit, HaKadosh Baruch Hu promises you, when you protect your Brit, He promises you that one day you will see Him. You will see Him with your eyes. You say, wait, but He doesn't have an image. He doesn't have the likeness of an image. Yeah, it's in this world. When you leave this world, it's a different story. HaKadosh Baruch Hu will allow you to see Him. How big is this? Even the angels cannot see HaKadosh Baruch Hu. But those that protect their Brit will get to see HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Now, of course, the more a person realizes the importance of this, the more the Satan is going to try to do what it can to stop you.

48:23All of a sudden they'll send you friends that want to invite you to all types of places where people commit sins. All of a sudden, you get a job offer at a place that is full of sins. All of a sudden, all types of things pop up on the screen. All of a sudden, people care about why you're not coming out and hanging out with everyone. And they care about your personal choices. Until now, they didn't care if you jumped off a plane without a parachute. Now, all of a sudden, they think that you're too fanatic about religion because you're protecting your brit. Where do we see this? In this parasha. After we're told that the foundation comes from Yaakov, the blessing comes through Yosef. Am Yisrael says he's the blessing. And right after it says... A new king arose over Egypt who did not uphold the edict of Yosef. Paro did not uphold the edict of Yosef. What's an edict? It's a covenant. What's a covenant in Hebrew? Brit. Just like the brit of a man, the brit is also a deal.

49:43As soon as Am Yisrael was achieving sanctity, immediately Paro came to attack. Who does Paro represent? Kochot HaTumah, the powers of impurity, where a person must realize that they're Aspiration to achieve holiness is not going to be an easy path. It's going to be the most difficult thing that you've ever done in your life. But when you achieve it, you'll see so many blessings that you won't even have enough time to count them. But Kedusha cannot coexist with Tumah peacefully. There will never be peace. There are breaks in between the attacks. But Kedusha and Tum'ah cannot coexist in peace. The Gemara says ten levels of immorality were brought down to the world. Nine of them were given to Egypt. Hence, the reason why right after we hear about Yaakov, Yosef, and B'not Yisrael who are modest and are giving birth to six babies at a time, what do we see?

51:03the leader of the most impure nation in history, breaks the Brit, attacks the Brit. And he says, "Come, let us act wisely towards them." This is to teach us, Rabotai, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will sometimes allow the tum'ah, allow the evil to win for a period of time in order to test the kedusha, in order to test the tzaddikim, in order to weed out the weak, the fakers, but also in order to show off the tzaddikim. As the Midrash says, Why did HaKadosh Baruch Hu test Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and all these tzaddikim? He knew that they were going to pass the test. He didn't test them for Himself. He didn't even test them for Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov's sake. He knew they were going to pass the test. He knows the future. Why did He test them? To show all of us that they passed the test and that's why He loves them.

52:27so he lets the impurity, he lets the evil win in order to test us, but also in order to eventually celebrate the tzaddikim and show off to the world, "Look, I tested them, I tested her, and they passed. Now you know why I love them, now you know why I bless them." Paro continues, to fight. And he says, let's act wisely towards them, lest they become numerous. And it may be that if a war will occur to us, they too may join the enemy and go up from our land. Now, logically, this doesn't make sense. If you're scared that the Jewish people are your enemy, then why wouldn't you want them to leave? You're saying they may be your enemy. They may join your other enemy and then leave. If they're your enemy, the first thing you want them to do is to leave. Now, of course, from a worldly perspective, we know that it's because all Pharaoh wanted is simply more money. He wanted more material; he didn't want the Jewish people to leave. He wanted their own profits to leave and go to him. He wanted the Jewish production, the Jewish blessing, but all of it to go to him.

53:54worldly perspective, we know that it's because all Pharaoh wanted is simply more money. He wanted more material; he didn't want the Jewish people to leave. He wanted their own profits to leave and go to him. He wanted the Jewish production, the Jewish blessing, but all of it to go to him. This is not a unique thing. The same thing happened with all of the enemies of Am Yisrael throughout the generations. They want to kick out the Jews, but they want to keep all their stuff. Or they simply just don't care if the Jews stay, but they don't want them to continue making so much money. But they wanted them to continue producing money for everybody else. on a deeper perspective when it comes to the matter of kedusha, since we now know that on the side of kedusha, Yaakov and Yosef are representing it, but not Yisrael. The daughters of Yisrael are showing us some of these blessings because of their own modesty, as Am Yisrael preserves their blessing by, you know, keeping their names, keeping their modesty.

55:18as far as their, uh, clothing and also their language, they still continue speaking the holy language. But on the side of immorality, of impurity, we have Paro who has in his hands nine levels of impurity out of ten that are given to the entire world. As the Rambam says, a woman is not allowed to be with another woman. Because we learned that HaKadosh Baruch Hu finds that disgusting, as that's one of the reasons that He punished Egypt. Because that's what they used to do. That's what they used to do. So now we see that Paro is talking war, but don't leave. So why would the tum'a, the impurity, not want the kedusha to leave? That's because, Rabotai Yekarim, the war between kedusha and tum'a is constant. If you're fighting for the sake of attaining kedusha, you're gonna constantly fight against the tum'a. But know this, that the tum'a is not looking for you

56:48to abandon learning Torah. The Satan doesn't want you to stop learning Torah. The Satan doesn't want you to stop keeping Shabbat. No. What does he want? He wants you to do all of those mitzvot, but act immorally. Waste seed, watch pornography, wear something immodest, socialize with men that are not your husband, do all types of things that are immoral while you're doing mitzvot. Why would the Satan want you to do that? Because just like Pharaoh says, there's a war, but I don't want them to leave. Do you know why I don't want them to leave? Because the tum'a needs the kedusha. socialize with men that are not your husband, do all types of things that are immoral while you're doing mitzvot. Why would the Satan want you to do that? Because just like Pharaoh says, there's a war, but I don't want them to leave. Do you know why I don't want them to leave? Because the tum'ah needs the kedushah. Because the kedushah is the source of life. And without kedushah existing, there is no world. And therefore the tum'ah specifically focuses on people that do mitzvot, that are religious, that are learning Torah.

58:09People that are not learning Torah, the tum'ah doesn't even bother with them. Why? They're already sinning by themselves. They're like an autopilot of sins. They sin by themselves. They do things immoral by themselves. They're addicted to sins all by themselves. The Satan doesn't have to influence them to go to bad places and look at bad things. They're already living a bad life. They're already living a purposeless life. Where does the Satan focus all of his energy? On people that are learning Torah. On people that are keeping Torah and mitzvot. He sees you learning. Wow, look. She's watching a shiur Torah every night. Look at that. Great, great. Let her keep watching. Look at him. He studied for two hours today. Good job. Keep going, keep going. This is not the HaKadosh Baruch Hu saying at that point. This is the Satan saying. Look, he just watched the rabbi for two hours. Good job. Look, he just finished two dapim of Gemara. Good job. Keep going. Keep going. Keep learning. Keep doing mitzvot. Oh, look, they just gave some tzedakah to a homeless guy. They just supported a campaign over there to get some tzitziot. Good job. Keep doing mitzvot. Good.

59:30Why? I'm waiting for you around the corner. Build you up, fatten you up like a duck. Fatten you up like a little calf. Feed you, feed you, feed you. More mitzvot, more mitzvot. Why? Because around that corner, I'm waiting for you with an opportunity to sin, with immorality. Around that corner, I'm waiting for you with an opportunity to sin, with immorality. Take that date that was supposed to be shidduch too far. Take that conversation with the client too far. Take that opportunity too far. And when you fall, Satan says, ah, now I got you. All of that which you've gained, protect us and save us from this. All of the mitzvot that you just did, all of the Torah learning that you just did, all of the zechuyot that you've gathered by protecting, by doing good, but you fell.

1:00:58Now, it just gave the Satan, the Sitra Achra, even more power. Hence the reason why the sages teach that wasting seed is like avodah zarah. It's not avodah zarah, but it's like avodah zarah. Why? It's like you gave a korban to the Satan. You walked around modest the whole year. Two years you're covering your hair. Two years you're covering your body. Everything is good. But then one of your friends says, "We're having a wedding. Why don't you come?" Okay, I'm coming. "But you're not gonna, I want you to be one of the bridesmaids." Okay, fine, I'll be a bridesmaid. "Yeah, but I don't want you to wear that shmatta on your head." What do you mean, I have to cover my hair? I'm married. "Yeah, but you know, we can get you something else." What are you gonna get me? You know, he can get you a wig that's longer than the exile. One that makes you look more single than the bride. Worse yet, she got a new job. She's making a little bit of money, helping the family out. All of a sudden, the boss says, "Listen, we're having a meeting today after work. I want you to come. Talk about promotions, bonuses."

1:02:25Yeah, but, you know, I have my husband, he's waiting for me, you know, it's a... listen, it's promotions, you know, first come, first serve. Oh, yeah, yeah, no, I'll come. Okay, she tells her husband, honey, I'm going to be a little late, I have to go to a promotion meeting, and oh, okay, okay. Where is it, at the office? I don't know, it's somewhere around, and it's nowhere near the office, it's at some bar. And before you know it, the boss says, "Listen, have a drink." "No, no, I'm not going to have a drink." "No, come on. We're talking about promotions. I was thinking about giving you a 25% raise." "Oh, 25% raise. Yeah. What are you drinking? What are you drinking? How much are you drinking? Yeah, have a little shot." And before you know it, his hands all of a sudden, his eyes all of a sudden, everything all of a sudden. And guess what? My dear daughter of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Hashem Yishma V'Yatzil, even if you did not commit the act altogether, but you crossed the line. Remember all those mitzvot? Remember all that modesty? Remember all those things you did? The Satan just took all of it. The Satan just took all of it. So why did this happen? It happened because you allowed it to happen.

1:03:49Because you didn't realize that Tum'a needs Kedusha. It's not just, oh, it's either Tum'a or Kedusha. No, no, no. Tum'a needs Kedusha. Hence the reason why Pharaoh says, there's gonna be a war, but I don't want them to leave. Why? I need them. They're my weapon. Yeah, but they're the enemy. No, they're not really the enemy. I need them to do mitzvot. It's just that once they finish doing the mitzvot, then I'm going to get them. Let them build, let them build, let them learn, let them do good stuff. Yeah, yeah, sure. But if he comes and he waits once a month, perfect. All of that goes to me. She keeps modesty all month long, but then she decides to forget the kisui rosh at home. She decides to wear a dress that's no different than her skin because it's just as tight. She decides to do all types of things that are not allowed because it's a business meeting. Guess what? Those mitzvot, now they went to the wrong side.

1:05:10The yetzer hara attacks when you're least expecting it. And what's going to get you back now that you made some mistakes? You fell. You studied all month. You studied for two years. You haven't done a wrong thing in a long time. But now you just heard this, and you are losing steam. Oh man, I lost everything? Yes, but there is hope. What's hope? Next, it says that Am Yisrael suffered tremendously. But as much as they would afflict them... So they would increase, so they would become powerful. Meaning, even though the Tumah, even though Pharaoh tried to destroy Am Yisrael, HaKadosh Baruch Hu did not let it happen. Hurt? They got hurt. Suffered? They suffered. But Am Yisrael Chai. Meaning, they held on to something to keep them going. Am Yisrael held on to very little. They didn't have the Torah like we have today.

1:06:40didn't have translation, transliteration, didn't have easily accessible shiurei Torah, rabbis that work at three o'clock in the morning just to answer your question, didn't have that. But whatever they had, they held onto it. Names, they kept their Jewish names. They didn't start calling themselves all types of Egyptian names. They didn't call their son Mikey, they called him Michael. They didn't call their son Richard. They called him Yaakov. They called him Shimon. They called them by Jewish names. What's the big deal about a Jewish name? It's a reminder for yourself that you're Jewish every time someone says your name. And it's psychologically proven that the prettiest sound to a person is hearing somebody say their name.

1:07:41You have a Jewish name; you're constantly reminded you're Jewish. A lot of people have two names or more. They have a business name, and they have a Jewish name. The Jewish name they use in synagogue when they want to get a blessing. Everywhere else, they use a different name. You can do it. I just don't recommend it. Why? Even though it's permitted to use this business name for different reasons. But you need to hear your name. Not that other people need to hear your name. You need to hear your name. Why? It's a constant reminder of who you are. The Amish kept their names. The Amish kept their language. Yeah, but they were in Egypt already for 200 years. They kept their language. Why didn't Egyptian become their first language? Why? Because we're Jews. It's important for a Jew to know Hebrew. It's not more important than learning Torah, but if you know Hebrew, that's a very big benefit. You can learn more things that haven't been translated. But what's the point here? It's not that Hebrew makes you Jewish. There are a bunch of Arabs that speak Hebrew. Rather, it's another reminder of where you come from.

1:09:10It's another reminder of where you come from. Lastly, they kept their clothing. They didn't start dressing like gangster rappers with their pants down to their ankles and the hat sideways as if they can't see straight. They didn't start wearing all types of clothes they saw in some filthy magazine of how these runway models wear. Didn't have any French designer decide that their ultimate Olam HaBa for them. What did they wear? Modest clothes. Modest clothes. What about big mitzvot? He said it's tzedakah, learning Torah, all that stuff. They didn't have that, but they had those three things that kept them in. That kept Am Yisrael Chai. That kept Am Yisrael chai, Rabotai. So no matter how much they would afflict them, no matter how much the tumah would affect the kedusha, would cause it to fall, they stayed in. Meaning, you fell, you lost your mitzvot, you can get it back. How? Start again. Start learning again. Start being modest again.

1:10:38Do teshuva again. Do a tikkun. Help other people do teshuva. Yeah, but I worked so hard and I lost it. Yes, you lost it. But you can get it back. Yeah, but it's so hard. Oh, because you just want to go to Gehinnom? You just want to suffer for the rest of your life? You want to be a loser? What do you want to do? No, but it's so hard. Yes. But it's hard because you made it hard. It's harder now to get back up. than it was to stay on the right path. Now that you've learned that, go back on the right path and stay on it and write it in a little book of how hard it is to get back up so the next time the Satan comes to attack you and tries to convince you to wear something not modest, tries to convince you to go to a place of immodesty, tries to convince you to do things that are against Kedusha, you look at that book and it reminds you You look at the lectures that we have, a whole playlist of lectures, and it reminds you not to fall. Achieving Kedusha is not a one-time thing. It's a lifelong endeavor. But even after Am Yisrael continued growing, Paro continued fighting back. And it says later on, literally the next verse:

1:12:07He afflicted them with labor. They embittered their lives with harsh labor. One of the most effective tools of the Satan to get you off your path, especially off the path of teshuva, is to get you to stop thinking about it. How? Get you busy with work. Get you busy with work. You're busy with work. You're busy with chasing money. You're busy with acquiring a better position. Yeah, I want to get a better position at a different company or at the same company. And I have to get this client. I have to close this deal. Yeah, yeah, it's good. You can do all of that. But what about your Torah learning? What about your kedusha? What about all these lines that you're almost crossing every single day just to achieve your goals? ...you don't start paying attention to it and go back to making Kedusha your number one priority, guess what? You'll be worse than what you were when you first started this journey. And this rat race that you're on that's keeping you busy? That's also part of the strategy of the Sitra Achra, the Satan, the Malach HaMavet—all being the same...

1:13:30keep you busy. He's willing to give you money, he's willing to give you contracts, he's willing to give you opportunities. Why? To get your mind off of teshuva. So you think, "Oh, I have this opportunity with this client, with this company. Great, so close the deal, call them." No, no, "I gotta meet them." Why do you have to meet them? "No, because the owner..." Okay, fine, so you know... have somebody else that can meet them, or maybe you can go with somebody else and not be in a one-on-one meeting. Not be in the middle of the night, not be at a nightclub, not be at a bar. Can it be just a meeting in the office with other people there so there's no issues of yichud? No, you know this guy, he's really like one of these people who likes to enjoy life, and he wants me to meet him at this lounge. know there's a lot of people there, but the meeting is just me and him, and he's a male, and I'm a female, or she's a female and I'm a male, and before you know it, Gehinnom, Kaf HaKela, and Chibut HaKever all become a reality. Why? Because you thought you were going to sign a contract. You thought you were going to sign a contract. How did he get you? Simple: harsh labor gets you busy.

1:14:53chasing the dream. Forget about teshuvah, forget about teshuvah. We can go on forever; this parasha and this Torah are full of it. But as I mentioned before, the Basic understanding of the parasha is what you do the first time you learn it. As you continue learning, you build; you build, you learn more. You don't learn the same thing every time. You learn more, you build on it. But one of the beautiful things about the Torah is that building upon it doesn't mean going to a completely different subject.

1:15:55It's the same thing, but with more information. It's the same thing, but with more insights, with more connections. Rabbi Avraham Rata gave us extraordinary insights over the years about the importance of the brit. And he says in the Taharat HaKodesh that there are 80 ma'alot, 80 specific types of rewards that are beyond comprehension, which he goes into detail about what each one of them is. 80 ma'alot that a person gets for protecting their brit. to the point of seeing God, bringing the Messiah, getting Ruach HaKodesh, being considered like a prophet, literally things that are beyond comprehension. You would think you have to be, like, you know, the most righteous person in the world to even think of something like this. Rabbi Aharon Rata says, no, no, no, you can achieve it. You, little you, 16-year-old, 26-year-old, 46-year-old, whatever age.

1:17:24You can achieve this. How? It all starts with Brit Kodesh. In fact, he starts off this section by saying that some of these rewards that are of this world—there are many of them that are beyond this world—but some of these rewards that are in this world, there are times when the generation, the generation itself, does not have the merit to live among somebody that has... such rewards out in the open like prophecy and kedusha and so on, or things that are even beyond that. He says don't worry; even if Hashem doesn't give it to you here, you will get it. You will get every single thing that He promises, and I'm telling you

1:18:24Every one of these ma'alot is better than the next. It's impossible to understand it. How could such a thing come from what seems to be simple? Now, of course, it's not simple, but in comparison to the reward, like I told you, if all of you knew what I have in front of me, you would literally make it your top priority in your life. to achieve Kedusha, which means modesty is no longer up for discussion. It's the only thing that exists, both males and females. Protecting your eyes, modest clothes, modest speech, holiness in regards to intimacy becomes a priority. You want to achieve it even if you can't and you're 20 years away from ever achieving it because you're used to one thing and you're going to try. Protecting your speech, learning about this, and doing tikkunim. Why? The more I invest into this, both my time, my resources, my efforts, the more I'm attaining this Kedusha, the more HaKadosh Baruch Hu becomes a partner with me.

1:19:25protecting your speech, learning about this, and doing tikkunim. Why? The more I invest into this, both my time, my resources, my efforts, the more I'm attaining this Kedusha, the more HaKadosh Baruch Hu becomes a partner with me, and I become a partner with Him. You become one of HaKadosh Baruch Hu's promoters, one of His prophets that spreads out this information. Whether it's giving out USBs or cards or sending out the links to the shiurim, for those that know how to speak and have learned enough, teach.

1:20:25Literally, this becomes the number one thing. For those that have money, literally, they would sell buildings just to do this. They would sell buildings. They would sell the building just to do this. If they simply knew what I have in front of me. If they knew what Rabbi Aharon Rata told us literally 50 years ago, or less. The amount of blessings that a person gets from achieving Kedushah, promoting it, as he himself says, unlike the people of our generation that are embarrassed to talk about it or teach it. So of course, he had the same issues we have now even 60 years ago. This is the opposite. one must promote this, one must teach this. He merits the fourth madreigah. He merits three specific benefits for the fourth one. We're not talking about all 80.

1:21:47that in the future he will ultimately see HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself without anything separating him. No separation between them. He will see HaKadosh Baruch Hu. She will see HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Is there anyone that could possibly even imagine such a thing? This is just the fourth level. It gets better from this. Honestly, there's so many here. I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what to tell you. Here in the seventh level, for example, he says,

1:23:03He says someone that protects their Brit, achieves Brit Kodesh. It lightens their body. HaKadosh Baruch Hu brings a special light on this person to such an extent that no worm or maggot can touch it. Meaning, they finish their life here, they're buried, open up the open up the grave. A hundred years from now, it looks like they're sleeping. It looks like they're sleeping. They're still there. We're not talking about someone that learned for 500 years straight and didn't... No, no. We're talking about someone that keeps Brit Kodesh. Something that every single one of you that's watching can attain. With a lifetime of effort and consistency, you can attain this. You can do this. He says whoever overcomes an obstacle is considered in Shamayim to be announced as a Gibor! What's a Gibor? He is like Boaz, who didn't fall for the test.

1:24:30With Ruth, before he got married to her, he had an opportunity to do it, but he didn't. Even though she was sleeping by his feet, he never sinned. That's why from him comes Mashiach. With Palti Ben Laish, who Shaul HaMelech gave his daughter to marry, even though she was already married to David. But he didn't fall, because he knew she was the wife of David. And every night, he put a sword in the middle of the bed. He said, "Whoever crosses this, the sword will cut him." Sleeping next to a woman that he knows he's not allowed to, but he can't say no because the king will kill him. Until David HaMelech became king again, and he gave him his wife. And this was not just a difficult test every single day, but one of the most challenging. He loved her. He wanted to be with her. But he knew he was not allowed to. In Shamayim, he's called a Gibor. And then there's Yosef HaTzadik, Gibor. You overcome the test. The next time you have a test of the Satan coming to you, in Shamayim they're announcing, Gibor, Gibor. Like who? Like Boaz, like Palti ben Laish, like Yosef, Gibor.

1:26:09the clothing of a king, the garment of a king over you, just like Yosef HaTzadik became a king. This list goes on and on. Again, if you only knew what our sages told us about Brit Kodesh you would literally understand how there's a clear path to achieving sanctity and blessings beyond your comprehension. And the reason you haven't yet is as a result of the Satan doing everything he can to take your attention away from it. Even if he has to take you to other mitzvot, bring your focus to other mitzvot, bring your focus to other good things. You'd rather do the other good things: go feed the homeless, go help the poor, do all types of other things. Just get out of this Brit Kodesh stuff. "No, no, no, you're gonna destroy my life." "Yeah, destroy your life, build mine."

1:27:13even if he has to take you to other mitzvot, bring your focus to other mitzvot, bring your focus to other good things. You'd rather do the other good things: go feed the homeless, go help the poor, do all types of other things. Just get out of this Brit Kodesh stuff. "No, no, no, you're gonna destroy my life." "Yeah, destroy your life, build mine." The only reason why you don't know is because Satan works extra overtime to keep the generation ignorant. To keep the generation ignorant. Because if you knew, there's no question it would become the top priority in your life. Yehi ratzon, may it be His will that all of us will learn this, will do this, will succeed. And not only serving HaKadosh Baruch Hu as a holy people, as it says in Parashat Kedoshim, "Kedoshim Tihyu Ki Kadosh Ani," you be holy because I am holy, which is a special mitzvah in the Torah, one of the 613 mitzvot. But even more so, may we achieve it at the highest possible level by not only achieving Kedusha, but also by achieving Kedusha

1:28:43through publicizing it. And not just keeping it to ourselves. Whether it's by supporting it, teaching it, whatever it is. If we can make this a top priority, Rabotai Yekarim, there's simply no power in the world that the Satan will ever be given that will be able to stop Am Yisrael. Be'ezrat Hashem, we succeed. Now, Guys, you could ask some questions and give us the answers. When do you do the Sheva Brachot? Sheva Brachot starts with the first one at the wedding itself. That is the first Sheva Brachot, and then it continues for the next six days.

1:29:47What is the halacha regarding mezuzot during a time of persecution and life risk? Is one allowed to hide them? I mean, if they live in a place where if somebody sees that they have a mezuzah, it could result in them being killed, then the first thing they should do is move. But until they move, if it's legitimately a life risk, then sure, you could hide them. But generally speaking, a mezuzah brings protection to the house, not... persecution. So, you know, Am Yisrael in Egypt, we publicized that we were Jews by putting mezuzot rather than taking them off. But again, right now, I don't believe there's any place in the world where Jews live, where there's a Jewish community, that it's a life risk to put a mezuzah. And even if, let's say, there's more anti-Semitism and so on, Wherever you are, you still have time to move out of there. And if you don't move out of there, then it's your fault, not the mezuzah's fault. Does it make a difference in the aveirah if one wore a garment with a little bit of shatnez or it was loaded with shatnez?

1:31:10mean if you're talking about, does it make a difference how much of an aveirah, if a person enjoyed an aveirah, for example, if they enjoyed the sin, they'd get punished specifically for the joy as well as the sin itself. If they are, you know, violating Shabbat, for example, it's not just, "Oh, he broke Shabbat by driving and that's it, it's finished." Every single time he presses on the gas pedal, it is a new sin. You know, if a person is wearing shatnez, every second that he's wearing shatnez is a sin. You know, so it certainly does matter as far as the quantity of sins that a person makes. It's not just a one-time thing. Rabbi, do you believe that Neturei Karta mean well or no? No, I've spoken about Neturei Karta in the past. They are reshaim, arurim. And they'll have a special punishment from HaKadosh Baruch Hu at some point. I forwarded your short clip about New Year's to my cousins, as you suggested.

1:32:36They were insulted and demanded an apology from me because they said that it is extreme to compare the secular New Year to a yard sign of Hitler, may his name be erased. How should I respond? You should respond that I'm not going to apologize for what the Torah says. I'm not going to apologize for the right ideology. You apologizing would be a bigger sin than them celebrating New Year's because you apologizing for having a Torah ideology would be a Chilul Hashem, would be a desecration of God's name. So apologizing is absolutely the worst thing you could do. You should never apologize for being a religious Jew. A married woman is supposed to cover her hair. Does that mean that she will never be able to go to a beauty salon? She can go to have her hair done at a place where there's only women, and it's closed off to the public, and no man works there or can be there. If that's not available at a salon, then she could bring somebody to the house. But quite frankly,

1:33:55There's really no need for her to do her hair like single women do because she has her hair covered anyway. So what's the point of doing her hair? I don't really understand the question. How can one merit a miracle? There's a specific time, like Hanukkah, when people can actually pray for a miracle, which we discussed about a month ago or so. Other than that, a person has to be a mesirat nefesh, meaning self-sacrifice for the sake of the Torah, self-sacrifice for the sake of Hashem. If a person self-sacrifices, the more they self-sacrifice and do beyond their nature, the more HaKadosh Baruch Hu, in essence, will do beyond nature.

1:35:07If we follow the lunar calendar, we switch to v'ten tal umatar livracha on December 5th, which is the solar calendar. Actually, according to the calendar, the way it works here in the exile, it's not always December 5th. It's December 4th or 5th. It changes, but it just mathematically always works on that day. It's not because of the date December 5th. It just happens to be that that's the exact number of days separating when the count starts. When we do Netilat Yadayim in the morning, isn't the cup technically still tamei after touching it? The cup is not important for the cup to be tamei at all. There's no such thing as something that you can apply right now because we don't have the Beit HaMikdash anyway. And you're not serving in the Beit HaMikdash. The main thing that you need to be concerned about is the water. So, if you're filling up the cup with brand new water, then the water is pure for you to use. If you had the water waiting by your bedside the whole night, then it's good to cover the water so it's not open above it. And then, when you wake up in the morning, you uncover it and then pour the water on your hands. You can cover it with a towel, you can cover it with a piece of plastic, cover it with whatever you want.

1:36:35There's no issue of the cup being pure or impure. Isn't it against the 13 principles of faith to say that parts of the Torah are metaphorical? Isn't the whole Torah true? The fact that there are some things that can be utilized both as a metaphor does not negate their truth. does not negate their truth. It just depends on where the sages told us where something is this and where something is that. You know, unfortunately today, people just decide for themselves without any consideration of what the sages said. So we have a tradition, we have a mesorah, we have teachings that are in the Midrash, the Gemara, the Zohar, and the Shulchan Aruch, and all different Chachamim throughout all the generations that have discussed every single aspect of the Torah. And there are endless amounts of lessons to be learned from every single word, from every single letter. And some of them are allegorical, sometimes they're metaphorical, sometimes they're literal, sometimes they're for ethical reasons. There's endless lessons. But to just simply say that, let's say, a certain

1:37:54Story in the Torah, like for example that of Adam and Chava—you know, I heard one heretic say that the whole story of Adam and Chava, Adam and Eve, is not really a story that happened, but it's a metaphor. That's heresy! Saying something like that is heresy because our sages have taught us in countless places that the story of Adam and Chava is a story of creation. It's not a metaphor. So if somebody decides to be a superhero for the villains and... and say that something's against our tradition and claim that it is metaphorical, then of course that's against the 13 principles of faith. But if, let's say for example, they go into the commentary of the Song of Songs of Shlomo HaMelech, then it's well known that the whole Song of Songs is metaphorical. It's teaching the love between HaKadosh Baruch Hu and Am Yisrael. It's not talking about a man and a wife. because over there it talks about different body parts of a woman and the love between a man and a wife. But it's not really talking about a man and a wife. It's talking about the love between Am Yisrael and HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So that is clearly metaphorical. But again, there are teachings about every single word in the Torah that tell what is and what isn't something. And if somebody follows the words of the sages, they'll protect their neshama from going to a bad place.

1:39:22Is a man supposed to fast during Shovavim? Is it just twice a week or every day of Shovavim? No, a man doesn't have to fast during Shovavim. If a person learns Torah, And has sanctified himself to the point where they could continue learning Torah and also fast, then yes, they can do it if their rabbi says it's okay. But if the person is not learning Torah all day and he's going to fast, it serves no purpose. If he's just going to work and fasting, that's not going to serve any purpose. Generally speaking, the biggest thing to do during the time of Shovavim is is to learn Torah specifically about the subject, to do teshuvah, meaning to do all the steps of teshuvah, and to also do tikkunim when possible. If somebody has the ability to do tikkunim, it's better to do it with money than to do it with fasting because usually most people don't function the same way when they fast. So they're not going to be able to learn the same amount of Torah. If they're working, then there's no point in them fasting at all.

1:40:32The point of fasting is usually for somebody that's not working. It's learning Torah all day. And usually when somebody fasts, they're not able to learn the same quantity of Torah. And one minute of Torah is worth more than an entire day of fasting. So the fasting is not of utmost importance for somebody that's a worker. If a person has sanctified themselves, they're an Avrech, they learn Torah all day. and they know themselves and they know that they can fast and study just as much or even more, then yes, this is very good to do. To lower the physicality and distance yourself from materialism and elevate your spirituality is a very good thing to do. But for the vast majority of people, this is not relevant. The vast majority of people are working all day, and they're not studying Torah all day. So it's not relevant to them. What they can do is, again, they can do tikkunim, they can learn more Torah than they usually do, or they can also do taanit dibur, which is fasting of speech.

1:41:37So let's say you learn Torah for, let's say, two hours or more without talking about anything other than Torah for those two hours. That's very valuable. If someone says that Yirat Shamayim is only awe and not fear, is that heresy? Or is that just semantics? It's not necessarily heresy; it's stupidity, because there are clear verses in the Torah that show us exactly what it is. And there are specific teachings of the sages that tell us that there are different levels of Yirat Shamayim. There's fear of punishment as the very basic foundation. That teaching is in halacha, that teaching is in chassidut, that teaching is in literal parts of the Torah. So for somebody to say that it's awe, not only do they not know what they're talking about, they don't even know what awe means. Awe is superior to fear of punishment.

1:42:47Uh... it's, it's, it's literally like saying, uh... you know, a, uh... uh... I don't believe that, uh... you know, I don't believe in, uh... Honestly, I can't even compete with that level of stupidity. It's just a person who doesn't know how to speak; it's a person who doesn't know how to learn. Sometimes you just can't help people. It's not semantics, though. There's no semantics. There's a mitzvah in the Torah to fear God. The book of lectures on Pirkei Avot, is it ready? Oh, you mean my lectures that I typed up on Pirkei Avot? No, no, it's not ready. It's going to take a while. It's just that I don't have that much time to write and to fix. And even though I have some people that want to help me, it's hard for me even to find time to review things. I have my own learning.

1:43:48I have, which, Baruch Hashem, I'm trying to, you know, learn, try to do a little more. And then there's all the... Anyway, yeah. B'ezrat Hashem, one day. What advice do you have for a Noahide in their 20s looking for a wife? Usually, it's hard finding another Noahide around my age. It's hard finding a Noahide of any age. but that doesn't mean that they don't exist. My suggestion is to see who has a, if you're 20 years old, you're on social media, you're active in some type of things in the community, and you're more likely to find either people that are not religious at all but believe in God, maybe have a background in Christianity, but they're not religious at all, or people that are actually Christians but are open to the truth.

1:44:53then finding somebody walking around saying that they're a Noahide. So my suggestion would be to see if you could find somebody with a similar ideology and is not a sheep that is just going to believe whatever people say to him or to her and try to find somebody that is willing to learn what the truth is. You can make that into a spouse. If you're a man, a woman's spouse. If you're a woman, then a man's spouse. Oh, you're a man, sorry. So, woman. My dear Rabbi, why does no one talk about the things that the holy Rabbi does? You have to ask them that. I don't have more answers than I've already given to you guys over the years, but as we see from... this is not a problem unique to me. This was also, you know, an issue in his generation. He actually writes here in Taharat HaKodesh that if he would publicize what he writes in his book in the synagogues and communities and lectures, they would make fun of him.

1:46:12So, and this is literally, I mean, anyone that knows anything about Torah knows the Kedusha of Rabbi Aharon Rata. But in his generation, you know, it's similar to now. You could be a tzaddik surrounded by resha'im. You could be a tzaddik surrounded by mediocre people. You could be mediocre with a few tzaddikim next to you. There's a lot of different mix and matches all over the world. The key is to know what the truth is, to have a very strong talmid chacham as your rabbi, to guide you, to give you answers to questions and confirm whatever things that you're learning, the fact that you're learning the right way. And you'll be fine. You don't need the whole world to agree with you. Remember, even Moshe Rabbeinu, whom we are introduced to in this week's parasha, Moshe Rabbeinu is beginning a life, but he's going to live an entire life full of problems, full of haters, full of people who tell him he's wrong. We learn about him, how he saves a Jew from being killed by an Egyptian. The very next day, that same Jew and his cousin

1:47:23his brother-in-law, which is Datan and Aviram, go and tell Pharaoh that Moshe Rabbeinu killed an Egyptian. Meaning, the Jew whose life he saved is the same Jew who ends up causing Moshe Rabbeinu to nearly be killed. They continue torturing him for the next 40 years. So it's a, Moshe Rabbeinu had endless fights. Korach and all of his followers, which included Datan and Aviram, he had that. He had a lot of problems. So if Moshe Rabbeinu had people telling him he's wrong, telling him he's a womanizer, he's a thief, all the things that he wasn't. And cause him a lot of anguish. And of course, anyone that's living in the world today and is fighting for the truth, and has a bunch of people saying that he's crazy, should be proud of it. You're in the same conversation. You're in the same world as Moshe Rabbeinu.

1:48:29as Moshe Rabbeinu. You're nowhere near Moshe Rabbeinu. But the point is that you're fighting on your little level the same battle that Moshe Rabbeinu fought. That's a fantastic achievement. May all of us be in that same position, fighting for the truth like Moshe Rabbeinu did. And as far as the Erev Rav and all of the people that speak things that are the opposite of the truth, again, that's not a new thing. Ein chadash tachat ha-shemesh. Nothing new under the sun. Moshe Rabbeinu fought with it. And of course, those before him and those after him did the same. Avraham Avinu fought against the entire world. The entire world was on one side. Avraham Avinu was on the other side. Yaakov Avinu obviously had an endless time fighting, whether it's Esav or it's Lavan. These are wicked people. They weren't just looking to steal money from him. They were full of idol worship. Of course, you had heretics and people saying that they were wrong. Throughout all of history, all of the prophets, every single one of the prophets, were telling people literally the words of God. Meaning, it's not like they just gave lectures; they would teach, but they also literally gave prophecy, which is literally the words of God.

1:49:57and people called them crazy, and in some cases, even killed them. Uh, you know, they, uh, tortured them, chased them, tried to, you know, torment them. Whether it's Eliyahu HaNavi, whom Izevel tried to kill for years, or Yirmiyahu, whom they tortured and, uh, threw into a hole, did all types of horrible things to him. Uh, Zecharyah, whom they murdered in cold blood. You know, all of the prophets, all of the prophets that literally said the words of Hashem, didn't just teach Torah, give nice chizuk, give good insights, tell people to do teshuvah. In addition to that, they literally said the words of God. Being a prophet means Hashem tells you something, and you repeat the same thing. You're not allowed not to say it. They said the words of God, and yet the people went against them. Why? Because when people Don't want to do teshuvah, and they, in essence, are on the side of tumah (impurity). They cannot let kedusha exist peacefully; they have to fight it.

1:51:13because it's either they're fighting it in order to get it out of their way, in essence, and not ruin the tumah that they already have, or even more so, like we discussed tonight, they try to destroy the kedusha by making the kedusha fall, ultimately, so they could, in essence, yearn all of the kedusha from it and give the tumah more life, more power. But it's a constant fight. And this is something that's going to continue, has started since the beginning, and is going to continue until Mashiach comes. And many of the Chachamim discuss it, whether it's Rabbi Aharon Rata, Rabbi Chaim Volozhin, who says it in Nefesh HaChaim, that most of the rabbis in the generation before Mashiach are going to be Erev Rav. This is Rabbi Chaim Volozhin. It's not, you know, says this, uh, he says that they are, uh, looking to build themselves, uh, you know, a name rather than to build a Torah name, like the people of the Tower of Babel. So, you know, if you see people that everyone loves, the Gemara itself says that's a problem.

1:52:35Why? If he tells people the truth, there's going to be some people that love him, and there's going to be some people that hate him. Why? People that want to do Kedushah, want to follow the Torah, they're going to love him. People that don't want to do it, they're going to hate him. There's no way of coexisting in peace. So if everyone loves him, there's a problem. There's a problem. Now if everybody hates him, it's also a problem. Because why does everybody hate him? It's extreme. So it has to be a sum of both. Okay, let's see what our friends at TikTok have to say.

1:54:30A couple of people are repeating the same thing over and over again. All right, you're just wasting too much time, just a couple of people. Rabbi, how to convert? Okay, I've answered this question many times, so I'll give you a very short version of it. In order to convert to Judaism, one of the main things that a person needs to do is to move to a Jewish community. So they're surrounded by Jews. They could go to an Orthodox synagogue and learn Torah, learn how to live like a Jew. You could, as far as what to learn, we have a syllabus on our website, beezratashem.org, that you could download for free. Or if you want, you could email us. at convert.beezrathashem.org. That's convert, C-O-N-V-E-R-T at B-E-E-Z-R-A-T-H-A-S-H-E-M.org. And if you didn't get that, just send me a message and I'll send you the email. You can email us over there.

1:55:41And we'll send you the syllabus. The syllabus is interactive, where first it tells you the different topics you need to learn. It gives you a list of book recommendations where, if you click on the pictures of the books, it'll take you to different stores online that sell them. Of course, you can buy them elsewhere if you want. It also gives you a picture of a playlist of different lectures that I did about the topic, one of them being a four-part lecture that goes through all of the details of what you have to do in order to convert. And once you have that, that's the basic instructions. Now, the main thing is that you have to have, not just live in a Jewish community, and not just learn the information, but you have to have a rabbi to sponsor you and take you to a Beit Din, which is a Jewish court, a Jewish religious court that is recognized by the Rabbanut that is going to convert you. Conversion in Judaism takes time. It's not like Christianity or Islam where they throw some water on you or they give you some type of book.

1:56:51and you become one of them. No, in Judaism, we have to see that you actually can live and want to live the life of a Jew. And that can take time. It could take anywhere from six months to sixty years. It depends on you. Usually, for most people that go through conversion, it takes a couple of years. That's usually the average. Some people more, some people less. But a lot of people say, no, I've been in conversion for seven years because they calculate the time from when they first discovered the Torah or first started learning Shulchan Aruch. They consider that as part of their conversion time, but it's not really true. Either way, the point is not to put a clock on how fast you can convert. The key is to make the decision for the right reason, do it the right way, and in time, you will succeed. But as far as conversion, it's certainly possible for anyone that wants to convert today, as long as they're able to live in a Jewish community, learn the appropriate amount of Torah, and apply that to their life. But if a person wants to live like a secular person but yet, you know, have some certificate that says that they're Jewish, they don't need to do anything I just said. They can just go to the computer, type it,

1:58:13on a computer and then print it out and put it on the wall and make themselves feel good. But if you want to live like a Jew, you'll have to make some major life adjustments. Who is this person that keeps insulting? Very strange. Somebody just came online just to insult. Tommy, do you realize that the Gemara says that anyone who does that, there's literally no cure to the punishment you're going to get for doing that? You're going to suffer endlessly in this world. Okay, I don't know why you would do that to yourself; very strange. Okay, let's see, do we have any more? I think we've already done everything.

1:59:30Can you bring me a source that Yehi Adonenu Moreinu, Lubavitcher Moshiach, is against Halacha? Is it against, is it considered Kefirah? No, to say Yehi Adonenu is not necessarily Kefirah, but it's certainly not accepted among Klal Yisrael. The only people that do it are hardcore Lubavitchers, Chabadniks. Nobody else does it. Not just about the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but about anyone. You don't see the Sephardim, hardcore Talmidei Chachamim of Rav Ovadia, say Yehi Adoneinu. You don't see the, you know, the Satmar Kehillah, say Yehi Adoneinu. You don't see it anywhere throughout all of history. So it's just not part of our Mesorah. It's not accepted among anybody else except Chabadniks. So if they want to be different, they want to do what they want, they can do it. But it's certainly not a... Now, as far as saying that he is Mashiach, it's not considered kefirah; it's considered wrong. Because he doesn't match the proper criteria for being Mashiach. One of them is that he would have to stop all the wars. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we are in the middle of a war right now.

2:00:55He would have to build a Beit HaMikdash. Not sure if you've noticed, but we don't have a Beit HaMikdash. So he hasn't fit the description of being Mashiach, to say the least. And it's not just because he died. Simply everything else. He didn't, you know, it's a lehavdil, but it's like saying Yeshu is Mashiach. And he didn't fulfill anything. Doesn't make any sense. But the point is that to say he's Mashiach is simply wrong. It's not considered heresy; it's just wrong. Now, to say that he's alive, like literally physically alive, like some of them say, where they believe that he still comes to every bar mitzvah and he's giving people blessings and they pretend like he's pouring the wine. into people's cups or he's giving dollars to people like I have in the video that we made several years ago. That's not heresy. That's not—that's not heresy, that is a mental institution. That's a mental institution. That's people that need to go to an institution. I would even recommend getting one of those cool jackets

2:02:10and white, you know, that like it ties around the body and just make sure it's tight, like really, really tight. And, you know, take a few of those little candies they give you over there. a few of those candies and that's it because all you're doing is you're reminding Am Yisrael of the famous joke where, you know, one guy comes to the mental institution, and, you know, he sees the first guy, and he says, "I am Avraham Avinu." Okay, next guy says, "I am..." The next guy, he says, "I am David HaMelech." Okay, fine. And then he says, one guy doesn't say anything, looks at him, gets closer. Then the guy looks at him, he goes, "I am Mashiach." But as soon as he says it, pah, somebody hits him. And he says, "What happened?" He says, "I'm Mashiach." "Oh, I forgot, I forgot, it's your turn today. It's your turn today."

2:03:21know, so it's like a joke, like that it's like saying that he's alive. That's where they should go; they should go to those types of places. Now, they may want to bring the other Chabadniks with them, which actually even upgraded the crazy and said that he's God. You know, they're called Eloquistim, Eloquistim. So they're not that much crazier. Don't think for a second that they're not that much crazier. Because, by the way, as a side note, even Chabadniks have told me this: that the people who call him Mashiach, it's the same thing like the Christians who call themselves Messianic Jews, that they call Jesus Mashiach. It's the same thing, meaning they both think that Mashiach means God. Many Chabadniks think that the Rebbe became God. there's an article about it online. There are people on the inside that have told me this. This is not a conspiracy. So that's why it's, again, we assume that when they say Mashiach, they don't really mean God. We're hoping, because that would be kefirah. That would be idol worship. That would be the worst thing in the world. We're just assuming that it's just simply wrong.

2:04:36Some of Gedolei Yisrael have said to stay away from them and not support them. Some don't even count them in a minyan. But again, let's just be on the lenient side and say that calling him a Mashiach is simply wrong. No problem. Saying he's alive, that's just simply crazy. Why? Your eyes. See. See. The guy that's giving the dollars is a 25-year-old kid. It's not him, and it changes every day. The guy that's pouring the wine is not him; it's somebody else. They say that he comes to bar mitzvahs. He doesn't feel good today. Those are mentally ill people. Same thing like the people that think he's God. They're mentally ill people. They should go to a nice hospital. You know, don't call it a hospital though. Call it a place where they'll find other like-minded people. Put them all there. Put a nice jacket on them in white. If they want to wear it black and white so they can feel at home, they could do that too. Give them a couple of those candies. And, you know, they could do whatever they want in those places where they're not a danger to society. That, I think, is a good idea.

2:05:54I think it's a perfectly good idea. I would highly recommend it. I actually even think you could start a campaign for it. Raise the money to get those people to go there, by all means. I don't think you'll have a tough time raising the money for that. I think many people will be happy to do it. Mental institutions are very important places. Ay, ay, ay. Okay. Here we go. All right, last question we're going to take. We're finished. Oh, well, you guys have more questions. No, okay, two questions. Okay. When Hashem did wonders for the Jews, does it take away from their merit, like when He does miracles for an individual? Yes, the Gemara says...

2:06:57That's one of the things that Yaakov Avinu said to HaKadosh Baruch Hu: that although You've done all this greatness for me, I'm afraid that I've spent all of my merits and that I won't have any more merits for Olam Haba or even for You to help me here. So that's what Yaakov is afraid of. But certainly, when a person gets, you know, miracles in this world, it's taken from his Olam Haba. That's why the Gemara in Masechet Ta'anit has probably two, three dapim. It talks about stories about Rabbi Chanina. Maybe two dapim. It talks about stories of Rabbi Chanina, and one of the stories that HaKadosh Baruch Hu said, answered his prayers for parnassah and He put a leg of a table that was completely gold that came down from Shamayim. But Rabbi Chanina and his wife gave it back because they didn't want this miracle to, in essence, take away from their Olam Haba.

2:08:07So it's a known thing that a person can lose from that. But there are exceptions. There are exceptions, which is if a person uses that miracle to sanctify Kadosh Baruch Hu's name and a few other things. But generally speaking, it does take away from Olam Haba. When will Edom be completely destroyed? When Mashiach comes. If a girl is single and actively looking to get married and start a family, what more can you recommend that she may do to have children and bring a blessing to her life? As you mentioned at the beginning of this shiur, I think that this shiur is of utmost importance for a woman to achieve Kedusha, to be completely modest. I think that a woman needs to work on her middot as far as to work on character traits, not be arrogant, not be picky. not look for, you know, not fight with people; look for peace. Certainly, I think, you know, the greatest blessing that I've ever seen, as far as, you know, in the name of the sages, like the Chovot HaLevavot, written by Rabbeinu Bachya nearly a thousand years ago,

2:09:24writes that a person who does kiruv, who helps with outreach to help Jews, will be at the highest possible level of blessings and so on. So, I think that a woman who wants to build a Jewish home, where she'll have a holy husband and holy children, the greatest thing that a man or a woman can do is combine the two teachings. Not only do kiruv, but do kiruv specifically with Tikkun HaBrit. Because we saw at least a little bit of what we learned today about how important kedusha is and how many blessings a person gets. And we also know already how important kiruv is. And that's why I know that if somebody spends their time, money, effort, whatever they can do, literally, major sacrifice, push themselves to the limit to get the teachings of Kedusha, of Tikkun HaBrit, out there on a regular basis. Every day they put a certain amount of time, every check they put a certain amount of money, at least the Maaser that they have, if not more. In so many words, the more they exert themselves, the more they will get in return.

2:10:36And I've seen both of them, a lot of blessings from it personally, and I've seen a lot of blessings from people that have done it. And because Kiruv is a major source of blessings, more than anything else, Kedusha is the most critical topic. to do kiruv and combine the two, there's nobody better than you. And you could literally be someone that is publicizing the foundation of Judaism that could not only serve to be a tikkun for you, if you've ever made any mistakes as far as immorality or immodesty or anything else. But it could also be the perfect tikkun that brings all the blessings that are waiting for you. And I would make this the top priority that you have more than anything else, more than feeding the poor, more than really anything else. But again, it requires major sacrifice. It's not like, "Oh, if I send $5 a week out of my $1,000 check, is that okay?" No.

2:11:43It has to be sacrificed. It has to hurt. It has to be an extra effort. That's, in essence, part of the reason why it's called a tikkun. A tikkun is not a pleasing process. But I can assure you that there's no doubt in my mind, and the Torah promises it, that the blessings come. When? I don't know. That's obviously HaKadosh Baruch Hu decides the time. But anyone that makes kiruv of tikkun haBrit their top priority in their life, where they're involved in it in some form or another, you know, on a regular basis, daily, hourly, minute by minute, weekly, whatever it is, every time they get a check, every time, whatever it is, they make it their top priority, there's no doubt in my mind that you'll have endless blessings. But again, don't give Hashem a schedule as far as, oh, I'm going to do this for three and a half months, and then I... Don't give Hashem a schedule. Don't tell Him what to do. Do your job. You do it, I guarantee you,

2:12:48...that you'll see major blessings beyond what you're requesting. Beyond anything, whatever it is that anyone's requesting, that's a normal request, beyond it. Why? Because the blessings that HaKadosh Baruch Hu has waiting for us are 500 times more powerful than any punishment can be. And we've already heard how horrible some of these punishments are. We've already heard how horrible the punishments are. Anyone that saw Hibut HaKe'ever, the film that we made, or watched the lecture of Tikkun HaBrit, or the film of Tikkun HaBrit, or watched the lecture of Kaf HaKela that we made for four hours during Sukkot, or Hoshana Rabbah, or watched the film Gehenom, or simply has watched, you know, any lectures that we've made over the years that have talked about reward and punishment, we understand punishment, difficult. The blessings that Hashem has are 500 times more. 500 times more. So, when we have our sages tell us, there's nothing greater to do than Kiruv. And on top of it, there's nothing greater than the subject of Kedusha. Because it brings literally every single blessing you could possibly imagine. And again, I cannot emphasize enough that I feel bad for all of you.

2:14:10that do not know what's in this book, you know a little bit tonight. So you got a little taste of it, but we'll learn, and it's really astounding how many blessings are available to us for simply doing this. It explains a lot of things about my life; I can tell you that explained a lot of things about, I don't know what merit I had to have this as one of the top things that my neshama is connected to from day one, but I can tell you that this is something that is of utmost importance for you, whoever you are—male, female, young, old, single, married—and also Klal Yisrael. needless to say, the world as well. Anyone who does it, I think they they're already a winner on day one. Anyone that wants to know more details about tikkunim, go to tikkunhabrit.live. That's t-i-k-k-u-n-h-a-b-r-i-t dot l-i-v-e. Over there, there's a write-up of how the tikkunim work.

2:15:36for different sins. Again, if you want to do it, by all means, do it. If you don't want to do it, don't do it. Everybody has the free choice to do what they want. But at least the information is there. And of course, we have many lectures about these topics. You can all watch them, learn, and b'ezrat Hashem apply. Thank you very much for learning with me. May HaKadosh Baruch Hu bless each and every single one of you to have success in achieving kedusha, publicizing kedusha, and sanctifying HaKadosh Baruch Hu's name. Once you see the blessings that come from it, thanks again for learning with me, b'ezrat Hashem. We'll learn again next week. Kol tov.

2:16:51The talmidim of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus asked him, what can we do to protect ourselves from chevlei Mashiach? He says, Torah and gemilut chasadim. Even if somebody does a nice thing or learns a lot or anything like that, it's never compared to bringing one of Hashem's lost children that's been lost for the last 3,000 years back home. One of the beautiful things that we have in our organization is that we have both Torah and zikui harabim because we have our kollelim, we have our avreichim, and we also have our kiruv that we do around the world. Our lectures reach every corner of the world, baruch Hashem, in multiple languages. But of course, we always want to do even more. Our feet will be on the ground of Jerusalem for the grand and glorious occasion of the Siyum HaShas, Zohar, and Shulchan Aruch, which will be held by an organization with the help of Hashem's name. It is possible that now we will hear the testimony of the Mashiach. He is with us here, the host from Florida, the head of the organization, the leader of the Aravim, Rabbi Yaron Reuven. With the help of Hashem, we will all do and succeed and grow in the Torah, and the leaders of the Aravim, and we will do heaven's work as it should be done. You who are full of Torah, continue, be a great light. The sky of Israel, the Lord God,

2:18:05I would like to congratulate Rabbi Yaron Reuven, who is the head of the Aravim organization, who keeps the Torah from the people of Israel in Israel and also in the communities, and Rabbi Yisrael Bar Shach, who continues to do this and that. It is a great honor that he keeps the Torah from the people of Israel. while we have key work that we've done throughout the whole year, we also have the Torah that we're constantly producing more and more of, and last but not least, the chesed to feed the poor people in Israel. A very special thank you to all of our amazing guests who show real love for this land by taking the time out of their busy schedules and sharing their ups and downs with us. All for the sake of our land. one of the big things that we have aside from this campaign, you probably see this post or something similar to it, is also we published some of the recent results that we have, or at least up to now, of the organization. One of the reasons why we do this each year is because we want to make sure that our partners, our donors, our talmidim, know where their money is going, unlike everybody else that you know.

2:19:25says a lot, does a lot. We want to show you what these results are. I could tell you from my experience and a little bit of knowledge about the whole Torah world, I don't know of anybody else, any other organization on planet Earth, that produces dollar for dollar what we've produced over these last few years. This is nothing to be arrogant about; it's simply HaKadosh Baruch Hu who helped us. We made every sacrifice that we could possibly make in order to make it happen. producing nearly 300 Torah films, publishing 32 books, our own books, and giving out 154,000 books for free. Giving out 154,000 books is not a cheap endeavor. Anyone that wants to do such a thing has to be completely committed to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, to His children, and most importantly, to have bitachon in HaKadosh Baruch Hu and in the Torah. We have also fed over 160,000 people over these last several years. Each year during Pesach, the High Holidays, and throughout the year, we help many people eat, ensuring that they have groceries, food, and all types of necessities. You have seen many of the videos that we've produced over the years to actually show you the people who are receiving this food. We have here 160,000 people who have eaten, nearly 300 Torah films,

2:20:25And then, on top of all of it, we have 1.4 million USBs, CDs, and cards that have been given out for free. All of the work that we've done over the last 10 years on these USBs has been given out for free. Last but not least, there are 12,000 video and audio lectures available online in about 14 different languages for the world to watch for free. Let us, with the help of Hashem, take upon ourselves one of the hardest goals in our generation: to fix the world in the kingdom of heaven. We will not rely on one thing – to help only poor people, only people from the time of the Holocaust, only people who do not know Hashem, or only people who have nothing in the house. But to help the whole of Klal Yisrael in every way. Let us, with the help of Hashem, take upon ourselves one of the hardest goals in our generation: to fix the world in the kingdom of Heaven. We will not rely on one thing— to help only poor people, only people from the time of the Holocaust, only people who do not know Hashem, or only people who have nothing in the house. But to help the whole of Klal Yisrael in every way. Baruch Hashem, Chefetz Hashem, by our hand, has succeeded in helping more than a million Jews from Israel and the diaspora in the region of Shemak. Imagine the power of each and every one of the partners who contributed according to their strength and ability, and to what results they managed to reach and to what results they will still succeed in achieving.

2:21:42We're very happy to see the shalachim. We're going upstairs now. It's a bit boring, the study. The next lessons can be seen here. Everyone is sitting and studying. What a rush of Torah. What a rush. What a rush. And here's another Midrash. And here's another one. Hashem yidbarach. Blue exam! Blue exam! This image is not so far away, because as the Torah says, it is up to you to do it. So is this thing. Anyone who wants, anyone who desires to be partners with us, with this holy and wonderful organization, whose purpose is to elevate the Torah to the heavens, to spread the Torah, to uplift the Torah, to help each and every one of the people of Israel in all matters.

2:22:45from the youngest child who needs to be given birth until the oldest man who has never made a prayer and a moment before death, they are responsible for making a prayer. If you also want to be involved in the existence of great things, in the work of Torah and the work of Gemilut Chassadim, Baruch Hashem, you are here with the help of G-d, here by your side, in your service, together with Klal Yisrael. Almost a million and a half discs that we shared. All of these things for more than 12,000 lessons. So all of these things, when a person sees how much of his investment, whether it's in houses, apartments, in all kinds of things, and he sees that the rent has risen 10% in one place and 1,000% in another place, then he understands where to invest next time. And the same thing here, there are many people who, thank G-d, are watching our lessons, lessons of Rabbi Ephraim, lessons of Rabbi Shavit, and other rabbis in the organization, and now is the time to be a part of the great thing that we are doing, thank G-d. After somebody dies, their neshamah naturally feels like it needs to be cleaned, and like it needs to go to Gehinnom to go ahead and clean itself so it can feel better after.

2:23:49And one of the reasons why we do this, why we show these numbers, is because we want to show everyone what we've done to give you an indication of what we can do in the future. So this is a time where we need as much of your help as possible to push yourself more than you typically do. If you typically donate a couple hundred dollars, donate a thousand. If you could afford the 8,000, 15,000, 50,000, whatever you could afford, this is the time to do it, because this is going to be the help that we have to help all of these Avreichim, to feed these people, and perhaps, B'ezrat Hashem, one day, to get that building that we've been wanting to build here in the United States, to build a community. But all of these things require millions of dollars. If not now, then when?