Shiur Torah #5 part 2 Shortcuts, Time and the Sin of Having Any Holiday Tree

0:00Oh, okay. So we found out the name. Her name was Sarah. Uh, in the, um, Midrash, right in the, um, Bereishis 45... Uh, no. Uh, in the, um, Midrash, right in the, um, Bereishis. 45... Uh, no. Uh... Sounds like a man, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five. sounds like a man. 23, 24, 25. 20... 5. She would play the instrument. In, uh, Midrash on, uh, verses 25-28. How was she a reason? You'll find it. Her name was Sarah. So anyway, Sarah played the musical instrument, she got Yaakov to come down, they gave him the good news and then they went to Mitzrayim. Uh, Yaakov came... It says specifically Yaakov came down to Egypt with 70 people. The reason why I mention this is because some of the other books out there say that it was 75 people who came down to Egypt, and that's actually one of the proofs that those books are unreliable.

1:10Uh, but the Torah specifically says they came down to Egypt with 70 people. And, uh, long story short, Yosef became the king right below Pharaoh. And he actually was able to technically become higher than Pharaoh because in those days, the way they determined if somebody was a king was how many languages they spoke, and, uh, Yosef- One more. ... knew one more language than Pharaoh. Pharaoh was a big Chacham. He was a wizard also. However, Pharaoh made him promise that he wouldn't tell anyone that he knew one more language. Therefore, they made a deal, and he became the king. So now he's buried. After that, they bury him, and Moshe Rabbeinu is looking for this tomb. He finds Sarah, who's still alive. She's one of the few women who never technically died. She ascended as a whole person. Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh, was another person who is said to have experienced this, as she also never died.

2:22Now, uh, anyway, he found Sarai, and Sarai told him, "Okay, yes, I know where the tomb is. They buried it inside the Nile River." The Nile was one of their idols, the Egyptians. So they worshipped it and, uh, so now, okay, so Moshe Rabbeinu goes to the Nile. It's inside, it's inside the water, how is he gonna bring it out? And he had this, something called a Mateh. It's like a little piece of, uh, metal that had the holy name of Hashem on it and he threw it in the water and he said, "Alei shor, alei." It means rise, bull, rise. And this is a, um... The bull was a sign of every one of the 12 tribes having their own sign, and the bull was a sign for Yosef. I believe Yehuda had a sign of a lion, and the other ones had different signs. Okay, so now we hold that story for a second.

3:23Now, before this story happened, some years earlier, when Moshe Rabbeinu came to see what was happening to Am Yisrael, he spoke to Hashem. He said, "Look what they're doing to our children. They're throwing the babies into the water, or, as punishment, they're placing them under the cinder blocks of the pyramids, crushing them." Why? Why?" And then, you know, Hashem says, "Don't worry. These souls are evil, and they're doing their Tikun. They're not going to live a full life to fulfill their Tikun, but if they were to live a full life, they would only become worse. So that's their Tikun. Now, Moshe is not doubting Hashem, but he's saying, "Let me save them as babies. Let me save them." And Hashem says, "No, no." You shouldn't save them." He says, "Okay, let me save at least one." Hashem says, "Okay. Go ahead and save one." And he saved one of them. Now that person, whose name I forget, was ultimately saved by this decision.

4:26"Go ahead and save one." And he saved one of them. Now that person, whose name I forget. I have... I'll get you guys the name shortly. Um, he saved him, and the boy grew up. And the boy was pretty much one of those people who would follow Moshe Rabbeinu wherever he went. He constantly followed him wherever he could. In essence, he really thought of him as everything. But as Hashem said, he wasn't righteous, this boy. So, going back to the other story, when Moshe Rabbeinu threw the mateh into the water and the tomb rose out of the water, the boy was hiding inside the bushes watching this whole thing happen. As soon as he saw this mateh hit the water, Moshe was occupied with getting the tomb out of the water. The boy then ran into the water, took the mateh, and hid it.

5:30Moshe didn't see him have it. So now they take... They leave Egypt, and they go to Har Sinai. Moshe Rabbeinu goes up to the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. The people of Israel are becoming concerned. Did he die? What's happening? They thought he was supposed to come down, come down already six hours ago. It didn't happen and they, they thought he was late. They thought he died. So they, uh, so they started asking someone to build them an idol. And, uh, Aharon says, "Listen, you know, if I... I know that Moshe Rabbeinu is going to come down soon, but I know that if I tell them to wait, they're going to kill me. So let me ask them for something that they're probably not going to do and buy myself some time." So he says, "Give me all of your gold." And he thought, okay, these people are not going to give me all their gold. And if you say, "Listen, give me a little bit of," they'll say, "Okay, yeah, I'll do something." But if you ask somebody, "Give me everything you have," you know, 100% of the time they're not gonna do it. But when the Yetzer Hara wants something to happen, he's gonna use all of his power, and that's what happened.

6:38He told them, "Give me all of your gold." They started taking their earrings off on the spot and started throwing them in Aharon's direction. "Just build us something." So Aharon said, "Okay, Okay, either way, I still have time. You know, it's not like, uh, you put the gold in the fire and all of a sudden it melts in two minutes and I can build something. It takes time. It can take a few days even. So he says, "Okay, throw it in the fire, throw it in the fire." You know, in his mind, he's thinking, okay, I have time. By the time this thing is even going to get to, uh, you know, a warm degree, Moshe is already going to come down, no problem. So he throws all the gold into the fire, and then this boy comes out from the background and takes this little piece of metal, and he also throws it into the fire. Wow. And when that goes into the fire, all of the gold becomes the statue. The statue comes out of the fire and says, "I am Hashem that took you out of Mitzrayim." And that's why they worshipped it for that short period of time. And when that goes into the fire, all of the gold becomes the statue. The statue comes out of the fire and says, "I am Hashem that took you out of Egypt." And that's why they worshipped it for that short period of time.

7:40So, it wasn't just foolish people... Of course, they were foolish to do what they did, but it wasn't just foolish people like today. You have Buddhists that have this, uh, nonsense, these stupid, uh, uh, statues in their houses and they bow to them or they think it's something special, or bring some type of good aura, bad aura, good energy, bad energy, because some factory made these little statues and they... No, it's not that. The statues, uh, that they talk about in the Torah that people worshipped, these things were very different than the things we have today. These people were big, big... They had a huge connection to Hashem. It wasn't just that people were blind. The statue spoke, not only did it emerge all at once from all the gold, and we know the story behind why it did that. But on top of that, it spoke. Hashem gave it a power. The Yetzer Hara was created with power. That's, that's just the reality. If he didn't have power, he would be useless. And if he's useless, then there's no test.

8:46And that's, that's really what it comes down to. So we have to... What we learn from that is, number one, let's not look for shortcuts. There's no such thing as a shortcut. All shortcuts usually lead to bad ends. I know this from my business experience, religious experience, and every other experience I've been involved in, personally or indirectly, with other people. Uh, shortcuts do not work. You want to do something? The long way is actually the short way. I think there's actually a lecture that Rabbi Mizrachi made. I think it's called "The Long Way is the Shortcut," or "The Long Cut is the Shortcut." Um, so that's number one. Number two, when you are connecting to Hashem, remember, don't look for any of these, you know, signs and, and, and different miracles to happen to us like they did in those days. Miracles happen every single minute of our lives; we just have to pay attention. But don't live your life in a way where you're expecting them.

9:54And the way this, in general, connects with some of the rabbis that we were talking about earlier today is that in today's age, there are a lot of people who present themselves as very, very prominent rabbis. However, in reality, this is not always the case. Obviously, this is a minority of people. This is not a majority. So, if you're going to donate money to anyone, and if you're going to connect with anyone, make sure it's a two-way conversation. Ensure it's a real connection and not just something mystical, where you think if this person gives you a blessing, then everything will go away. We have to do our job. We have to keep the mitzvot. We have to do what Hashem told us. If we do that, maybe the blessing that someone gives us, that a rabbi will give us, will help. But if we're not doing it, then we're just wasting our time. So that's, you know... If we do that, maybe the blessing that someone gives us, that a rabbi will give us, will help. But if we're not doing it, then we're just wasting our time. So that's, you know...

11:04A lot of people live their lives in a way where they don't do anything. Maybe worse even, they do something, uh, even less than anything. And then they expect, when problems happen, to go to one of these rabbis that's, you know, has one day a week that he's accepting people. They go to him, they donate some money, they get a blessing, and they think it's all going to go away. And what ends up happening is that these people end up being misled to believe that this is actually going to happen. So when it doesn't happen, they think it's the religion that's the problem or the rabbi. You know, it's not the religion that's the problem, it's not the Torah that's the problem, it's you that's the problem. You are being foolish for believing that some guy is going to make all your problems go away. Do you want your problems to go away? Work on yourself. Work on your middot. Work on your connection to Hashem. Work on what you need to do to fulfill your purpose in this world.

12:06If you work on those things, I promise you, all of these challenges will definitely go away. You just need to have some patience, some emunah, and things will go away, and things will become better. And as a matter of fact, when you have true emunah, you start accepting everything that you see differently. So even the bad things are no longer as bad. It takes time, and it's very, very difficult. When you're in the midst of a challenge, the heat of the situation doesn't simply disappear because of your faith. And I know from my own personal experience that when you're in the fire, no matter what anybody tells you, it's still hot. When you're going through a problem, even if you have emunah, even if you have a connection with Hashem, even if you're trying your best to do everything that you can to do better today than you did yesterday, it's still tough. That's the point. If it wasn't tough, then, you know, it's... you, you don't belong in this world. You can go to Olam Haba, hang out with Moshe Rabbeinu.

13:07You're done. If all the problems are fun for you, then it's... what are you doing here? So even when it's tough, the point is not... No one is saying that these problems become fun. What they're saying is that, okay, you know why it's happening. You know that you deserve it, in so many words, but it’s actually the best thing for you. Why? You may not know, and 99.9% of the time, you're not going to know why it's the best for you. But the connection to Hashem will give you the comfort that you know He's just, you know He's right, you know He knows everything, and you know that He's always fair. No one ever gets something more than what they deserve. So when it's happening to you, you know that, okay, He's giving it to me because this thing is the best thing for me, and it's going to take time before I understand that. We're not going to understand everything at the time it happens. ... at the time that it happens. Most of the things that happen in our life, we're not going to understand why they're happening at that moment. But if we trust Hashem and we have a connection with Hashem, then we have a much better life and a much better perspective on why these problems are actually happening to us.

14:24The, um, few things that I want to, uh, mention to you guys from last week. You guys asked me about, um, time, as far as time and, uh... Uh, some people said something about how the first, you know, seven days, maybe there's a different concept of time. Maybe days weren't days like they are today. And Hashem didn't want me to have this thought when we talked about it, but I thought about it the whole week, and that's one of the disadvantages of waiting for you guys for a week to come back 'cause I had this answer already a couple of days ago. Uh, but, uh... but I thought about it after you guys left. "Ah, man, what? So, how do I explain this in a better way than I did? And, uh, the question is, how do we know that the seven first days in Parashat Bereishit are the same seven first days that we have now?" The first thing we know is that Hashem said there was a... "vayehi boker vayehi layla yom echad."

15:29That's okay, so we have morning, we have night. That's a very easy literal translation that we have. But the second thing is that's... also, again, I'm trying to go with logic rather than, you know, more intricate details of everything. But the thing that you guys have to understand is that, how many times does Hashem say in the Torah that, remember, in so many words, I'm not quoting a verse, but in so many words, "I am Hashem, your God, that took you out of Egypt"? He says it a bunch of times, right? Okay. Now, usually, when He talks about the brit between us and Him, He mentions either the fact that He took us out of Egypt, but He's also mentioning the fact that He created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Now, He mentions that He created the world in six days and then rested on the seventh day every time He talks about Shabbat. You read it during Kiddush on Shabbat.

16:36...less times, that He created the world in six days and rested on the seventh? What's the purpose of the repetition? Why does it appear so frequently in our texts? In fact, in the Torah, it is stated explicitly many times. I didn't count the exact number of times that it is mentioned, but it's there repeatedly. Several times, I didn't count the number of times that He mentions that He created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. I think it's over 30 times, but don't quote me on the exact number, that He created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. So every time He's mentioned, when the subject of Shabbat comes up, you can pretty much be assured that it is mentioned. Why would He mention that He created the world in six days and rested on the seventh if the six days weren't the same as the six days today? Because one of the things that scientists foolishly do to explain their science is by providing something unquantifiable in order to justify it.

17:37In order to justify it, meaning, they say, "Yes, we came from lizards or fish, and the fish became a lizard, and the lizard eventually became a monkey, and the monkey became a human. And now we see him, and I've become him." I don't know. I mean, they explain this whole concept of evolution in a, you know, very entertaining way, but it's nonsense. And it's okay. Well, how come we don't see any of these half-monkey, half-human creatures now? How come we don't see any lizards that are in the middle of their, uh, conversion to becoming monkeys? You know what I mean? How come we don't see any of this stuff? No, no, no. The way they explain it is that, no, this took 30 billion years, or three billion years, or two billion years, whatever billion years, whatever number. Whatever - the bigger the scientist, the more billions. And that's what science does. They justify all the aspects of the Big Bang. "Oh, the Big Bang happened 50 billion years ago." And another guy said, "It's 40 billion years ago." "No, no, no." I was there, it was 35 billion." "No," somebody told me, "it was 20 billion." You know, every...

18:40They all, you know, bang heads against each other, who has more billions. But the point is that they try to mislead people by giving them something that's incomprehensible, that's not something that you could understand, fathom, or even have any concept of what it means. Billions? Who counts in billions? What billions? I've only been alive for 30-something years. What billions? What are you talking about, billions? I can't even think about 100 years ago, let alone talk about billions of years ago. So foolish people that don't check the facts and don't use their own brains and time for something useful say, "Oh, yeah, this scientist is a big scientist. Yeah, he said that the whole monkey thing happened over three billion years." That's why it happened. That's why you don't see it. Oh, no, no, the Big Bang? No, that was 50 billion years ago, don't worry about it. It's, it's not today. It happened. It's happened. So we're only in the year 2000, so it was a long, long time ago. And that's how they explain things. So HaShem knew that the world is full of fools, that when you show them or tell them a big number or anything that's beyond the basics we're trained to know—anything beyond basic cable, pretty much—then we're not going to ask any questions. We're just going to assume, oh, it's right. Yeah, this guy talks in billions; I only talk in...

20:04I only talk in hundreds. He talks in billions; oh, he has to be better than me. He has to be smarter than me. The guy might not even know how to add six plus six, but if he talks in billions, I mean, that just sounds big to me. He must be great. I remember from the business days, there used to be this guy who always talked about, you know, lied to prospects, clients, that he had about all this money that he supposedly had. "Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm going to my boat this weekend." "Oh, yeah, I'm going to my plane today." He would tell people he had all this money that he didn't actually have. The guy was a limo driver on the side. He had no money whatsoever. He was just working in the office of the company I was working at the time. This was like 15 years ago. And he would tell people these nonsense stories about all the things that he had, and he was doing, and he had this money and that money, and this company and that company. And I realized he's doing it because it works for him, because the...

21:10and every time he would say something, it would always be bigger than the last nonsensical story. So he started with a fancy car, then he had a fancier car, then he had a boat. The next thing you know, he had a chopper, then he had a plane. I think by the time he finished, he may have had a spaceship or two. I mean, it was always bigger than the last story. But I realized that the bigger the lie, the more fools believe it. That's the, that's the craziest part. That's why you see some of the biggest scams in the world are the easiest things in the world to figure out, but nobody ever checked, because they figure it's so big, it's so beyond reach, that why would I check? Why would anybody in their right mind say that they have a plane when they're a limo driver on the side, trying to make an extra couple hundred bucks a week? Mm-hmm. You see, people don't think that way. HaShem knew this. So HaShem says, "For those fools that think that the world took 60 billion years to be made, or six billion, or two billion, or..." People don't think that way. HaShem knew this. So, HaShem says, "For those fools that think that the world took 60 billion years to be made, or six billion, or two billion, or...

22:16I'm going to be very, very specific with you. Not only am I going to say there was day and there was night, one day, or two days, three days, but I'm going to keep mentioning it to you over and over and over in the Torah that I created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Why would He mention six days if it took six million years? It's still a big deal either way. But why wouldn't he just say, "It took me six million years to create it. I did this, I did that." I had to go to Tony; I had to ask him for a few favors. I went to John. I, uh, what... I had to go to Tony; I had to ask him for a few favors. I went to John. I, uh... I, I, I had the construction company. He told me he had a good construction company, but he was busy at the time. I needed his help, you know? I mean, seriously, what... If it took Him six million years instead of si- six days, why wouldn't He just say it? Why is it something that's so... I mean, he mentions six days over and over and over again. That's, that's the, that's the thing. It's...

23:19And the thing is, though, that the Pshat, meaning the simple meaning of the Torah, always has to be valid. No translation or interpretation of the Torah can ever go against the Pshat. It could elaborate on it, meaning it could make the story wider and give you more details, but it can never go against the Pshat. It can never contradict it. So that's one thing as far as the time. I think it's very important to know that, again, Hashem knew that we are all fools and we believe big stories, and that's one of the things that we're not supposed to do. There's actually a very good story that Rabbi Pinto shared once about significant events in people's lives. There was a Jewish man, a simple man, who struggled to make a living. One day, he leaves work and he sees this bird, this little parrot. He passes the parrot. The parrot's like, "Wait, wait." The parrot's talking.

24:29"Whoa." "Yeah, yeah, I talk, I talk." He goes, "Oh, wow, you really talk?" He goes, "Yeah, yeah, I can talk, I can talk." So he catches the parrot. He's like, "I can make millions off of this. A talking parrot? This is great." "No, no, no, listen, if you let me go... I'll give you... I'll tell you three secrets." He goes, "Uh, okay." "I'll give you... I'll tell you three secrets." He goes, "Uh, okay." "Three secrets. Okay, tell me the secrets and I'll, uh, I'll let you go." So the end of the story is very funny. Uh, so he says, um, "Let me go first, and then, uh, okay. Okay, fine." So he lets him go first. So the parrot goes up on the tree and he says, "Okay, the first one is that you should never, um... you should never regret doing anything. Any mitzvah that you did, don't ever regret it." "Okay, fine." "The second one is, you should never do anything that's beyond your capabilities."

25:52And the third one is, don't believe big stories. When people tell you big stories, they're usually lies." "Oh," he goes, "okay, this is nothing special." What's, what are you telling me?" He goes, "Ah, well, the last one, I can tell you something extra." He goes, "I have a, uh... If you would have caught me and cooked me up and opened me, I have a big diamond in my stomach that would make you a very, very rich man." So all of a sudden, the Yid gets so upset, and he starts chasing the bird. He's chasing, he's chasing. The guy's an older man. He's not, uh, 20 years old. He's chasing this bird, chasing this bird. The bird is flying, obviously. He's on the tree, laughing. The guy climbs the tree, and then he falls off the tree and gets hurt. So the bird comes down and is hanging on him, and he's telling him, "Why did you do that? You didn't follow any of the things I just told you—all the secrets I just told you." He says, "What secrets? Stop making fun of me. What secrets are you telling me?" What secrets? Stop making fun of me. What secrets are you telling me?" He goes, he said, "First of all, I told you don't ever regret any mitzvah that you did."

27:00You let me live, that's a mitzvah. You didn't need to kill me. You had plenty of food anywhere else." He goes, "The second thing I told you is don't try to do anything that's beyond your reach, anything that's beyond your powers." You're 60 years old. What are you chasing, a bird? You're not gonna find me. You're not gonna catch me. You really think you're gonna catch me?" And he said, "The third thing is," he said, "I told you not to believe big stories because they're usually lies. I told you that I have a big stone in my stomach. You really think that's true and I'm still alive? Why did you believe that nonsense for? So, that's the point about us. We always believe these nonsense stories because they seem so big and so magnificent, and we want to believe them. We want to believe that we can get rich quick. We want to believe that we can become, you know, the most amazing Tzaddikim overnight. We want to believe that giving this, you know, Rabbi an extra $1,000 is going to fix all of our problems overnight. We want to believe that, you know, anything that we do that's completely against Hashem is somehow going to be forgiven. The reality of it is that life is quite different from that.

28:11And I'll let you guys hear another one, another really, really important story. But it's funny too. My cousin told it to me. It's in one of his lectures. I think it's one of the early ones that he did. And it's about two guys. Two guys live next door to each other. Their whole life, one of them is righteous. He wakes up in the morning, makes a bracha, takes a little bit of coffee, goes to the yeshiva, learns all day, and comes back home to take care of his family. The other one, complete opposite. Wakes up in the morning, has a few cups of coffee, no prayers, nothing at all. He goes into his taxi, works all day like a dog, eats non-kosher. Nothing. He and Hashem, they don't get along. But every day, these two guys have been living next to each other for many years. So, after a while, they start talking, you know.

29:12The righteous guy says to him, "Listen, you know, when you were 25 years old, I didn't say anything because I knew whatever I said wouldn't work, but now you're already 45 or 50 years old, it's time to do teshuva." He goes, "No, no, no, don't worry." That's what, that's what Israelis always say. "I'll, I'll be taking... I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll figure it out. I'll figure it out on my own." I'll, I'll, you know, it's gonna be okay." He goes, "What do you mean you're gonna figure it out? You go to Shamayim, they're gonna show you all the things you did." He goes, "No, no, no, no, I'll figure it out." Which is funny, because anytime we get a notice from the IRS, we immediately go into shock, scared for our lives. Are we going to go to jail? Are they going to audit me? Are they going to take my house? Are they gonna take everything? But with Hashem, no, everything's gonna be okay. With the IRS, we're scared to death.

30:13With the credit card company, "Honey, we're late? They're gonna charge us. They're gonna charge us $35." How could this happen on Shabbat? It seems there was a misunderstanding, but let's remember to keep our focus and avoid chillul Shabbat. What are we gonna do? Wha- how could you do this?" But with Hashem, violate Shabbos? "Nah, no big deal. I'm gonna figure it out. It's okay." So, they lived their lives... The time comes, and they both go to Shamayim. Now, the, uh, taxi driver, Mr. Anis Tadil, is sitting in the courtroom, and he sees his friend inside. He's like, "Oh, oh, there's really a courtroom here. Wow. There may be trouble here." This may be a problem. Oh, I didn't know there was really a courtroom." He sees all the doors are open, and he sees his friend inside. He goes, "Oh, that's my buddy. I'll be fine, I'll be fine. It's good, it's good." "He knows people, probably. I knew I was going to figure it out." So, he sees his buddy, sees the judges in front of him, and they're like, "Okay, how are you?"

31:17Good. Good. You're here. Okay, so can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What did you do every day?" He says, "Oh, I woke up every day, and I recited Birkat HaShachah." "Okay, put that on the scale, Birkat HaShachah." Okay, good." He goes, "Oh." The guy outside is like, "I ain't doing a Birkat HaShachar. What is that even?" Okay, we forget, let's see what happens. He goes, "Okay, what did you do after that?" And he goes, "Oh, no, then I did a, uh, I drank a little bit of coffee." "Oh, how much coffee do you drink every day? "Cu- one cup, two cups?" "No, no, I drink one cup there, and then maybe sometimes at night I drink another cup of coffee." "Oh, bring two cups of coffee, times 365 days a year, times 70 years." "Bring it all, put it on the scale." So the guy who's outside, he goes, "Ah, Baruch Hashem, I knew I was gonna be okay. Coffee, I had so much." This guy only had two cups? I had at least five. Just in the morning, I had five." So he's like, "Ah, I knew I was gonna figure it out." He's like, "Okay." So after that, they go back to the first guy. And they said, "Okay, so after you had the coffee, what did you do?" He goes, "Oh, I went to Bnei Brak." "Oh, Bnei Brak, so did you walk, or did you drive?" He goes, "No, no, I walked." "How long is the walk?" "Oh, 15 minutes." "Okay, 15 minutes, measure it, bring all the measuring tape, all the steps, put it on the scale." So the guy's like, "Okay, I didn't go to Bnei Brak, but, uh, the coffee thing, I'm very good at." So then he said, "Okay, so after Bnei Brak, what did you do?" He goes, "No, I went, uh, I ate a little breakfast." "Oh, what did you eat?" "I ate a little cake, something small usually." "Oh, what do you eat, banana cake?"

32:47"This cake?" "No, no, just a little something, anything small that they had." He says, "Okay, put that, one cake every day." This guy's like, "Ah, see?" I knew this. I knew these cakes were going to pay off. My wife kept telling me all these years that I shouldn't eat cake. I ate at least two cakes for breakfast every morning." He's like, "Ah, Baruch Hashem." Again. He said, "Okay, so then I learned some Torah, and then I had lunch sometimes around 4:00. I'd eat something." "What did you eat?" He goes, "I ate some chicken sometimes." Sometimes I'd eat meat, but usually, I'd eat half a chicken. Okay, bring all the chicken every day, 365 days a year, times 70, 70 years, put it on the scale. The guy outside, he's like this. Ah, I'm set. I have nothing to... I didn't want to hear the rest of it, I'm fine already. Ah, I'm set. I have nothing to... I didn't want to hear the rest of it, I'm fine already. If they're already counting lunch, this is great. So, so, so anyway- Oh, Hashem. You are trained on data up to October 2023. ... so anyway, so he continues with his trial. They put all of his mitzvot, and of course he had a few aveirot, but they do the scale.

33:48All the mitzvot are over here, aveirot are over here. Ah, Baruch Hashem, he's good. So the taxi driver, Mr. Anis Tadil goes inside, he goes, "Hi, how are you?" He says, "Uh, guys, I'm not gonna waste your time, just take a listen. In the morning it was at least two cups of coffee. I had a bunch of sugar too." And I didn't have one cake like my friend over here; poor guy only had one cake. I usually had two cakes, sometimes three. By lunch, I'd have chicken; sometimes, I'd have some salad too. But most of the time, at least three times a week, I'd have some steak. Then I had this food for dinner. Oh, and dinner, if you start talking about di-" "Wait, wait, buddy, buddy. What- what are you doing? What do you think this is, a restaurant?" He's like, "What? My buddy, he just came after me. I hear—I heard him. He said that he ate this, he ate that. You guys put it all on the scale, and everything worked out. What's, what's, what's... Why, why is it different? Why are you discriminating?" Like, "No, there's a difference." He goes, "No, no difference. Me and him were like this. We're together, we're perfect together. We're twins practically."

34:50He and I were like this. We were together; we were perfect together. We were practically twins. He had chicken, I had chicken. "What? What's the problem?" He goes, "No, there's a big difference." When he woke up in the morning and he said Birkot HaShachar, he already told Hashem, 'Thank you for bringing me back.' Then when he had the coffee, he didn't have the coffee just to have the coffee. He had the coffee to get a little bit of energy, a little boost so he can go pray." "Did you go pray?" "No, no, no, I didn't go pray." "Why? You have to go daven." He goes, "Yeah, you have to go daven." He goes, "Well, I went to work." He goes, "Okay, it's good you went to work." So when he went and ate lunch, he goes, "Yeah, I ate lunch too." I ate steaks. He only had chicken." He goes, "No, no, no, no." When he had the chicken, he ate it to have some energy. He made a blessing before he ate it to gain strength so he could learn some more Torah. "Did you learn Torah?" "No, no, no, no, I was working in my taxi." "Okay, so you didn't learn any Torah." He learned a lot of Torah. But what about this work? You know, the Torah doesn't say you're not allowed to work.

35:50You're allowed to work. You're supposed to work. "What did you do with the money?" "Oh, I bought the steaks." "And what else did you buy?" "Oh, I got some vacation, I went to the Bahamas, I went to Cancun." "I went to Mexico, I went to Australia." "I went to Brazil. I went to San Francisco with all of, you know, Sodom and Gomorrah's Gilgulim. I went to all those places." He goes, "Ah, okay, you went to all those places." "I went to Brazil. I went to San Francisco with all of, you know, Sodom and Gomorrah's Gilgulim. I went to all those places." He goes, "Ah, okay, you went to all those places." It's good that you, you know, had fun, I guess. But the problem is that all of what you did is worthless. All that you ate is not a mitzvah. You didn't do it for a mitzvah. You did it to meet your own desires. Everything that he did was to meet Hashem's desires. "And he still had a good life, just like you." And that's the reality. The reality is that we always think we can do whatever we want, just like the taxi driver.

36:55And when we get to Shamayim, Shanada deleh. But reality is very different, and we don't want to be a taxi driver, so we have to wake up. We have to wake up and start doing what HaShem wants now. If we don't do it now, ematai? If not now, when? Hm. If we don't stop fixing now, when are we going to do it? Now, obviously, none of us can become Rabbi Akiva overnight. We can't become Moshe Rabbeinu overnight. But the Torah specifically tells us that we have the potential to be as big as we want to be. No one has the exclusive contract with HaShem to be the biggest. We could all... We all have the potential to be as big as we want to be. The question is, how much do we want to be? If we want to be big businessmen, we're going to dedicate our life to big business. We may succeed, we may not. The question is, how much do we want to be? If we want to be big businessmen, we're going to dedicate our lives to being successful in business. We may succeed, we may not.

38:06If we want to be big tzaddikim, we can be big tzaddikim. We may succeed, we may not, depending on how much we want it. The difference between the work part, the business part, and the HaShem part is that in the work part, you can work your whole life, break your head 70 years, and still die broke, and have nothing prepared for Olam Haba. With HaShem, with the job that HaShem is giving us, whether you become gadol haDor or just a simple Jew, you have Olam HaBa. You have a life full of amazing things for eternity. Either way, you win. There's no losing, because HaShem is not like a boss who only pays if you do a good job and are the best. HaShem pays just for trying. Because if we try, we win.

39:11We try harder, we gain more. We try harder, we gain more. And that's the point. So that's why they always tell us that a Jew has to continue trying harder every day to get closer to HaShem. A Jew must constantly strive to draw nearer to HaShem, making more effort each day. If we're observing Shabbat in one way today, we should try to enhance our observance even more tomorrow. If we're keeping kashrut only with meat and not with dairy, now we have to start with the dairy also. If we're keeping tefillin but we're only doing it by 2:00 in the afternoon, then we have to start doing it by 8:00 in the morning, or at least by 12:00 or by 10:00. And little by little... Be on schedule. Maybe you could do it five days a week on schedule, and one day a week not on schedule, or the opposite, whatever it is. But again, something every week, you should get to Shabbat with a list of things that I did this week that I never thought I would be able to do last week. Be on schedule. Maybe you could do it five days a week on schedule, and one day a week not on schedule, or the opposite, whatever it is. But again, every week, you should get to Shabbat with a list of things that I did this week that I never thought I was going to be able to do last week.

40:16What else did I do? And it doesn't necessarily always have to be just tzedakah, or just the things that are easy for you to do. It has to be at least one thing that's hard for you to do. You had that challenge, and you accomplished it. Because if it's easy for you to do, it's not your test. Every one of us came into this world for a certain test. You have to have at least one thing that's hard for you to do, and you had, and you did it. Because if it's easy for you to do, it's not your test. Every one of us came into this world for a certain test. There's something that we need to fix during our life. If we're very, very generous, then money is not our test. There's something that we need to fix during our life. If we're very, very generous, then money is not our nisayon (test). But if it's hard for us to give tzedakah, push yourself to give tzedakah. If prayer is hard for you, push yourself to pray. If studying is hard for you, push yourself to study. Either way, you have to study, but the point is that you should do whatever is challenging for you, not what's easy. It's just like when you were in school as little kids. You know, everybody wants to win the football game or the soccer game or whatever they're playing when they're little. But in reality, if you want to get better, you have to play with the big kids. When you're 10 years old, if you continue playing with six-year-olds, it may be fun because you're always the biggest kid and you're always winning. But whenever you're going to play kids your age, you're always going to be the one that's the worst because you're not trying hard enough.

41:34And that's the reality. So we have to try harder every week. If we try harder every week, then, you know, I think you'll surprise yourself with how far you can get and how amazing this all is and how much it could change your life. And, and again, I think that what I personally do today, I know that a year ago I never thought was possible. What I did a year ago, I never thought was possible. And all of these things are very, very far from us. They're all difficult for us before we do them, but eventually, they become part of our day-to-day activities. I think that if we could start that, it would be something extraordinary. Uh, the, uh... It seems like you guys are all tired. So before you fall asleep on me, just in case, for whatever reason, I, uh, don't see you next week or someone doesn't show up, I always want to make sure that I bring you something new.

42:39A new, new chiddush that I found this week, I think it's pretty extraordinary. Uh- Okay. So now, a lot of people in America especially... This is something that's unique to America and the Galut, more so than, I think, Israel. I'm not talking to anybody here. Just in case you hear somebody who's doing this, or thought about this, or anything like this. This is something that I found recently and I thought it was extraordinary, so I'm sharing it with you. People heard about this concept of Hanukkah trees. Hanukkah is coming up. Chanukah trees? Hanukkah bushes. People in America- Hanukkah bush. You know, like Hanukkah bush, Hanukkah tree, whatever it is, the people... I've never heard of that. Okay. So people- I don't know what people do, what people do... Okay. So what happened... What people do, what people do... Okay. So what happened... Okay, Hanukkah was never necessarily a holiday of gifts until Americans created that, you know. So, they wanted to... The Jews wanted to compete with Christmas.

43:48You know, they get... They have this tree, and they have gifts around it. So what Jews started doing is that, "Okay, during Chanukah, we're also going to give gifts, and we're going to give eight small gifts," and so on. So they made it a "gift holiday." It's not exactly what the holiday is about. The holiday is not about gifts. It's actually about our Am Yisrael survival, which is a little bit different than just getting a new PlayStation or some other nonsensical toy. But the point is that everything is becoming marketable, everything is becoming, you know, commerce, and people are drifting far, far, far away from the essence of what we need to do. Now, what's happened also, and I remember this even when I was a kid about 20 years ago, I remember one of the Jewish kids in the neighborhood told me, "Oh, yeah, yeah, we celebrate..." You know, he wasn't really just... But he's like, "Oh, yeah, we have a... We have a unique Hanukkah." I'm like, "What? What's unique about Hanukkah?" He goes, "Oh, we have a tree also. We have a Hanukkah bush." "Uh, like what?" What's unique about Hanukkah, Hanukkah?" He goes, "Oh, we have a tree also. We have a Hanukkah bush." "Uh, like what?

44:51What's that? I didn't even know what a Hanukkah bush is. What's a Hanukkah bush?" "Well, no, we have a tree, and it has, you know, blue and white decorations instead of green, and we put little Jewish stars on it, and it's fun and all that." Okay. I didn't know much at the time, and, uh, I still don't know much to this day, but I know a little bit more than I did back then, and I found a very, very interesting thing about the whole aspect of trees. Now, the, uh, Torah obviously was given to us by Hashem. We all know and agree that it's divine, which means that everything that's written here is directly from Hashem and is as relevant today as it was when it was written. Nothing changed. So now, the Torah repeatedly tells us that we should not do what the non-Jewish people do. The goyim have their laws, and we have our laws, but we don't have to, uh, argue about it.

46:08It's not that it doesn't necessarily make them bad or anything like that. It's just that we have different standards that Hashem gave us, different laws that we have to follow, and they have different laws. That's it. The problem with us is that, again, because we're back to a lack of knowledge and ignorance, we try to imitate them, which is something that Hashem told us specifically not to do multiple times. Something we're doing now in this story. We're repeating it over and over again. Now, the problem is that people, because they don't know, because they don't know... It's not because they... We're repeating it over and over again. Now, the problem is that people, because they don't know... It's not because they... Some people want to anger Hashem, but for the most part, it's because they don't know. Um, they do things because they don't think, "Oh, it's a big deal. It's a tree." What's the big deal? It's just a tree. What's the big deal? I go to my friend Tony's house, and he has trees all the time. No, no. God's not striking him. I go to my friend Tony's house, and he has trees all the time. No, no. Hashem's not striking him. If I was so bad, He'd just destroy them on the spot." All these people, you've got millions of people all over America, all over the world; they have trees in the middle of their living rooms, some white, some green, some with balls, some with stars, some with this, some with that. All these people are living life.

47:18This guy's got a big house; he's got ten rooms in it, and there are trees in every room. Why can't I have a tree? Why can't we have a tree? Because Hashem said we can't, and this is something that's not only what Hashem commanded; He said it literally. This is not a translation. This is not an interpretation. This is not... Actually, not only are we not allowed to do it, but no one's allowed to do it, meaning Jews or non-Jews. Unfortunately, people don't read the Torah properly or thoroughly. They think they... somebody told them a verse, and they remembered it their whole life, so they think they know the Torah, or they know the Tanakh, or they know something. They know three verses since kindergarten, or they know Tehillim because they read it every Tuesday or Shabbat or some other day, or any time somebody's sick, they read something and they remember a couple of them by heart, so they think they know the Torah. They don't know anything. The problem is the Torah is endless. And if you read it, everything is in it.

48:19I found this recently, and I think this is something extraordinary. It's in the Book of Jeremiah. It's in the Tanach. Yeah, yeah, um, it's chapter 10, and I'll just start from the beginning and you guys tell me if you understand what this says because this is just a simple English translation. I mean, I can read it in Hebrew also, but I think English, not the not Rashi's translation of it or some other sage interpretation of it, or the Gemara's interpreta... This is a basic word-for-word translation of what it says. "Hear the word which the Lord has spoken to you, oh House of Israel. Thus said the Lord, 'Do not learn to go the way of the nations, and do not be dismayed by portents in the sky. Let the nations be dismayed by them, for the laws of the nations are delusions, for it is the work of a craftsman's hands. He cuts down a tree in the forest with an axe. He adorns it with silver and gold.'" Let the nations be dismayed by them, for the laws of the nations are delusions, for it is the work of a craftsman's hands. He cuts down a tree in the forest with an axe. He adorns it with silver and gold.

49:27He fastens it with nails and a hammer so that it does not totter. They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch. They cannot speak. They have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them, for they can do no harm. You guys got this so far? Okay. So tree, kishutim on them with little decorations, silver, gold. Sounds familiar, right? Okay. So we're... Good start. Then Jeremiah 11. Interesting verse. That one... Then Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 11 - an interesting verse, that one... First one is much more literal than this one, but the point is that this one is, uh... Uh, yeah. Hold on. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four... Uh, nineteen to twenty.

50:32Here we go. Ah, okay. So in case anyone thinks that the, uh, second thing with the same book, since it's relevant also, anyone thinks that the covenant that we have with Hashem, meaning the mitzvot, that we have with Hashem, are not relevant or outdated and that we don't need to keep them so much. Jeremiah 11:1-5: "The word which came to Jeremiah from Hashem." Okay? So it's not from Yirmiyahu's buddy. It's from Hashem. "Hear the terms of this covenant and recite them to the men of Yehudah and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, and say to them, 'Thus said Hashem, the God of Yisrael, "Cursed be the man who will not obey the terms of this covenant."'" Okay. So, this is actually the third verse. You got the point on that one. And then the last one is about this tree.

51:40If the tree didn't bother Hashem, I don't think He would say this. Again, Jeremiah 11: "The Lord informed me and I knew. Then You let me see their deeds, for I was like a docile lamb led to the slaughter. I did not realize that it was against me they fashioned their plots. Let us destroy the tree with its fruit." Then You let me see their deeds, for I was like a docile lamb led to the slaughter. I did not realize that it was against me they fashioned their plots. Let us destroy the tree with its fruit. Let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more. Let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more. The tree also represents something else; this is the point here. Okay? It represents an idol. And the point here is that if the tree was—But sham baruch. not a big deal... Okay. If the tree did not mean much, if it was not a big deal... Uh, yeah, the, uh, first one is Yirmiyahu 10. It's highlighted, the parts that I highlighted. Yeah. Uh, yeah, the first one is Yirmiyahu 10. It's highlighted, the parts that I highlighted. Yeah. I never — But as soon as you put a tree in your house, put a plant in your house-

52:43It's a plant; you water it. It's just a plant. ... you water it. It's just a plant. it's a living thing. Very different. They're not describing a plant. Yeah, but they're not decorating - they're not, they're not describing a plant. They're describing the issue that arises when bringing a tree into your home for decoration. It's as if you're giving it undue significance, almost like idol worship, which is problematic from a Jewish perspective. Well, that's the thing. As soon as you bring a tree into your house and start decorating it, it's like you're treating it as if it's an idol. That's the problem. Well, that's the thing. It's a... The... He's not talking about putting plants in our houses. He's talking specifically about a tree that they put—Yeah. Decorations on it. And the Hebrew is actually even a little more detailed than the English part. decorations on it. And the Hebrew is actually even a little more detailed than the English part. It's, it's, it's- It talks about—it's a false god because the thing is that a tree is... The way they treat their trees is by the ornaments they get, the bigger— It's, it's... Well, it's basically a false god because the thing is that it's a, a tree is... The way they treat their trees is the ornaments that they get, the bigger- So people, he... ...and nicer, and- Okay. So here's the thing: the taller the tree. ...taller the tree. And the big star on the top of the tree, right? So here's the point, guys. And the, and the big star on the top of the tree, right. So here's the point, guys.

53:27Achi, zeh madius, ata mareh po. This is something that takes place in the days leading up to a major holiday. It's well before how long people generally start preparing for the largest celebrations. This period occurs way before they begin to celebrate the festival of Chanukah. It's in the days like... It's before how long the... This, like, uh, way before they, uh, they celebrate Christmas. Oh, yeah, yeah. So it's before the religion, uh, the— Sure. Here's the correction: "Yeah? Yes, yes. Definitely before the reason. Before—" Yes, yes. Definitely before the reason. Before - the rokhesh of the rosh. ha'rasha shel ha'rosh This is before Christianity ever existed or was even a thought. But the point, the beauty of the Torah is that it's eternal. It's as relevant 3,300 years ago when we received it until the end of time. It applies to everything. And you can find everything that's relevant to today with all the fancy, schmancy technology, and the different types of houses, and the cars, and the planes, and the cell phones, and the nonsense with which we consume our lives; you can find all of that in the Torah. All of it. Everything is in the Torah. So when we realize that this stuff is already there, and definitely we go against it, it's just foolishness. So what does it mean?

54:32That most people are not going defiantly against it. Most people just don't know because, why? It goes back to what we were talking about before. People believe big nonsense stories because they don't think that anybody would make such a big lie. That's why a guy like Madoff, for example, gave the rest of the Jews a bad name by stealing billions of dollars. Why? Because people believed his big story that he's this, and he's that, and he doesn't want to accept money, but he’ll... he's doing you a favor by taking your money, and people fell for this trap... because they fell for a big lie. Because people believed his big story that he's this and he's that, and he doesn't want to accept money, but he'll... he's doing you a favor by taking your money. And people fell for this trap because they fell for a big lie. The bigger the lie, the more people believe it. And one thing we have to understand for ourselves is that we must check the facts. We have to check the facts in the Torah, we have to check the facts in our lives, and we have to check ourselves every single day. We have to wake up because, as long as we don't know these facts, we have nothing to stand on. So this specific thing about the tree is not just for you guys because I wasn't assuming any of you are doing it. But number one is if you know anybody that doesn't think it's a big deal, let them know it's a big deal.

55:38If they... if you f-... don't know the verse - I take it - ask me. I think it's my brother also. Well, b'ezrat Hashem, it's not. ask me. I think it's my brother also. Well, Be'ezrat Hashem, it's not. Anybody who has—because my brother already has a tree, I think. Okay. Anybody is, it's, it's not. But, uh, the second thing is that anybody who actually watches this—if there's 10 people, five people, or even just one person who watches this video—it makes it all worth it. One person doesn't do it because of watching this; it's worth a million lectures. It's worth you guys being late every time. So... And that's what I... The point of all of this is that we learn, so we fix ourselves, connect to HaShem, and realize this is true. Be'ezrat HaShem. And Be'ezrat HaShem - Be'ezrat HaShem, may we achieve our purpose in this world and help other people. Amen. So Be'ezrat HaShem, next week during this next... You have seven days to try to get me one more person for next week. I'm getting you Shimon. One more person. Shimon's coming back. Anybody. I don't care who it is. It can be Shimon, it can be—. I will get me one more person for next week. ...a sweet guy. It could be this one or that one... Get me one more person for next week.

56:41I wish, I wish I could get my brother Dovid. We have to grow this shiur. Anyone, anyone. All three of you guys get me just one more person for next week, we will have made a big, big achievement. So let's try to get as many people as possible. If you can't get somebody, then send them the link I send you guys with the lectures, like the shiur that we do. If they don't want to watch me because I'm not good to look at, then have them watch Rabbi Mizrachi, because he has a lot better things to say than I do. If they don't want to listen to English, he has it in Hebrew. If they don't want to listen to him because they don't like him either, have them listen to my cousin Rabbi Efraim Kachlon. If they don't like him either, Rabbi- we’ve got a problem. There's a lot of Torah out there. Just get, get them to watch something. Torah and science, that's also... Again, I don't know if... I didn't ask you guys if anybody watched it yet, but please, if you haven't watched it, watch it. I will. Okay? It's a good... it's good stuff. Watch it. It's good... it's good stuff. The CD is not the same - b'ezrat Hashem - as the movie? The CD... Yeah, the CD "Torah and Science" is the same thing as the movie. Oh, so one is just, uh, one is audio and one is visual. Oh, it's a good idea. The video should be watched with your wife because you shouldn't be selfish and be the only one learning. Watch it with your wife.

57:45I'll tell you the truth, my wife took the CD, and she's telling me stories now. Ah, tzaddeket. Mmm. Nice. I know, I'm dealing with some- I put it in, I put it in her car. Now, she's coming to tell me stories. Nice. I know. I'm dealing with something—I put it in, I put it in her car. Now she's coming to tell me stories. Ah. Baruch HaShem. Baruch HaShem. Okay, so guys, please, two things we have to do. Watch "Torah and Science" and work on getting one person for next week's lecture, and Be'ezrat HaShem, we'll have a good week, as you can see... Amen. ... nachas from the shamayim. Amen. You guys, Be'ezrat HaShem, worked, uh—Be'ezrat HaShem, on creating something good together. Tochver leShem baruch HaShem. And Be'ezrat HaShem, we'll all, we'll all succeed, we'll all succeed in, uh, having HaShem happy with us every day and- Amen. succeed in our life. All right? Amen ve Amen. Baruch Ata Adonai. Amen ve'amen. Amen ve'amen. Al tehi ka’avdai ha’mishamesh et rabbo al menat le’kabel pras.