SHOVAVIM: Why Do Women & Men Do TIKKUN HABRIT (BH FILMS)

0:30Since the Chachamim knew that even if somebody made sins and he did teshuva, if that teshuva is based on fear, which 99.9999% of all people that do teshuva is based on fear, if not 100% because fear is, in essence, the biggest motivator in the human psyche. That converts all of the sins that were purposeful to accidental. Now, although the punishment is not as dire, still there is a stain on their neshama. There's a stain on their neshama, so they can't get rewarded in heaven the same way they would have been rewarded had they not had that stain. So what do you do for that? You do tikkunim. What's a tikkun? Now, the Chachamim in previous generations would, according to the Zohar, as taught by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, assert that each time a person wasted seed or was with a nidah or committed any of these immoral sins, they would have to fast for a certain amount of time. So, for example, if someone wasted seed, they would have to fast 84 times for a single session, a single sin, 84 times. If he was with a nidah, he would have to fast 84 plus 82 times.

1:39So, 166 times you would have to fast. Now, that's for a single sin. Surely, people sin more than once. In past generations, people were able to fast much more than we can today. There are also certain strategies where you could perform a particular mitzvah that is considered as if you fasted many, many times. If you fast for two days straight, or if you fast for three days straight, most people can't handle that. Most people can barely handle fasting for one day. So what do the Chachamim do, including the Baal HaTanya? The Baal HaTanya says, fast for one day during this time, or any time really, for the specific sin, and the rest of the times that you've sinned, Fix it, do a tikkun with money. You analyze how much it costs you to eat the bare minimum of food per day. You multiply that by the number of fasts you owe. So, let's say, for example, you sinned one time by wasting seed, that's 84 fasts. The cost of food, let's say, is five dollars. Five times eighty-four is four hundred and twenty. So, you have to give four hundred and twenty dollars as tzedakah. This is not part of maaser, because, in essence, it's money that you owe.

2:47It's like stolen money, if you will. So, $420 that you give for the sake of this sin. Now, you can't just give it to some zoo or some average local rabbi that just teaches nice things but doesn't talk about brit. You have to give it specifically for the sake of this teaching. Meaning, anyone, whether it be myself or it be anybody else in the world that teaches this subject and you want to help promote this subject. and the publicity of this Kedusha, this holiness in the world—this is what you donate for. This is what you donate for. And this is not just for men; this is also for women. Women who have been walking around immodestly their whole life and caused men to waste seed. Women who intentionally caused men to waste seed, whether it's with pictures, films, or even by being with a person. Each time you're with somebody, you have to do Tikkun HaBrit and also Tikkun Nidah.

3:52Some even say they have to do tikkun for each time that she was with herself. The Ben Ish Chai, Alav HaShalom, says that each time a woman is with herself, she's doing Ma'aseh Mitzrayim; she's doing the wickedness of Egypt. That's why the Rambam forbids it in the Mishneh Torah. It talks about how it's forbidden for a woman to be like that. It's considered the acts of the Egyptians because they were immoral, the Egyptians. So a woman that's immoral with herself, It's also a sin. And the Ben Ish Chai says that she produces demons just like a man produces demons when he wastes seed. And those demons hurt them. They hurt their ability to make money. They hurt their ability to have children. They hurt their ability to learn Torah. They hurt their ability to have shalom bayit. Put it this way: some of the greatest Mekubalim, some of the greatest Mekubalim we've had throughout all of the generations, including this generation. Literally say this: The root of all your problems, all of them—money, marriage, children, anything, health—the root of all your problems is connected to the issue of Brit, Kedusha, whether man or woman.

5:14The root of all of your problems, more than any other part of the Torah, the root of all of your problems, the father of all evil, comes from wasting seed, comes from desecrating your kedusha, desecrating your holiness, because that's your kedusha. So, this being an auspicious time for that tikkun is why you'll see certain kehillot, certain congregations, especially in the Hasidic world, and some very serious Sephardic Jews, and some very serious Ashkenazim, you'll see that during this time there's teachings about this. Sometimes people learn in private, sometimes they learn in sessions, others fast. once, twice, three times a week. Most importantly, many people take whatever money they have, and instead of wasting money on stock markets, watches, sneakers, and other unnecessary items, they use that money to publicize teachings like this. Why? Because this is the root of all of your problems.

6:20So with that being said, we have this time, this Parashat Shemot. We're starting Parashat Shemot; this is the beginning of Shovavim. This is the time to fix. We are meant to be a light unto the nations, not to follow their misguided practices. Every Jew has to remember... that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless. It's a zilzul, a disrespect to the Torah, and could lead to chilul Hashem, desecration of God's name. Stick to our holy Torah and our own holidays. That's the path of a true Jew.