Stories Of Tzadikim Part 2- Rambam

0:11There was a bunch of scientists at the time of the Rambam who said to the king, "We believe that we can change the nature of anything." However, the Rambam, who was a Renaissance man in essence—he was a philosopher, a doctor, and a scientist—said it's impossible to change the nature of anything. Scientists of his day, almost 900 years ago, said, "We believe that we can change the nature of anything." And the Rambam said, "It's impossible to change the nature of anything." Now, with humans, you can't change their nature because a human—you can't prove it. You can't prove that you've changed the nature of a human being because he can act. You could tell me, "I changed his nature. Look, last year he was a criminal, and this year he's a tzaddik." You can't prove it; he could be an actor.

1:39Last year, he was a criminal. This year, he's a bigger criminal. He just has a mask on. We said, okay, so we could change the nature of a cat. Give us a cat. Give us some time. We're going to change the nature of a cat. So they took the cat. The Rambam said, whenever you're ready, just let me know. No problem. I'll prove to you that you can't change the nature. This is actually a story that happened. They took the cat and started training him. Six months pass, and they go to the king. They tell the king, "Look at the cat. The cat is wearing a little bowtie, and he's holding a dish, walking on two legs. It's like, look, we changed the nature of the cat. He now believes he's a waiter." Everyone is impressed. "Oh wow, look at the cat! He's serving cheese; he's serving wine. This is amazing, this is amazing, wow, whoo, a big deal. Call the Rambam, bring the Rambam!" The Rambam, that day, I... studying, and he saw there was a little mouse going inside his tobacco box. So, rather than kill it, what did he do? He closed the box and wanted to take it out to throw it out, and

2:53But as soon as he was about to throw it out, somebody came to his house from the king's castle. He said, the king is calling you. He put the box in his pocket and forgot about it. So he went to the castle. He said, oh, the scientists are back. The Rambam forgot about this, he says. I forgot about this bet already a long time ago, because he knew it's not possible to change the nature of anything. So they say, look, we changed the cat. And he sees this cat walking on two feet or two legs. And he's carrying a plate with this, and the Rambam immediately has a thought: Oh, he has a mouse. He opens the tobacco box and lets the mouse out, and as soon as he lets the mouse out, the cat reverts to its previous nature. The plate goes to one wall, the bow tie to another wall, the wine to another wall, and he's going after the mouse. Without saying a word, he proves the point. Nature doesn't change. Now, a person, on the other hand, can change his behavior. But he has to have a good instruction set. If he's using a secular instruction set, that instruction set is temporary. That instruction set is limited. So, for example, people that like to use things like self-help books.

4:18coaches like Tony Robbins or Zig Ziglar or any of these motivational types of speakers or the book like "The Secret" - all of those things, they all sound wonderful. Be positive, positive things will happen. Be good, good things will happen. It's nice, it's a nice thought. What about when you're positive, and you are very positive? You have a mantra every day: "I'm gonna be positive," and you say to yourself in the mirror, "I'm gonna be positive, only positive, positive," 500 times. And then you find out, chas v'shalom, that someone related to you has cancer. How's that positive? How's that secret work for you? How did Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar and whoever else that's your coach explain that one when you're so positive? How about you're so positive, you say, "I'm gonna be rich, be rich, be rich, be rich, be rich. I'm gonna be so rich!" Then you find out on Wednesday morning that your company, Lehman Brothers, just declared bankruptcy and your whole 401k, worth 1.8 million, is not worth 18 cents because all of it was invested in company stock and...

5:44Company stock is worthless. How's that for being positive? How's that for being a secret? It's so secretive. No one knows it. The Law of Attraction—how about your soul? The Law of Attraction is so fantastic. Do you attract a bunch of people to mug you and take your Bentley? How's that for attraction? All that is limited. It's limited in a sense. Yes, there are certain aspects of it that are positive and beneficial, but it doesn't solve every problem in life. Certain aspects of, let's say, for example, if somebody wants to smile, forces himself to smile for 20 minutes a day, it is proven scientifically that he creates certain hormones that improve his behavior, improve his state of mind for the moment. It's not going to solve your bank account problems. It's not going to solve your marriage. You still have to be a decent human being. It's not going to somehow bring children into the world if your wife can't have children or if your sperm cells don't work. It's not. Sorry. As positive as you can be, only God can do those things. So when you go and listen to all these self-help books, it's all wonderful, but it's limited. The Torah, on the other hand, is given to you by God. God is always God. And if He's always God, that means He's not limited. There's no limit to Him.