Systemic Problem In The Jewish Kiruv World (10 minutes)

1:16This cuts you off from the nation. So, yes, you are allowed to commit sins. You're, in essence, expected to commit sins. It says in the Torah, there's no such thing as a righteous person who doesn't sin. But don't ever think it's okay. Don't ever say, "Oh, you know, I committed a sin. I went with a non-Jewish man only tonight." It's okay. It's only tonight. And tomorrow is the same thing. And next week is the same thing. If you say it's okay once, why isn't it okay again? This is the reason why the shita, the strategy that unfortunately many rabbis use in today's world, of telling people that it's okay to drive to shul in the beginning until you eventually do teshuva. This is why it doesn't work, by the way. because if you look at it from a secular mindset, if you look at it from someone who wasn't born in a religious family, someone like that is going to think with pure human logic. He's not going to look at it with Torah logic. He's going to analyze it with pure human logic. So human logic says, if it's okay for me to drive to shul today,

2:43You're saying it's okay for me to drive to shul today, on Shabbat. Saying it's okay, just make sure to come to shul, even if you have to drive. You're saying it's okay. Why isn't it okay tomorrow? Why isn't it okay a year from now? Why isn't it okay five years from now? The rabbi answers, no, no, no. In the beginning, I told you it's okay to drive on Shabbat, because I knew that if you don't drive on Shabbat, you're not going to come. But now, you've already been coming for a year. It's time for you to go up. So the secular mindset says, why? Why do I need to go up? No, you've already learned mitzvot. You've already learned some Torah. You prayed with us. So then the secular mindset is going to say, yeah, but I'm not ready to go up. You may be ready for me to go up a level. But I'm not ready to go up a level. I'm ready to stay exactly where I am. I still feel like I'm new. I'm new. I'm only a year old. So what's the rabbi going to say? Okay, so she drives for another year. So now, after two years of driving to shul, the rabbi asks, okay, now is she going to stop driving? Because why should I stop driving? It was okay for the first year.

4:09Yes, it was okay for the first year. You said it was okay for the first year. And technically, you agreed with me that it was okay for two years. You can't say no. You agreed that it was okay for two years. If it was okay for the first year, it was okay for two years. So if it's okay for two years, then it's going to be okay for another two years. I'll talk to you in two years from now. And so, the story continues. And the whole human logic is seen as overriding the Torah here. Why? Because you're not using the Torah from day one. You're saying it's okay to sin. It's never okay to sin. It's never okay to drive to shul on Shabbat. If you're going to drive to shul, it's your choice. I'm still not going to tell you it's okay. You want to drive to shul? Drive to shul. You want to eat pork? Eat pork. Do whatever you want. It's your life. It's your destiny. But I can never give you a sign-off and say, by the way, it's okay for you to drive to shul on Shabbat. I can't do that. Just come to shul. There's no such thing. There's no mitzvah in the Aseret HaDibrot that's listed in the Aseret HaDibrot. You must go to shul. There's no such thing. Aseret HaDibrot does not include going to shul. It does include keeping Shabbat though. So when someone from the secular mindset looks at the religion and sees that someone who is supposed to know is giving the okay to sin

5:29Then, immediately, that person looks at the Torah as a complete joke, as something that's variable, something that can change. It's no longer divine; it's no longer from God. Because if it was from God, it would never be okay to sin. If it was from God, it could never change. If it was from God, there would be no exceptions. Unless that person gives the Rav some money. Right, so if the guy gives the Rav some money and the Rabbi sells Hashem out for money, then Hashem will have a nice place in Gehinnom. But the key is to understand that you cannot make exceptions. You can't make exceptions. You have to tell people, listen, I would love for you to come to shul. Okay, but the only way that I'd come to shul is if I drive. What's the proper answer? Somebody tells you, listen, the only way I'd come to shul is drive. Now, if you know that the person has a closer shul, you tell them, "Listen, go to a closer shul. Don't come to my shul; go somewhere else." If not, tell them, "Listen, come stay at my house. Come stay at my house, and we'll walk to the shul together." Option three: Don't come; pray at home. "Yeah, but I don't know how to pray." Find a way to come. Don't drive.

6:49Yeah, but the only way I can do it is drive. Listen, I'm telling you, you should come to shul so I can teach you, but it's never going to be okay for you to drive. At some point or another, you have to have some type of emunah that Hashem runs the world. If the rabbi is saying, no, no, listen, we're just trying to get him in and tell him it's okay for now, but later we're going to change him. How many of those cases have actually worked? How many of those people that you told them it's okay to drive to shul on Shabbat, have actually stopped driving on Shabbat? Very few. I'm sure some exist, and I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they exist, but it's definitely not many. So, here the Mishnah starts with, first off, make sure you realize you cannot cut yourself off from the nation if you want to be part of this share of the world to come. That's number one. Number two, as taught here, is that the Gemara says there are three things that will get you to Olam HaBa. This Olam HaBa that everybody is anticipating.

8:10I'm sorry, there are several things you need to do in order to get to Olam HaBa, which obviously you have to look at this first Mishnah. But before we even get to that point of actually getting to this Olam HaBa, We have to realize why it is being told to us in the beginning, before the Mishnah even starts. It tells us, listen, you can have Olam HaBa, you can have Olam HaBa. It's to give us hope. It's to give us hope and encouragement. Hey, listen, even you can get a share in the World to Come. Just don't mess up. Don't get yourself cut off. That's number one. That's rule number one. Rule number two. The Gemara says there are three things that you can get, but not without mesirut nefesh. Not without sacrifice, self-sacrifice. Number one: learning Torah. You want to be a talmid chacham? You want to know a lot of Torah? It requires self-sacrifice. You want to learn Torah while you're eating cookies and chips and a little cup of tea? It's great, enjoy.

9:18You can learn Torah as much as you want with tea and cookies and with your legs up on the couch, you know, from 5 p.m. till 8 p.m., right before your show starts. You can learn Torah, no problem. But you're not going to become a Talmid Chacham. You'll know Torah. You'll know the basics. You'll know that Moshe Rabbeinu existed. You'll know about Har Sinai. You may even know a few halachot. You'll know some Gemara. Yeah, you'll know. You'll know some things. No questions asked. But to be a Talmid Chacham? Never going to happen. Why? Because in order for you to become a Talmid Chacham, you have to understand the value of Torah. In order for you to understand the value, once you understand the value of Torah, you're not going to be able to leave it. This means that you're going to eliminate the material world. The more you learn Torah, the more you eliminate the material world. The more you disconnect from the wafers, the chips, the Gatorades, the shows on TV, and everything else. You've just experienced another Torah class.