The 3 Friends and Story Of Our Life

1:34He's in his prime, has tons of money in the bank, more than he knows what to do with. One day, he goes to pick up his friend from the airport because that's apparently what friends do for each other. They pick each other up from the airport, even though there are taxis and services you can pay for, but for some reason, people like to pick up other people from the airport. By the way, if I ever come to your town, don't pick me up from the airport. Just pay for the cab, if you want. It's a complete waste of time to pick up people from the airport. It's double the waste of time, and it doesn't cost any less. You still have to pay tolls, you still have to pay for parking, and you still have to pay for gas. I don't know why people do it. But anyway, such is life. People always ask me, "Oh, can you give me a ride to the airport?" No, I'll give you money for the airport. Whatever it costs, I'll pay for the cab. I'll never take you to the airport. "No, but what? No chance." Why would I waste three hours of my life taking you to the airport? I just pay a guy, it takes me 30 seconds. You're in the airport. I save myself three hours of my life. My three hours are worth more than the fifty or hundred dollars it costs. So anyway, this guy was very, very rich. Apparently, he didn't have anything to do, so he wanted to pick up his friend from the airport. But on the way to the airport, the guy in front of him stopped short on the highway, and he was going really fast. So he hit him.

2:43the way to the airport, the guy in front of him stopped short on the highway, and he was going really fast. So he hit him. He hit him in the back, stopped, pulled over; he got hurt. Then, he goes, they go to the front of where the guy is. The guy that stopped short on the highway died. The old man died. Now, what's the case? Did he die before he hit him, and that's why he stopped short on the highway? Think he's gonna be found guilty or did he die from the hit? This was a major case that took millions of dollars, tons of time, and everything was on the line for this guy. So all the money in the world that he had was worthless now, because he could spend the rest of his prime years in jail, since they were trying him for murder. They're trying him for murder. Well, Hashem ensured he got released, and everything was good. They determined that the guy died before he hit him. The point is that all the money in the world couldn't help him at that point. It was just Hashem deciding whether he was going to spend the rest of his life in jail or not. So, returning to our story, this guy was in danger in a similar situation, and...

4:07He's in danger and he calls his friends. The first guy calls his best friend, the one he's been hanging out with every single day for years. "It's okay, buddy," he says. "Listen, I have this big case. I've got a trial. I don't know what's gonna happen. I don't know if they're gonna convict me. I didn't do it, I promise. But I need some support, some moral support." What does his friend say, this best friend, this BFF that he spent all these years with? "I'm sorry, buddy. I can't go. I'm busy." I'm sorry, buddy. I can't go now, but come on. You're my friend. You're my boy for years. We've been together. We're like this, coming to the case. I'm not asking you to fight for me. I'm not asking you to give me money. I'm just asking you to be there for moral support, sitting in the court. I'm sorry, buddy. I'm busy. I can't go. What a letdown. This is worse than the case. This is worse than being convicted guilty. So what does he do, miskain? He calls the second guy. The second guy that, you know, he hung out with once in a while. He says, listen, I... My friend didn't come through. Can you help me out? Can you give me some moral support? Can you come with me to do my big case? They may convict me. I may be guilty. I may not believe it's a problem. What does the second guy say? The second guy says, listen, I can come with you, but only up to the courtroom. Once you get to the courtroom, I'm leaving. I'm not going inside. I'll give you a ride to the airport, but I'm not going inside. I'm not flying with you.

5:33I'll take it. What are you going to do? I'll take it, but I still need somebody to support me when I'm in court. I'm in distress. So what does he do? He calls the guy he hasn't talked to in months, the guy with whom he was only an acquaintance. Once in a while, we'd visit him. Listen, I'm in trouble. Hey, we're in trouble. Where are you? I'll be there. No, no, I got a case. No problem, I'll be there. Tell me where it is. I'm there. I'll be with you throughout the whole case. I'll even vouch for you. I'll write a letter for you. All of a sudden, this acquaintance, with whom he was friends, is writing letters for him. He's vouching for him. He's fighting for him. "Your honor, he's a tzaddik. He didn't do it. Well, you know what? He didn't know, but I know he didn't do it. He's a tzaddik." It's surprising to see this level of dedication from an unexpected person. This guy got the surprise of his life. His best friend didn't show up. The middle guy gave him a ride. The guy that he was just friendly with is writing letters on his behalf. Surprise. What's the biggest surprise? The biggest surprise is that the story is about us. This entire story is about us.

6:43How is it about us? A guy invests all of his time with his best friend. What's his best friend? Money. Every day, he chases money. Every day, he goes to the drugstore and sells drugs. He goes to the muffler store to sell mufflers. He goes to the diamond store to sell diamonds. He spends overtime to save for a vacation he's never going to take. He spends extra time to build a company he doesn't need. He spends extra time to build another house that he doesn't even want. And he's there, overtime and overtime and overtime and overtime. He spends all of his time there. That's the best friend. Every day he chases money. Every day he goes to the drugstore and sells drugs, he goes to the muffler store to sell mufflers, he goes to the diamond store to sell diamonds, and he spends overtime to save for a vacation he's never going to take. He spends extra time to build a company he doesn't need, and he spends extra time to build another house that he doesn't even want. And he's there overtime and overtime and overtime. He spends all of his time there. Is that the best friend? On Judgment Day, when a person goes to Shamayim after 120 years, a person comes to Shamayim and Hashem says, "I'm sorry, but you can't bring your money with you. It can't come. Whether you have a million, five million, ten million, twenty, thirty, fifty, or a hundred million, it all stays behind. You can't bring it with you."

7:47All of it stays behind. That extra big house that you just built an extension for stays behind. The big bank account with the 401(k) next to it stays behind. That best friend you spent all your life with, right? Stays behind. It can't come to court with you. Who's the second guy? Saying, "I gave you a ride." That's the family. Family I spent a little time with—an hour here, an hour there, like you're doing them a favor. "No, what do you mean? I was home for eight hours last night." Yeah, but you slept seven and a half. You ate dinner. You went to sleep for seven and a half hours. You count that as being home. But they're going to give you a ride to the funeral. Someone dies, they're about to meet their Maker. What happens before the body goes to the funeral? They're going to give you a ride to the funeral. It's the least they can do. They can't come with you to Shamayim. They can't come with you to Shamayim. Who's your best friend? Who's the guy that's vouching for you? Who's the guy that came through, and you didn't even spend any time with him at all? Once in a while, you did him a favor. That's Torah, that's mitzvot. Once in a while, you did a mitzvah by accident. You create an angel. Once in a while, you lay tefillin on time, you know, before three o'clock in the afternoon, like on time in the morning, when the rest of religious people do it in the morning.

9:14Once in a while, you do it, right? You get an angel; you get him a malach, right, an angel. What is he doing in Shamayim? Oh, you're in trouble. I'm writing a letter for you. What happened? He's a tzadik. Hashem is a tzadik. What do you mean tzadik? Look at this guy. No, no, Hashem is a tzadik. He's a tzadik. He's vouching for you. That's what the Shemoneh is telling you. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov is saying that one that you don't spend any time with. That's who's gonna vouch for you. Money, your family, your friends, your everything else. You can't do anything for you. You can't do anything for you. Nothing. I heard the story five, six years ago. It hit the spot back then, but today it hit more. You know, repetition is one of the things you're supposed to do. We learn Torah, you repeat, you go over things, and every single time you go over Torah, the second time is better. The third time is better, and it keeps getting better. That's the beauty of Torah.