The COVID19 Crisis Risk After Sukkot? - STUMP THE RABBI (66)

0:17In the name of G-d, let's do it and succeed. A song of Torah. Baruch Hashem. We're back. G-d bless you all. I hope we had a productive Yom Kippur, where you're able to pray to Hashem, cry to Hashem, do teshuva, most importantly. Now, the next holiday is just a couple of days away. We have Sukkot. B'ezrat Hashem we'll speak briefly about it. And more opportunities to do teshuva, more opportunities to get to a place where we need to be all year. B'ezrat Hashem, today's shiur... where you're able to pray to Hashem, cry to Hashem, do teshuva, most importantly. Now, the next holiday is just a couple of days away. We have Sukkot. B'ezrat Hashem, we'll speak briefly about it. And more opportunities to do teshuva, more opportunities to get to a place where we need to be all year. B'ezrat Hashem, today's shiur, will be for a Hatzlacha Rabah for Hannah Bat Rut, Marsha Bat Julie, Shaul Ben Ferzane, Yitro Ben Avraham, Talia Bat Sara, Oshri Ben Doris, Gabi Ben Doris, Elad Ben Doris, David Ben Nesria, and also La'avdil for a Refuah Shlema for David Ben Doris, Rav Efraim Ben Shulamit, Rabanit Sara Bat Sara,

1:39Anat, Rabbanit Levana, Bat Sarah, Yitro Ben Avraham, Talia Bat Sarah, Yonah Ben Sherry Haley, Yosef Yitzchak Ben Baila Rochel, Stefan Ben Katerina, Michal Bat Yael, Serach Bat Batya, Batya Bat Sarah, Orit Bat Ilana, Zvora Bat Mercedes, Esther Bat Zipora, and all of Am Yisrael, b'ezrat Hashem, will have refuah shelema, refuat hanefesh, refuat haguf, and a very special thank you to all of the people that donated and are continuing to donate for the campaigns we had recently, whether it's to feed the poor in Eretz Yisrael, or it's the Rosh Hashanah campaign, or the Yom Kippur campaign, which also went to the poor, Baruch Hashem. I got a message today from one of the people that we have managing the area of Yavniel. It's simply an area full of poor tzaddikim, one after another, one tragic story after another.

2:58And many of them, Baruch Hashem, we've helped already in the last year or so. But because the demand was growing due to what's going on in Eretz Yisrael, they're shutting down the country and so on, it got to a point where the person himself that's running it decided not to tell anybody. ...until the last minute, you know, pretty much to tell people just to come pick up their basket or to ask them to go and drop off the basket at their house with the food. In some other areas like Netanya, another place in Yerushalayim, and other areas that we did in Israel, they gave food. In other places, they gave them a card with money in it to go shopping, like a supermarket card. But in this particular area, in Yavne'el... this Tzadika and her Tzadik husband, they go and order the food, the meat, and all the different things—the chicken and the food for the house, and so on and so forth. They make huge boxes of beautiful, amazing food. Now, over the last few times that we've done it,

4:15You see that people were so happy, excited to get it, and so on. Many people that were having Shalom Bayit problems, because of financial reasons, Baruch Hashem, they were able to make peace. Kids that were having difficulties in different areas, Baruch Hashem, now, just a little bit of food and sustenance, and just simply seeing that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is watching and answering prayers, Helped them a lot. But this time, she decided not to tell them simply because she wanted to make sure that we have enough for everybody, and so on. So anyway, she told everybody at the last minute. And she sent me, I can't even hear the whole thing. It's too hard for me to hear it. And apparently in Israel, I don't know if it's like that in other countries, but in Israel, the phones over there automatically record every call. Like here, I can't even get an app.

5:21that records a call without making that stupid beep sound. Beep, beep, beep every two seconds. Who wants that? So, you know, it's like you, I'm not on the phone that much, but anyway, I want to have that feature, but it's not possible. In Israel, it's standard, apparently, that all phones are automatically recorded. So she has all these recordings of the phone calls, and she sent me like a compilation of the calls. And when she tells the people, "Hey, listen, Baruch Hashem, we got you food for the Chag, for this, for that," and he just starts hearing people cry. like, yeah, it's happiness, but I mean it's extraordinary happiness. People were two days away from the Chag and they hadn't eaten in a day or two. They started fasting already. So, it's unbelievable. You hear people crying, you hear people happy, and it gives you a little bit of a different perspective on life and on how the times are different for different people.

6:25You know, it's a, you know, right now you could say, yeah, the whole world is suffering with Corona. It's not really true. It's not really true. With all due respect to everybody here, none of you are suffering. Okay? I'm not suffering either, Baruch Hashem, from this Coronavirus. In fact, I think my life has improved since this Coronavirus has appeared. Why? We're reaching a lot more people. The amount of kiruv that we're doing has at least doubled, if not quadrupled. You know, the amount of work has increased drastically, and I'm dying slowly, but it's a different story. It's my own issue. But in other parts of the world, specifically in Israel, you're seeing certain people, certain areas, many of them, in other parts even of the U.S. and other places, where the effect is very different. Very, very different. It reminds me of a story one time, I was a man who went to raise money, and I came to one of the people that I know well. He’s a rich guy who always donates, a good guy. You know, raising money in the old days was very different than raising money today. Today, if you want to raise money, pretty much all you need is a few people who know people...

7:51...know, perhaps hire one of these companies that does the marketing for you. Maybe use one of these campaign software platforms that they have to encourage online donors and so on. And you see, you have a campaign, and Baruch Hashem, you see these campaigns raising, you know, a million dollars in 24 hours. Oh, bonus round, million now! And they raise, Baruch Hashem, how they do it, it's amazing... And you see, people are raising a lot of money very, very easily. And places that in many cases were not known until the campaign. Like no one even knew this place existed until they donated part of the million dollars to it. And people are raising money, and they're having a successful time raising money. How many people are actually getting closer to Hashem, doing teshuva as a result of all of this money? Only HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows. But the point is that money raising today is very, very different than it was in the past. This also opens up the door to a lot of fraud.

8:57As I've told you guys in the past, there's a lot of donor fraud. A lot of it. That's why I generally don't recommend anybody anymore. People tell me, "Oh, listen, my rabbi's kollel is raising money. My kollel, my this, thank you. You know, you can recommend it." I'm not a marketing company. You know, we have our own issues, our own problems, and I also can't trust you, but I don't want to tell you that because you might get offended. So, you know, we have to raise our own money. Generally speaking, I don't help anybody anymore just because I've seen too many ugly things in the last few years. With donor fraud, where you see campaigns that are just outright fake. You know, one woman is raising money just a few months ago. Raising money. Oh, yeah, my husband, he got sick, and he's dying, and we have these kids, and that, and that. Okay, great. So she has a campaign on some, you know, one of these websites. And someone... ...one of my students calls me. He goes, "Listen, Rabbi, do you see this?" I said, "Yeah, so it's one of the million things being publicized today. What's the problem?" He goes, "It's fake." I said, "Why is it fake?" He says, "Because I know the woman. I know the woman, and she's not exactly all there. But anyway, just to make sure, I talked to other people. We called the husband. The husband left her. He's in Florida, he's having a good time, and he says, 'Listen, she's a liar. I'm very well, I'm perfectly healthy. She just wants to make some money.'"

10:20No, the first story I got, countless stories like this. as well as tell people, if you're gonna donate money, you have to look at it as an investment. Just like if you would buy a house, you would do comps—comps meaning comparables. You look at other houses, what this one sold for, what that one sold for. You get an adjuster, you get an appraiser, you get all types of people to give you second opinions if this is worth it to donate. There was a group of reshaim here in Florida; they said they were raising two million dollars for a child who was sick. it came out that the, uh, the insurance company paid for the claim. The insurance company paid for the claim. They raised over two million dollars, they raised over two million dollars, and but the insurance company paid for it. How many people got the two million dollars back? All right, maybe a few, maybe, maybe I would say at best, maybe one percent of the people got the money back that they donated for two million dollars. Why? Because they didn't make a public publication for it. Like, you have to find out from somebody who found out that it was posted somewhere in some odd place.

11:23Who kept the money? The rabbis. The three people that, you know, said, "Oh no, we're going to start a new foundation to help people with this disease that only six people in the world have." Yeah, okay, buddy. In your kitchen, two of you are going to help, and another car, another this, another that. A lot of donor fraud, a lot of donor fraud. But, Baruch Hashem, there are a lot of really good places that are raising money and are taking advantage of the recent system that's been developed in the world, Baruch Hashem. And they're getting to people they would never get to otherwise. But that wasn't always the case. At the time of Rav Wasserman, none of these computers and technologies were there. In fact, raising money was a very, very difficult thing to do, needless to say. It's always difficult, but it was even more difficult back then because you had to literally go door to door. And you have to travel, and you have to leave your family, your kids, your students, and everybody, and go to different countries. And yes, hello, yeah, I'm raising money for a yeshiva you've never heard of, and you're never going to benefit from, because I live in a completely different country, but I'm the rabbi of this and that, and hopefully, this Jew will care enough about you that he's going to give you a few dollars. I know from one of the biggest rabbis in the world today, Rav Gidon ben Moshe, the head rabbi of Yerushalayim. He's told us some stories, Hashem yishmor.

12:43He came a few times. He comes to America every year to raise some money. He still raises it the old-fashioned way. A few years ago, he came, and somebody told him, "Listen, why don't you go to this guy? He's extremely rich. He has hundreds of millions of dollars and da-da-da. Go to him. Big rabbis usually find it easier to raise money. What do you think?" So he goes to this guy and says, "Okay, listen, listen." What do you do? He's like, "Tell them." Half hour, 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, from one of the... he's coming to you. Especially if you have the money, no? After 40 minutes, the guy says to him, "Very good." He goes under his desk. He opens something. was it a little refrigerator, a refrigerator bottle of water? He gives him, he goes, "All right, give him that and a dollar. One dollar." Now, from our perspective, I mean, you could laugh, you could cry, you could do a lot of things, but the Gehinnom that that person is going to get for that embarrassment of a talmid, that bizayon of the Torah, it's not going to be a laughing matter.

14:05But unfortunately, in raising money, there's a lot of bizayon. A lot of bizayon. A lot of embarrassment. A lot of horrible things that a person has to go through in order to, you know, get through the yetzer hara of the person and get to their yetzer hatov. People have asked me several times, "Well, you know, you used to raise $10 million a month from clients for investments, so obviously you could do this. Why don't you call people?" I said, I'll never do it. I'm not going to do it. I haven't done it. I'm not going to do it. Why? Because I know myself. I know my yetzer hara, and I also know what's really on the line. If I start talking to people about money... Like seriously, I start telling them, "Listen, send money, this amount of money, that amount of money, like I used to do in the business world," that's pretty much the last day that that person is ever going to listen to my Torah. From that point on, it becomes business. I'm already uncomfortable talking about it as it is with some people that donate from time to time, and some of them donate a decent amount of money, and they say, "Oh, listen, Rabbi, listen, I just sent you another few thousand dollars." I tell them, first thing I tell them, "Why do you always call me when you send me money? Why don't you send me like Shabbat Shalom?"

15:13or a problem, or something. Why is it always when you send money? Why is it always like, well, it's good news. Yeah, it's fine. You sent the money. Why do you think it's going to come? It's not going to come if you didn't send it. It's going to come one way or the other. Call other times too, not because it's just money. Don't make it a money relationship. Why? I don't know. It's a problem when it becomes money-based. And a few times, we had to reject money. We had to do certain things. Why? Because I know there's a certain test, and part of the test for myself is the whole money situation. Can we raise a lot more money? Sure. But it requires us to change, and that's not something we're willing to do. But at the time, desperate times call for desperate measures. There are certain times that a person needs to do certain things that he wouldn't do ordinarily. And many times the Chachamim, whether it was the Rav from Ponovezh or Rav Wasserman or many of the Gedolim, giants, giants of Torah, that halavai, halavai we would just be dust under one of their shoes, you know, as a zechut. they would leave their Torah, they would leave their talmidim, they would leave their families, and they would go to different foreign places to go and raise money. Why? Because they got to a point where they realized that right now there's no food. There's no food for the kids. There's no food for the talmidim. There's simply, you know, no electricity. There's nothing. So it's either we're going to die, or, you know, we're going to raise money. So that's what they would do, and that's how they built, Baruch Hashem.

16:42Empires of Torah. One time a rich person came to Rav Miponovich and said, "Listen, you should donate X amount of money to our yeshiva." Rav Miponovich had 4,000 or 5,000 students in his yeshiva. I think at the time, or maybe even until today, it was the biggest yeshiva in the world. And the rich guy said, "Why should I make such a big sacrifice? I worked hard for my money." Why should I make such a big sacrifice? So Rav Ponovezh said to him, "You think you're making a big sacrifice because you're writing a check and you worked hard for your money? I made a much bigger sacrifice than you. And I continue to make a much bigger sacrifice than you." So the guy says, "I work all day, I make this money. You think making $100 million is easy? $500 million is easy?" He said, "Oh, you make money, you don't make money. HaKadosh Baruch Hu decided to give it to you." I gave up my life because when I was young, already when I was a teenager, they told me, "You're gonna be the next Chofetz Chaim." They told me, "You're gonna be a leader after me," already when I was a young boy. I gave all of that up.

18:03go raise money so I could feed these kids so they continue learning Torah. Meaning, I can't learn Torah when I'm raising money. I can't learn Torah when I see kids hungry. I see a kid that's homeless in his pants. I can't, I can't do all this. All day, all night, I'm raising money, raising money. So, yeah, he learns Torah, but not like he can. I gave up my entire life for this. Did you give up your whole life for this money? No. People don't understand. They think that, you know, because of the many unfortunate bad stories of Rabbi Steins, or a guy that calls himself a Rabbi Steins, or the embezzlement, or the scam, or the tax evasion, unfortunately, every other day there's another horror of Chilul Hashem. with, you know, someone that calls himself a rabbi or religious figure and money tied to it, every other day there's another horrible story. And, of course, those who hate the Torah make sure to publicize it, even if it's three years after the fact. Why? To make sure everybody knows. But, unfortunately, it comes out, and they don't even need to republish it because there are new stories all the time. There are new stories all the time, and it's sad. It's sad because that is what people think.

19:19the Torah world is. When they're not close to the Torah world, they think that that's what it is. They think that these resha'im that are embezzling money, stealing money, and doing all types of things that are, you know, immoral with the money, they think that, oh, see, so why should I donate the money to this guy? You know, let me donate to the Red Cross, as if the Red Cross is any better. A person that did an analysis on the big non-profit organizations found that on average, we're not talking about Jewish organizations, just an average on the big ones—the Red Cross, the Blue Cross, all these organizations that have billions of dollars. So between 98 to 99 cents out of every single dollar that's donated goes to the people running the organization, meaning only one penny to two pennies actually goes to the cause itself. All these causes, yeah, they have—you see their financial statement, they're public. See the financials? Yeah, we raised this year 100 million dollars, 500 million dollars, a billion dollars, this and that. See how much money went to the actual cause? It's a tragedy.

20:24The tragedy. And many, many, there are many frauds in the donation world, but unfortunately, it's not just in the secular world. It's not just in the Christian world. It's also in the Jewish world. Quite a few stories in just the last year of different people who were involved in all types of illegal activities with donation money. Unfortunately, some very big names. Some people that even got recently popular for bad reasons, but nonetheless... were trying to make good out of it, only to find out that in reality, they were really bad people. They were doing bad things with their money. And unfortunately, this is happening all over the place. is making big sins of chillul Hashem, he's not a rabbi. You can't say, "Oh, this religious guy or this religious rabbi, he stole all this money." He's not religious, and he's not a rabbi if he stole, like you're saying he did, and if he did all these immoral things. Not only is he not a rabbi, he's not religious. Why? Because the Torah, which is what makes you religious, says not to do it. So if he himself is not following...

21:26is making big sins of chillul Hashem, he's not a rabbi. You can't say, "Oh, this religious guy or this religious rabbi, he stole all this money." He's not religious, and he's not a rabbi if he stole, like you're saying he did, and if he did all these immoral things. Not only is he not a rabbi, he's not religious. Why? Because the Torah, which is what makes you religious, says not to do it. So if he himself is not following the Torah that he says he's preaching, then he's not religious. And if he's not religious, obviously he's not a rabbi. Unless he's reformed, which is a different religion. So, in the old days it was very different. In the old days, the gedolim would go and raise money when it was desperate times. And Rav Wasserman one time went to one of his journeys to raise money, and he got to a place. He went to one of his donors, a wealthy person, and when he got there, it was a snowstorm. Usually, during a snowstorm, you stay home.

22:49When lives are on the line, there's no staying home. There's no calling in sick. Oh, Rabbi, listen, I have a headache. I'm not going to come today. I have a headache. I'm not going to come today. Snowstorm? It went. If it was for a million dollars, you'd go. A million dollars, you'd go. It doesn't matter if you have a headache. But that's the difference. People's priorities are different. All right, listen, I'm sneezing a little today. So I'm not going to come for the shiur for a week. Okay, no problem. But if it was a million dollars, every shiur, you'd come. You'd come. snowstorm, while the snow is going. On top of it, it's freezing weather in Europe, Russia. It's like, you know, the hot place and the cold place. I believe that the cold place is in Russia. It's very cold over there, apparently. So anyway, Rabotai, Rav Wasserman is there. He gets to the rich person's house. knocks on the door. The butler opens the door. "Come, come, come in." He goes, "No, no, no, please, I want to talk to Mr. Such-and-Such." "Okay, but Rav, come in." "No, no, no, I'm right here. Just please tell him to come. I need to talk to him about something very important." So the butler runs to him. "Sir, sir, Rav Wasserman, Rav Wasserman, he's here again. He wants to talk to you." "Tell him to come in." "He doesn't want to come in." "What do you mean he doesn't want to come in?" "I don't know. I asked him. He doesn't want to come in."

24:14He runs to his door. He goes, "Come, come, come in." He goes, "No, no, no. I need to talk to you." "Okay. Come in." "No, I need to talk to you right now." "Okay." So they're both outside now. The baal habayit, the baal habayit, the owner, he's like at the doorstep. But the baal habayit is outside in the cold. There's snow coming down on him. It's freezing. It's freezing. And he starts talking. He says, "You know why I'm here?" no, don't tell me, the kids at the yeshiva in Baranovich, in Baranovitz, they don't have any food. We are now sharing a meal for one person between three or four people. On top of it, some of them, their shoes, not shoes, their sandals... And on top of it, this. And he goes, okay, come in. No, no, no. I need to tell you. Hold on a second. I need to tell you. Also, the clothes, they're growing. The kids are growing. The kids are growing. They're not growing in the kitchen because they can't eat that much. But the clothes are shrinking. And it's holes. And he starts telling them all the details of the agony and pain of the 400 students that he has. And you know, Rav Elchonon Wasserman wasn't one of these people that would preach and do something different. If there wasn't, this family said, Abba, can we get chicken? No.

25:35Why can't we get chicken? Because unless we have chicken for all 400 of my kids, we're not going to eat chicken at home. We're not going to eat chicken at home. His own kids, some of whom became Gedolei HaDor, said, if there wasn't food in the yeshiva exactly like we have at home, not eating. If they're not eating, we're not eating. Rav Wasserman starts telling his baal habayit all the different issues: the shoes are now sandals, the jackets no longer fit, the shirts have holes in them, the food is being split among several kids, and so on and so forth. Twenty minutes—twenty minutes of details in the freezing cold. The guy is freezing. Rav Wasserman is freezing. Everybody's freezing. He's going on and on. After twenty minutes, he says... So, what do you think? Are you going to be able to help this year? The baal habayit says, sure, Kavod HaRav. Of course, I'm going to help. He goes, okay. He comes into the house. The guy is catching his breath because it's so cold. And after a few minutes of, you know, catching himself, he says, Kavod HaRav, I don't understand.

26:58Every year you come to me, Baruch Hashem, I try to give, but I just don't understand. Why couldn't you just tell me everything you just said for the last 20 minutes inside, next to the fire where it's warm and everything? Rav Elchonon Wasserman HaKadosh says, the ashir does not feel the pain of the ani. The rich does not feel the pain of the poor. Doesn't feel the pain of the poor. Say he's hungry. Would you know what hungry feels like? You ate your third meal by 12 o'clock. What do you know about hunger? Cold. What cold do you know? It's 500 degrees in your house if you want it to be. You have enough fires in every room to build a whole factory. What do you know about it? The rich do not feel the pain of the poor. I wanted you to feel the pain of these little boys. I wanted you to feel what their fingers experience for 20 minutes, not all day. Because I could also bless you, but I wanted you to feel just 20 minutes of what they deal with 24 hours a day before you decide what you're going to give. And that's the reality. Sometimes people ask me, "Listen, I want to get better."

28:09And I was on the way to getting better. I started reading, I started learning, I started doing. Yom Kippur arrived, Rosh Hashanah arrived. I did all types of things, and I thought I was on the right track. I was getting better, and everything was going well. I started becoming modest, and I started this, and I started that. I started doing mitzvot. I started feeling like a little Ben Ish Chai. I started feeling like a little Baba Sali. Everything was fantastic, Rabbi. Then all of a sudden the holiday came, or Shabbat came, or something happened, and boom, I exploded on my wife, I exploded on my husband, I exploded on my kids, I exploded on my boss or my employee. I started yelling at them, saying things that I haven't said in years. All types of vile words and language came out of my mouth. I got so angry I almost wanted to kill the person. I didn't even know why I was so angry, and I felt like everything I built... went to the garbage, and I can't get myself back. I can't get myself back to being the little baby that I thought I was. What do I do? How do I get back? It wasn't normal for me to act this way because I changed already, but apparently not enough. So, what do I do to get back?

29:29Sometimes the Satan waits for a person around the corner and lets him or her build themselves for a while without bothering them. That's what you want to do? Go ahead. You want to read? Go, go read. I'll give you the Chumash. I'll pay for it. All of a sudden, money shows up in your account—40 bucks, ArtScroll Chumash. Where did I get this money from? I didn't have any money. Okay, so I guess at the end I'll buy it on Amazon. All of a sudden, you got these books, this, that, you want to read. All of a sudden, you don't need to sleep at night anymore. All of a sudden, you can do all these mitzvot. You know what, Rabbi, do you have tzitzit? Okay, I'll put tzitzit on. Oh, tzitzit, this, that. All of a sudden, it's good. Satan's looking, he's like, "It's cute, this kid's cute. Look at him, he's reading the Chumash. Look at this cutie, he's reading the Chumash. Look at that, he's coming to shiur, watching the shiur two hours a day. He watches you, Rabbi. Rabbi, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's on the WhatsApp group. Look at that."

30:30Look at that, look, Malachi. Look at this kid. Look at him, he brings all of his students. The Satan brings us too. He says, "Look at this kid, he's learning Chumash. He's a bomb now, this guy. He tells everybody, 'Like his Rabbi.' Yeah, he's like his Rabbi. Look at this kid." Oh, look at this kid. Look at how cute he is. He brings all of the demons the kid created. He brings them all. He goes, "No, can we get him?" "No, no, don't touch him. Don't touch him." "Why not?" "Wait, wait, leave him alone. Don't touch him." "But why?" "Oh, he used to be with us. Don't worry, he's still with us. He's still with us. Don't worry. Let him build..." ...let him build, let him read the Chumash, let him learn Mussar, let him do it, let him think he is Baba Sali. Give him six months free, give him a year free, Hashem, give him five years free. Let him think he's good until he puts his guard down, and then we take everything...

31:47And the Satan shows up with all of those unfixed, unfixed sins and attacks, making the person act like a worse animal than he was before he did teshuva. Waits from around the corner. Lets him build. Why? Because the Satan, when you're making sins, that's his parnassah. But it's like parnassah, like collecting tzedakah. It's a dollar, it's ten dollars, it's a hundred dollars, it's fifty, it's a thousand. It's that kind of money. It's not like you're getting rich off of it. But the Satan wants something big. I want a building. How can I get a building? This guy's homeless all day. Okay, wait a second. Okay, wait a second. I'm tired of it already. No. Give me something else. Okay, so he's... Okay, I've said it. I've said it. He's a little sick. He's used to your sins already. He says, I need something else. I need a building from this guy. How can I get a building from this guy? How can I get a building from this woman? Ah! Let them build on Kedusha. Let them start learning. Let them start doing mitzvot. Let them start becoming a little tzaddik and tzaddeket. And then I'll take it all from them.

32:58Why? Because the Kedusha is worth billions more than the Tumah that a person creates. And that's the explanation for anyone who ever asked the question: how could it be that in history we've had a few people, not many, Baruch Hashem, a few people that were Gedolei Olam. Gedolei Olam, a Kohen Gadol for 80 years. A Kohen Gadol for 80 years went off the derech. Many people always ask, "How could it be? This guy knew a lot of Torah, how could it be?" And there's not a few others, not many, but there's a few others. How? Because sometimes the Satan waits for people around the corner, especially people that have a lot of potential, and he doesn't bother them. And he waits for them to put their guard down, to think that they're fine, to think that they're good, and then he goes for the whole bank. Because the amount of parnassah that he gets during that one day is enough to feed several lifetimes. And this is one of the most dangerous things that can happen to a person who does not keep their guard up at all times. You are always at war with the Satan. Always.

34:17and I know a lady that, from the day that I met her, she always says that’s the one thing she’s always scared of. She says, “I’m gonna build, build, build, build, build, but one day I’m gonna forget what I’m doing and the Satan’s gonna get me.” I said, “Okay, if you keep building, you keep reminding yourself of this, you’re gonna be okay.” Very scary. Why? Because you see sometimes, even in the recent past, a few big rabbis that were doing a lot of really good things... one day, start going crazy, start doing strange things, start doing things that are against Hashem, start doing things that are against the Torah, start doing things that are against Hashem. And it's like, where did this come from? How? How could it be? This is one of those things, this is one of those weapons that the Satan doesn't use often, but nonetheless, when he uses it, it's very, very strange, and very difficult to deal with for everyone around who doesn't know why it's happening. But there's also in the Torah, So, one of the things that a person doesn't have to deal with this problem, but still could apply this particular thing for any problem, is that you build yourself, you build yourself, you build yourself, and all of a sudden, you did something awful. And you feel like you can't get yourself back up. So, as we know,

35:38Hashem runs the world with certain principles that He gave for Himself, certain rules that He gave for Himself. One of them is measure for measure. And He rewards measure for measure, He punishes measure for measure. If you steal from somebody, someone will steal from you at some other point down the road. Not because that's the only way that Hashem can take away the money from you, but also because there's a certain pain that a person feels when someone betrays them, when someone violates their privacy and takes their stuff. And anything that happens in the world, we have a principle in the Torah: no one gets punished, no one gets hurt, even in their finger, without there being a sin attached to it. Whether it's in this life or the previous life is irrelevant. Bottom line is, no one in the world gets hurt, even in their finger, without there being a Beit Din of Shamayim. I'm saying, this person deserves it. This neshama deserves it. Why does this big Rabbi deserve it? Not because I said so, come on. I said so maybe not during his life. Maybe in this incarnation, he was a complete Tzaddik Gamur, but apparently there was still an unpaid bill from a previous life. Oh, this baby deserves it. What did he do? There's no such thing as a baby in Judaism. There are neshamot. The neshamot were all here at Mount Sinai, meaning everybody here is at least 3,000 years old. That's a reality.

37:06Few, few b'riyot neshamot exist in the world, and they're very, very rare according to the Arizal. So, the point being is that no one gets hurt for any reason other than a sin that's attached to it. Whether it's in this life or a previous life, nonetheless, everybody gets, in essence, what Hashem has connected to their name for one reason or another. So, sometimes a person is building themselves, is fixing the past. And he's doing good. But all of a sudden, what are you going to do? He fell. He fell. He saw something. His mind went to left field. He saw something on a billboard. On a billboard. He didn't even go. He saw something on a billboard. Next thing you know, he's in the billboard. He's in cloud nine. Genome, Kaf HaKela, all the departments don't care about them anymore. He knows about all of them. It's not that he doesn't believe in God. He believes in God 100%. He gives you a shiur about God. Gives you a shiur, gives you a day, gives you a seat, everything. But at that moment, he saw that thing, that's it. His mind is in Kaf HaKela. Shiur.

38:22Loves Hashem. Loves her husband. Loves her kids. Everything she loves. But I don't know what happened. She went to the store. She saw somebody from her previous life. The next thing you know, she finds herself in some place that she shouldn't be as a married woman. How are you a married woman with four kids? What are you doing? What is this? You have kisui rosh. don't know, I don't know what, I don't know how it happened, I don't know how it happened, I don't know how I was, I don't know, I know, but what do I do now? I can't. It's done. It's done. What do I do now? A person can fall into a big trap without realizing it until they've already done it. What do you do then? Because the Kadosh Baruch Hu runs the world with measure for measure. And He's the ultimate mercy. He wants our teshuva. If you're still alive, He wants your teshuva. But in order for you to leap from the hole that you're in, it can't be a standard leap like in the past. It needs to be more. More than the norm. More than usual. In the past, you were able to, let's say, study an hour a day. Now, an hour a day is not enough.

39:47Why? You want to get back to where you were, right? An hour a day is not going to get you back to where you were. Why? Because you're in a deficit now. You're negative. You're in a negative balance. An hour is not going to get you there. You have to do pretty much as much as possible until you collapse. Two, three, four hours. Yeah, it's too much, right? Okay, stay in the hole then. What do you want to tell me? As much as you can. You can't do four hours? Okay. Who knows what you can do? You know, maybe, more or less, that you can do an hour because you've done it. You don't know how much more you can do because you never really tried. Try more. You give maaser once a year out of all your checks. So, in reality, it's maaser only one month a year, not 12 months. It's hard for you to give 12 months a year. It's hard for you to give every week myself. Why? Because you like money, and you don't have enough emunah, and you think that if you're going to give, you're not going to have anything left, and so on and so forth, the same story that everybody else has. And they already have, and somebody else is going to give, and all that stuff.

40:57for you to give. It's hard for you to give. You give once a year. You give; you don't know—you never really do the calculation, but you more or less believe that you give enough. But in reality, if anybody did your spiritual accounting, they would see that you were in a deficit. But that's only between you and Hashem. Now, you want to get out of the hole. You want to get out of the hole, you have to give a lot more—not a little more, not 20—a lot more than what you give normally. Why? You're in a deficit. if you've already gotten yourself acclimated to giving a thousand dollars, a thousand dollars will not do. How much will do? Only Hashem knows. But it has to hurt, meaning that sometimes even if you give two thousand, it's not going to be enough. It depends on now, it depends on the sin, it depends on what your capability is, it depends on what HaKadosh Baruch Hu is, in essence, asking of you. There's no specific number; all I can tell you is it has to be a lot more. HaKadosh Baruch Hu sometimes wants a lot more from us to get us to where we need to be. You did...

42:07You started wearing modest clothes. You married a nice Ashkenazi boy from Yeshiva. Baruch Hashem. Everything is good. You kept all of his minhagim. Everything is good. Baruch Hashem. You're modest. Baruch Hashem. You keep kosher. Baruch Hashem. Your kids are in Yeshiva. Baruch Hashem. So what else can you do? Bat Yisrael, you made a big aveirah. You made a big sin. What else can you do? You ate non-kosher. What are your girlfriends? You cursed. You did this. You did all types of things. Horrible things. And you want to get back to the spiritual high you were feeling before. You have to do something big. For a woman, modesty is usually the one main thing that HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants. Even though you're an Ashkenazi minhag and your husband is an Ashkenazi, wearing a mitpachat just like many tzadikot in the Ashkenazi world have done throughout the years and still do to this day. Not everybody wears a wig. Yeah, but everybody's gonna — okay, so stay in the hole then. Yeah, but everybody's — okay, well, all the things that you're saying, you're right. You have this excuse and that excuse because the standard is for you to wear a wig. And forget about all the arguments of India and idol worship; put that aside for a second.

43:22Everyone knows, everyone knows that a mitpachat is more modest than a wig. Everybody knows that. Nobody in their right mind actually believes, with their real genuine heart, that a wig is more modest than a mitpachat. Nobody believes that. Now, of course, some resha'im will say, you know, false words in the name of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. No, the Lubavitcher Rebbe was against mitpachat, complete nonsense. I have letters from the Lubavitcher Rebbe that say that he's for mitpachat. That's a different story. The point being is, everyone knows, we just—anyone that has eyes. You have eyes, that's all you—You don't have to be Jewish even. You have eyes, you know a woman with a mitpachat is more modest than a woman with a wig. Why? Number one, with the wig, many times you don't even know it's a wig. Number two, hair. No, no hair. Do I need to explain further? Everybody knows. Now you say, "Yeah, but I'm asking..." Moshkenazi, our minhag, our custom, according to our gedolim, though right for their time, and didn't know about the idolatry of the world of today and so on, were allowed to wear a wig. You're right. Although those gedolim did not approve the wig of today, needless to say, you're piggybacking off of them and the other rabbis of today. They say, okay, fine, no problem. But you're in a hole now. And you want to get out of that hole.

44:47You have to do more. Yeah, but what about my mom? She’s going to bother me every time she sees me. What about my girlfriends? Every time they see me, they’re going to say, "Why do you look like an old lady?" What about my neighbor who says this? All of them you have to ignore from now on and simply make a commitment to Hashem. Hashem, from now on, I have a mitpachat on permanently. if you do it like a joke, you do no, no, I'm going to do from now on, I'm going to do it at home, in the house, in the house when no one sees me. I'm going to put a mitpachat anytime I go out to a wedding or bar mitzvah or something. I'll put—that's a joke, it's a complete joke. Now, it's better than nothing, but it's still a joke. Why? It's not going to elevate you. You have to make a commitment in front of people. Where do we know this from? During the time that we were in Egypt, slaves... No one came to save Am Yisrael until Moshe Rabbeinu. Chachamim asked, how come HaKadosh Baruch Hu let Am Yisrael stay in Egypt for 210 years? Why didn't He send somebody sooner? The answer, the Gemara says, is because no one was willing to sacrifice their life for Am Yisrael until Moshe Rabbeinu. Okay, so we know that Moshe Rabbeinu is the one and only messenger that was able to take Am Yisrael out of Egypt.

46:06But what merit did Am Yisrael have? It says, oh, they didn't change their tongue, their language, their clothing. Okay, fine, Baruch Hashem. They were still modest. They still made sins, but still connected. So how come it didn't happen right away? How come Moshe Rabbeinu just didn't show up and say, "Okay, we're out of here"? No, it had to go through a whole transition. say, "Oh yeah, because Hashem wanted to show His glory. He wanted to bring the blood, the frogs, and the animals, and then this." Okay, great, but then there was a hiccup at the end. A strange thing happened. Hashem says to Israel, He says to Moshe, "Go tell Am Yisrael to go, each one of them, get themselves a goat, tie it to the bed for a few days, alive, not dead. Don't kill it." ...alive, let it scream for a few days. Then, after a few days, slaughter it and cook it whole. Make sure you don't break a bone. If you break a bone, you have to do the whole thing all over again. How am I going to go tell them to do this?

47:23You know that the goat is the Egyptian god. How is Am Yisrael going to take the Egyptian god, not only kill it, but actually taunt the Egyptians by keeping it alive, by tying it to their beds? It's going to scream for four days. The deaf are going to hear the goat because everyone's going to have their own goat. Everyone's going to have a goat. You know how many goats there are? Hundreds, thousands, millions of goats. Goats, one goat. Have one goat in your living room. Put a goat in your living room. Test it out. See, test it at home. Show me your videotape if you want. See how it works out. We'll have a little bit of feeling, maybe for preparation for Pesach. Millions of people are having a goat tied to their bed for a few days, and the Egyptians are not going to say anything? Of course, the Egyptians are going to come. They're going to kill everybody.

48:24I'm going to go tell Am Yisrael to commit suicide. The Midrash says, HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe Rabbeinu, I swear on My name that if they don't do this, they will never leave Egypt. Never, never ever. They will stay in Egypt for eternity. say we have to read, everyone has to finish the shiur, okay, I understand that. Everyone has to learn Torah, I understand that. Everyone has to do mitzvot, and that's understood, okay, I understand that. But to go tie some goat and then slaughter it and make sure, make sure it's when you cook it, it's complete. Why? Because you don't want to think that when you're cooking it, it's anything other than a goat. You don't want them to think, oh, it's a chicken, or it's a big turkey, or it's a rat. No, no. You want it to be complete. Why? When you see the whole shell, you see all of the bones, the skeleton, for sure it's a goat. And you want to make sure the Egyptians see it. Why? Either you go and publicize your belief in HaKadosh Baruch Hu, or I don't want it.

49:47Either you go and become the most proud Jew on the planet, the most proud person on the planet that you believe in the one and only God, or HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, "I don't want it. You will stay in Egypt for eternity." You, as a Bat Yisrael, are embarrassed of being a Bat Yisrael. You have a mitpachat, like Sarah Imeinu. So you go to a wedding with a wig. Why? You're embarrassed to be a Jew. embarrassed to look like you, as a Jewish boy. You have a little kippah, a little quarter. People mistake it. They think you have something on your head. "No, it's my kippah." "Oh, that's a kippah? Oh, sorry, sorry. I just thought something fell on your head." "Canopy? What do you have on your head? What is that? Why is it colorful? What's going on over there?" Why are you embarrassed? Why are you so embarrassed? HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, "Until you publicize My name everywhere, I don't want it. I don't want it." So when a person is embarrassed of their beliefs in HaKadosh Baruch Hu, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, "You were embarrassed of Me, I don't want your belief altogether." And that's one of the things that a person needs to do when they want to climb up.

51:12When they want to climb up on a spiritual ladder, they have to do something that's above and beyond their norm. Because just like their sin was above and beyond the norm, their mitzvah, their kiddush Hashem, Their sanctification of Hashem has to be above the norm. They have to do something that's beyond them. If they only learn for an hour a day, they have to learn a lot more. If they only give a thousand, they have to give a lot more. If they only do a mitzvah that's acceptable by some people, they have to do a mitzvah acceptable by everybody. A lot more. How much a lot more? All depends on your sin. How are you going to know you did enough? Start turning. It's hard for you. If it's easy for you, it's not enough. Not enough. not enough, and that's one of the things that a person needs to test themselves. I could tell you for myself, one time we gave something to help some people, and I like to help people. My whole life, I liked helping people. I think that's really the only reason to have money, to help. You need it as a tool.

52:25one time it was a lot more than normal and I told my Rav, I said, "Is this all it's about? Is this what you mean? So now I feel like I'm working, working, working, all the money, I don't get to keep it. I give everything away. I just gave all this; I worked for all this with X amount of time," and I told God... i don't know, it hurts. I don't mind. I like helping these people. It's great. But, I don't know, it's kind of like, is it right? My Rav says, Baruch Hashem. I said, why Baruch Hashem? He says, until now, you gave, you gave, you gave, you gave. I was suspecting that maybe you'd just be a bazbazlan. You're like someone that's splurging everywhere. You don't really care. You don't value money at all. So it doesn't affect you. You give a thousand, you give a million, it's the same thing to you. And that's not a good trait. The fact that I know it hurts you, Baruch Hashem, now it's a mitzvah. Now it's a mitzvah. That's how it is. That's how it is, Rabotai. The mitzvah, in order for it to give you the pleasure, it has to hurt a little bit. It has to hurt a little bit.

53:40If it's easy for you and you want to climb, you have to do more. You want to stay exactly where you are, keep doing the easy. Keep doing the easy. You know, it's like somebody wants to play a game. You want to stay exactly where you're at, you play with kids that are your age or younger. You want to get better, you have to play with older kids. Why? Because it's harder. Same concept in life. You want to get better at work, you want to get better at business, you have to surround yourself with people that are better than you. Needless to say, the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot says, HaKadosh Baruch Hu runs the world like a business. This is one of the places that you can see it. You want to get better, you have to do things that are beyond the norm, beyond your own norm, and get yourself to higher levels. With that being said, there's a lot of other things that I wanted to say, but this, Baruch Hashem, came out. I don't want to take all the time. I'm sure you guys have some questions. Who wants to start off with questions? Chovot HaLevavot. Chovot HaLevavot.

54:40all of them now, brief ones, brief ones. In Sukkot, okay, first you have to have a sukkah. If you are a guy, you have to have a sukkah. You need to sleep in your sukkah. A woman does not need to sleep in a sukkah, but men have to sleep in the sukkah. Now, if it's raining... Or it's just completely like a nightmare to be in your sukkah because it's hot or there are bugs, and in essence, it's causing you anguish and sadness. Then you're patur, you're anuss from that mitzvah. Now, you should not cheer if that happens. If that happens, then it's not a good thing. because the whole goal of Sukkot, it's the only holiday where it says that one of the biggest obligations, one of the biggest mitzvot to do during the entire Sukkot is to be happy the whole time. And the Arizal says that anyone that is happy from the beginning of Sukkot until the end of Sukkot, it's a huge blessing that he will bring on himself or herself the whole year. Now it sounds easy. Yeah, yeah, I'm always a happy person. Yeah, but to be happy during this time,

56:01is not easy. Why? Because sometimes you have guests, sometimes you have people that should have been guests, sometimes you have, you know, people that you don't want to be guests. Sometimes you have your own family that you kind of don't want to be your family, or you want to be your family the whole time except during Sukkot. Or sometimes the food, you know, kind of tastes like shoes; sometimes the shoes look like food because the kids throw the food on them. All types of things happen on Sukkot. All types of things. Why? You're with people in a little area usually, and for a week. You know, so all types of fun things happen during that time. So it's easy to get upset and this and that. I know one story where one time a guy was trying to do teshuva. He said, oh, I'm going to do Sukkot. I'm going to go to my brother's house. Oh, you're going to go to your brother's house? Oh, I love my brother. After Sukkot, he said, you're never going to believe it. What happened? i went, "Oh, you did? You kept the Sukkot? Yeah, yeah, I want you guys to cry with it." "No, what happened? It didn't go so good." "Why? What happened?" "I don't know. We were there, my parents were there, my brothers, everything was there, the food was there. But then, I haven't been around them for a while so I don't know, I kind of, I guess maybe I forgot how certain things are in my family. And at one point, my brother started, like, arguing with my mom and all of a sudden he started yelling at her."

57:20He started yelling at my mom. And I just couldn't take it. It was so annoying and so obnoxious and so rude that I took the whole table and I flipped the whole table on him. I said, "Oh, so Sukkot didn't go that way, huh?" That happens sometimes. Don't let that happen. Why? You have to prepare yourself before Sukkot. Certain things are going to happen. Obviously, never yell at your mom. Never yell at anybody. But the point is, the Satan tries extra hard to make you unhappy. Why? Because the biggest mitzvah is to be happy. The biggest mitzvah is to be happy. So expect certain things to happen. that are particularly annoying, but don't blow up. Don't lose your head, don't lose your cool. Especially, you know, some of us are very quick-tempered, it's very easy for us to get upset, especially at small, stupid things. You have to do everything you possibly can to go swallow your lip, bite your lip, staple your lip, do whatever you need to do, smash your head against the wall a few times, come back when you're ready. Don't get mad. Why?

58:31If you're upset, if you're angry, if you start fighting, the whole holiday is in the garbage. Now, what happens if you already did it? You got into an argument already. So what? Do you stay angry all day? Obviously not. Obviously not. Calm down. Make peace with your wife. Make peace with your husband. Make peace with whoever you got into a fight with. And start all over again. Do over. You know, like in a computer. Press control, alt, delete. Start all over again. Same thing. Same thing. Start all over again. Even if it's an hour left of the chag. Two days left of the chag. Whatever it is. Start all over again. You have to. Why? That's life. That's life, Rebbi. So... biggest thing is to be happy. Second thing is also, you have to build a sukkah, especially guys. Now, when it comes to a sukkah, if you're, you know, if you're able to build your own sukkah, if you're going to be hosted by somebody else that has a sukkah, that's also fine. But that again means you need to sleep in a sukkah. Number two, you need to eat in the sukkah. Anytime you eat bread, anytime you eat bread, you need to eat in a sukkah.

59:34Now, if you're not eating bread, you're having a coffee, you're having things that are not bread, you can eat outside of a sukkah. But the reality is, you should do everything possible to try to eat and do everything you can in the sukkah. That's the whole point. And you say, well, it's not comfortable. The whole point is for you to be in a sukkah, not for you to go have, you know, a three-minute kiddush in a sukkah and then go back into your air conditioner. That's not the point. The whole point is to be in a sukkah. Now, yes, of course, in certain places like Florida, it's very, very hot all year round. So you have to try to make do. Now, I can tell you personally, since I moved to Florida, since I moved here, I've been trying to get this air conditioner inside a sukkah thing right. I have yet to get it right. every year I try, and every year it doesn't really work. It just doesn't. I try, and I don't know. Certain people tell me that they were able to succeed. I still don't know what their secret is. A few people that told me their secrets are not allowed, so I guess that's how they do it—it's a secret if you cheat. But...

1:00:49it's a lot harder; it's a lot harder because you cannot put a ceiling—you can't put a ceiling on a sukkah. It has to be the sky, you know, which is something living, or something that's from, you know, that's growing or whatever. And so you can't put like a roof or something like that. So that's a problem. Why? Because even if you have nice wooden walls or plan whatever you're using as walls, the air is coming out. So how do you keep it in? And I tried. I've had Styrofoam all over my walls. So this year, I'm not there, but I think that we'll have better chances than in previous years. But if you're not going to make major sacrifices, break your head, toil and toil, don't expect to enjoy Judaism. Not just Sukkot, I'm not just talking about Sukkot. If you're not going to break your head, if you're not going to toil, if you're not going to sweat, if you're not going to exert every ounce of energy, blood, sweat, and tears into the mitzvot, do not expect to enjoy Judaism. You will not enjoy Judaism. In fact, you will hate it. Because the only way to enjoy something is if you invest in it, needless to say, in your spirituality, in Judaism itself, in the Torah.

1:02:14of people say, "Oh yeah, I try to study Torah, but I don't feel the sweetness of Torah. Where's the sweetness? What do you mean? Because you think that you're learning 10-15 minute videos here and there, that's the sweetness of Torah? No, you have to break your head. You have to break your head. When you're tired, when you're this, when you're that, when you're a problem, you have to break your head. That's when you'll eventually get to the sweetness. Same thing with Sukkot. If you're not going to break your head to make your sukkah the way that you always want it to be, you're not gonna enjoy it. So that's why, Baruch Hashem, the years that I've exerted myself the most, even if it wasn't perfect, It was still hot. It was still this. I still enjoyed it. I still stayed in my sukkah pretty much as much as I possibly could or needed to simply because this was my place. And honestly, sometimes I hated leaving it. Even though I'm in it, it's like a sauna. It's 500 degrees. Florida, you guys know what I'm talking about. uh, you know, so you're in it, it's 500 degrees in this thing. It's actually colder outside of the sukkah than it is inside the sukkah. It's like, maybe I should just leave this and rent it out as a sauna. It's unbelievable how hot the thing is. So you have a fan, and you have an air conditioner, you have all these different things, but nothing's working. It's like you're blowing back at the air conditioner. Maybe it's hot...

1:03:36Come on, no. Not working. So you try, you try, but you know what? I still stayed in it, sweating, and everything's still wet. It's my baby. And you have all the different things that you put on—the lights and the different decorations. Yeah, you put a lot into it. If you put a lot into it, you're going to enjoy it; you're going to like it. If you don't put a lot into it, you're not going to enjoy it. If you put up one of these little rinky-dink things with just a few items, guess what? You're going to look forward to not being in it. Look forward to what? Because you don't want it. You don't want to be in it. Now, in the beginning, you don't know what you're doing. The first time you do it, the second time you do it, you still don't know. So in the beginning, anything you do is good. But as you go into it and you start doing it for longer, you see that you want to invest more into it. Why? Because, in essence, what it's really supposed to be is a replacement of your house for a week. So that's what it's really supposed to have—everything you have in your house. The chachamim, the tzaddikim, would literally have even a bathroom in it. Everything would be in it. They wouldn't leave it for a week. They wouldn't go outside even. They would pray in there. They would learn there. They would eat there. They would go to the bathroom there. Everything there. Now, under good conditions, where HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants our mitzvah, it's not going to rain at all.

1:04:48not going to rain at all. Unfortunately, this is the time during the year where normal nature, normal nature, like as if there's anything other than HaKadosh Baruch Hu, normal nature, this is a rainy season everywhere in the world, it's a rainy season. So we pray, it's not going to rain on us. Let it rain everywhere else, but not on us. And, you know, it's important that it doesn't rain at least during the first couple of nights when you're having Kiddush, because if it rains, And rain is going to go inside your sukkah. You can't enjoy it. You can't eat in the sukkah. And the Gemara says that if it rains during that night of the kiddush and it doesn't stop, if it just rains for an hour or two and then it stops, then you wait, and you have the kiddush. But if it's getting to the point where it's raining, raining, and it's not stopping already, it's getting to the point where it's going into the next day, you have to do the kiddush inside the house, and that's it. And that's not a good sign if it's on the first night. Why? It means that Hashem doesn't want your mitzvah.

1:05:49you shouldn't pray sometimes you'll be like, "Oh, I can't, hopefully it rains so we can eat at home. It's much nicer in the house." No, no, don't pray for that. It's a very bad sign, very bad sign. So, the thing is that guys need to sleep in the sukkah. uh... now uh... that's the uh... second uh... the uh... happiness sleeping in a sukkah. Certainly, as you have to have the arba minim. If that arba minim, the four species, uh... I don't mean meaning like, uh... you know, uh... maybe it's, uh... minim read me, and I thought this would go and go, but not for me, and for me, and I cannot allow the thought So, because there's even more minim in this form. So anyways, you have the arba minim. Now, I don't know how the situation is in other places, but I know that the situation here in Florida for the arba minim where we are is atrocious. Uh, apparently we are like the garbage disposal of the rest of the market because the stuff that comes into the market here that I've seen for the last few years is always second grade, third grade, like stuff that everybody else doesn't want. And I've seen this already for several years that I've been here.

1:07:07it this way: in Florida, I've seen many, almost actually in America generally. In many places, even complaining the same thing. In general, unless you're going to invest extra time and money to go buy a Yemenite etrog or an etrog that you know from Morocco or an etrog that you know from a specific market or something that's a unique etrog that you know for sure it's an etrog. Very, very high likelihood it's a lemon. Very high likelihood. So that's a reality. Now, if you haven't done it already by now, you know it's kind of too late. Kind of too late. So in years past, Baruch Hashem, you know, we would order an etrog from Eretz Yisrael. We have Rabbi Ephraim, his brother, get it for us. Baruch Hashem, that's worked out. this year too I didn't offer it to people, number one because I didn't know if it was even going to be possible to do it this year because of everything that's going on with Corona. It's very hard to do any shipments altogether right now. Number two, the amount of money that people are willing to spend on this stuff doesn't even pay for the shipping.

1:08:19if you want to get the top of the line etrog, lulav, and hadasim for Sukkot, it might cost you 70 bucks or 100 bucks. Yeah, maybe in your dreams it doesn't cost a lot of money. Why? Because it does. That's it. People are there to make a living. Oh, it's not fair? Okay, so go buy lemons then. Go to Publix, go buy a lemon. Why? Over my life, people think that everything is supposed to be cheap because it's a mitzvah. Everybody's supposed to do it for free. Who said? Who said said that it's supposed to be, uh, supposed to be cheap. Like, why? Why do people think like this? I don't understand. Like in your business, you feel perfectly normal charging the person four, five, six, ten thousand dollars for whatever nonsense you're selling, but you want everybody else to do everything for free. Why? I don't understand that mentality. But anyway... I don't even offer a lot of this stuff because, again, I know people just have a warped mentality of what things are supposed to cost. But also, if somebody cares enough about this mitzvah, usually they make their own arrangements, they call, maybe they get something sent to them ahead of time. Point being is, don't be disappointed if your lulav is half the size of what it usually is.

1:09:38because it seems like that's what the market is offering right now. The lulavim this year, again, 90% of the ones that I saw are literally half the size. Like, you know, a lulav is supposed to be a nice size. It's like a little baby lulav. I was like, did you break one into two? What happened to it? Not really sure. The etrogim, even the guy that was selling the etrogim, a couple of places I went to, the guy that was selling the etrogim, was like, listen, would tell you, I said, "Don't worry, I already took care of it. I ordered from Bolshan, from Israel. I'm just, you know, this is gonna be a toy. I'm not gonna use this. The quality of stuff is not the best. You have to work on it a month in advance in order to get what you really want, which means you have to put yourself a little reminder on your phone. Next year, already start working on it a month in advance. But either way, either way, get yourself Arba Minim, because you don't know for sure it's a lemon." So you still do whatever mitzvah you do. You don't have the best... do what you can. If you get better quality, get better quality. If you can't get better quality, you can't get better quality. But the point being is, you have to have the Arba Minim.

1:10:48For the guys, for the guys, they need to shake them in the morning throughout the chag and make sure that this is a mitzvah that you fulfill every morning. Women do not need to fulfill this mitzvah. because it's a time-bound mitzvah. Some poskim say that they're allowed anyway, some say that they're not. The point is, it's not an obligation for women. For some reason or another, there are certain women that dafka like the mitzvot of the men. I don't really understand that, but I guess that's the Yetzer Hara, apparently. She likes to put on tefillin and do a sheke lulav, but modesty, not so much. Very strange. But anyway, you know, it's a, the lulav is an obligation, the etrog and so on. And as I'm sure you can, you know, hear myself and countless other speakers give you 500 drashot about why the lulav, why the etrog and so on and so on, so I'm not going to spend any time doing that now. It's the same thing, the etrog is like your heart and so on, different types of Jews. Um,

1:11:58Aside from that, you have the Kiddush at night. It's Kiddush of Yom Tov. You also have to light a Yom Tov candle. Kiddush of Yom Tov, you also have to do Kiddush the next morning during the chag, and there's no tefillin for guys; you don't put on tefillin. It's easy not to do a mitzvah because a lot of us say, "Oh yeah, I can save myself some time." No, it doesn't necessarily save me time because you start to have a long prayer. But here comes, in my opinion, the most, if not the second most, difficult mitzvah of this holiday. Most, if not second most. Not for me, because of what I do for a living, but if I wasn't doing this for a living and I was still on Wall Street, this would be a difficult mitzvah. What's the mitzvah? You're not allowed to work on Chol HaMoed. You're not allowed to work on Chol HaMoed. Yes, everybody knows you're not allowed to work on the first couple of days of Sukkot. Number one, it's Shabbat. Number two, even if it wasn't Shabbat, it's Yom Tov. Everybody knows you're not allowed to work on that. Thinking that you're allowed to go to work on Chol HaMoed? Wrong. The Gemara says in Masechet Moed Katan that anyone who goes back to work and works on Chol HaMoed as they do on a regular day loses their share in the World to Come.

1:13:25It's a big deal. Wait, so how come the supermarket's still working? How come this is still working, that's still working? Ah, then you have an explanation. What's the explanation? Number one, if there is a job that's necessary, necessary for the needs of the holiday, like food stores and so on, they're needed for the holiday. So it's perfectly fine to work in a food store and a supermarket and things like that. That's number one. Second, if your job itself is a mitzvah, you know, teaching Torah, doing kiruv, things like that, that's a mitzvah. That's allowed all year round, even on Tisha B'Av. You're allowed to do kiruv all the time. There's no such thing as not learning Torah or not publicizing Torah. So that's the second thing. The third thing is if there's a threat that you will lose and... a result of not working. Now, this is the misconception that people have. People think that not making money equals a loss. That's not true. Not making money means not making money, meaning you did not generate a profit. That's not equal to a loss. A loss is whatever you have goes down in value, i.e.,

1:14:46Now, you have a job, and the boss says if you don't show up, you're fired. You don't have a job anymore. That's a loss, that's a loss. Or you have a trade that you want to make to generate a profit, but if you don't sell, you could potentially lose money. Okay, that you can do. Why? Because there's a threat of a loss. So, to prevent a loss, you're allowed to work on that. But as far as generating a profit, you're not allowed to generate a profit. Okay, now if in the process of protecting for a loss, you end up generating a profit, again, there are leniencies there. But the point is, you should not be going to work to generate profits. If your job is a lawyer, doctor, and things of that nature, again, you have to speak to your Rav that knows your business, knows you, knows the ins and outs of certain things, but you should not work during Chol HaMoed if you don't need to. uh, you know, again, unless you're in a field of Torah, you're in a field of mitzvah, and so on and so forth. This is very important because people get very worried about losing parnassah. Oh, listen, if I don't work for a week, you know, how am I going to pay the bills? Don't worry about that stuff. We just went through Rosh Hashanah. On Rosh Hashanah, Hashem already decided how much you're going to make. It doesn't matter if you work on Chol HaMoed or not.

1:16:08Whatever you're supposed to make, HaKadosh Baruch Hu has decided already. He decided how much you're going to make. It doesn't make a difference if you work or you don't work. HaKadosh Baruch Hu already decided for you. You're not going to lose a penny by not working when Hashem says don't work. You're not going to lose a penny by doing what Hashem says. Hashem already decided how much you're going to make. So, if a person has a difficult time having emunah, this is the time to get it. It's time to get it. Oh, what am I going to tell my boss? I don't know. Maybe he's going to get mad. Let him get mad. Let him get mad. Listen. Let him get mad. Yeah, but maybe he's going to fire me. Is he for sure going to fire you? No, I don't know if he's for sure going to fire me. Okay, so I have to take off. Yeah, but I just took off for the... Okay, so what? You have to do this. This is the message that Hashem wants. That's what He wants. I know it's not easy, especially in the beginning, but this is what HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants. Surely when He gave us this holiday and He told us the rules, He knew that you're going to have a job, He knew that you're going to have a certain boss, He knew you're going to have certain annoying customers, He knew all this stuff. He knew. He knew all this and He took it all into account and He still did it. Which means that He's expecting us to pass the test. So if you do not...

1:17:29need to work, don't work. If your work is just simply about generating a salary and generating a profit, you are not allowed to work on Chol HaMoed. You are not allowed to work. There's a difference between shouldn't work and not allowed to work. Generally speaking, you shouldn't work, period, during Chol HaMoed, even if there is a threat of a loss. But if there's no threat of a loss, you're not allowed to work. not allowed to work. So that's really the biggest thing. Aside from that, spend some time with the family, learn some Torah, try to learn as much Torah inside the sukkah as you possibly can. Again, if you don't have a sukkah of your own, make sure to eat in the sukkah, make sure to spend as much time as you can in the sukkah. Make sure to be as happy as you possibly can. Spend some time with the family. This is the time when many religious people usually go to, you know, parks and things like that with their family. I highly doubt people are going to do much of that this year because of the virus scare that's out there.

1:18:34But the point being is that this is really, you know, in a small little box, this is in essence the holiday. This is really the holiday. There's, of course, surely other rules. There's the rules of the schach. There's the rules of this. One other thing that I'll tell you since there's still time that you could still do something about it is that I've said this before and it gets certain people angry and I don't really care. It's just because this is what the Halacha is. Now, the pop-up sukkahs that you see as the vast majority of the market. Pop-up sukkahs are, in so many words, they give you these beams, metal beams, right? And they put this fabric around it, and then you put the mat on top of it. The mat is a kosher mat, no problem. That’s good. But the sukkah is not a sukkah. Why? Because it's supposed to be according to halacha, and you can see this in Yaakov Yosef, and you see it in most poskim. There are only a few that are lenient in regards to this, and only lenient if it follows all the rules. The walls of the sukkah are supposed to be like the walls of your house, meaning they're not supposed to move if there's standard wind.

1:19:49They're not supposed to move. So that fabric that you have around that sukkah, surely it moves. You go like this to it, and it moves. You put a little fan next to it, it moves. That means it's not a wall. That means you don't have a sukkah. You don't have a sukkah. The bracha you're making is bracha levatalah, it's a sin. So if your whole sukkah is this fabric around it, it's not a sukkah. ...get now they're going to say to you, "Yeah, no, no, we're not using that fabric as the wall. We're using those strings." Using those strings, I've used those strings in earlier times, and I can tell you from experience, they're not reliable. The strings are not reliable simply because unless you continuously tighten them throughout the holiday, they're going to loosen up and start moving a little bit... Second they move, you don't have a sukkah. You don't have a sukkah. So why play with fire here? You've already been taught to build this little empire of yours. Why? Get yourself some walls. Go to Home Depot. Go to Lowe's. Go to, I don't know, the wood shop or something. Go somewhere. Get yourself some pieces of wood. You can either get the fences, three feet tall, three feet tall, like you got your sukkah, your whole sukkah is made of that. Those fences, put them around.

1:21:13...the three walls you got for the sukkah, it doesn't have to go all the way to the ceiling. It doesn't have to go all the way to the ceiling—just about three feet from the ground. From the ground, three feet. Now, if you want, if you're handy and, uh, perhaps they ran out of, uh... They ran out of those fences because everybody hears my shiurim, and you're going to see, you know, Walmart and Costco and everybody run out of fences and everything. Say, ah, you don't even say fences. That's it. Sold out. Okay, so after everybody's sold out, what do you do? Get yourself either 2x4s or something, a metal beam, or even a wire, but you have to have a... three of them and there has to be a separation between them that is less than two amot, something like that. I'll give you the exact measurements; I don't remember the measures off the top of my head. Between them, if there's one—I think it's 80 centimeters—between them, if the separation is below that, then that empty space between them is not considered empty space but considered as if it's a wall. That's essentially what those strings are relying on—that there is a space between them, but it has to be something solid. That's my point.

1:22:25Same thing as those strings, those pop-ups. Same thing, same concept. Three strings, but not strings. Something solid. a piece of metal, a 2x4, plastic, whatever, something. Something, but not strings. Because those strings, those ropes, whatever they are, they move. They move, and then your whole sukkah is useless. So, invest a little bit of time. I know it's a little bit of a headache, last minute and so on, but what can you do? That's another thing. Another thing about the sukkah is, again, like I said before, it has to be like your house. Meaning, if you have a fancy house, your sukkah better be fancy. better be fancy. So how much time do you have? Not much. You have tonight after this, and you have tomorrow to fancy up your sukkah. You know, all these different things. Put whatever you want—put a couch in it if you want, put bells and whistles, whatever you want. The point is, make it a nice place. Make it a place you want to be in. Make it a place that you want to be in. Don't make it like one of those places where you can't wait to get out of it.

1:23:30So that means that you have to spend a little bit more money on this than you would typically expect. When a person thinks that getting deals on the holidays is the most important thing, surely their sukkah is going to be like a toilet. This is not a time to get deals. It's a time to use the money that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave you to spend it on the mitzvah. Spend it on the mitzvah. If you're not going to spend money on mitzvot, what are you going to spend it on? Yeah. But isn't it supposed to remind us of the tents in the desert? Supposed to remind you of the tents? Wait, you think the tents in the desert were suffering? I wish I lived in a tent in the desert. I wish that we lived in a tent in the desert. Tent in the desert. Tent in the desert, imagine. Now, I'm not going to ask you any personal questions like how many times you take a shower and how many times you wash your clothes. But imagine you didn't have to take a shower for 40 years, but you were always clean. Imagine you never had to go to the bathroom once for 40 years because you were always clean. Imagine, imagine you never had to cook because the food arrived at your house, right at your door, and it was always exactly the best possible flavor that you were thinking of at all times. Imagine life was so comfortable your feet never hit the ground because you were on a cloud.

1:24:50You're on a cloud for 40 years. Imagine you didn't have to change your clothes for 40 years, but they were always pristine clean. Pristine clean, meaning they were washed while on you. While on you. Yeah, but you're a little boy, then you're going to be a big boy. How? They're growing with you. The desert, Rabotai, don't let anyone fool you. The desert was not the desert of today, with scorpions and snakes. Hashem made it in time. The desert was Gan Eden. Gan Eden. Am Yisrael lived in Gan Eden for 40 years. The only reason why HaKadosh Baruch Hu put it in a desert and not, let's say, in Tel Aviv or some other place like that is because He wanted us removed from the whole world in order for us to focus on Torah for 40 years. Focus on Torah. So the tents that we had, the place that we had in the desert, were very nice, very comfortable, not hot at all, and beautiful. Nice. I wish I lived there right now. So imagine not having to go to the bathroom for 40 years. Just that alone is enough.

1:25:52But the thing is, so again, as far as the Sukkah, yes, it's in memory of the tents and so on, but not in a negative sense. Not in a negative sense, but rather in a positive sense where it's outside of the norm. We're separating from our norm, from our mundane, okay? To go focus only on Hashem for a week. Because during the week, okay, Shabbat, great, six days a week. hopefully it's only six days a week. You know, you're thinking about, "I have work, and I have this, and I have that. I have responsibilities, and I have bills." How much time do you have left to think about Hashem? So we're always supposed to be in union, getting out of the mundane. Leave your house, go to the little house of Hashem for a week. So it's not supposed to be uncomfortable. I actually have some pictures and videos that I've seen throughout the years. people who must make their sukkah better than their house. They have couches, refrigerators, and ovens—all in the sukkah. Unbelievable, unbelievable, and it's beautiful. I'm thinking to myself, one guy had a waterfall inside his sukkah. I wish I had the means to do that, but people really invest their time and energy into their sukkot when they understand the value of a mitzvah.

1:27:10Of course, it takes time, it takes money, and it takes effort. That's my whole point. The more you invest into the mitzvot, the more you're going to enjoy them. The less you invest, the less you're going to enjoy them. In essence, this is the sukkah. I'm sure there are many other rules that I'm not mentioning, but this is it. If there is anything specific you guys have asked about, I would go over it, but I think it's enough about the topic. Anything else that I'm missing? V'samachta b'chagecha is the biggest obligation. You have to be happy on the holiday. That's the biggest thing. Also, if you're going to go and eat, surely you guys only eat kosher, and anyone that's watching only eats kosher. So you don't have to worry about if it's a kosher place you're going to eat at. Usually, the kosher places, if they're open, have a little sukkah that you can eat in. So many of them have a little sukkah. So you can eat in those places.

1:28:10But if there's no bread, then you don't need to eat in the sukkah. Don't eat in the sukkah. Next. Hmm? If someone decides, okay, let's say their job is saying, you know, come or you will be fired. And the person decides, okay, fine, I'll be fired. I'd rather spend the holiday and do what I should do. But they're worried, thinking, okay, fine, I'd rather be fired, or they... That question is not a one-size-fits-all. He's asking if a boss is telling an employee that if you miss out this week, you're going to get fired. And a person says, okay, I'd rather be fired and have emunah in Hashem that He will give me another job, a better job. Now, should he take advantage of that opportunity that allows him to work because technically if he's going to get fired, that's a loss, so he should go back to work? Or should he not work, relying on his emunah?

1:29:32relying on his emunah that Hashem is going to provide one way or the other. Now, the reason why I said the answer is not a one-size-fits-all is because it all depends on a person's emunah. It depends on a person's emunah. What is it like? Somebody came to Rabbi Yisrael Salanter and says, Rabbi, pray for me to win the lotto. And the Rabbi says, "How much is the lotto?" He says, "It's a million rubles." The Rabbi says, "Okay. If you do this, this, this, and this, you're guaranteed to win a million rubles." So, the guy says, "So how do I do it?" The Rabbi replies, "You have to have emunah. You have to have emunah that Hashem is going to give you the million rubles." So, the guy bought the ticket, and is praying, and he's doing all types of things, and he's waiting for the day. Now, a day before, since he already quit his job, he says he believes, he quit his job, he quit everything, he says he believes that, you know, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan says, if I do ABC,

1:30:54going to win a million rubles, so what do I need to work for? So he tells his wife, "I quit my job," and the wife says, "Okay, so we don't have any money to pay the rent. You want to sell?" He goes, "Yeah, just sell whatever we have. We're going to buy new stuff." He's already prepared to buy himself a little castle because, even though he doesn't have the money yet, he has a ticket in his hand. So, a day before the lotto drawing... comes to the rabbi, his rabbi. "It's the big day. Big day is tomorrow." "What's happening tomorrow?" "It's a big day. They're gonna tell me I'm gonna, you know, win a million dollars, a million rubles." The rabbi says to him, "And you believe you're gonna win?" "Sure," he replied. The rabbi said, "If I have emunah, I'm gonna win, right?" He said, "Yeah, you're right." "Do you believe?" "Yeah, 100%. I believe 100%." "You believe? Wow, what emunah you have!" "You know what I just thought?" I just thought, why take the risk? Why take the risk? Let's share the risk. "What do you mean?" "How about this: Do you have the ticket on you?" "Yeah, it's right here," he says, showing the ticket. "How about this: Let's share the risk. I'll give you half a million rubles right now, and you give me the ticket. You don't have to take any of the risk. What do you think?"

1:32:16He says, "Rabbi, will you do it for me?" "Sure. Do you want to do it or not?" He says, "100%, right now, here, Rabbi." The Rabbi says, "Go back to work. Go, go, go, go back to work." "Why, Rabbi? Why?" He says, "If you really had Emunah, that you had a million dollars in your pocket, you would not sell it for half a million. Your Emunah is fake. You just don't want to work." is like, oh, you want to believe, but you don't really believe. So that's the answer. The answer is not if we believe Hashem is going to help or this or that. Do you really believe? Do you really believe? And that's something that you're only going to learn on your own skin. Now, sometimes a person is unhappy with their job, so in reality, they can't wait to get fired. But they want to say, no, no, no, I'm going to get fired for the sake of Hashem. I'm going to get fired for the sake of my marriage. I'm going to get fired for the sake of... Buddy, relax. You don't want to work there anymore. Who are you kidding? Hashem knows. Hashem knows what's in your heart. Sometimes the guy really has, the woman really has belief in HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And they do it. It's not an easy test.

1:33:30I say that if a person truly has 100% emunah, not at that moment, but he's already exemplified living with that emunah, or near it, for at least a little bit of time, He's had some big tests, and he's passed. She's had some big tests, and she's passed. Already for a period of time, you know, close to this time, and you want to elevate yourself even further? Okay, I'm never going to tell you not to. Sir, you know, go and do a Mesirat Nefesh for Hashem. Go, go for it. But to try, you know, your whole thing out, you know, day one, now? It's not a good idea. It's not a good idea because what ends up happening is that a person... tries out these big, big steps, puts on these big boots on day one, and he slips and falls on his face. Then he ends up hating God for it, as if God did it to him. No, God knew that you were just a joker. He knew you didn't have Him; now you just wanted a different job, and you ruined your own thing. So that's not a good idea. You have to, you know, use the Torah as the Torah tells you to use it, and you have to also be realistic with yourself.

1:34:44You can't pretend that you are Moshe Rabbeinu when you're not even a Shul yet. You can't pretend that you're Rabbi Akiva when you still don't know how to spell yet. You have to be realistic with yourself. And that's the thing. But again, if you want to elevate yourself, it's necessary to take these big steps from time to time when you're ready to take those big steps. If you know for sure that you're not going to question anything, meaning, going to quit or you're going to say listen, I'm not going and if they fire you, you're not going to care for a second. It's not going to change your mood for the chag because if you change your mood for the chag, it's not worth it. okay, that's one step. Number two: after they tell you you're fired, you have to visualize all this in your head. After they tell you you're fired, you're still happy, like they say, happy, happy, happy, right on top of it. After you go back into the market after the chag, everybody says there are no jobs. You get a report in the news networks: no jobs, unemployment skyrockets, nothing. Pretty much, your job was the last job on Earth.

1:35:47There's no other job in the world. You're not going to be unhappy. You're not going to have any questions for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. You're going to be okay. Go for it. Go for it. But how many among us can do that? We have to be realistic. So again, if you believe in HaKadosh Baruch Hu 100%, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, make it so that you're going to do well. But again, you have to be realistic with yourself. You have to push when it's necessary to push. Personally, I don't think that it's necessary for most people to push that far because most people don't have such jobs where they'll get fired in today's world, especially in America. where the jobs will fire them for not showing up for a religious holiday. One of the reasons is that every job is scared of being sued for religious persecution. You know, especially in America, they're very, very scared of being sued. So, because if your name, instead of Elchanan, instead of David, instead of Moshe, was Mustafa, Muhammad, or Ahmed, and you told them, "Listen, I have my Ramadan, and I'm going to fast for 40 days, and I'm not going to work, and I'm not going to do anything, and I'm going to bring my carpet in the middle of your boardroom, and pray every day," they're not going to tell you a word. Why? Because they're scared of religious persecution.

1:37:12So that's the thing. Most jobs, most companies are not going to take the risk of firing you. It's not like it was 70, 80 years ago when people got fired every week for not working on Shabbat. But again, it's a... Is Hashem going to ask you to take certain steps? Sure. But again, only take those steps if it's absolutely necessary. Only take those steps if you know that you can handle it. Don't push too far and put yourself in a situation where, okay, you wanted to do something for Hashem, but you ended up becoming miserable, depressed, and anxious the whole Yom Tov. Because you're losing more than you're winning. You're losing more than you're winning. If you're going to find out you're fired, and then the whole holiday you're going to be anxious and depressed, what are we getting out of this? It's not a mitzvah anymore. You understand? So that's the thing. Again, it's a case-by-case basis. Case-by-case basis. Can't be a one-size-fits-all answer on this one. Tough one. Next. Next.

1:38:21So, as far as eating meat in Judaism, poultry and meat are in essence in the same basket. They're both considered the same. I know that in the regular world people think that chicken is different from meat, and that’s fine for you, but in Judaism, in essence, they’re both put in the same basket. Meat and chicken are in essence the same thing, but there is a specific emphasis on eating meat. are essentially in the same category. They're both considered the same. I know that in the regular world, people think or believe that chicken is different from meat, and that's fine for you, but in Judaism, they are essentially both put in the same category. Meat and chicken are essentially the same thing, but there is a specific emphasis on eating meat. During Yom Tov, during Shabbat, and drinking wine, not to the point of intoxication and obnoxiousness, but nonetheless...

1:39:23Because the Gemara says that a person, because the body was created with certain needs, a person, in order to elevate to a higher level of happiness, has to enjoy meat and has to enjoy a little bit of wine. So there is a mitzvah to drink wine and eat meat on Yom Tov, which is the holidays, and on Shabbat. uh, so that's the times when you need to do it. The second thing is, if a person wants to be vegetarian or vegan, I'm not really sure what much of the difference is between the two. I think vegetarian means you're still technically eating fish and you're just not eating meat, whereas vegan means you're not even eating eggs. You know, you're pretty much eating off trees practically, right? Okay, God bless you. so anyway, if somebody wants to eat trees, somebody that wants to do that, that's fine. You know, it's probably a very difficult life, but you're probably going to look healthy. Listen, if you're doing it for health reasons

1:40:32If you're doing it for health reasons, meaning you have a specific allergy to meat, or it causes you major problems, things like that, that's a specific issue that has to be evaluated individually. If you're doing it because you're merciful on animals, it's completely forbidden. Forbidden for you to be a vegan or vegetarian or anything because you're merciful on animals. Why? Because you do not have more mercy than God. If God instilled a rule into the world that the animals are to be eaten if they're kosher and eaten if they're not kosher by non-Jews, and that's the rule of the world, and you think that that's mean, then you are insane. and you're going against God. Why? Because God created the world where the animals are created for you. created for you. And the truth be told, you cannot live without animals. You cannot live without animals. You know, all these people that fantasize and pretend like they're not benefiting from animals because they're not eating the cow. Okay, you may not be eating the cow, but you're still using animals. Why? You have furniture. What, the furniture is only wood? Furniture has certain pieces that come from animals. You have a hairbrush. Wait, the brush—where do you think the hair from the brush comes from?

1:41:55Where do you think it comes from? Okay. You have shampoo? Where do you think the shampoo comes from? Where do you think the shampoo comes from? Where do you think the soap comes from? Okay. You have shoes. Where do you get your shoes from? A tree? Did you go to the palm tree and make yourself shoes like Moshe Rabbeinu? Where do you get your shoes from? You have a leather jacket. You have clothes. You have belts. You have animals. Animals. There's no way to avoid it. Okay. You may not want to ingest them, but you're still using them nonetheless. And guess what? When they're slaughtered by a rabbi, it's a much better way for them to die than when they're slaughtered or killed or shot or electrocuted for your shoes or your jacket. So, enough with the nonsense. if you're doing it for mercy, it's wrong; it's heresy. Health reasons have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. And again, even in the health cases, you should still have some for the sake of the mitzvah during those specific times. For example, myself, at some point during my life, as my body was changing,

1:42:57uh, for some reason or another, HaKadosh Baruch Hu decided that me and alcohol are not friends anymore. Not that I was ever a big drinker, but a few times a year I used to drink scotch. My scotch was Johnnie Walker Blue. I would drink it, I don't know, three or four times a year, that's it. And, for some reason or another, as my body was changing, I started detesting All alcohol. To the point where much of it gives me an allergic attack. And I never had allergies. I never had allergies. But I would have certain alcohol. Somebody would give me, I don't know, wine. And all of a sudden, my face started to have an allergy attack. I have scotch. All of a sudden, allergy. Strange. Out of nowhere. So, what do I do? Now, that means that wine for me is a no-no. I don't get along with wine. I don't get along with any alcohol. I have certain mitzvot, I have certain times during the year that, let's say, Purim or other occasions where I need to have a drink, or even for Kiddush. So I have a little bit. I have a little bit if I can tolerate it, but as little as I can get away with, if you will. If I simply can't take it, I'll have grape juice. Grape juice still fulfills the obligation, and I'm done. Many times, if I couldn't handle it at all, I wouldn't even have that.

1:44:15I wouldn't even have that. Why? Because it actually caused me physical pain. So if it caused you physical pain, it's a different story. But again, you should still try to fulfill the obligation if you can. If you simply can't because it creates major problems, then you'll have a reason not to. But it shouldn't be a new thing. It definitely shouldn't be for the sake of saving money. It definitely shouldn't be for the sake of mercy. It definitely shouldn't be for any of those other reasons. Really, the only reason not to eat meat is... story. But again, you should still try to fulfill the obligation if you can. If you simply can't because it creates major problems, then you'll have a reason not to. But it shouldn't be a new thing. It definitely shouldn't be for the sake of saving money. It definitely shouldn't be for the sake of mercy. It definitely shouldn't be for any of those other reasons. Really, the only reason not to eat meat is or really for health reasons. Bottom line, that's really that. Or, you know, it's the first time someone is that poor, they can't afford it. It's a different story. But generally speaking, I think most people in today's world can afford it to some extent. Again, you don't need to eat meat all week. No one says you have to eat meat all week. In fact, the more righteous people among us, they eat meat usually once a week and... On Shabbat, they don't eat meat every day. I know, like, Americans, you know, they'll eat, like, you know, a cow just for breakfast and a pig on top of it. It doesn't really work that way. You know, most, you know, really, you know, tzaddikim don't eat meat until Shabbat. You know, so you can eat meat if you want. You want to eat a steak for breakfast? B'chavod, enjoy. But it's not normal. Not normal. I know in America, it's like having, like, a...

1:45:40...a couple of donkeys on your plate for breakfast with eggs on them. That's like, oh, breakfast here. Bed and breakfast. The cow that you eat is the size of a bed. Next. Ken. Consistency. The Gemara in Masechet Berachot says that a person cannot acquire Torah unless he's willing to sacrifice his life for it. That's what Reish Lakish says. And as I was saying today, the only way that a person can enjoy the sweetness of Torah, the sweetness of a mitzvah, Judaism altogether is if they're consistently making sacrifices and exerting effort to fulfill their obligation and not just trying to get by. Like if you're just trying to get by by just praying right before it's like the cutoff time, by learning just enough that you fulfilled, okay, I learned a little bit, by doing the mitzvah just enough to just say, okay, I did it, you'll never enjoy it. In fact, it'll be more miserable for you than a secular person.

1:46:50their obligation and not just trying to get by. Like if you're just trying to get by by just praying right before it's like the cutoff time, by learning just enough that you fulfilled, okay, I learned a little bit, by doing the mitzvah just enough to just say, okay, I did it, you'll never enjoy it. In fact, it'll be more miserable for you than a secular person Because at least the secular person is getting to live his desires, whereas you're just trying to get away with this and that, and that's why you're trying to live in both worlds. Now... The problem is that many people want to live in both worlds. They want to live in a secular world, and they want to live in a religious world. They want to be secular-religious. Secular-religious. That's what the whole Modern Orthodoxy is all about. It's secular, but with a kippah on. Secular, but puts on tefillin. Secular, but keeps Shabbat to the best of his ability, whenever he doesn’t have other stuff that sounds better to him.

1:47:53You know, and that's the reality. So what happens is, is that the first moment, the first moment that the Satan shows up and says, you know what? What is it? Shabbat? You're still keeping up with this Judaism stuff? Shabbat? How about this? I'll introduce you to somebody that's going to give you a million dollars a year. I'll introduce you to somebody that's going to give you a lot of desires fulfilled. But the cost is going to be Shabbat. Guess what? The first chance? Shabbat's in the garbage. Why? Because they were never fully in. They were never fully committed. Shabbat was never really there. They never acquired it. And the same thing goes for all of the other mitzvot. Now, I didn't know how it was going to... Connected to your question, this is the point I didn't really want to say. This is one of those things where you wish you didn't have to say it, but apparently, HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants us to say it. I learned this today from my Rav, and it's one of those things where it's, well, you know, if you understand what I'm going to say and...

1:48:59good, but it's not going to make you feel so happy if you don't understand you're in trouble. The world today is full of people that are trying to get away with the minimum of minimum. Like, I don't want to necessarily be anti-God, atheist, lefty liberal, mechalel Shabbat. No. I want to be religious. I want to have my kippah, and I want to have my kisui rosh, and have my dress on and everything. But I want to modernize it a little bit. And this is modernization that's happening everywhere. It's not just Modern Orthodox. I don't think I'm just picking on Modern Orthodox. I know people in the Chassidish world, which is supposed to be the most frum, in the Chassidish world that are mechalel Shabbat. In the Chassidish world that are doing things that even secular people don't do. Hashem is more. I don't want to tell you the details of how gross that is. The problems are everywhere. Baruch Hashem, we have tzaddikim everywhere. And we have not so much everywhere. It's a reality. That's why I always tell people, everyone needs chizuk, everyone needs to do teshuva. Myself included first.

1:50:17The problem is everywhere. One of the biggest issues is that we're constantly thinking, or at least we're operating our life, as if we're doing God a favor. With our mitzvot, it's like, "I'm learning, God, You should pay me for that. I'm doing mitzvot, You should pay me for that." As if He needs us. Because we have speakers in the world that have long beards, and stupid words come out of their mouths, telling people that God needs us. So, we have a society at large that thinks that God needs us, and therefore, we live in a world where we're just doing the basic minimum to get away with it. Now, with this world, with this mentality, with this generation of just getting through things, I'll wear a dress, but it'll be technically no different than the secular women look because it's going to be short enough where you're going to pretty much see most of my leg. So she thinks that it's kosher because of the dress, not realizing that it was actually better off if she wore pants or a sack or just stayed at home than wear that short dress.

1:51:26People, for some reason, think that just anything that's a dress or a skirt is kosher by default. No. If it does not cover two-thirds of your leg, it's not kosher. And even if it does cover your entire leg, but it's tight to the point where we can see the measurements of your body, the shape of your body, it's not kosher. You are supposed to be modest, meaning leave everything to the imagination. The only one that should know is your husband. Not married? Good. make sure nobody knows. That way, you don't have to change your clothes inside out so it should be the same. But that's the problem. So many people, they have, you know, part of the equipment but not all of it. Same thing with guys. Guys say, "No, no I keep Shabbat." Okay, when do you learn Torah on Shabbat? What about the other six days? "No, I'm working during the six days." Like they say, just because they're learning a lot on Shabbat or they're keeping Shabbat, they think it's enough. you don't learn Torah every single day, there's no chance in the world you're going to be righteous. Why? Because you're not going to know enough. You're not going to know enough in order to get to Gan Eden. But people think we're just going to get away with this and make up for different things. So this is the generation we live in today, with that type of generation we have now—something that's never happened before. We just had a Yom Kippur...

1:52:50where, more or less, no beit knesset was normal around the world. Everywhere in the world was either shut down or had such a small minyan of 10 or 20 people that you couldn't even tell it was Yom Kippur. Countless people, myself included, prayed alone at home. Never in history has such a thing happened. Even during the Holocaust, we found ways to pray. But now, HaKadosh Baruch Hu decreed the situation to be such that, whether you say it's a conspiracy or not, or whether it's a real virus or not, it doesn't make a difference. The effects are very much real on the Jewish world. where we cannot operate and function normally. And if we want to blame the government, want to blame Bibi Netanyahu and Donald Trump and whoever else, good luck with that. Good luck smashing your head against the wall with that one. It's not going to get you anywhere. You have to blame yourself. I have to blame myself. Why? Because that's the reason it's happening. HaKadosh Baruch Hu did something to us right now that if you don't understand what's happening, you are in deeper trouble than you actually are.

1:54:15And this is what we're going to discuss to finish off. And again, I don't want to make you guys unhappy, but it has to be said. The Admor Mi-Piaseczno, the Rebbe Kalonymus Kalman Shapira. Admor Mi-Piaseczno, he wrote difference for him, including the secret that he had inside the concentration camps. We think we're doing God a favor by coming to a nice air-conditioned room a few times a week. Maybe we're gonna learn a little bit, teach a little bit, say a little bit. He was teaching daily inside the concentration camps. What do you teach people that just came from slavery of twenty hours straight and haven't eaten for three days, that weigh sixty pounds not because they're on a diet by choice but rather because of starvation? What do you teach people that are being swallowed up by lice and all types of other bugs because they're not allowed to bathe?

1:55:44What do you teach people that are being murdered right in front of their families? Right in front of their kids? What do you teach them? What do you teach those people? The Admor said the following in his sefer called Esh Kodesh, which was sichot that he had during the Holocaust. Later on, he hid it, and later on it was found. in a section called Yom Bet Besukot, Second Day of Sukkot, Yad HaSichah, based on Psalm 16, verse 2. Where it says, You have said,

1:56:46To Hashem, you are my master. I have no claim to your benefit. That's what he based the shiur on. What does it mean? So Gemara Masechet Menachot, page 53a, says, Knesset Yisrael came to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. They said, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, you should give us merit. You should give us reward. Because we publicize your name. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu responds to Am Yisrael. He says, nope. I'm not going to give you any reward. Because really, you're like a kli sheni. You're like a second kli. The real publication, the real publicity was made by Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. So all the publicity, credit goes to them. It doesn't go to you. It doesn't go to you. So now, the Aderet says, so who's the first one that publicizes Hashem? Who's the first one? So Gemara Masechet Berachot, page 7. Says, the first one to call HaKadosh Baruch Hu Master, Adon, was Avraham Avinu. Avraham Avinu. Avraham Avinu called HaKadosh Baruch Hu Adon. But then there's a Midrash. Midrash Rabbah, in Sefer Bereshit, in section 17:4, says really, Adam HaRishon,

1:58:14was tasked by HaKadosh Baruch Hu to name all of creation. The bear came up to Adam. He says, "Your name is going to be Dov. From now on, everyone will call you Dov." The bear is Dov in Hebrew. The horse came up to Adam. He says, "Your name is going to be Sus. From now on, everyone will call you Sus." Lion came. From now on, your name is Aryeh. Aryeh. Where do you get these names? Why, are you just using a Rolodex of names? What's going on with this? HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave Adam HaRishon wisdom unlike any other, where he was able to tell the essence of the creation. He looked at the Sus. He looked at the horse. He says, this Sus, he likes war. He likes war. He likes to run into war. The rest of the animals run away from war. But the horse is a unique animal that runs into war, likes battle. So that comes from the word sas. So because you, horse, you're running into war, your name is going to be sus, to signify what your essence is.

1:59:22And the same thing is with the other animals. For example, the dog came up to him. He says, your name is Kelev. Why? Because the dog is all heart. And every animal that we have in Hebrew language, Lashon HaKodesh, it's not like English, just somebody decided it's going to be dog. Or somebody decided it's going to be cat. Like, why is it cat? What does cat mean? What does "dog" mean? Why do you spell "night" with an N and sometimes with a K? Like, why? There's no reason. There's no rhyme or reason. It makes no sense whatsoever. But in Hebrew, it's not such a thing. When Adam HaRishon was tasked with this task, he gave each creation a name based on its essence. So then the Midrash continues. HaKadosh Baruch Hu B'Kvodo U'V'Atzmo came to Adam HaRishon and said, what would you name me? What would you name me? says to him, "Your name would be Adonai, Adnut, Master, because You are the Master of all creation." So now the Midrash says, "Hold on a second. You said in the Gemara that Avraham Avinu was the first one to call Him 'Master'."

2:00:44But the Midrash over here says the opposite. It says, what does it say? It says that Adam HaRishon called Him 'Master.' So who is it? This is what he's teaching inside the Holocaust. What's the nafka mina? What do we care? He did it. He did it. What do they have in the context? What do we care? What do we care? I got it. I got it. What do we care? That Mo says to the people that weigh 60 pounds at best. being tortured, being murdered, suffering to no end. This. Why did you pick this, Admor? Why did you pick this? He says to them, when did Avraham Avinu call HaKadosh Baruch Hu, "my master"? In Sefer Bereishit, chapter 15, verse number 8, Avraham Avinu says to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, how will I know that I was rewarded, I was gifted, how do I know all this? At the same time, HaKadosh Baruch Hu shows him, your descendants are going to be slaves in Egypt for 400 years.

2:02:09Meaning, at the time that Avraham Avinu sees darkness everywhere, he says to Hashem, "How do I know I'm rewarded?" But how does he say, "How do I know?" How does he say it? Avraham Avinu says to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, "My Lord Hashem, whereby shall I know that I am to inherit it?" When did he make HaKadosh Baruch Hu his master? When he saw the darkness. It was through the darkness that he realized HaKadosh Baruch Hu is the master. While the reshaim and the weak abandoned HaKadosh Baruch Hu because they saw some darkness. He lost $200,000 in the stock market, so he wants to go back to India. We were living in Eretz Yisrael. Why are you going back to India? I don't know. Maybe I'll make money over there. You live in Eretz HaKodesh. You live in Eretz HaKodesh to go. What? Are you stupid? Are you crazy? Oh, I'm going to go. I'm going to go before Shabbat. Why? Oh, my wife wants to leave me. What does your wife wanting to leave you have anything to do with violating Shabbat? Oh, I'm going to go to clubs. Why? Why are you going to clubs? Why? It's not allowed to go to clubs. I don't know. Listen, it's tough to be religious. What does HaKadosh Baruch Hu have anything to do with that? What are we talking about?

2:03:41The moment people have suffering, the moment people see darkness in their life, what do they do? The first thing they do is throw out Hashem. What made Avraham Avinu, Avraham Avinu? He saw the darkness for 400 years, and he said, "You're my master." And this is why the Gemara says Avraham Avinu was the first one to make HaKadosh Baruch Hu his master. Why? It's easy for Adam HaRishon to call HaKadosh Baruch Hu master. It's easy. Why? Are you in Gan Eden? You're in Gan Eden. What's your tough life? What do you have? Why? The fox took time to come to you to give him a name. The lion was sleeping a little long. What was tough for you in Gan Eden? What was difficult for you? Chava wasn't pretty enough? What happened over there? Nothing. so darkness, that’s when he made HaKadosh Baruch Hu master. That’s what HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants from His people—the people that are 60 pounds, the people that used to be multi-millionaires but now don’t have bread to eat. He says to them, we are in darkness right now

2:04:53We are in darkness, and this is the time where we say, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, You are the master. Now we say, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, we love You. Now. Now it's difficult. Now we say it. Now. The problem is, Rabotai, the world today is not going in the right direction. Because what's happening is... Who has given us a plague to wake us up? And the Gemara in Masechet Bava Kama, page 60, says when there's a plague, a person shouldn't go to shul. If the Satan is, in essence, killing people, he's using the Beit Knesset as a place where he has his tools. Meaning, you see people go to Beit Knesset; the guy goes to Beit Knesset, and he doesn't come home because he's dying. Don't go to Beit Knesset; stay home. Now, the Rambam writes something very scary. The main point of everything that I'm saying. The Rambam writes,

2:06:13we have a Psalm, Psalm 119, verse 126, that says there is a time to do the will of Hashem, but Chazal say that There's a time, from here we learn, that there's a time to do the will of Hashem, but there's also a time when you can't do the will of Hashem. Ones is what they call it. You wanted to build a sukkah, you built a sukkah, but it rained. You can't sit in the sukkah. So ones, ones, ones. You can't do the mitzvah. Why? It's raining. It's going to cause you suffering if you sit in there with the rain dripping on your face. Right? So you don't have it. You... wanted to do Kiddush, but you don't have any food, you don't have challah, you don't have wine, you don't have anything. You wanted to make it to shul, but you didn't feel good, you didn't feel well, you couldn't show up to shul. You can't do the mitzvah; it's against your will, meaning it's not like you don't want to do it, it's something that's beyond your control.

2:07:36So the Rambam writes in his Peirush, in his commentary on the Mishnayot, in Masechet Berachot, that there is a concept where HaKadosh Baruch Hu says there's a time where you serve Hashem, but at a time that you simply can't. Right? You simply can't do it, because it's difficult. Right? But then he says something extremely scary. He says, sometimes HaKadosh Baruch Hu is upset with us. sees when we go to shul, all we do is speak to each other instead of davening. When we go to shul, instead of listening to the Torah reading or the drasha, we play with our phones the whole time. When we go to conduct business, instead of engaging in kosher business practices, we cheat and lie. When we meet with our friends, all we do is speak lashon hara. When we do all the things that, in essence, He allows us to do in order to do mitzvot, we don't do it. So, the Rambam writes, there are certain times when HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, the act, the time, is not the time to not do the will of Hashem, but rather it is the time that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will create a problem that will make you anuss and not be able to do the mitzvah.

2:08:59Why would HaKadosh Baruch Hu do such a thing? Why would HaKadosh Baruch Hu not want you to do a mitzvah? Why would HaKadosh Baruch Hu not want you to live in a sukkah for a week? Why would HaKadosh Baruch Hu not want us to go to the Beit Knesset on Yom Kippur and pray to Him and cry? Why would HaKadosh Baruch Hu not want us to see our friends and say the Yom Kippur Torah like normal people? Why? Why not? The Rambam writes one of the scariest things I've ever heard in my life. And he writes this. He says, sometimes HaKadosh Baruch Hu simply has had it with us. You make so many sins, so much lashon hara, so much rechilut, so much stealing, so much robbing, so much garbage. Guess what? I don't want your mitzvot. Yeah, but isn't the mitzvot what you want us to do? To get back home? He goes, no, no. What I want, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, what I want, He says, I want to punish you. That's what I want. The will of HaKadosh Baruch Hu at that moment is to punish us, Hashem Yishmael. And that's what the Rambam says. But He cannot punish us just like that. Why? The Torah protects us. He has a rule in the world: Torah protects us. He says, so what am I going to do? I'm not going to allow you to fulfill the Torah. How about that? The Rambam writes, I'm going to stop you from fulfilling the Torah. Shiur, you can't show up. Why? You have a headache. Shiur, flat tire.

2:10:22Shiur, you can't show up. Shiur, you don't feel like it because your wife is annoying you. All types of reasons for why you can't show up. So you figure, oh, listen, I already get the mitzvah. I get the mitzvah. Why? Anus Rachmana patrei. If there's a concept and the Torah says if you are an anus, if it's against your ability, you don't want to do it, you want to do it, but you can't do it, you still get the reward. The Rambam writes, listen, listen, Rabotai, listen very carefully. Be very careful to use this excuse during this time right now. Why? There is a time where HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, I want to punish you. Because I've had it with you. And the only thing that's protecting you is the Torah that you are learning, the mitzvot that you're doing. So what I'll do, in order to free my ability to punish you, is not allowing you to fulfill the Torah. Because there's a Gemara that says, when there's a dever (a plague) in the world, don't go to shul. She says, I don't have to go to shul. Gemara says it. Rambam says, don't listen to it.

2:11:29Why is HaKadosh Baruch Hu telling you He has a target on your head and the only thing that's protecting you is the Torah and mitzvot? If you use this excuse, in essence, you think you're going to be okay. It's not going to be okay. It's not going to be okay at all. It's the opposite. At this time, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is making it difficult and almost impossible for you to learn Torah, to fulfill the mitzvot, to pray with the minyan, to attend shiurim, or for all the different reasons that you have, at this time, you have to listen to a different Gemara. It says what? If you want to acquire Torah, you have to be willing to die for it. Why? Because if not, you're going to die anyway. not in a good way. This is the time; don't look for excuses not to do it.

2:12:29This is the time when you have to be more significant. Sacrifice to learn more. Sacrifice to push more. Sacrifice to do more. Whatever you did until now, do more. Why? Two reasons. Number one, you want to get to a better level because you said that you're up and down, up and down, right? You want to get up, up and stay up? You have to increase anyway. Number two, there's a decree on the entire world right now. HaKadosh Baruch Hu, in essence, is giving us Simply a world where it's difficult to do mitzvot and we can simply say, listen, we're excused. We're excused from going to shul. We're excused from going to shul. We're excused from this, excused from that. You know what's getting prepared? A Holocaust. That's what's prepared. How do you stop it? Whatever you're doing, do more. A lot more. Yeah, but it's hard. Exactly. Exactly. That's the point. It's hard. That's the point. That's what the Rambam is trying to tell us. It's very hard. Now, that's why the Rambam writes in his Mishneh Torah, in Yad Chazakah, in Hilchot Talmud Torah, in chapter 1, halachah number 8, every Jewish man is obligated to study Torah, whether he is poor, or he is rich, or he is healthy and has a complete body, or he has sicknesses and difficulties and is afflicted with disease.

2:13:52Whether he's young or he's old, whether he has strength or his strengths have diminished, even if he's a poor person who derives his livelihood from charity and begs door to door, even if he is a husband and a father of children, he must establish a fixed time for learning Torah during the day and during the night. It says in Yehoshua chapter 1, verse number 8, "VeHagita bo yomam va-laila" - "You shall meditate upon it day and night." This, Rabotai, is not a simple halacha or a suggestion. The Rambam writes that if you want to stay alive eternally, you have to fulfill this. Yes, it’s hard. Exactly right now, it’s harder... Because if you're going to use every excuse not to learn, every excuse not to do the mitzvot, in essence, you're preparing yourself for doom. And this is, in essence, what the Admor was telling his people inside the concentration camp. While they're getting tortured, while they're getting killed by the dozens, by the hundreds of thousands, millions of them.

2:15:10He says, right now, it's difficult. That's what HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants. HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants us to fulfill the entire Torah as best as we possibly can here. Baruch Hashem, we're not in a Holocaust right now. We cannot even think or imagine that we can understand the difficulty and the turmoil that our ancestors went through, that our brothers and sisters went through throughout the years. More or less, most people are living in luxury today. And even the ones that are not in luxury, they're not doing so horrendously in Western society, in America. In Eretz Yisrael, it's a lot more difficult. There's a much bigger gap between the rich and the poor. They've shut down the entire country. And they're planning on shutting it down. Some even say until the end of the year. Talking about a few more months. Meaning that if you are already struggling, you're simply going to be... inside a ghetto, because that's what your house is going to turn into. It's not an easy situation. For those of us that have an easy time eating, drinking, working, and have a little bit of money in the bank, and so on, you have to do double, triple, quadruple what you were doing until now. Why? It's easy for you.

2:16:36Those that are struggling still have to do more. Why? You can still do it. Because right now, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is obviously not happy. Anyone that tells you that the situation in the world is not such a big deal and things will eventually go back to normal is simply a liar. A liar. The world will never go back to what it used to be. It will never go back to normal. This scar... always going to be there. Now, things may change in how we react to it, how we treat it, how we deal with it, but this is never going away. Some big chachamim in the world say this is simply the new reality. This is a new reality. So that means that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is setting up the world in a certain way where Some of us have easy choices to make. Some of us have harder choices to make. But needless to say, every one of us has to make choices. And we have to make them quickly. You can't waste any more time. There's no more time to be in the middle ground anymore. There's no more time to be a little bit secular, a little bit religious. Why? Because if you're not at that point right now where HaKadosh Baruch Hu is pressing you,

2:17:59to the point where you have no money in the bank, you have no idea how you're going to eat, you're not at that stage. You're okay. You're okay. You're still working maybe, or you still have some money in the bank. You're still okay. And you're not taking advantage of that opportunity to get closer to Hashem. You're missing an opportunity of a lifetime you're never going to have again. If you're already at that stage where you're being pressed, guess what? HaKadosh Baruch Hu expects more from you too. Everyone is expected to do more. Everyone. Everyone has problems. Everyone has to deal with this thing in different ways. But the ones that are here and in different places around the world that still have the luxury and freedom that they had before, we, and I'm talking to myself more than you guys, better start pushing ourselves. Whatever you think that you're doing, apparently it's not enough. It's not. It's not enough.

2:19:01whatever you're learning, it's not enough. Whatever mitzvot you're doing, it's not enough. Why? If it was enough, the world would be different. Yeah, me by myself. Yeah, you, basically you and myself, because who's not happy with the situation today? People that are telling, "No, no, everything's gonna be okay. Okay, I'm not afraid of this nonsense of Corona, of the mask. I think the whole thing is ridiculous." But the effects effects on the world are very much real. The atmosphere is very much real. The wrath is very much there. Anyone that has eyes sees it, sees the world will never be the same again. How much more time we have, I have no idea. It could be a year, a month, a hundred. I have no idea, no idea. I'm not God, nor do I have any connection. All I know is, you can see. You can smell the smoke. You can see what's going on in the world. You see that not enough people changed. Not enough people did teshuva. Not enough people have changed their lives. A lot have. It's good, but not enough. How do I know? It's still going. And it's getting worse. So, you see that the request from HaKadosh Baruch Hu is...

2:20:26Increasing is upping the ante, which means we have to do our part. Each person needs to understand that it's not enough for you to just do what you were doing until now. You have to do more, and like we said earlier, it's not enough for you to just be religious privately. You have to be religious publicly. You have to be proud. a Jew. You have to be proud that you're religious. You have to be proud of all the mitzvot that you're doing. Proud. Why? That's what HaKadosh Baruch Hu requested from us before He allowed us to leave Egypt. where He told Moshe Rabbeinu, unless they're going to make this sacrifice, this major Kiddush Hashem of taking these false gods, these goats, and tying them to the beds, letting them scream for a few days, letting the Egyptians see it and hear it, and slaughtering them right in front of their eyes.

2:21:40publicizing their belief in HaKadosh Baruch Hu, publicizing their emunah in HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that we are going to stay with Hashem, we're not afraid of you. Publicizing their religiosity, publicizing their bitachon in Hashem, being happy about it. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, unless they do it, they will never leave Egypt. And He swore on His name. I didn't hear any prophecy of Hashem telling me get people to tie some goats. But I don't need to. You see, you have a Rambam. You have a Gemara. You have experience from Moshe Rabbeinu. You have a Torah HaKedoshah. You don't need to hear the prophecy to know what HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants. Right now, most of us, not only are not doing enough, many of us are ashamed of what we're doing. are embarrassed of what we're doing. How do we know? We don't preach it. We don't go out there and say, "You should be Jewish" to the non-Jew. "You should be religious" to the secular guy. "You should do more" to somebody that looks religious, more or less, but doesn't act like it. We don't go screaming, saying to people,

2:23:06We don't do it. Why? Like, oh, I'm going to do my thing. He's going to do his thing. What about if he looks at you doing your thing? Oh, no, no, no. He's not going to see me do it. Oh, what are you doing Friday night? No, no, I'm with my family. You want to come to the movies? No, no, I'm with my family. Another time. Why don't you tell him? No, I can't go to the movies. Because a Jew doesn't go to the movies. Needless to say, a Jew doesn't go to the movies on Shabbat. Why don't you tell him that? Why don't you give him that answer? Because you don't want him to know that you keep Shabbat. Because you're embarrassed a little bit. Because you want him to think that you're like a half a goy. That's the problem. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, I don't want these mitzvot that we're doing embarrassed. where we still want to live a half-Jew life, Hashem says, I don't want those. So I'm going to make those mitzvot not possible. Meaning, if you're fulfilling a mitzvah today, it's because you want it. Because you're making sacrifices for it. That's going to make you not only fulfill the mitzvah that HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants, but also enjoy the mitzvah. Because why would you invest in it

2:24:29and make sacrifices for it. If you're not liking it, you see who's trying to help us using the tools that He has—the infinite amount of tools. Now, those tools may not sit well with our limited mind, because we think, "Oh, maybe You should just cure everything and make everything dandy, and then we'll do teshuva after we see a miracle." That's our stupidity talking. we think that we would do teshuva if everything turned out okay. Guess what? Everything used to be okay a day before it wasn't. And we didn't do teshuva. So it didn't work. And everything hasn't been okay for a while now. And we still haven't done teshuva. So, obviously, HaKadosh Baruch Hu has to continue this nightmare until we change. Stop being pretenders. Stop being people who think that we're doing Him a favor. Because according to the Rambam, according to the Admor who was living inside Gehenom, in this world, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is preparing the world for a time like no other. And this is the time we have to take advantage of. When it says, "Vesamachta Bechagecha"

2:25:54For Sukkot, that means that even after you've learned whatever knowledge you've learned today, that may not sit well with your good mood, you have to be happy. How? You now are privy to information the vast majority of the population is denying. You now have information that can help you. What you do with it is up to you. You have information today that can help you change, improve, get better, and, as a result, improve the world around you. We use this holiday as another stepping stone to where we need to be, but this time, we should do it differently. When you're doing a mitzvah, go all out. Do Kiddush, pretend like you're talking to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, not your wife.

2:26:57you do it. Pretend like Hashem is watching and He's counting, "One, two, three, one, two, three." When you cut the bread, pretend it's the manna. When you eat the meal, pretend like this is the best food in the world. When you're doing the mitzvot, invest as much as you possibly can in them. Because if you do that, that's a mitzvah that's welcomed by HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Now, the next time you have an opportunity to learn, which may be later tonight or tomorrow, pretend like you want to, and not like you just have to. Because if you pretend for long enough, you'll actually want it. You'll actually want it. And eventually, you'll learn enough to remove all the klippah that's on your soul, that's causing you to hate the Torah, causing you to not want it, causing you to just want quick answers, and not toil to find the answer.

2:28:20causing you to disagree with the sages and not just accept what they said because you're a donkey next to them. Causing you to simply say, "Yes, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, thank you," to good and bad. Start doing that. Start taking advantage of all of that. And then, if you really want to make HaKadosh Baruch Hu happy, do it proudly. so proud, you become contagious. That everyone around you also wants to do it. Everyone around you also wants to be religious. Everyone around you knows that you believe in Hashem. When you do that, not only will you be happy on this Chag, but you'll make HaKadosh Baruch Hu happy. And with Hashem, we succeed in becoming happy And bringing happiness to HaKadosh Baruch Hu like no other. Simply by doing His mitzvot as He would want us to do, with complete mesirut nefesh, complete satisfaction, and a complete desire to do them from beginning to end. Enjoy your Chag. Have a wonderful time with your family. B'ezrat Hashem, we'll see each other soon. Baruch Adonai le'olam. Amen ve'amen.

2:29:47Baruch Hashem, we've completed another year b'ezrat Hashem. Rabbi Ephraim and I are very proud to announce some major milestones that we've achieved, b'ezrat Hashem and with your help, our dear partners. Over 60 million minutes of our Torah have been watched over the last year. That's a million hours of Torah to help people do teshuva and get closer to Hashem. Over 300,000 CDs have been distributed around the world for free. We've also made over a thousand lectures between the two of us, as well as with Rav Chaim being added to the roster. Over 60,000 regular viewers are watching our Torah right now across the board. Over 200,000 answers regarding halacha, family, shalom bayit, and different topics on a regular basis are being given to people. Over 10,000 people have been helped, whether it's through food or different financial issues. A thousand families of Torah scholars are being helped by Igud Be'ezrat Hashem.

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