The Hardest Part Of The Torah - MUSSAR Iggeret HaRAMBAN (14)

0:15We're back in Aventura, Florida. For all of the viewers online that live within an hour or two away driving, it's definitely worth it to come to the shiurim. But I know that people have a much easier time watching at home simply because you could eat some popcorn and press stop and press play. But when you come to the shiurim, you become part of the shiur, as we talked about many, many times. Anyway, today's shiur will be for a refuah sheleimah for Avi Mori, David Ben Esria. away driving, it's definitely worth it to come to the shiurim. But I know that people have a much easier time watching at home simply because you can eat some popcorn and press stop and press play. But when you come to the shiurim, you become part of the shiur, as we talked about many, many times. Anyway, today's shiur will be for a refuah sheleimah for Avi Mori, David Ben Esria. My DMM Doris Bat Jorah, Rabbanit Levana Bat Sara, Sara Bat Levana, Rabbi Ephraim Ben Shulamit, Rabbanit Sara Bat Anat, Rabbanit Esther Bat Tzipora, Elisheva Chaya Bat Sara, Yocheved Bat Batya,

1:30So we continue with our series on the holy letter of the holy Ramban, Nachmanides, who really tried to bring so many different chidushim and succeeded in bringing so many chidushim in this letter that for anyone who actually studies the letter, like Baruch Hashem, we've been trying to do over the last few months, you see that if there's so much chokhmah, it gives you a good indication if there's so much chokhmah, so much wisdom in what seems superficially to be a simple, you know, one- or two-page letter. Just imagine how much chokhmah is in the rest of the work that the Ramban wrote. And he is one of the few Rishonim that literally wrote about issues across the board from the Torah. He covered everything. Simply a

2:54unique and complete person, Ish Shalem. And the Ramban writes in this letter to his son, and obviously his descendants, us today, Baruch Hashem, a letter that gives us a little bit of an indication of what's the Ikar, what's the Tafel, what's important, what's not necessarily as important. talked to us in the beginning of the letter about how important it is to listen to Mussar, and make sure that you connect to your heritage and don't disconnect. If you don't know where you came from, you're not going to know where you're going to. This, unfortunately, today is a lost wisdom. Many, many of our brothers and sisters are simply disconnected. Disconnected from the Avot. So much so that we've lost over 300,000. In some cases, this could be even over half a million. Over 300,000 Jews have converted to Christianity in the last 25 years.

4:08...meaning that they went from the only divine religion in the world to idolatry. But unlike what happened at the time of the Ramban 800 years ago, where pretty much the Christian church said either you convert to Christianity and worship our idol, or we'll chop your head off... right after we torture you for a few weeks in all types of vicious ways. So, in those days, if you fell, it didn't necessarily mean that you actually believed in their shtuyot; it just meant that you didn't want to go through the torture. In his time, there weren't even that many conversions. There were, but there weren't many, despite the torture. Why? Because Am Yisrael understood what it means to die al Kiddush Hashem, understood what it means to live al Kiddush Hashem. They were connected to their roots. Unfortunately, a lot has changed in the last 800 years, so much so that we live in a sleepy generation that over 300,000 of us, just in Western society—I'm not even talking about the East, I'm not talking about Eretz Yisrael, I'm not talking about the rest of the world—just Western society.

5:30America, Canada—over 300,000 Jews willingly adopted the idolatry of Christianity in the last 25 years. This is very sad, but it's also a reality. Unfortunately, what will continue to happen if we do not wake up. People want to do teshuva. People want to do teshuva. People want to get close to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. People want something spiritual. But they're confused. On one end, they go to schools where being next to the goyim seems like it's not a problem. Learning the subjects of the goyim seems like it's even admired, advocated, and even something that is recommended in every way, shape, or form. Watching their sports, singing, being part of their concerts. And you're seeing this among both religious and non-religious alike.

6:58You go to some synagogues, and you really can't tell the difference between Am Yisrael, unfortunately sometimes, and what's outside of the synagogue. They bring their sports into the synagogue, they bring their shtuyot into the synagogue sometimes. Confused? No, no. Talking about basketball, right in front of the Echal. Talking about who won the game last night, Right before there's an aliyah of the shlishi. No, no one thinks there's anything wrong with it. And anyone that does think there's anything wrong with it is most of the time too scared to say anything about it. Why? Because then you're going to have 90, 100 people look at him and say, "Hey, what's wrong with you? When did you become Moshe Rabbeinu? Go do that in your family. Why are you rebuking us? Go somewhere else. You don't want to hear it?" Take two fingers, put them in your ear, you don't want to hear the sports. Meaning that no one really sees there's anything wrong with this. So when a secular Jew comes to a shul for the first time, if it's a traditional shul, Modern Orthodox type of shul, he doesn't see that much difference between the secular life and that. Not that much. If he goes to a Chassidic shul,

8:22Unless he has some "in," some family connection, something, it's very, very hard for him to be accepted because it's an outsider. Until last week, until two hours ago, it was a shaygetz. It was not exactly the same, like, you know. down the street, they accept everyone. What happened here? I want to come here. Yeah, but you don't have yichus. Who's your father? Is he a chassid? No? Do you know anything about it? It's not for you; go somewhere else. Happens not all the time, happens though. Why? The secular guy, even if you don't say anything to him, he comes to the shul, he sees everybody with the hats and everything else, he feels like, "I don't have a hat, I barely have a kippah." Sometimes they don't know what to do. No one thinks there's anything wrong with this, so much so that sometimes you meet Chassidish guys. They went to yeshiva their whole life—20 years old, 25 years old, 35 years old—they don't know anything.

9:35anything. Ask him, "I didn't get a chance to. Did you finish last week?" "No, I didn't get a chance to." "Do you have a shiur from two weeks ago?" "Yeah, I have some." Here, he gives you one of these leaflets they give you at the shul. He didn't read it yet, he gave it to you. It's like, "Hey, how about that?" "No, do you have a shiur? Did you learn something?" "You know, I didn't get a chance to learn yet." "When was the last time you learned?" "Ah, you know, three, four days ago." "What did you learn?" "I saw, I heard some videos." what happened to the yeshiva? Now, yeshiva was... When I was in yeshiva, I was in yeshiva. But now, I'm older already. I'm doing my thing. I'm working. I'm in the world, studying, you know, a good solid five, six, seven minutes a day. Solid seven minutes I do. You're not going to get a solution in seven minutes. So the point is that we are a sleepy generation that... does not understand how much wrong is actually happening around us. If a secular person comes to a shul, to a kehillah, he's going to have a hard time distinguishing the difference between his past and the present. But even if...

10:51even if you look at not a secular person, not a Baal Teshuva, you're looking at somebody that's already in, already in for a while, you see that as he grows up, unless he has a very strong rabbi, unless he has a very strong connection to his roots, to the Torah Kedoshah, at some point or another, he's going to modernize the laws and simply apply whatever fits to his life, uh, from a Torah, he's going to copy and paste certain things, and certain things that don't, uh, don't fit, although, you know, cut, there's a cut also, you right-click cut. But if you ask somebody, you go to any shul, any shul, you ask somebody, ask the rabbi even if you want, "what's the tachlis? Can you give me Judaism on one leg?"

11:52what's the tachlis? What's my tafkid in this world? Everybody's gonna say, raise their hand, "Oh, do mitzvot." Okay, you know how to remember some things by heart. What does it mean? What does it mean to do the will of HaKadosh Baruch Hu? What does it mean? How? What does it mean to do the will of HaKadosh Baruch Hu? What does it mean? What does it mean to do the will of HaKadosh Baruch Hu? Are you going to say, do mitzvot? A lot of people do mitzvot. A lot of people do mitzvot. But unfortunately, some of those people are still going to go to Gehinom. Why? They didn't fulfill the tachlis. They didn't fulfill the bottom line. What do you mean? I fulfilled mitzvot, kept Shabbat, kept Kashrut, what? good qualifies you to be a Jew, but you didn't fulfill the tachlis. Why are you gonna go up to Shamayim and say, "Listen, now for the mitzvot, for sure you're gonna get paid, but before we give you the payment, you have to burn off all the tumah that you've collected your whole life." "What tumah? This, this, this, this. How did I collect all this stuff?" "Oh, we'll show you." They give you a nice movie of all the filth that you've done in your lives, and you're like, "Oh, I didn't even know it was that bad. I didn't even know it was good. I didn't even know it was a sin." Oh, you didn't even know the point of life yet.

13:21So that's, Rabotai Yekarim, what the Ramban HaKadosh is trying to teach us in this letter. What is really the tachlis. Now, not too long ago, we had the merit, Am Yisrael had the merit, they had someone among them who might as well be a malach, a Malach Hashem. His name was the Chazon Ish. The wisdom that the Chazon Ish had is something that anyone who reads any of his work doesn't take much energy to realize that the wisdom that we have at our best and the wisdom that he had at his worst might as well be different species. And the Chazon Ish has a book that was actually published after he passed away, and it's called Emunah u'Bitachon. He writes in the beginning, in the section on Emunah, the following.

14:46The root of perfecting one's character traits is the avoidance of doing evil. It's easy for a person to do good deeds, but it's difficult for him to refrain from doing evil ones. Meaning, if you ask an average Jew, listen, somebody here needs some money for a room tonight. Think maybe you could get a few guys to come up, chip in, 10, 15 bucks each? Sure. You know what? You don't even need anybody. I got you. How much? You need 80 bucks? I got it. I got it. No problem. Average Jew, doesn't even matter if he believes in God or not. Doesn't matter if he keeps Shabbat. Average Jew, you ask him, I got somebody who doesn't have a house. He needs a place to stay. You got something? It's like it already goes into the pocket. listen, you have a sandwich? I didn't bring anything with me. You have a sandwich; you might give me half? Half? Have the whole thing. I'm not even hungry. You give me the whole sandwich? No problem. Listen, I need this. No problem. Ask an average Jew, "Listen, you're Jewish, yeah? You want to do it?" "Yeah, sure, no problem. When's the last time you did tefillin? 1972? Okay, I'll do it now, though. You're here, I'll do it now. No problem."

16:07You ask an average Jew to do something good, to do a mitzvah, he'll say, "Yes, no problem." But the tachlis (essence) is telling us here that doing good is not enough. Not doing bad is the difficult part. He says that there are people who are always willing to do the utmost for other people, whether it's an individual or a public cause. Some people, you ask them, "Listen, there's a new fundraiser for this building that they're constructing. I'm not really sure if it's real or not, but there's a fundraiser. Do you have a few friends you could share it with?" "Yeah, sure, give me the number. Give me the link. Give me this. Share, share, share. No problem. No questions asked." Listen, we need some people to volunteer, set up some chairs. Yeah, yeah, I'm there. What time do you need me there? No problem. What's the event for? They don't even ask. You need me? I'm there. The average Jew, you ask him to do something good for a public cause or for an individual, the average normal human being who's a Jew, will say yes. They like it. They'll even tell you thank you for giving them the opportunity. But the Chazon Ish continues, and he says...

17:33But these very same people, these very same people are very exacting in their personal lives. And when a person offends them, somebody goes to them, offends them, makes fun of them, doesn't pay them on time, or looks at them the wrong way. with even a minor verbal expression. Something, he just said something to him, but he used a certain word that you didn't really like so much. You didn't like that word. In your mind at that moment, you're thinking about all the curse words you're going to say to this guy to make sure he never uses this word, not only with you, but with nobody ever again. This person explodes uncontrollably. And their hands are quick to deal a severe and even fatal blow. Woe to those who offend them. And it's impossible to respect and praise such a public figure since he has not worked to perfect his character traits. Public activities come naturally to him; he desires satisfaction from them, and usually, he finds pleasure in the admiration that he receives from his acquaintances. Indeed, he benefits society; he's to be praised and exalted in the...

18:49public activities come naturally to him; he desires satisfaction from them, and usually, he finds pleasure in the admiration that he receives from his acquaintances. Indeed, he benefits society; he's to be praised and exalted in the should be given anything valuable, but such a person is considered truly praiseworthy only for having made his intellect rule. The reward for the wise person is given to him for having worked on controlling his natural tendencies by way of his intellect, meaning that yes, he did good but if he didn't perfect his character traits, it's worthless. Who's worth something? Someone that, in essence, not only is able to do good things with the public, with strangers, but also perfects their character traits and uses his mind, uses his brain at all times, not just when he picks and chooses. Now,

20:05The Ramban writes, after telling us to run away from anger, after telling us to treat anger as if it's a pikuach nefesh, this week he tells us, ve'ka'asher titnaheg b'midat ha'anavah, lehitboshesh mikol adam u'lehitpached mimenu. says, when your actions, how do you know if you have this lack of anger and this humility that he's already talking about a few times? How do you know? When your actions display genuine humility, when you stand meekly before man and fearful before God. So there's an indication, there's a sign. Who is humble

21:06who's not based on how you behave now. Last night, we released a new movie, a new Torah film by Rabbi Ephraim. It's a fantastic movie; it's in Hebrew but has English subtitles. And... The whole movie is based on a pasuk in the Torah, in the book of Jeremiah, where HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells the prophet Jeremiah, "They left Me, and My Torah they did not observe." So he says, the Chachamim are confused at this verse, saying, wait a minute, hold on a second. If they left God, Hashem is saying here, in Jeremiah, they not only left Me, but they violated My Torah also. The Chachamim say, wait a minute, doesn't that mean the same thing? Why is He repeating the same thing? Obviously, if they left God, they're not following the Torah. Is there such a thing as a person that leaves God but keeps Torah?

22:28So the Midrash there says, the real message is that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is telling us, "Halvai, halvai they leave Me, but they keep My Torah." I wish, if only, they left Me, but they kept My Torah only. Why is Hashem saying, wait, I wish they left Me, but at least kept My Torah? Logically, we all think, wait a minute, it should be the opposite. Okay, you didn't do mitzvot, but at least you believe in God. You have emunah. You have emunah, no? You have emunah, it's good. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, no, it's not good. Leave Me, don't believe in Me. Don't have emunah in Me. Just do mitzvot. So much so, that's what I pray for. He says, why? Why? The Midrash says, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is telling us, "I wish they left Me but kept My Torah because if they leave Me but keep My Torah, the Torah is going to show them the way back to Me."

23:36The Torah is going to show them back to Me. If they're fulfilling mitzvot, even though they don't believe in Me, even though they're not really sure, right, left, this, up, down, they're not really sure about anything. But they continue to do mitzvot, they continue learning Torah, they continue keeping kosher, they continue taharat mishpacha, they continue doing all the stuff, eventually they'll come back to Me. Even if you do a mitzvah against your will, you don't feel like coming to a shiur, you're tired. But you go to a shiur anyway. Good, it's a mitzvah. Yeah, but I don't really feel like coming to a shiur. I want to go to sleep instead. I want to go play sports. I want to do this, I want to do that. It's still a mitzvah, 100% going to the shiur. Why? This is because if you continue going to the shiur, even though you don't want to, even if somebody forced you to come, if you go to the shiur, eventually you're going to like it. Eventually, you're going to love it. Eventually, you're going to fall in love with this, eventually, you're going to fall in love with the Torah, and you're going to fall in love with HaKadosh Baruch Hu again. Because fulfilling the mitzvot and following the Torah is the only way to get back to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Now, what if you say, wait a minute, but isn't it just easy to just stay with HaKadosh Baruch Hu without the mitzvot? Well, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, no. Why? Because a person...

24:54can live what's called an illusion. In this week's parasha, in chapter 13, it talks about a false prophet that's going to exist at the end of days. And it says, don't follow the words of this prophet or the dreamer of dreams. this is really a prophecy about the two false prophets, Yeshua and also Muhammad, but also anybody else that's a navi sheker, including ourselves, including us being false prophets to ourselves. How can you be a false prophet to yourself? You could live a fantasy life living in a dream, in an illusion, thinking that you have fulfilled your role, you're already doing everything, you're perfectly fine. You die right now, Mashiach shows up, you're good, you're fixed, you're finished. You're doing everything right; Mashiach comes, you give him a high five. "What's up, buddy? I've been ready for you. I'm ready, let's go to work. What do we do now?" Yeah, you think Mashiach comes, you are fixed.

26:13fixed. You're getting your front row lines. You will say, "Maybe Hashem (God) has to wait for you. Why? You work so hard. You put on tefillin six days a week, sometimes seven because you forgot Shabbat. But who knows? Seven. You went to the shul, and you didn't fall asleep for at least the first 20 minutes. You didn't play with your phone for the first 20 minutes." 20 minutes, you learn Torah. You didn't say anything because there's nobody else to talk to. The place is empty. But anyway, you didn't say anything. You're thinking, I'm finished. Finished, I'm ready. A person lives in a fantasy. A person lives in illusion. Thinking that because they go to shul, because they lay tefillin, because they learn a little bit, even if the guy is an avrech, a kollel... learning 10 hours a day. If he thinks that he's finished, if he thinks he's fulfilling the role, he's complete, he's finished, he's living a dream. He's a false prophet for himself. Why? Because, rabotai yekarim, the Ramban tells us, and the Chazon Ish 800 years later repeats,

27:33that it's not just about fulfilling the mitzvot. It's not just about keeping kashrut, laying tefillin, learning Torah. It's about perfecting your character traits in order to get to a point where you are able to emulate HaKadosh Baruch Hu. You're perfecting your character traits by emulating HaKadosh Baruch Hu. and acquiring two of the most valuable character traits, two of the most valuable character traits that the Ramban calls Anavah and Busha. Now, most people, you ask them, what's Anavah? One guy is telling you, isn't that anavah? Yeah, there is a rabbi in anavah, but that doesn't mean it's anavah. What's anavah? Oh, humility? Okay, what's humility? Show me humility. Humility, you know, humility, you don't talk about the stuff you did, at least not in public. You make a YouTube video about it. What's anavah? Most people can't give you a real definition of anavah. Why? Because to us, anavah is being a fool.

28:56Letting people step on you. Letting people step on you. Letting people get their way with you. Why should you be humble? That's for Moshe Rabbeinu to be humble. He is the most humble of all men. Everybody knows. Even the goyim know. Moshe Rabbeinu, humblest of all men. You? I try. You know, I try. I try. I don't want to talk about it. I try. I'm being humble here. I try. I try to be. What about busha? What's that, busha? Busha, embarrassment. Yeah, don't be embarrassed. Hashem doesn't want you to get embarrassed. He doesn't want people to embarrass you. now humility has three stages: thought, speech, and action. Meaning that in order to actually have humility, you not only have to think in a humble way, speak in a humble way, but also act in a humble way. Now, some people are just self-conscious and don't have any confidence in themselves, so they mistake that lack of confidence for humility. Yes, the guy, what does he want to do in the future, is like, "Ah, what could I possibly do?" That's not because he's humble; that's just because he's lazy. think in a humble way, speak in a humble way, but also act in a humble way. Now, some people are just self-conscious and don't have any confidence in themselves, so they mistake that lack of confidence for humility. Yes, the guy, when asked what he wants to do in the future, is like, "Ah, what could I possibly do?" That's not because he's humble; that's just because he's lazy.

30:25People are constantly looking for an easier day, an easier life. Oh, you're going? Yeah. You want to give me a ride? Why? But you live two minutes from there. You can't walk? Yeah, you know, I can walk, but it's going to take me 10 minutes to walk. Why don't you just pick me up on the way? Hashem wants you to walk 10 minutes and lose a pound a week or something. People are constantly looking for less work. Less work. Yes, you gave me coffee? Oh, yeah, sure. He brings you coffee. I remember this when I had a company. So I had somebody give me a coffee. Tom, listen, just make sure there's two sugars, a little bit of milk. Okay. He comes. I get the coffee. There are two, three, four packages of sugar, a little thing of milk in there, and a little stirrer. Like here. There you go. You bring your boss that coffee, most likely you're first in line to get fired. Why? That's not what he asked for. If I wanted to put my own sugar... I could get the coffee. If I wanted to put my own sugar, I could get the coffee. I didn't ask you to give me sugar and some coffee and some milk. I asked for coffee with two sugars and milk. No, but come on. I'm going to go. I'm going to rip the packages and put the sugars and this. That requires work. Chas v'shalom, work. People, Rabotai, are constantly looking for a shortcut to do less work. Less. And they mistake...

31:56their laziness, thinking that that's actually humility. Simply, they're lazy. Don't look for less work. If you want to succeed in life, look to be productive. Don't even ask if something is difficult or easy; just do what you have to do. Successful people don't ask, how long is it gonna take to finish? They don't ask, was it hard or is it easy? Is it big or is it small? They ask, when do you need it done by? That's what successful people ask. Successful people don't tell you, listen, on Tuesday, I can't come in on Tuesday, Wednesday, and maybe even Thursday. Successful people don't do that. They also have to take off two or three days a week sometimes. They've got a trip, they've got a family affair, doctor appointment, something. So what do successful people do? What's the difference between someone successful and the average loser in the world? What's the difference?

33:10has to take off a day here and there, a week here and there, stuff happens. So, what does the successful person, the successful-minded person do? I don't mean success because there's a big bank account. What's the difference? The successful person does something drastically different. The average loser says, "Listen, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, boss, I can't come." That's what the average loser says. guy that's one day going to be the boss, the guy that's one day going to be a leader, the guy that's already a leader in the making, he says, "Listen, on Tuesday, Mike over here is going to fill my role. Wednesday and Thursday also. I'll be back to do my own thing on Friday." The successful-minded person finds a replacement. Why? Because he knows that just because he can't come doesn't mean that the company doesn't need the work done. need it, so what does a successful-minded person say? Wait, I care not just about myself and the fact that I need to take off, I care about this entity that's paying me a check every few weeks. I care about this organization and so on. So what am I going to do? I'm going to find a way to get a replacement for when I can't be there so it continues working.

34:27That's the difference. In my generation, there were a few people who did that. Today, those people are CEOs of major corporations. Today, sometimes even the CEOs don't do it. The reason why is because the mentality has changed. They call it delegation. Now, humility's second stage is in the form of speech. How does a person talk? How does he speak? Is he constantly talking about himself? Is he talking big? You ask the guy something and he pretends to know everything. This, rabotai, is an easy thing to fall into. Why? Because we all want people to know who we are. Everyone wants recognition. That's why every average Joe has a new YouTube channel. He has an idea. Okay, I'm going to make a YouTube channel. What are you going to do on this YouTube channel? Oh, I'm going to share my idea. How many videos does this idea need? Oh, one video. Okay, so what do you need a channel for? It's one video. Do it on somebody else's channel.

35:44No, maybe I'm going to have other videos. Do you have an idea for other videos? Is there like a general idea of stuff to do, or just this one video? Not one video. Everyone wants to start their own thing. Their own business, their own shul, their own yeshiva, their own organization. Everyone wants to be their own boss. No one wants to be a part of something else. This happens very, very often in the frum world, in the religious world, with Baalei Teshuva. What guy comes in a year ago, he was a murderer, just didn't know that it was murder to have abortions. A year ago, he was a serial killer, he just didn't know wasting seed was serial killing. A year ago, he was an idol worshiper, he just didn't know that violating Shabbat is considered idolatry. So, a year ago, he was the worst guy in the world in the eyes of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, but now all of a sudden he's got a kippah, I gotta keep up...

36:4650/50 with tzitzit, he even comes to shul, but he sees that there are a couple of guys in the shul, sees a couple of guys, uh, 50-60 guys in the shul, maybe a hundred on Shabbat, and he sees there are a couple of guys that are really, really annoying. Why? Because they don't shut up the whole time. The whole time they're talking, and he can't concentrate. So he asks the rabbi, "Rabbi..." Listen, these guys, he doesn't care who these guys are, if they built the place, if they're veterans, they have underwear older than this guy's teshuvah. He doesn't ask. He's like, all right, he sees these two guys, they're talking, it's bothering his tefillah. He's been observant for a year, and he thinks he can run the show already. "I shouldn't be talking in shul, are you guys crazy?" He tells the rabbi, "Rabbi, these people..." Can't tell him to be quiet. Now the rabbi knows this guy is the founder of the shul. The other guy is his son. The other guy is some other gevir that donates all the money. He can't just talk to them the same way as everybody else. He has to talk to them slightly differently. Why? Because there's kavod, there's ga'avah, there's this. Everybody wants their place in the world. But this Baal Teshuvah says, no, I'm Pinchas. He just read Parashat Pinchas; he wants to be Pinchas. He wants to spear them in the middle of the shul.

38:06So the rabbi says, listen, I'll figure something out. He says, two, three, four days passed, they're still talking. If he's got a few shekels in his pocket. Okay, guys, listen, I know we just finished the prayer. I'm gonna open up my own place because I want to have a place that's really holy. I want to have a kodesh kodashim. I want to have... I'm gonna have a place, like whether I'm here or we just borrowed one shul. Oh yeah, whatever. I'm gonna open up my own place. The guy just did it a year ago, but he wants to open up his own place. Why? Because he's not happy with how the shul is working. He wants recognition. Everybody wants to start their own thing. They don't want to be part of something that exists. They don't want to help contribute to something that already exists, something that's already good. They don't want to make something else better. They want to do their own thing. This, Rabotai, comes from arrogance. It has nothing to do with humility. It's the opposite. It has nothing to do with Kedusha. It's not even a mitzvah. This is the reason why we have many, many shuls and very few minyanim.

39:13Lots of buildings, but very, very few people to fill them. And the reason for that is because of how people view themselves, but needless to say, also how they view everybody else. Where the average person wants to tell you his opinion, even if you didn't ask him. I remember one time, we were in Eretz Yisrael. This is maybe five years ago. know it's Israel five years ago maybe, and my father and I were sitting outside having coffee and talking. We're talking about some different topics and so on. It's me, my father, and I think maybe one or two other family members—I don't remember who it was—but it was me and my father having an interesting conversation. All of a sudden, some guy—it's not only that he's not part of the conversation, he's not even in the place—he just walks by us. He's just some passerby in the street. He's passing by in the street, and you know, he's getting close and he hears our conversation. He just decides to jump into the conversation. "Nah, come on. What are you talking about? Who are you? Who asked you?" I'm looking at the guy and he's talking, going off. I'm looking...

40:37this guy, maybe he's like a long-lost uncle; I don't recognize him, maybe something's in my eye. Who is this guy? He's telling me and my father this and that, and I'm like—I'm looking at my father. My father's like, I said, "Who are you? Because why? No, just here. I want—uh, who asked you for your opinion? Who asked you for your opinion? Who wants to talk to you?" The average person, Rabotai, wants to be heard, wants his opinion heard, he wants to tell you his opinion even if you did not ask. Last but not least, actions. The third stage of humility is how you behave. How do you apply the things that you learn to your life? there are many people that learn, Baruch Hashem, but few actually apply what they're learning to their life. Go to the average shul on Shabbat. You're going to see people there; you have the rabbi, he's usually got a few people that come, a few regulars. Once in a while, there's a visitor, and they're learning, and the rabbi is talking.

42:05...and sometimes the people are talking also, not necessarily the same conversation as the rabbi, but everybody's there and it looks like everybody's learning. One guy is opening a book, and the other guy is opening a book, and so on and so forth. But after you've learned for half an hour, after you learn for an hour, everybody gets up and says, "Thank you very much." Nothing changed, nothing changed. was a little bit of information, a cool story one guy said, the other guy was too busy eating some pistachios. Nothing changed. The neshama of every single person in that place stayed exactly the same, possibly got worse, possibly got worse. Nothing changed. But yeah, but there were two others, the guy read a book, the guy went to a shiur for two hours. Nothing changed. Nothing. Why? How could it be? The reason, rabotai, is because in order to learn Torah, one of the prerequisites is to humble yourself first and foremost by realizing that you know nothing. Yeah, but wait a minute, I've been learning for 20 years. You know nothing. So what about the information I have learned over the last 20 years? During the shiur, make it as if you know zero. Why? Because if you are a full page, you're not going to let any new information enter.

43:29But if you're a blank page, you'll acquire as much as possible. You see the difference in people that attend shiurim, that listen to shiurim very quickly. How do they do it? Are they there, sitting, writing notes, and pretty much trying to be the blank paper? They're not thinking about this Gemara that they read yesterday, or the fact that they finished a Masechet, or two, or even half a Shas, or maybe they even finished a Shas. No, they're at the shiur. They're writing everywhere like the teacher says: A, A, B, B. Everything, they write, write, write, like machines. They write, why? They're an empty daf. They're an empty daf. You get better and better at it. You start picking and choosing certain things of how to shorten things so you can write more information. those people become the rest nothing. They'll listen to a shiur for three and a half hours sometimes. I know because they tell me, "Oh, I listened to your shiur for three and a half hours." I said, "Okay, so you did." "No, no, I still have a problem." How do you have a problem after you listened to the shiur for three and a half hours? The shiur gave you a solution. "Yeah, so what's the problem?" "Oh, I don't know."

44:53listen again: the point of the shiur is that you're supposed to go from point A, where you have a problem and you've identified it, to the end of the shiur, where there's no more problem. Why? Because you have a solution in the shiur. That's the point. So what happened? What's the missing link? How come you have a problem at the beginning and at the end you still have a problem? because you never took it into consideration that you're supposed to apply this solution to your life. Why? Because he was busy. Well, he's busy. "Phone, hold on, let me see who's texting. Let me see this, check this." He looks around, "Wow, it's a nice wall. You think maybe they should be yellow there?" he looks at what he is wearing, "That's a nice shirt. What is that? Can I... What is that? DKNY? What is that? Versace?" He looks at his shoes, "I stepped on something. What is this?" The whole time, he's fidgeting like he's got ants in his pants. the whole time he looks at it, he looks straight, and he doesn't know what he's looking at. He's in the car; he's listening for two hours. He's in the car; he's listening to shiurim, and nothing. Nothing. It goes here; it enters there. Sometimes it doesn't even enter. Two years he's listening to shiurim; nothing has changed. Why? Was he stupid? No, he's not stupid. He's probably smarter than everybody. Why? He never thought for a moment that it's not just about identifying the problem

46:20but also applying the solution once you found it to your life. That requires humility. That requires humility. And in order to learn Torah, in order to inherit Torah, in order to be gifted Torah, you have to act as if you are a blank piece of paper. If you act as if you know everything, you will never be anything. Now, What ends up happening is that you see the difference if you read the Sipurim Tzadikim or you hear the Sipurim Tzadikim, you see that there's a very big difference between the Tzadikim and the rest of the population. They act differently. I'll give you an example. Once, there was a guy who came to Rav Kanievsky, shlita. Now everyone calls Rav Kanievsky "Sar HaTorah," meaning this is the leader of Torah in our generation. One of the Gedolei HaDor, his father, the Steipler Gaon, had Ruach HaKodesh, somebody that all day, all night he learns Torah, that's all he wants, that's all he cares about, mamash, he just learns Torah. The only thing that he allows to disturb him is if there's a Jew that's in trouble that needs a blessing from him. And even that he shortens.

47:37used to say nice says what was when he first said what's says is the acronym for meaning to shorten to save a half a second from saying meaning blessing and success to shorten it he's saying B"H that's it why because he's going to save a half a second now you're thinking what is this guy's fanatic that's because you don't value half a second used to say "nice," says what was when he first said. "What's 'says'?" is the acronym for meaning to shorten, to save a half a second from saying "blessing and success." To shorten it, he's saying "B"H," that's it. Why? Because he's going to save a half a second. Now you're thinking, "What is this guy, a fanatic?" That's because you don't value half a second. What does he do with a half a second? He can read a shiur; he can read a lot of things. You can do a lot of things. That's why he finishes the Talmud Bavli, the Yerushalmi, the Zohar, the Midrashim, the Tanakh, and many, many other things that I can't even remember. Every single year, for almost 80 years now, every single year, he has a big gathering, a big thing. People come to his humble home to get up. Why? Because he just completed... Libraries. Libraries of information. Things that, your whole life, if you finished one of them, you already considered something. Every year. Clockwork. But one time, somebody came to Rav Kanievsky and asked him, "Have you heard that such and such is this?" Rav Kanievsky says, "Yeah, I think some people say something like that. I'm not sure." "Oh, no? Okay."

49:08guy left. Now, after the guy left, he thought, "Wait a minute. Didn't Rav Kanievsky himself write almost an entire book about what I just asked him?" He says, "You know what, let me check." He goes to his house, goes to his own house where he has all of Rav Kanievsky's books, and he takes the most recent book. He sees there's an entire chapter about what he just asked him. Entire chapter, not like a book. He wrote a book 40 years ago, but the recent book has an entire chapter about it, explaining his question with the answers and all the possibilities. Not if you're gonna say, "Maybe he forgot," then you didn't get the story yet. So the next day, he comes to ask one of the sons of Rav Kanievsky. He says, "I asked your father yesterday..." this question and he said, "I don't know, maybe some people talk about it. He wrote a whole book about it." So the son starts laughing. He goes, "What do you think? Rav Kanievsky takes such pride and he jumps and he says, 'Oh, you asked the question, oh yeah, I know, I know, I know.' Well, he's gonna show off his talents and he's gonna show off his knowledge. Oh, you don't realize that he wrote about it? Okay, good morning."

50:32Good morning. Wait, is it because you asked the questions? I know, I know, I know. People at the job, I know. Or better yet, what happens today sometimes? A guy is fired up; he just learned something new. Heard a good story about some tzaddik. has figured out a new chidush. He read the parasha with Rashi, and he had some chidush. For him, it's brand new. He comes to you and says, "I have a chidush for you." Oh, okay. And he starts telling you a story. Three seconds into it, you're like, "Oh yeah, I heard it, I heard it, I heard it, it's good, yeah, yeah, it's good." You think it's a mitzvah, what you just did? On one hand, you can say, "Wait a minute, I'm saving him time. He's about to tell me a story that takes five minutes, so instead of wasting his five minutes to tell me the story or tell me the chidush, in three, four, five, six, or seven seconds, I'm saving him time." I'm being kind, being kind, telling him, "No, no, I heard this already." Am I going to Gan Eden for this? Which one?

51:40raise your hands, we'll get you guys involved. How many people think that saying "I heard this before" when someone's about to give you a story or something will get you to Gan Eden because you saved them five minutes of time? Joshua, one. Who else wants to go to Gan Eden? Everybody else thinks... okay, so you think you're going to Gan Eden, and everybody else thinks... again, oh, everybody's sleeping. Which one? Michael may be giving shiurim one day. You don't go to Gan Eden for telling people that you heard it. Why? Because that shows that you are a very, very arrogant person. First and foremost, how do you know you heard it? How do you know you heard it? Why? Because you heard the first 30 seconds and it sounded the same?

52:40I could tell you a story. Fifty people here are gonna hear it. Tomorrow, every one of you remembers the story. You're gonna tell somebody the story, alvai. Guess what? Fifty different versions of the story. Why? You have your perspective of the story. He has his perspective of the story. He's gonna highlight the diamond part. He's gonna highlight the conversation part. He's gonna highlight the shoes because he really likes shoes. He's gonna highlight the fact that the guy didn't even wear a tie. Everyone's gonna highlight something. You gotta have your own little touch on the story. And when you tell the story, it's yours. Now you told him, "No, no, I heard this already." Guess what? just destroyed his momentum. He destroyed his momentum. He was excited about it. He knew something that maybe you didn't. He's going to improve your life. He's going to improve his own life by delivering the information, but you shot him down because, "Oh, I heard it already." So not only did you show arrogance by thinking that you know everything, but on top of that, you just destroyed his thunder.

53:45So much that you've actually shown that instead of humility, you have arrogance. The exact opposite of what we're supposed to have. Another thing that people do in their speech patterns to show the opposite of humility is by not only telling people, "Oh, I heard this before," but sometimes even pretending. Pretending like they know. give him something. "Hey, do you know about uh such and such?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course." "Yeah, no, there's a machloket." You don't know anything, but you know that 90% of things have a machloket, and you want to sound like you know. Why? Because how are you not going to know? Worst of all, worse of it all. Here, there are chairs over here. Worse of it all... is when a person disrespects another to such an extent that he wants to come and tell you something. She wants to come and tell you something. And to them, obviously, it's important, or else they wouldn't tell you. Whether it's a joke or something significant is irrelevant. The point is, it's important enough to tell you. It's important enough to spend a certain amount of time telling you about it. And you, in your busy life,

55:13cut them off. You don't really feel like you need to hear the whole story. You complete their sentence: "So, I was going to the sho... to the sho..." "You went to the show, right? You went to..." "No, I wasn't going to the show. Oh, okay. So I went to the shul, and the Rabbi showed up. The Rabbi showed up again. The Rabbi showed up, and he completed every sentence by the end of the sentence, b'vakashtem." least Kaf HaKela, maybe not Gehinnom yet. They won't even let you get to Gehinnom. Why? You don't even let anybody else talk. So, speech, thoughts, actions—these are all different steps of humility. Now, how does a person change... In order for a person to get to the tachlit, to the actual point, he has to understand there's a level that you have to get to and there's a level that you are at now. To say, okay, you know what? From now on, I'm going to be humble. Good luck with that. It doesn't usually work that way. Why? It takes a while. It takes some effort.

56:30takes some learning, takes some application, takes some sacrifice, takes a few abuses, takes a few making fun, takes a lot of stuff. You can't just be. So what do you do? Rule of thumb. The rule of thumb, rabotai, is you first start acting the way you're supposed to act. Meaning, you're not really humble. You're not really humble. In reality, you think of yourself like you are better than everybody else. But you know it's not good to think that you're better than everybody else. So pretend, but not pretend for the sake of making people give you a high five that you're humble, but pretend because you know that this is what you're supposed to do. So next time somebody talks to you and you know the story for sure, why? Because you were actually at the lecture; he just didn't see you. Sit there and entertain them by listening to the story as if it's the first time you've ever heard it.

57:30he’s talking. Wow, how do you remember the name? Wow, amazing! What a story, what a story! Amazing. You don’t have to put such emphasis like I do, that’s just for show. But the point is, you have to act as if it’s the first time you heard it. Why? Because, number one, it’ll encourage the person to continue. Number two, it'll help you learn how to be patient. Maybe you'll learn something that way. You have to act as if you have anavah, as if you have humility, in order to acquire humility. You can't just one day wake up, read a bunch of books about humility, and therefore you're humble. It doesn't actually work that way. Now, the Sefer HaYashar, the Sefer HaYashar, says something very interesting. Similar to how you see the Ramban over here says that you have to display genuine humility and stand meekly before every man—meekly meaning having your shame. And the Sefer HaYashar says that humility and busha, humility and shame, actually come together.

58:58These two things that the Ramban is mentioning over here, if you acquire one, you'll acquire the other. If you don't have one, you won't have the other. Now, the Mishnah in Masechet Avot, first Mishnah in chapter 4, says that someone who has shame is looked upon very favorably in Shamayim. So much so, that if you have shame at all times when you are next to other people, this is how a person can get to Heaven. On the other hand, if you do the opposite, it's not Heaven. Why? Because there are three major things that will certify that a person has lineage that connects all the way to Avraham Avinu. Am Yisrael connects to Avraham Avinu and has to have three major things. One, they have to be generous. Two, they have to have anavah, which is humility. And three, busha, shame. Now, the Satan works very, very hard to destroy your sense of shame. How?

1:00:26by causing you to think that you shouldn't have shame, by doing shameful things. Such as, for example, when they have these shows, they say, "Oh, we'll pay you $100,000 if you eat a bunch of bugs." We'll pay you $50 if you run naked in the street. We'll pay you X amount of dollars to have a hamburger contest. Eat a 30-pound hamburger in four hours. And we'll videotape it and put it on Facebook. And the Satan will help you lose your sense of shame. But at the same time, you will lose your olam ha'ba. Simply because a person that does not have shame will never have anavah, will never have humility. And the Satan wants to cause people to do very dumb things to embarrass themselves on purpose.

1:01:28in order to get to a point where they're numb to shame. So when something really does happen that is shameful, they don't feel anything wrong with it. What's an example? In the old days, the way that you knew if someone was a prostitute if they lifted their skirt and showed a piece of their leg because everybody wore clothes that covered themselves. But if she was a prostitute and she wanted something, the way she would signal to you is that she would lift a piece of her skirt to show you a piece of skin. Why does she do that? Oh, that's it. meaning that even the prostitutes had a sense of shame; they wouldn't walk around naked. It says that there's a woman called a wayward woman. A wayward woman is a woman suspected of cheating on her husband. She's a married woman, a Jewish woman

1:02:43that was warned by her husband not to go into a closed room with a man who is not her husband. She was warned and she did not follow the warning. There are two witnesses who saw her in a room with another person. They didn't see what she did, but they know they saw them come out of the room. Now there's enough evidence to question what happened inside. No one knows what happened inside, but she's considered a wayward woman. She has to go to the Beit HaMikdash. She has to go to the Beit HaMikdash. She has to drink the holy water that the Kohen Gadol prepares after a whole process of intimidation and trying to get her to admit if she committed a sin or not, and so on and so forth. She drinks this water that has Hashem's name in it. If she's guilty and she really did cheat on her husband with this strange man, she blows up and dies. But if she didn't cheat, she gets a blessing. Why? Because of all the torture that she went through, the intimidation, and so on.

1:03:43But the last step, the last step of intimidation, after they walk her back and forth in the Beit HaMikdash, questioning her over and over again, making her tired, intimidating, all types of things, not physically harming her, but it's not exactly a pleasing process. It's very, very embarrassing. At some point, the Gemara says that initially the Torah says that they actually even rip her shirt and show her chest to intimidate her and say, "Listen, admit if you cheated on your husband." And then the last step, if she still doesn't admit, because they don't want her to drink the water, because if she drinks the water and she's lying the whole time, she'll blow up and die. They don't want her to die. If she cheated but she admits, okay, you cheated, okay, there's a divorce, you go here, your husband goes here, and you're not even allowed to be with the guy that you cheated with. But we don't want to kill anybody, so at least admit. shirt and show her chest to intimidate her and say, "Listen, admit if you cheated on your husband." Then, the last step, if she still doesn't admit, because they don't want her to drink the water, because if she drinks the water and she's lying the whole time, she'll blow up and die. They don't want her to die. If she cheated but she admits, okay, you cheated. Okay, there's a divorce, you go here, your husband goes there, and you're not even allowed to be with the guy that you cheated with. But we don't want to kill anybody, so at least admit. But if she continues to lie and she drinks the water, she dies. So now the last step, the last step, Rabotai, after they ripped the shirt, after they walked her back and forth in the Beit HaMikdash, they asked her 500 questions. Everybody's watching. It's really, really embarrassing.

1:05:01The last step. What's the last step? They take off her kisui rosh. She has a mitpachat that's covering her hair, and they take it off. Then they move her hair around. Why? To show her hair is considered as if you're showing her ervah. Meaning that according to the Torah, according to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, showing hair, a woman showing hair, a married woman showing her hair is even worse than a woman showing her chest. To that extent. But the Gemara says that Rabbi Yehuda saw that the generation is becoming a bunch of degenerates, and they cut out the part with the ripping the shirt. They skipped that part and went directly to showing the hair. Point being, Rabotai, that even a woman even a woman that actually cheated on her husband, not one that didn't cheat, one that actually cheated, one that actually cheated, but didn't want to admit it, still never ever showed her hair in public. The only one that saw her hair is her husband. Needless to say, she covered her body.

1:06:15Why? Because even the woman that made a mistake and cheated on her husband, even the woman that made a lot of really, really bad decisions and became a prostitute, Hashem yerachem, even they had a certain sense of shame that we do not have anymore today. Because today, I don't need to tell you, You live here in Florida, you live here in the world, you walk in the street and you see a whole lot more than what I just described for free. Married women walking around with their hair, not hair, you don't know if it's a wig or it's not a wig, it looks the same anyway. Sometimes they don't even cover it, they go to shul thinking that she's a tzaddeket. Body parts showing as if she and the cow shop in the same store. Same outfits, black and white, black and white. What? What's the problem? People showing their body and not ever having a sense of shame at all, as if there is nothing wrong with showing our nakedness. Guys walking around with no shirts on. Why? He thinks he's a bodybuilder because he's been working out for six months.

1:07:39working out for six months and he happens to be skinny, so he looks like he has a six-pack. He doesn't realize it's not a six-pack; it's just that he's skinny and needs to eat a little bit more. The point is, oh well, he wants to walk around. Why? He went running, he went running, he went to play basketball, he wants to run around with no shirt on. He wants everybody else to see his little, uh, flat chest. He wants everybody to see the three hairs that he has on his chest. He wants everybody to see it. Why? Because he's running, he's running and he's hot, so he wants to run with no shirt on. wants to run with no shirt on. He has no shame about that. Why? Because his girlfriend is also running with no shirt on. It's funny, but it's not funny. It's true. It happens every day. You go outside, they're both with no shirt on. Well, she happens to have something that's an excuse for a shirt, but in reality, they both have no shirt on. the way we have today. Why? Because we've lost our sense of shame. We've lost our sense of shame. We forgot that we are supposed to reserve our beauty for a select person, one person. One, I said one, even though it looks like eleven, one. One person. Your beauty, whether man or woman, one person is allowed to see it. One, that's it. We forgot. We want to show everybody.

1:08:57worked out. He wants to show everybody. She works out; she wants to show her. They don't work out; they want everybody. So much so, Rabotai, that sometimes you see the most bizarre things in the world, especially among goyim, where you see women and men that you're not really sure how much they eat in a day to maintain this weight. you see them and they're very, very big. God bless them; He definitely blessed them. It looks like they ate a few people. But the point is that they don't have any shame whatsoever. So much so that they want to wear the same no-shirt outfit as the guy that's jogging with his girlfriend with no shirt. She also wants to wear underwear and walk around the street. She thinks it's cute, meaning people think that the fewer clothes you have, the more beautiful you become, which is, by the way, the opposite of the truth, just so you know. It's one of the reasons why the Torah says it's an obligation for a man and his wife to be very modest even in their time alone. Or even when they're alone, it has to be a dark room. Why? Why does it have to be a dark room? Because if it's a light room, you're going to see everything on each other's body and at some point become disgusted by each other.

1:10:22why? Because everyone has, at some point or another in their life, either their whole life or at a certain point or later, but everybody at some point has something disgusting. Everybody. You have a little dot she finds disgusting. It's a beauty mark in your eyes, it's a beauty mark. "Wow, I was born this way," but she saw it one time, and there’s like three hairs coming out of it. She's disgusted. She wants to divorce now. vice versa to let you know all of this says there's something disgusting on your body so let's keep the marriage together by keeping it in a dark room. What do you think? No. Why? Isn't it supposed to be that we are supposed to see each other? No, that's only in the movies. That's only in the filthy movies. The Torah says you want to stay married and you want to stay passionate about it. to follow the rules of the Torah. Why? Because if you see each other's nakedness on a regular basis, eventually not only will you start finding her not as attractive as you did before you met her, but even worse, you'll find her disgusting. You'll find the most beautiful woman on earth disgusting. You'll find the most beautiful man on earth disgusting. Why? You saw too much.

1:11:37But this is something that is a lost wisdom in today's generation because we've lost our sense of shame. Satan has fooled us into thinking that shame is a bad thing. Am Yisrael has to have shame in order for it to do teshuva. It has to have shame in order for it to acquire Torah. It has to have shame in order for it to do the will of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Now, Shame doesn't only apply to yourself when it comes to modesty or to business. It also applies to you as far as how you are going to serve HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Now, if you notice, the Ramban here says that you should behave and display genuine humility and have shame before man but be fearful before God.

1:12:41God always comes and be afraid of Him. How are you gonna be afraid of Him? By how you treat other people. Now once in a while, it happens. Once in a while, somebody crosses you. Once in a while, somebody says something you don't really like. Once in a while, somebody takes something from you. Once in a while, somebody does something that's not so nice. Now, what happens if that person says, "Listen, you know what I think I did to you?" Yeah, I know what you did. Yeah. I want to apologize. I want to apologize. Now, he caused you to lose your job. You lost money because of this guy. He caused you to get into a fight with your wife. He caused you to get into a fight with your husband. He caused you a lot of problems. But he says, listen, I want to apologize. Yes or no? He's a rasha. The guy's a rasha. The guy caused problems for you. You had money, you invested it, and he misappropriated it. You had a certain conversation, and he embarrassed you in public. But he says, listen, he sent you an email, "I want to get together, I want to maybe apologize." Do you accept or do you deny? No, how many of you accept, how many of you deny? Accept, one, two, three, the rest are sleeping, four, five, accept. Yeah, but you just stole a bunch of money from me, you still accept?

1:14:10Cause you to break up with your wife, accept? Shlomo, you're a tzaddik, accept or no? Now we know. Cause you to have problems. Michael, I'm not going to ask you any more questions. How come you accept? How come you accept? How come you accept? Now, if somebody came to you and said, I want to tell you something, and he starts telling you a story that you heard in a shul, and you act with arrogance and say, I heard, I heard. I heard this already. Cut him off. The Baalei HaMussar say, measure for measure, still runs the world. HaKadosh Baruch Hu runs the world measure for measure. You're going to go to HaKadosh Baruch Hu one day, you want to pray to Him.

1:15:12Hashem, I need parnassah, Hashem, I need refuah sheleimah, Hashem, I need a zivug, Hashem, I need this, Hashem, I need that. The measure for measure, Hashem says, I heard, I heard. No, no, give me something new already. I heard. I heard your prayer. You prayed the same prayer three times already. Enough. Okay, when I want to do it, I'll do it. Why? You interrupted somebody because you heard it already. Hashem says, oh, I heard it also. Meaning the way we act towards other people, how Hashem will treat us, meaning that if a person comes to you and says, "I want to say I'm sorry, I want to apologize," you don't do any accounting: does he mean it, does she mean it, do we mean it, are they really good, are they really that? What do you want HaKadosh Baruch Hu to do to you? That's the only thing that should be in your mind. What do you want HaKadosh Baruch Hu to be to you? One day, you're going to mess up. All of us mess up. There's a rule: everybody messes up at some point. Some big, some small. The difference between the tzaddikim and the resha'im is that tzaddikim make a sin once and then they do teshuva. Resha'im do it over and over and over again, never even thinking they have to do teshuva. And then one day, after they've pretty much confirmed that they're going again, they say, "Oh yeah, maybe I should do teshuva for this one little, tiny little aveira. Not the big ones."

1:16:34So, a person is going to mess up at some point. The question is, how do you want HaKadosh Baruch Hu to treat your teshuva? You're going to say, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, I'm sorry. I did this, I did that, I did all types of horrible things. Of course, You are HaKadosh Baruch Hu, You know. But I'm saying I'm sorry. Do you want HaKadosh Baruch Hu to say, since I know what you mean, And since I know, really, you're not really genuine. You're not really sorry. You enjoyed the sin. You went out with the goya. You had a good time. You're not really sorry. Okay, you know now the rabbi said 500 times, you're not allowed to be with her. So you're saying, okay, I'm sorry. But you're not really sorry. You just found out it's wrong. And you're not supposed to do it. And she ended up breaking up with you anyway. So now you're sorry all of a sudden. Now you're sorry, but you're not really sorry. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows this. Why do you think you can fool Hashem? So Hashem is going to say, listen, you're not really genuine. You're a liar, actually. You're not really sorry. It's just that she broke up with you. It's just that the relationship ended. But if she came back tomorrow and said, hey, Steve, want to give it another try? You're out of the house already. Yeah, of course, I'm waiting for your call. What took you so long? Love of my life.

1:17:57So you're not really sorry. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows this. The question is, Rabotai, do you want HaKadosh Baruch Hu to do the same math you do to other people? Because if He does, you have punished yourself with the worst punishment that exists in the world today, which is that you've removed the possibility of teshuva. The Rambam writes that there's only one punishment that overcomes and supersedes every other punishment while a person is alive, which is that HaKadosh Baruch Hu removes the ability of a person doing teshuva. He simply decides, "I don't want your teshuva." Only a select few get such a punishment, but you'd be surprised at how many those select few are. how small or seemingly small of a sin a person can do in order to become one of those people. Rabbeinu Yonah writes in Shaarei Teshuva that a person can get warning sign after warning sign to a point where they know they need to change, and if

1:19:14They do not change. They do not do teshuva. After getting several signs from HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the punishment increases. How does the punishment increase? Now, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to actually punish the person even for their thoughts, not just their actions. What does it mean, their thoughts? A person, for example, likes to go out to clubs, and he likes to go out to pubs, and he likes to go out with new girls and boys and this and that. And even though he knows it's not allowed. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu doesn't like this. And the person continues sinning and continues sinning. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu sends him different signs. And he stops for a week or two, and then he goes back again. And he stops for a week or two, and he goes back again. He just continues. And he doesn't take the message. So Rabbeinu Yonah says in the beginning of Shaarei Teshuva, the punishment becomes worse. What's the punishment? Before the final blow of removing his ability of doing Teshuva altogether, Punishment is that now, even if he doesn't go to the club but wants to, he gets punished for it as if he went. Meaning, his friend calls, "Hey Steve, you want to go out tonight?" "Yeah, let's go." "Okay, I'll show up at 10, 11, 1 o'clock. It starts 1 o'clock in the morning. I'll see you at 1 o'clock." "Okay, fine."

1:20:3012:30 at night, the rest of the world is sleeping, learning, or doing something useful and productive. This guy, at 12:30, just got up because he's going out to a club. At 12:30, he's going. "Okay, waiting for Steve. No, Steve, you coming?" "Nah man, I'm sorry, I'm just tired; I can't go." "Oh, we're not going tonight?" "No, we're not going." "All right, so fine, I'll just watch a movie, I'll just do something else." No problem. Guess what? In Shamayim, Steve got punished as if he went to the club. He didn't go to the club. he wanted to go to the club and he was supposed to go to the club, and it was just that circumstances of events that ran in the world made it so he didn't go. You're still going to get punished as if you went to the club. Why? Because you didn't get the sign. It sends you signs, and you didn't get it. But even worse than all of this, Rabotai, is when a person doesn't even feel the need to do teshuvah. Where he lives in such an illusion that he is convinced that he does not need to do teshuvah. She's convinced her life is simply perfect. There's no need to be this crazy fanatic way that this rabbi is talking about. There's no way that it's needed to keep Shabbat and kashrut and modesty and all these ancient rules and all these ancient things. What am I, Moshe Rabbeinu and Sarah Imeinu?

1:21:41Leave me alone, let me live in the world. You want to be religious? Be religious in your own way. You know, leave me alone. I can do whatever I want. They don't think they need to change. And the Rambam writes that this is the worst punishment, where HaKadosh Baruch Hu removes the thought of them needing to change. Everybody, everybody that's normal, relatively normal, knows that they do need to change to some extent. they need to improve on something. They need to fix something. If you're a normal person and not full of arrogance, you think that there are certain things that you could fix. There are certain things you could improve. You could improve your prayer. You could improve your Avodat Hashem. You could improve your observance. You could improve your learning. You could improve your knowledge. You could improve your character traits. Everybody knows you have to improve something. But HaKadosh Baruch Hu, after He gives a person many signs and that person ignores them, and instead of listening and acknowledging and doing, he continues to play with his phone as if it's morphine or some type of addiction, then guess what? HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, oh, let me see, hold on, that program that's in your mind, in your neshama, that says, do teshuva, shh, deleted. For how long? Permanently.

1:22:55but he's gonna live for another 50 years. Exactly, 50 more years of sins. That's how much HaKadosh Baruch Hu hates when a person does not take Him seriously. Now, Rabotai, a person that judges others harshly is doing the same thing to themselves. Meaning, somebody called you and said, "I want to do... some type of meeting, you and Steve Shalom, between you. You know, you guys are brothers after all. Yeah, but I haven't talked to him in three years. The guy is every curse in the world. Okay, fine, maybe you're right about all that stuff. Maybe you're right, he did do all those things. But no, come on, we're brothers after all. How many Jews are in the world, after all? How many guys know each other? How many guys went to the same school? How many guys this, how many guys that? Let's just do it. No, come on.

1:23:56And you reject it. You're now risking your own teshuva being rejected. You're risking your own teshuva being rejected. Why? Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu is treating us measure for measure. How we treat each other is how He's going to treat us. Unless you have a reason. Meaning, this person is a dangerous person. Not to classify yourself as a dangerous person. You don't need to go too far. Go to the Rambam. The Rambam writes that there are certain types of people, 24 types of people, where if they violate this specific sin, even if they come to you, and they want to do teshuva, say, "Rabbi, I want to do teshuva." The Rabbi closes the door in their face. Why? Not allowed to help them. certain people not to help them. If the guy was a missionary in a church getting Jews to Christianity, getting Jews to become atheists, getting Jews to do things against God on an active basis—not like once in a while by mistake and through a basic conversation—he actively went out of his way to missionize and get people away from Hashem. He told people, "Listen, you don't need to keep Shabbat. You could go to the beach with me. You could do this. You could do that." He actively liked doing it. He did it.

1:25:20whether he made money on it, that is irrelevant. But he did it. That person, one day, comes in on his all fours with his tail between his legs and says, "I'm sorry. I want to do teshuva." Now, to help him—and there's even a debate between the Chachamim—but you are not allowed to help him. The debate is, okay, what if he ends up doing teshuva? Then can you accept him after he did? Okay, you didn't help him. You didn't help him. But he was really genuine. This guy actually wasn't a con man. He wasn't really trying to get back in just to take more out. He really was genuine. He really did say, "I'm sorry." He really did want to do teshuva. He started keeping mitzvot. He started observing. He started working on himself. He said, "I'm sorry." He cried a few nights over it. What about then? There's a debate between the Chachamim. Even then, whether you accept him. The conclusion is that you do. After he shows that he actually genuinely has done teshuva, you do accept him. But the fact that there's a debate over it shows us how harsh the issue is. But very few people fall into that category. It's not a massive amount of people. It has to be really truly evil people. People that really are doing things to bring people actively against God.

1:26:43The average person is simply ignorant, stupid, and arrogant. An average person that tells you, "Don't keep Shabbat, let's just go to the beach instead." He's not doing it because he hates God. He's doing it because he's an idiot. He's doing it because he doesn't know what it means to violate Shabbat. He's doing it because he simply likes his desires much more than he likes God right now. On his deathbed, he's gonna like God much more than he likes his desires. But for now, he likes going to the beach. He likes having some cocaine. He likes having some new girlfriends every week. He likes having all of his desires. One day he's not gonna like it. But for now, he does. He's hungry for the sin. If such a person that's a sinner comes to you and says, "I wanna say I'm sorry," you have to do yourself a favor and allow him to say, "I'm sorry." Why? Why do you have to do yourself a favor? Because first and foremost, you're going to eliminate the possibility of HaKadosh Baruch Hu treating you the same way. Meaning, you're going to eliminate the possibility of HaKadosh Baruch Hu closing the door on you. Because you closed the door on other people. But even more so,

1:27:53you're going to actually practice an element of anavah, an element of humility that's similar to the tzaddikim. Even though you're really not a tzaddik, and even though in reality you're not really humble, but you're going to practice like you are. How so? You're going to put the desires of HaKadosh Baruch Hu before yours. Years ago, a few centuries ago actually, there was a tzaddik that the community pleaded with him, "Please be our rabbi of the city, we need you." He said, "Listen, I'll be the rabbi under two conditions." Already in our mind, we're thinking, "Yeah, you probably got a million dollars a year." No, no, it wasn't monetary conditions. What are the conditions? Listen, you are not allowed to bother me the whole week. I learn Torah all week, day and night. You have exactly a half hour per week to talk to me about everything you need to talk to me, and it's only on Shabbat.

1:29:17whole week, don't talk to me. I'm gonna learn Torah; don't bother me. Shabbat, after Shabbat, I'm gonna designate 30 minutes. You can tell me whatever you want to tell me—all the problems and so on. After that, I'm going back to learn Torah. No problem, Rebbe. I'm like, you could solve all the city's problems in a half hour. No problem. Condition number two: you do not make a big decision without me, Rebbe. No problem, we're not making a big decision without you. Already, most of us quit the job. Now, one day, she goes to the market. She wants to get some food, and she sees a nice fish. She wants to get the fish. On Tuesday afternoon, she wants to buy the fish. She doesn't see her husband the whole week. He's learning Torah the whole week. She sends him sandwiches. She figured she'll make him a sandwich. She wanted to buy the fish. She saw a nice fish and picked it up to pay for it. One of the rich people in the community was a very aggressive guy. His wife was just like him, also aggressive.

1:30:40And they wanted to make sure that everybody knew that when they did a mitzvah, they did it. You know the type of people that when they build a shul, their name is on every wall. There are four walls, six names. They're always there. Point is, such people exist. So when they do a mitzvah, they feel strong. So strong that if you don't give them the right amount of kavod, they want to make sure that you know. So this woman saw that the fish that the Rabbanit was getting looked good in her eyes. So she decided to take it herself and give it to the cashier, saying, "Oh, I want this fish." The Rabbanit says, "Excuse me, I'm sorry, I was buying it. I got the fish, it's my fish." The Gevir's wife says, "You shut up, you're nothing."

1:31:41I'm gonna get the fish if I want it. People listened to this, and quickly word spread to the entire city that the rich person's wife, the Gevir's wife, just embarrassed the Rabbanit in public, shamed her, tore her apart, and called her nothing in front of people. What happened? now the word came to the guys at the shul: "Hey listen, yeah, he donates this and that, but we have to do something. If we let this go, the rule is the rabbi's wife is like the rabbi. The rabbi's wife is like the rabbi, no different. You dishonored the rabbi's wife, it's like you dishonored the rabbi. No, we have to put this guy in cherem until they say 'I'm sorry'. We have to ban them, we have to do this, we have to do that." "Okay, ah, okay, hold on a second guys." can't do it, we have to wait for the rabbi. Yeah, but the rabbi, uh, we're not gonna be able to talk to him until, uh, Shabbat. It's Tuesday. James, listen, that's the rule. Okay, listen, they talked to the rabbanit. Listen, we're sorry everything happened. We're gonna have to wait for, uh...

1:32:51rabbi from Shabbat, but please do us a favor: don't forget this horrible feeling that you have right now because we need the rabbi to be strong now, and we need the rabbi to put this guy in Gan Eden. So as soon as you see the rabbi on Friday night when he comes home back from learning, you let him know. You prepare him already so by the time we see him, it's two minutes, two minutes, this guy is in Gan Eden. She says, "Okay." It's now Tuesday. Tuesday passes, Wednesday passes, Thursday passes, Friday night. Rabbi Shimshon Mizvil comes back to his house. It's not Hashem. Shabbat is coming in. We're going to do kiddush. He sits down. He sees that there is the yayin and the rabbanit that usually sits next to him is not sitting next to him. He's looking around, and he sees the rebbetzin sitting in the corner of the house like this, like some miskena, like some poor person. He says, "Rebbetzin, Rebbetzin, kiddush." "I'm not a rebbetzin. I'm a nothing. I'm not a rebbe, I'm a nothing."

1:34:05Oh, what happened? What happened? Nothing. What happened? I'm a nothing. I'm a nothing. No, no. What happened? Nothing. What happened? What's telling? She said, listen, the Gvir's wife, she embarrassed me in public. She said, I'm a nothing. I'm a nobody in front of everyone. The whole city knows. He says, and everybody knows? Yeah. He goes, the guys are running the shul. All the kehillah. Everybody knows the Gvir. Yeah. Everybody knows. Yeah. Did they do anything? He goes, they're waiting for you. He goes, this happened today? He goes, no. When did it happen? Tuesday. He goes, wait. This happened on Tuesday? Yeah. Wait, since Tuesday this happened? And since, yeah, since Tuesday, you hate this woman in your heart? And you haven't done anything about it? looks at him, dumbfounded she goes. He says to her, "We have to go to our house right now and apologize to her. You hate this woman for three days in your heart? You have to go and apologize to her." She thought she was going to get an apology from this lady. She goes, she's crying on the way there. They go to the gvir, the rich guy is

1:35:29scared to death. Why? Who is it? It's the Rabbi. He starts crying because he knows what happened with his wife. They're going to put it on him. "What did you do to us?" The wife starts crying. She brings the fish that she cooked. "Okay, I'll give her the fish back." They open the door, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Here's the fish." The Rabbi says, "No, I'm sorry. We're sorry. We're all sorry because she hates you in her heart." "No, no, it's right, it's wrong." Everybody's crying, and who's laughing? Everybody is crying, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu is laughing. Why? You had an opportunity to say, "I'm sorry." Take advantage of it. Somebody had an opportunity to do teshuva? Take advantage of it. This, Rabotai, is one of the greatest things that a person can do in their life because, even if truly they're not a humble person, Even if b'toch tocham, inside themselves, they're not really humble. When you accept another person's apology, you're simply putting things into perspective where you know, wait a minute, this person wants to do teshuva. So now if this person doesn't do teshuva, that means that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will punish him, will punish her.

1:36:50What does it mean, punishment? Does punishment mean, like some of these fairy tale rabbis tell you, that, oh, punishment is just that he's embarrassed a little bit, but everybody goes to heaven? Is that what it means? No, everybody already by now knows that that's not what it means. Punishment means, means, ...means the person is going to get torn apart. Could be for a year, could be for a million years, could be for eternity. A million is not even 1% of eternity. The point being, punishment is serious. Now, if this person is going to get punished over and over again, why? Because you didn't want to accept their apology. Guess what? In Shamayim, they're going to show you that. Say, Steve, you remember Yaakov? Yeah, yeah, Yaakov. Let me show you Yaakov. Yaakov, see Yaakov. Yaakov was going to come say, "I'm sorry" to you. Yeah, but he did something really... no, we know, we know already. We know he did something terrible to you. He stole from you, he beat you, he did all types of stuff to you. But one day Yaakov called another guy. He called Shalom to tell Shalom to tell you maybe he's going to be between you. But you said to Shalom, "Tell this guy to go fly a kite. I don't want to hear his sorry. He could, you know, take that sorry and..."

1:38:04Guess what? Yaakov took that really personally because he really, really actually meant to say, "I'm sorry." He actually meant it. But after he saw you, religious Steve, say no, Yaakov went off completely and became everything... And guess what? Let us show you Steve now. Let us show you Yaakov now. Steve thinks he's going to Gan Eden. He's in Beit Din right now. He's going to Gan Eden. They show him Yaakov swimming and boiling in feces in Gehenom. Because that's what happens to the Mechalelei Shabbat. You think Steve is happy about this now? think that Steve cares about the problem and the differences that they had? No. Why? Because right now, Steve doesn't even want to go to Gan Eden. Why? Because he knows he's responsible for Yaakov being over there. Why? Because had he said, "You know what, let him come over..."

1:39:05since they already showed them in Shamayim that Yaakov actually meant to say "I'm sorry," and then they showed him what would have happened if Yaakov would have said "I'm sorry." He would have actually done teshuvah; he would have started coming to the shul, eventually maybe even become a rabbi, maybe become this, do this, do that, family, kids, all the wonderful mitzvot. But now, instead of Gan Eden, he has this. Hashem, and you have to watch it. Why? Because you didn't want to let him say "I'm sorry." You didn't want to let him do teshuvah. And that, no matter how much we hate somebody, is something none of us ever want to encounter. So that doesn't necessarily mean that you are a fool, or be a fool, or let people fool you. But always remember, we are simply vessels for HaKadosh Baruch Hu to do His will. Hashem is going to do whatever He wants anyway. You just have to decide whether he's going to use you as one of the tools or not. That's really pretty much our decision. Am I going to be the vessel or am I not going to be the vessel? Now, when you think about it, you say, wait a minute. Look at HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Every day, people curse Him. People insult Him. People go against Him. And He knows they're going to do it.

1:40:32He gives them money knowing that they're going to take that money and do bad things with it. But He still gives them the money. He gives them a car, and He knows they're not going to go to the shiur Torah. They're going to go to the club instead. But He still gives them the car. He gives them the house, and they know that this house is going to have idolatry in it. It's not going to have kedusha in it. It's going to have televisions in it. It's going to have crosses in it. It's going to have all types of garbage in this house. It's not going to have even one sefer Torah. But He gives him the house. And after seeing this person even curse Hashem on a regular basis, and only say B'ezrat Hashem when he wants Hashem to help him steal. B'ezrat Hashem I succeed. Well, what do you do to succeed? Oh, B'ezrat Hashem, this Ponzi scheme works out. B'ezrat Hashem, the customer doesn't notice. What do you mean, he doesn't notice what? B'ezrat Hashem, the customer doesn't notice the $18,000 commission on this trade. B'ezrat Hashem, he doesn't notice. He wants to make Hashem a partner in the crime. B'ezrat Hashem, Hashem helps me commit this crime. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu helps him. Now, one day, that person gets the message. That person gets the sign. That person says, I got to do teshuva.

1:41:54i'm sorry. Now he can make up for everything that he did for 50 years in two minutes, even if he says, "I'm sorry." In reality, between us, the sorry is like toilet paper. It's like used toilet paper, worth nothing. Why? That sorry, big deal. Sorry, what are you gonna do with the sorry? Five minutes later, you're not really sorry. Five minutes later, you've missed the sin. In reality, the sorry takes a while to go into effect. The sorry takes a while to go into effect, but he's genuine about doing something about it. And at that moment that he decides, I want to do something about it, no matter what he did. He violated Shabbat, he went with the Goyah, he violated every sin under the book. But now, he says, Hashem, I want to change. He decides, I want to change. HaKadosh Baruch Hu, at that moment, opens His arms, I miss you. I love you. Where have you been? Let's talk. How are you? Gives him a kiss. Why? That's Hashem. That's Hashem. What about all the bad things that he did? Okay, he did the bad things, so he'll have to pay for it. But I'm not going to reject him. Why? He said, I'm sorry. He said, I'm sorry. And that's why, Rabotai, if somebody comes to you and says, I'm sorry...

1:43:20I'm sorry for playing with my phone during this shiur. I'm sorry for talking about things that are not relevant to the shiur during the shiur. I'm sorry for not paying attention for an hour straight. I'm sorry for showing up late but pretending I was on time. I'm sorry for causing a mess. I'm sorry for not really caring. I'm sorry for being ungrateful. I'm sorry for all those wonderful things. You say, I'm sorry. I love you. Why? You want to be like Hashem. Even though you're not Hashem. And you'll never be like Hashem. And in reality, you don't even feel that way. In reality, what do you want to do when somebody does something wrong to you? He says, I'm sorry. You say, you better be sorry. You better be sorry. You should be sorry again. You know what? Come back next week. Maybe I'll forgive you. In reality, if somebody wrongs you, what do you want to do? You want to light them on fire because that's the animal in us. The animal in us wants to take revenge. Sorry? I'll show you sorry. I'll make you remember sorry. I'll tattoo sorry on your forehead. Every time you say, "I'm sorry," you're going to remember me. Oh, wow, what do you want to do when somebody wrongs you? That's the true us.

1:44:23But do you want HaKadosh Baruch Hu to say that to you? And that's the difference. Even though we will never be even 1% of 1% of 1% of 1% as merciful as HaKadosh Baruch Hu or any of His tzaddikim, we have to emulate them even if it means we have to pretend. Because by doing it, we're showing we want it. And if we want it, HaKadosh Baruch Hu will gift it to us. This, Rabotai Yekarim, in my opinion, is by far the most difficult thing to do, because it's not necessarily something that is logical. It's not necessarily something that's rational; it's actually quite the opposite. But that's what makes it so special. It's a person breaking their own natural character traits in order to do the will of Hashem. Your natural character traits want you to act like an animal. Your natural character traits want you to take revenge. Your natural character traits want you to do everything that everybody else would do in your position. But you know that that's not what you want HaKadosh Baruch Hu to do to you. And you also know that that's not what HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself does to everybody else when they say, "I'm sorry." So if we want Hashem to treat us a certain way, we have to force ourselves to break our own nature and

1:45:46start forgiving people and give them a chance. It doesn't mean that you welcome them into your house and have them watch your infant child. It means that you accept the apology and see what happens after that. You let it go; you start seeing how things work out. See 24 hours later: are they still genuine, or did they say "I'm sorry" because they want an opportunity to have me alone so they could stab me again? But in reality The tzaddikim wanted to go a step further to fulfill this mitzvah. We'll finish off with this story. The Torah says, not only don't take revenge, but don't hate your brothers even in your heart. But if somebody did you wrong, quite frankly, the only joy you get out of it is hating them. It's enjoyable to hate somebody that did you wrong. But you're not allowed to do it unless there's a reason, unless they qualify certain things. So, one time, there were a couple of guys on a train almost 200 years ago. A couple of guys. And they were going to Kotzk. And they saw an older man sitting there.

1:47:13They wanted to have fun because the ride was long. They wanted to have a good time. So, they started messing with the old man. You know, you mess with the old man, you're young, you're 20, 22. You're still a kid. So, they started playing with his ear, just to see what happens. And, you know, the old man just went like this, as if it was like a fly, pretending like he doesn't know it's really their finger. Again, they play with the ear, and he goes like this, and they're like, ha! And they're having a good time. And they're playing with the ear. And they're having a good time. And they're having a blast. But now, it's boring to play with the ear. So, they play with the beard a little bit, just to see what happens. Then, one of them got really brave. He burned one of the hairs on his beard. He takes a match, lights it, and burns one of the hairs on the beard. And the old man...

1:48:14Pretends like nothing happened. Like, go like this, you know. And they're having a blast. Ooh, they had such a good time. It was like going on vacation. It's like, you don't even need to go to Kots for everything else. This was enough, the trip. Anyway, they get to the stop. They see at the stop, there are thousands and thousands of people at the stop. It's not normal. These people can't fit on the train. So they get off the train. And they look, everybody's looking in the train. Where is he, where is he? They ask, who are you waiting for? The Gadol HaDor, the Gadol HaDor. The Gadol HaDor was in the train? He goes, yeah, who? Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. He's on the train, we're all waiting for him. Rabbi Yisrael Salanter is here in the train? Yeah. They're waiting also. What do they see? What do they see? They see their best friend they've been messing with for the last few hours on the train, burning his beard.

1:49:14The old man with the burnt beard. The old man who was playing with his ear. Comes out of the train. Everybody is happy. And these two guys are crying hysterically. They want the ground to swallow them. Like Korach. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? We were doing this. We were doing that. The guy comes to Kvodo Rav. Please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. What happened? No. I'm sorry. Please. Kvodo Rav. Kvodo Rav. from the smallest in the generation. You're allowed to burn my beard because, no, I know I'm a fool, I'm an idiot. No, I know, I'm sorry Kvodo Rav. I was having, you know. He goes, okay, but why are you here? Why are you in Kotzk? Why did you come to Kotzk? He tells him, he says, I'm trying to get a te'udah, I'm trying to get a certificate from the Rabbi of Kotzk to be a be a shohet. He says, "Okay, come with me to the hotel and I'll test you." Rabbi Yisrael said, "I'll come, I'll test you. The Rav wants to give you a private test." So they go to the hotel. Rabbi Yisrael pays for his hotel, not for his own hotel but for the guy's hotel. He pays for his hotel, and he sits down with him and says, "Okay, nu, tell me what you know."

1:50:40Within two minutes, he realizes this guy doesn't know this, doesn't know that, not right, not left, doesn't know what kashrut is, nothing. He doesn't know what certificate he's going to get; he's going to get a slap to the face. The only thing valuable that he has is the match that he wasted on burning Rabbi Simcha Salant's beard. That's all he has. But instead of kicking him out, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter does something that none of us would do. He says, "Okay, let me learn with you a little bit, and we'll sharpen up this knowledge that you have." And he starts sitting down with him and going over and over again all of the halachot of how to become a shochet, how to become a Jewish butcher. ...all these you have to know—where to cut, how to make the move, all the different details. How do you check the lungs? This, that, all these different details. And he sits down with him for hours, paying for his hotel this whole time. We're not talking about one day, one hour for a little while...

1:51:57sits with him and he teaches him until he gives him a test himself. He says, "This guy is good," and writes a letter for this guy that burned his beard to the rabbi of the city. "I, Rabbi Salami Salat, have tested him. He is excellent; he could be a butcher, please." The rabbi of the city sees that he just testified that this guy doesn't even need to test him. The Gadol HaDor wrote a letter for you. Here you go, certificate. You can be a butcher for me if you want. Now, when the students heard the story, what question did they have? If you're going to ask the common question, which is, why did he forgive him? You have the answer already. We just had a whole shiur about it for the last hour and a half, two hours. You want to be like Hashem? You want to be like Hashem? Hashem.

1:52:58question is really fine. You forgive him because you want to be like Hashem. You forgave him even though, really, in reality, he doesn't deserve to be forgiven. The guy tried to burn your beard, the guy played with your ear for three hours. Really, he doesn't deserve to be forgiven; he should get a slap. But you forgave him because you want to be like Hashem. Okay, that's why you're a tzaddik. But why did you teach him and pay for him? the hotel and for what? What's that for? Why did you write a letter for him to become a butcher? Anybody have an answer? His righteousness, not like owns him. He got that opening through his own guilt, and he brought so much light and kedusha down into that because he can't even stand in opposition to that. Not yet, not yet, almost. The truth is... It did affect them. Even though Rabbi Yisrael Salanter is Kodesh Kodeshim, of course it's going to affect every human being when somebody wants to burn your beard. Of course it's going to affect every human being when somebody messes with you and plays with your ear and makes fun of you. Of course it's going to mess with you. Of course it's going to mess with you. So in reality, you hate them. But Torah says you're not allowed to hate them.

1:54:24So, how do I stop myself from hating him? Why do parents love their children? If you don't have a kid, you don't know yet. You're going to find out. But I'll tell you, the reason why parents love their kids is because they put every single bit of energy, resource, and thought into those kids. Every investment of resources goes into those kids. The more you invest into your kids, the more you love them. although he wants to be like he's still a human being, flesh and blood, so it does bother him. So, how do I get to a point where I don't hate him? By investing into him, because the more I invest into him, the more I love him. And if I love him, I definitely don't hate him. So, therefore, I don't have to forgive him. Why? Because I love him.

1:55:28That is why Rabbi Yisrael Salanter became Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. That's how the Tzaddikim became this way. It's not just because you learned a certain amount of Gemara. It's not just because you had a kollel with a certain amount of students. It's not because you were really good at a certain mitzvah. It's not even because you showed up on time to a shiur. It's because they worked and toiled over the Torah to the extent of applying every single ounce of it into their veins, into their lives, in order to perfect their character by transforming their natural inclinations. They perfected their character by refining their innate traits. And this is something that we all have to do as well. Why? Because that's the tachlit. That's the point of life. It's not just to do mitzvot. You can do mitzvot and still go to Gehinnom. It's not just to wear modest clothes. You can still wear modest clothes, but be immodest. It's not just to give tzedakah, because if you give tzedakah with stolen money, it's not even a mitzvah. It's about perfecting your character by doing something completely unnatural to you.

1:56:52Initially, you're faking it. Why? Because you don't feel it. Initially, you like to hate him. Why? Because he deserves to be hated. She deserves to be hated. Why? She did something wrong. But you know that HaKadosh Baruch Hu doesn't want you to have that feeling. So what do you do? If they say "I'm sorry" or they want to say "I'm sorry," you welcome them with open arms and you really want to hug them, not punch them. You allow them to say "I'm sorry." And you invest in the relationship. You invest to make it good. You force yourself to love this person. Again, assuming this person is genuine. And the only way you're going to find out if this person is genuine is if you allow them a chance. This, Rabotai Hakareem, is the most difficult thing in my eyes because it requires all of us to become superhuman. but to testify that this is what HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants every one of us to do. It doesn't matter whether you're Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Litvak, or Hasidic; it doesn't make a difference. This is in your prayers three times a day. Everything I just said took me two hours. Chachamim, three words. One day, b'ezrat Hashem, I will be a Chacham; for now, not so much. What Chachamim said at the end of Amidah. At the end of Amidah,

1:58:12Chachamim added that you want Hashem, you're pleading to Hashem: "Please, Hashem, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceitfully. To those who curse me, let my soul be silent." Meaning, when people abuse you, let me be silent. Not go and take revenge. Why? Because revenge is Yours, Hashem. "And let my soul be like dust to all." Meaning, in order for me to do the will of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, I have to elevate myself to the point where I feel like I'm dust. Elevate myself by nullifying my ego. This is the goal. This is the purpose of life. If we achieve this, we achieve everything. If we fail, we fail at the main foundation of why we're even here. Any questions?

1:59:16Well, in order for us to feel shame, we first have to become less numb to it. Right now, most people are numb to the feeling of shame. We don't really understand the value of shame; we view it as a bad thing. And shame is actually a good thing. But again, it has to be kosher shame, not non-kosher shame. Shame that comes because you understand your own insignificance in comparison to his significance, as well as in comparison to all of the things that other people have that you don't. not from jealousy, but rather, for example, instead of healing. And the Rambam will elaborate on this later on in the letter, where he says if you see that the guy is wise, or if the guy is foolish, assume that he is more righteous than you. If you assume this, look at the good things in them. So, when you start looking at

2:00:27people that way, and again, you know, it's, we're talking about decent people, but they have certain flaws, but you see the light in them, then that's going to help you. That's a good kind of shame. But if you put yourself and you embarrass yourself by putting yourself in ridiculous conditions and ridiculous circumstances, then no, that's not kosher shame. That's actually the Satan causing you to become numb by feeling so much shame that you're no longer ashamed. So, it all depends on how they behave.

2:01:29Before you know a person, you don't judge them. Meaning, before you know how this person behaves under certain conditions, you just pretty much see an image of this person. A person walks around half-naked. The person is gambling. The person is in a club or something. You don't need to judge them. Why? Because they're doing something based on certain desires and lack of knowledge and ignorance. But once you see this person, and you see them under the circumstance where the truth was presented to them, and then you see them behave a certain way, if they're respectful but still rejected, they're respectful but they're not ready to change. Why? Because he likes the clubs more than he likes your Torah book. He likes the story, thank you very much. Maybe come back next week with the story, with another story, but I'm still going to clubs this week. Why? Because he likes the clubs. He doesn't understand why you think, because he still thinks it's you, it's not G-d. Why do you think clubs are bad? and then you see them behave a certain way. If they're respectful but still reject, they're respectful but they're not ready to change. Why? Because he likes the clubs more than he likes your Torah book. He likes the story, thank you very much. Maybe come back next week with another story, but he's still going to clubs this week. Why? Because he likes the clubs. He doesn't understand why you think clubs are bad because he still thinks it's you, not Hashem. So if he's respectful, but he's not ready to do Teshuva, that just makes him ignorant, and you continue working on this person. Try to get him as close as possible to HaKadosh Baruch Hu by giving him more and more truth each and every single time. Each time you're going to chip off some of the klipah from the sins that he's making continuously, but little by little you pray for this person to eventually wake up before Hashem has to wake him up in a very different way.

2:02:55But if you see this person is completely rejecting it, meaning it's not just that he is numb to it, because some people are just numb to it. They just sit there in front of you for two and a half hours, and it's as if you didn't say a single word. Some people are like that. Some people, you talk to them. Two hours? Honey, are you listening? Oh, what, you said something? Yeah, for two and a half hours I'm talking to you. Oh, really? Oh, wow, time goes fast. I was just thinking about work. Okay, I want a divorce. What divorce? We're married? Yeah, we're married three years already. Oh, okay, fine. Like, the guy's clueless. That guy, that's a different case. You talk to a guy, talk to a woman, And they reject it. Meaning, they fight it. They start insulting it. They start disrespecting it. Ah, you and your Moshe Rabbeinu. Ah, you and your God. Ah, this, ah, that. They go this way? No. That all depends. If they do it one time because there are other people, it's a certain environment, maybe you did it the wrong way, maybe you embarrassed them, this and that, you can't just automatically say, okay, this guy is a rasha.

2:04:02You can't say, oh, this guy is a messiah, this guy, no. Yeah, maybe it's a certain circumstance. But if you've given this person several times, several tries, and they continuously not only rejected, but they insulted and disrespected HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that person, you cannot judge them in a favorable way. That person is a rasha. That person is a rasha, and whatever HaKadosh Baruch Hu will do to them, it's, they're bringing on themselves. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu writes in the Torah, "There is no peace for the wicked," HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to them. Why? Because He's giving them chances. So now we also have to understand that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives every single person a chance. Not just one, not just two, not just five, not just ten. We're continuously getting chances throughout our entire life. Nobody dies. leaves this world without seeing the truth multiple times and choosing not to follow it. Everybody sees the truth. The guy got a miracle, and he knows that there's a Creator, but five minutes later, he forgot about the miracle. Why? Because he's busy and back to his other stuff. He doesn't really want to follow through. What does this miracle really represent? An hour and a half later, money shows up at his back. He doesn't have an answer, but it's exactly what he needed. Another miracle.

2:05:20He knows it's a miracle, but he doesn't want to follow through. What does this miracle mean? The Rabbi shows up and gives him a nice story. He's really interested, but he doesn't follow through. He knows that if he's interested and he goes to the shiur, it's probably going to mean more. Maybe it's going to mean they're going to ask him for money. Maybe it's going to mean that they're going to ask him to become religious. He doesn't want to follow through, and he goes through his life encountering the truth time after time, literally an endless amount of times. when he goes to shamayim or she goes to shamayim, they're not dumbfounded. They're not surprised at all because they're going to show them in shamayim the millions of times that Hashem literally catered the entire world just to show them the truth on a silver platter. Here you go, ma'am. Here you go, this is the truth. Oh, you don't want it? Okay, we'll come back tomorrow. Here you go, ma'am, again. Oh, you don't want it? We'll come back, okay. And they come back next week, and next week, and three years later, and five years later, and ten years later. And all of a sudden, she has cancer, and all of a sudden, it's cured. Wow, huh? There's a guy. Okay, and then she forgets. She goes back in a mini skirt again. Yeah, but there's a guy a week ago. Yeah, I mean, God. God, thank you, God. But I'm finished now. I'm going back to my life. Thank you, no thank you.

2:06:36And a person goes up to Shamayim and they're shown all of the opportunities they were given. They're shown all of the gifts that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave them, and how they used those gifts against Hashem. And then the neshama itself, the person himself, the person herself, feels such a sense of shame. for failing God so miserably that they themselves ask God to put them in Gehenom. That's what it means when the Chachamim say there's a sense of shame that's really, really bad. Yes, that's the bad. The bad is that the person sees how many opportunities they were given, how many gifts they were given, and how ungrateful they really are, and how they literally have nothing to complain about. No matter how everything happens, it doesn't make a difference. They see that everything that Hashem did was for their interest, for their best. They were given a million and a half opportunities. Even when they got sick, even when they lost money, even when they got heartbroken, even with all these different things that happened, they see the full picture and they feel so terrible that they want the punishment because they know they deserve it. So, this is the worst sense of shame that could possibly exist.

2:07:55Unfortunately, it doesn't lead to any good. It's too late. It's too late to have that shame, so we want to have that shame here while we're still here, while we have a chance. By seeing all the good that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives us, we can finally say, "Okay, you know what? I can't give you even one percent of what you give me, but let me at least do what You said. Forget about what Steve wants and what Joe wants and what all the guys want and what all the girls want." Hashem said, "I'm going to at least do the best that I can with what You said. I can't give You everything You're giving me back. There's nothing that you can give Hashem. Hashem is perfect. But at least I'm going to do what He says." And that requires us to break and destroy our own natural inclinations, our own natural desires. And it's hard, but it's not impossible. And again, this is the tachlis. This is the bottom line of everything. This is why HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us so many mitzvot, in order to use each one of those mitzvot to connect in another way, in order to perfect another body part, in order to get closer and closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And if you do it, then you realize that each and every single one of these mitzvot, each one of those actions, ends up benefiting you a lot more than you can possibly imagine.

2:09:18And eventually, you get to a point where it's just you living in heaven while in this world. The problem with people is that they think that fulfilling their desires is better than the heaven that Hashem can offer them. That's a result of the illusion that they live in, where they pretty much think that they could put Hashem in some bank account, in some imaginary account. You know, do a few mitzvot whenever they get a chance, keep Shabbat once a week, put on tefillin maybe, where, you know, out of 18 outfits, have one modest outfit that you wear for parties, have this, have that. You know, you have a few different things you pick and choose, but when the guy says you want to come to the pool, you... When a guy says you want to go to a mixed party, you go. When a guy says you want to go to a casino, you go. Why? Because I'm doing enough good. In their mind, they're thinking, look how much good I'm doing. I'm doing so much good. So what? I made one sin. And they live this imaginary life. And what ends up happening is that this person ends up losing everything because of this imaginary life. The only way that a person can do

2:10:26What HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants him to do is simply by deciding, I am going to do what He wants to do. Meaning, that's it. No more, no less. It's not about what I want anymore, it's I'm going to ask myself, before I do anything, what does Hashem want me to do here? Meaning, the guys asked me to go to this place. Would Hashem be happy with me going to this place? Well, let's see. The place is full of immodest girls, non-kosher food, and I think the owner is a thief. Most likely, Hashem doesn't want me to go there. Okay, option two. Does Hashem want me to work for this company? Well, this company sells fake products, and on top of it, they're being sued by the SEC because of insider trading. Well, they're probably not that honest. Okay, so you know what? Hashem probably doesn't want me to work for them. And you start doing the accounting based on, before you make a decision, it's not about where am I going to make the most amount of money? where is the most convenient to my house, what's the, you know, who's the best-looking girl, you're not asking those questions anymore. You ask a different question: What would Hashem want me to do here? If I was a prophet and Hashem talked to me and I talked to Him back, what would the conversation be? Go do it or no, don't do it. And that's a person that decides this in one second; to do it is a lifetime...

2:11:43...follow; it is a lifetime of work, but a decision to do it is made in one second. Meaning, to simply switch, to flip and say, "From now on, I'm going to ask myself, 'What does Hashem want from me here?' every time." And this is what teshuva is. If a person does it, he can become the most righteous person that they know. He can become his own tzaddik or her own tzaddeket... If not, they will simply live an illusion, and they'll be very, very disappointed, to say the least, when their life is over, and they realize that all of the desires that they fulfilled, not only did they not fulfill them, meaning they weren't fulfilled by these, they weren't happy with the results of these, but on top of it, they're going to get punished for them. They went to the beach, even though they're not allowed to. but they didn't even enjoy the beach. Why? They had a flat tire on the way, there was wind, there were some dogs, people made noise, they didn't even enjoy the sin.

2:12:49know it's not they're not even thinking about making that look bad. The actual sin itself wasn't much fun. They went to the club, but it was like bad music; the guy didn't come, the girl didn't come. The whole thing wasn't even good. It wasn't even fun. And that's what we say in Viduy every day: that not only did we sin, but we didn't even benefit out of it. Meaning, we lost from both sides. We lost because we didn't benefit, we didn't enjoy it, and on top of it, we're going to get punished for it. And that's the worst part. That's the worst part. The person living in illusion their whole life, thinking that fulfilling their own desires will be better than fulfilling the will of Hashem, only to realize that they lost on both ends. So it's a big decision. It's not necessarily an easy decision, but it takes one second. takes one second, just like somebody decides, "I'm not gonna smoke anymore." Why? Because it's poison. Not because I don't like it. I like smoking, but I'm not gonna smoke anymore. Why? It's poison. That's it. It's as simple as that. It's just hard not to because you're addicted, and you have physical addictions. You like it, and so on and so forth. But once you pretty much get to the conclusion, "This is poison,"

2:14:07It's no longer the same battle. Why? Because it's poison. I'm not going to kill myself. And that's it. And it's the same thing with teshuvah. Same thing with anything else in life. You have to arrive at a conclusion. And that requires a lot, a lot of work. And it starts off with certain things that you're not naturally inclined to do, one of them being humility. Anything else? Yes. No, no, you don't get punished for thoughts unless that's the punishment itself, and that's only an exception to the case. But this is a little bit of Kabbalistic teaching, so I'm not going to go too deep into it. But there are two powers in the world. There's one HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Don't mistake what I'm saying. There's one HaKadosh Baruch Hu, but HaKadosh Baruch Hu runs the world with a certain set of rules He gave for Himself. There are two powers, if you will. There's Koach HaKedushah and there's Koach HaTumah. There's purity and there's impurity.

2:15:29When you do something good, something holy, you increase the Kedushah, not just in yourself, but in the world itself. When you do something not good, when you commit a sin, you not only make yourself impure, but you give more strength to the side of Tumah, which gives more strength to it to cause you to sin even more and cause other people to sin even more. So, when a person delves into things that are impure, those things don't just go away just because you stopped reading them. For example, if you read the New Testament, even if you're reading it for educational reasons in order to debate the Christians, you want to debate the Christians. You're doing it l'shem shamayim. You're doing it for Hashem. If you're going to read the New Testament, you know for sure that even before you start, just from hearing the lecture about it, you will have thoughts of kefirah in your head for a very, very long time. This means you will believe that maybe this is right, maybe this is true, even though you have all the proofs in the world that it's not true. But you will have those thoughts at the worst possible times.

2:16:52Why? Because this is one of the biggest sources of Tumah that exists in the world. It's the Tumah of Esav. And you are, in essence, bringing it into yourself. The only way that you can eliminate this Tumah is by having a fair balance of Kedusha, Torah, and weight. Outweigh it, meaning you have to have a lot of Kedusha, a lot of Torah, in order to be able to handle all of this Tumah. So, this is kabbalistic; it's above our pay grade. But the point is that this is the reason why a lot of guys, for example, like to watch debates between Christians and Jews. They'll watch debates for 20 years but still not keep Shabbat and... 20 years they keep watching debates, they know the proofs of both sides, but they still waste seed, they still violate the Torah, they still commit the worst crimes in the world, they still haven't changed a single midah. Nothing changed. Why? Because, yeah, they know it's true, but they're bringing so much tumah into their life that they don't realize that they're destroying themselves. This is the reason why sometimes you're going to see certain people start losing their mind.

2:18:05All of a sudden, the guy used to be a rabbi, now he's like a... we're not really sure what he is anymore. Does he believe in God anymore? Does he not believe in God? Like, what happened to this guy? He used to have peyos, now he looks like a gangster. What's going on? This is what's going on. You brought too much tumah into your life and you didn't have enough Torah to fight it. In essence, you've become tameh. Yes. That reminds me of a story... The Baal Shem Tov is someone that you cannot compare to any human being in the world, including the current Gadol HaDor.

2:19:06The Gemara says we cannot compare current Chachamim to previous Chachamim because they're different generations, different levels, different types of Neshamot, and so on and so forth. The Baal Shem Tov and some of the, especially the Sipurim, the stories of the Gedolim in Chassidut, are very, very mystical, very out of the ordinary, very "wow" extraordinary. That person should learn these things for the sake of understanding the significance of our sages. There's no other nation that has such sages, such giants, such holy people that could do the things that they do. But never ever think for a moment that you can do the same thing. So when they asked the Baal Shem Tov You know, his students asked him about Ge'enom. The Baal Shem Tov told them the details of Ge'enom. Ge'enom is not good. Ge'enom is fire. We had, in the book that Rabbi Avraham Chaim Feuer put together, in the lecture that we did once about Chassidut and Ge'enom, based on the Chassidut of the Baal Shem Tov, we went over 1,400 sources.

2:20:26The Chassidim of the Baal Shem Tov discussed Gehenom, including the Baal Shem Tov himself, so they were very, very well aware of Gehenom and what goes on over there and so on and so forth. But still, despite this, the Baal Shem Tov says, "If when I go up, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, 'Go to Gehenom,' I'm jumping in there." What's the pshat? Why would the Baal Shem Tov say, "I'm jumping into Gehenom"? We also say, "I want to jump in the game." No, no. But the Baal Shem Tov can say he's going to jump in the game. Why? Don't think for a second, "No, he's going to save people." You're not saving anybody. You go to Gehenom, you have a problem. Why? Because the Baal Shem was at such a level of kedusha, of understanding, that if HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, "You're going to Gehenom," that means that's what HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants. And if that's what HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants, I'm jumping on it. I'm excited. Yeah, but you're going to suffer. suffering. Doing the will of Hashem, that's not suffering; it's the best thing in the world. We get a headache, and we don't want to learn anymore. Our foot hurts, and all of a sudden, we're out of work for a week. Why? Because we don't want to suffer. So, we don't have a sense of...

2:21:39where we stand in comparison. So again, the Baal Shem Tov did certain things, and his Chasidim did certain things that took advantage of certain knowledge we don't possess because they could utilize and manipulate part of that knowledge in order to bring things into the world. For example, like the story that you're saying, understanding the power of impurity will also help you find hidden souls within the impure world. Those hidden souls could actually be the greatest souls that exist. Meaning, the greatest souls that ever existed, David HaMelech, Yitro, Rabbi Akiva, Ruth, all of these were old hostages of the Satan himself. All of those souls were captured prisoners of the Tum'a. And they had to bring special power into the world, the strength of Kedusha into the world, to take those souls out. This requires certain acts, like the story you're recounting, of dealing with the impure world.

2:22:57So those Hasidim, those tzaddikim, were able to allow themselves to enter that world because they had such a high level of kedusha. If anybody today in the world does it, most likely that person will lose their mind, if they succeed at all, or become a complete kofer, which happens very often. So it's knowing your pay grade, knowing pretty much where you stand. So those stories that the Chassidim say, they're all amazing stories, but we need to also know how to understand those stories. It's not for the purpose of repeating what they do or even thinking that we can repeat it. It's by simply appreciating the gift that HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us by being part of the same nation, the same family as this giant. That means that if I'm in the same family as him, if I continue doing good, one day I'm going to meet him. Imagine, one day you meet Moshe Rabbeinu. I mean, I don't care if a person, Moshe Rabbeinu, forget about meeting him, the fire, the kedusha of Moshe Rabbeinu will burn us. Talk about you meet him, he's like 500 miles away, but you can see him. That's how you meet Moshe Rabbeinu, you hear his voice. You hear Moshe Rabbeinu's real voice? Anybody that understands that, that's already Gan Eden.

2:24:18Imagine you hear HaKadosh Baruch Hu's voice itself and you don't die. HaKadosh Baruch Hu's voice, you don't die. That's the world. Forget Gan Eden. But the average person says, why is this even good? So again, the more kedusha a person has, the more they understand kedusha. The more they can defend themselves against tumah. The more they deal with tumah, the more they deal with impurity, the more at risk they are of becoming a complete heretic. The more difficult it is for them to acquire kedusha because this tumah also has strength. There are two powers, if you will. and that's part of the reason why I myself have only on select times had an entire shiur about Christianity. I've spoken about it randomly in short little bursts here and there when there was a new chiddush or a new insight here and there. But as far as having like a whole series about it and so on, I refuse to have it. People ask me to have debates. I refuse to have them. I

2:25:24it's not just a black hole; it's a place of tum'ah that will literally destroy you. Even if it doesn't, even if you don't see it on the exterior, it destroys your mind. You think kefirah at the worst possible times. You're praying to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and you think some crazy thought. I don't want to elaborate too much, but the point is, don't mess with it, don't listen to it. The ones that deal with it on a regular basis, like Rabbi Skobac or Rabbi Tovia Singer, or Rabbi Blumenstein, those people, I promise you, they learn five times more Torah than you can even imagine in order to be able to handle that stuff and not fall into the trap. It's a very, very, very, very dangerous place. And you see, you see that people who talk about it on a regular basis, eventually they lose their way. I've seen it a few times. Yes? I was wondering, do the actions of a later gilgul temper the punishment of a previous gilgul? Actions of a later gilgul temper the punishment of a previous gilgul. It's something a lot worse than a previous gilgul, at least.

2:26:39Oh, yeah, well, I mean, the thing is, though, is that when a person has a reincarnation, it doesn't necessarily reincarnate everything from the previous generation. Meaning, if, let's say, for example, the soul, you know, has a certain amount of mitzvot that it has to do, and let's say, for example, in the previous gilgul, it kept Shabbat. It kept Shabbat, but it didn't keep kashrut. Or whatever other sin. So the part that kept Shabbat doesn't get reincarnated. stays behind. The part that comes back is the part that violated kashrut or whatever other sin that it violated. So that's why a person comes into the world, for example, and some people have a very easy time keeping Shabbat or perhaps are even born into a family where everybody keeps Shabbat easily without having a problem. That's not because they're so much more righteous than everybody else; that's because that's not their tikkun. Their tikkun is something else. So that's the case. But can the person's current actions improve the condition of what he did in the past? Yes. Where's the raya? Where's the proof for it? We see that in Rosh Hashanah, Gemara Masechet Rosh Hashanah says that HaKadosh Baruch Hu opens the book of the living and the dead on Rosh Hashanah.

2:27:55meaning, the living we understand because the living continue to do actions. But why does He open the book of the dead? To see what are the fruits of the actions that you had. If those fruits are good, beautiful, holy fruits, that will affect that person who died already 500 years ago, a thousand years ago, even though part of his neshamah had a reincarnation. So, for example, a person today... let's say he's a gilgul of somebody that lived 3,000 years ago and probably came here a few times. Now he decides in this gilgul that he's going to contribute to kiruv, even though his tikkun, let's say, is, I don't know, watching his eyes, his tikkun is watching his nose, his tikkun is watching his mouth, his tikkun is learning, whatever it is. But he decides, aside from his tikkun, he wants to also contribute to kiruv. He wants to give $500 a month to kiruv. He wants to give out CDs. He wants to arrange lectures. He wants to take kiruv as a major part of his life. It's not his tikkun. But he or she decides to make this a priority in their life. And guess what? That priority will generate new baalei teshuva.

2:29:11People are gonna do teshuva, people that are already frum are gonna become even more frum, they're gonna become even more religious, more yirat shamayim, more fulfilling the actual will. That will benefit not just the current neshama, but the one that's not here anymore. Because the certain mitzvot that these new baalei teshuva, these new people that are doing as a result of his or our actions, that are not relevant to this, but they're relevant to the previous one. That's why, because who opens the book of the living and the dead, because those actions, those fruits of his current incarnation, are benefiting today, they're benefiting tomorrow, but they're also benefiting yesterday. And that's the beauty of helping people do teshuva. Before that, he was But if all these people were righteous, when the Messiah comes, and there's a resurrection of the dead, which ones are all these people going to come back to? We learn that you get incarnated into the body that was the most righteous. Right. So how does that work? The ones before Moshe Rabbeinu, meaning Hevel, Noach,

2:30:29Those incarnations, they did not achieve their completion. Hevel did not have time. He was killed too quickly. He was a perfect soul, but he was killed too quickly, so he couldn't fulfill Hashem's will. And Noach failed at rebuking, and that's why he had to come back as Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu said to Hashem, "You know, I wasn't a good speaker, not today, not yesterday." What do you mean "not today, not yesterday"? Meaning not today, not in my previous incarnation when I was Noach. I wasn't a good speaker because Noach didn't rebuke the people. So that aspect of it, as far as why there was an incarnation in the first place, that's because they didn't fulfill the will. As far as Moshe Rabbeinu being Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai or any other name that you're going to mention, that's an incorrect statement. Moshe Rabbeinu was not Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai or anybody else because Moshe Rabbeinu reached the highest level that a human being can reach. So why do people say he's connected to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and some people say the Rebbe and some people say a lot of other people? They drop names like it's a Twix bar or something, Snickers, or Mars. Why do people drop these names?

2:31:44Because the Chachamim say that every generation has a nitzotz, a spark of the neshamah of Moshe Rabbeinu. It needs to have a spark of the Mashiach in every generation. A spark of Moshe Rabbeinu, a spark of David HaMelech. It exists. So in the generation of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, it was believed that that spark, not Moshe Rabbeinu himself, not him, but a spark of his that was in that generation was to be found in Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and others and so on and so forth. It's not Moshe Rabbeinu being reincarnated. It's a spark. What is a spark? Let's say, for example, you ever had Lag BaOmer? like Israeli style, like a big bonfire. Okay, so you're at a big bonfire, right? Lots of fire, lots of fire, lots of people there. Some people in Israel remember used to put batata (you know, potatoes) on the bottom, you know, put them in a thing. It's fun, right? Okay, and the big fire, once in a while, you see there's like a tiny little spark that goes into nothing. It's like one second you see it's a little spark, and it disappears into nothing. That’s the spark.

2:32:51It's not the fire. That spark cannot start a fire even. It's a spark, and it's going into nothing. But it's part of the fire, but it's not part of the fire. That's it. That's the spark. That's what we're talking about here. The real fire, the neshama of Moshe Rabbeinu and so on, that's not coming back in the reincarnation. Same thing with Mashiach. Mashiach is going to have also the spark of the neshama of both Moshe Rabbeinu and David HaMelech. It's not the neshama of Moshe Rabbeinu and David HaMelech, it's the spark of it. So that's why it's important to know that these teachings that people teach in Kabbalah and things like that have to be very, very careful with it because it's very easy to distort them, misunderstand them, and simply become a kofer because of them. And that's why I always tell people, anyone that says he teaches or she teaches Kabbalah to the public, delete not watch, delete, run away, and don't stop running until you forget that they even exist! Why? This person is a ganav. Why? Because anyone that knows even a spark—not the real Kabbalah, just a spark of Kabbalah, like the fire I just described to you—knows that it's not something that you can, should, or could teach the masses.

2:34:12Anyone that says, "Oh, they teach Kabbalah to the public," they're thieves. Why? Because they know that's what sells—the mystical, the one that's beyond the wall that you really can't reach, but I'll get you there. What about the basics? about what? About how to be a decent human being? Learn mussar (ethics), be honest. How about that part? Oh, that's not good enough. We're going to go straight to Kabbalah. We're going to give it to the Baal Shem Tov, and one day we're going to be, uh, we're going to be, you know, he's going to work for us. Oh, okay. Those people are evil people, but they're going to look to you like tzaddikim. And that's why there's one guy, a Russian guy... He claims, I forget what his name is. His name starts with Doctor something. Doctor Lionel, Lionel, liar, whatever it is. Some doctor. Okay, and that guy. That guy, by the way, he himself said, he supposedly teaches Kabbalah. But he says he teaches Kabbalah as a science. So Larry King, the interviewer, asked him, "Do you believe in God?" He said, "No."

2:35:20national television. Yes, do you believe in God? You teach this Kabbalah, you believe in God? You said no. No, it's really not. Do you understand what I'm saying here? So this is a rasha and a person you have to run away from. And anyone that acts like him with a different shita and also wants to teach the public Kabbalah, whether it's Kabbalah Center, yimach shemam, teaching madana and all types of other zonot in the world, or it's somebody else that claims to be an Orthodox rabbi but wants to teach the masses Kabbalah, this is a guy that's a rasha. Why? Because even at best, even at best, he means well, not allowed to teach the masses Kabbalah. You could teach certain stories of the Zohar, you could teach certain things, but to give people this illusion that the average person can learn it, should learn it, and can understand it, you know, all that stuff—it's just completely, completely ridiculous. Because even if you know it, even if, let's say, for example, imagine for a second I know Kabbalah, imagine

2:36:31let's say I know it. It's not like I'm lying about it; I actually know Kabbalah, let's say. Okay, let's pretend I know something now, and I say, you know what? From now on, I'm gonna do shiurim about Kabbalah. Guess what? It'll actually hurt people more than it'll help them. Why? Number one: even if I know it, that doesn't mean that you could absorb it. Why? Because like I said, there's... If you do not have the expected level and required level of kedusha, you will not understand what's being taught. I could teach you for five hours, and nothing will enter. Nothing. Zero will enter. Why is that an evil thing to do? Because that will lead you to eventually become discouraged and dislike the Torah. Or better yet, give you an illusion that you're following the Torah even though you don't know anything. Either way, both of them are bad. Why? Because in essence, what do I do? I'm just wasting five hours of your time. You're not learning anything. You're not progressing in any way, shape, or form. In fact, it's hurting you more than it's helping you. But it makes you feel good. Why does it make you feel good? Because you went to class for five hours. So, such people are destroying the nation.

2:37:50But you'll see that if you press "Kabbalah" on the internet, you'll get a bunch of hits from all types of places and all types of rabbis. And most people are not going to listen to what I say, and they're going to continue learning Kabbalah as if they're all Kabbalists, and as if they even know what they're talking about, because they want to be mystical, and they want to wear red and purple and blue strings, and pretend like that's going to take away all the evil in their life. And, you know, they're going to go to some special kabbalist and say, "Listen, I'm having problems. I don't have any money, I'm lonely, I'm this, I'm that." "Oh, you have Ayin Hara." "Oh, Ayin Hara. Okay, so what do I do about the Ayin Hara?" You have to give me eighteen hundred dollars in cash, in hundred dollar bills, you know, with specific serial numbers. Give me that, and I will remove the Ayin Hara off you. "Oh, I don't have a job." "I don't have a job." "Okay, well you still have Ayin Hara. What do you do?" He goes and he borrows eighteen hundred dollars he doesn't have to pay back, making another sin by borrowing money that he can't return, to go give this kabbalist to remove the Ayin Hara. nine out of ten times the situation gets much worse because now not only does he owe eighteen hundred dollars more, but on top of it, he increased the tumah in his life. But this, Rabotai, is not just the fault of the kabbalist. It's our fault too. It's people's fault that go to these people. Why? Because, in essence, they want a shortcut. The Torah says, learn the basics, do the basics. It doesn't say, learn the mystical. Does the person have an obligation to learn Kabbalah after he's reached a certain point? No. So you can go your whole life, you can know the entire Torah and never...

2:39:20Perfectly fine. Perfectly fine. Perfectly fine. You can learn it if you qualify, but you're not obligated to learn it. You are obligated to learn the basics of Torah, which means that you have to learn the Gemara, you have to learn the Chumash, you have to learn the Shulchan Aruch, you have to learn Mussar. Those are the requirements. To know what to do, and to know how to do it, and to know why you're doing it. This is what we're obligated to learn. The mystical, the stuff that's supernatural, all that other stuff is good if you are ready for it, if you know how to use it, and if you already became an expert in everything else. But the reality is today, when you teach people basic halacha about Shabbat or about wasting seed or about modesty or about anything really that we talk about in our shiurim, people think right away, "Nah, he's machmir, he's machmir, he's too stringent." No, that's the funny thing. Nothing that we ever teach is a stringency. Everything we talk about is simply the basics, meaning that we are so far away from

2:40:30from just fulfilling the basics of Judaism that it's completely inappropriate for anyone to even think that they should delve into anything that's above the basics. But that's the problem. People live in illusion, and it all comes from ga'avah, it comes from arrogance. Everybody thinks that they're better than what they really are. They think that they're ready already for not only Kabbalah, but also Kabbalah Ma'asit. The difference is it's two different Kabbalahs. Kabbalah is Kabbalah Ma'asit. Kabbalah is a certain type of study of Kedusha. Kabbalah Ma'asit is knowing how to use that Kedusha and do certain kavanot, certain things that we'll discuss at another time in order to manipulate nature. For example, let's say I decide, okay, you know what, let me just lift this chair and it goes like a superhero, you could do that and... You can do that. If you know Kabbalah Ma'asit, you can do it. For example, you want to go home. You do Kabbalah, you go home without getting a car. You can do it. And there are people who do it. Rambam did it. There's a story—he did it. I told you guys the story in the past. You can do stuff like that. But do those Kabbalists do it? No. Why? Because you're not allowed to use it like that. And anyone who has that knowledge and that power doesn't use it that way. But can you do things to manipulate nature? Yes.

2:41:52All the things that you guys see, and hopefully used to see, not see anymore in movies—all that superhero stuff exists. It exists in the world. It's in the Torah. But it's not for us basic people. It's not for us basic people. Anything else, or we'll continue questions tomorrow? What else? Just because we're on topic. Yes. JC, Jesus, is a... We're not going into too much detail. He is part of the cohort of Tum'a; he is the source of Tum'a in the world, and

2:42:52he's not just a person that existed and sinned, if you will. He has become a partner in creating the most amount of Tum'a that's existed since the beginning of the world. Which means that he's become a partner to the Tum'a, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu is a, it's not a normal punishment, it's not a normal judgment, it's not even a normal character. And Rambam writes in Hilchot Melachim that there is no bigger stumbling block to the world than Christianity. It's the worst thing that ever existed, even though it's part of the will of Hashem. The problem with a lot of people is that they don't know how to read the entire halacha; they just pick and choose, copy and paste stuff. They just read the part where it says, "Oh yeah, see, it's the will of Hashem that Christianity came to the world." Read the three sentences that come before it. Yes, it's the will of Hashem. Anything that happens is the will of Hashem. But it's a disaster. It's destroying Jewish neshamos. It's destroying non-Jewish neshamos and so on and so forth. So the tumah that's created, that was created and continues to be created by the idolatry of Esav, the idolatry of J.C. Penney,

2:44:07is by far the worst thing that exists. This is what's, in essence, the most dangerous thing in creation. So judgment has already been sealed in this situation. There's not going to be a new judgment. But again, he didn't, he wasn't created to be this, meaning he could have chosen to be good. All of these special neshamot that I mentioned before that are captured by the Kochot HaTumah, they have the same capacity for both ends. They can either be Moshe Rabbeinu, or they could be JC Benny. So Yitro was a very, very powerful person. He had the power to be the most powerful person on earth, or he could become Yitro. best converts in history, how he humbled himself and destroyed his own character by leaving and abandoning the materialism of the world, by leaving and abandoning all the sheker, all the nonsense, all the filth, and coming like a little homeless avreich with his daughter to Moshe. "Oh, I got your sons here, my grandkids are here, please let me in." You know, no request, no nothing. Why? He knows what he did for Israel. That's it, finished.

2:45:31But he was one of those captured souls. Same thing with Ruth. Same thing with Rabbi Akiva. I believe also Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes. And actually, there's a Gemara about it. I believe it's a Gemara. There's a question: how come HaKadosh Baruch Hu didn't kill Esav? Esav is a rasha. It says the pasuk in the Torah, "Esav saneti" – I hate Esav. So why doesn't Hashem just kill him? The tzaddikim say, HaKadosh Baruch Hu didn't want to kill Esav because He knew that Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes would come from him. Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes came from Esav. Rabbi Akiva didn't come from Judaism; he came from conversion. right there you go came from that. So, the point is that the kedusha (holiness) of, uh, of, uh, was so high that it was worth it to let the biggest tumah (impurity) in existence exist just to have this and others that came from it. Meaning, the point is, everything is part of HaKadosh Baruch Hu's master plan, but that doesn't necessarily make everything good.

2:46:51everything is for the good doesn't mean that it's good. So it's important to know that there are certain things in the world that even though you don't see that they're causing damage, they cause damage. You don't see that radiation causes damage, but everybody knows that it causes damage. You don't see how the cigarette causes damage, but everybody knows it causes damage. You don't see how delving into Christianity and Christian mentality causes damage, but it does. You don't see how secularism causes damage because it's just a little game, it's just a show, it's just a dance, it's just this, but it causes damage. And that's the thing: the more a person wants to purify themselves, the more careful they are going to be with what they allow their eyes to see. This is why the tzaddikim don't even allow themselves to have a telephone. Forget kosher phone or not kosher phone; there is no phone. Forget good show or not good show; there is no show.

2:47:54But again, they're also at that level. They're living a certain type of life, and so on and so forth. You don't necessarily need to remove yourself from the world. You need to know where you stand also. And you need to do things that you can handle at that moment by knowing where you stand. But at the same token, you need to be much more conscious of the risk than anything else. Mitzvot are good. Everybody can do them. And many people do. As the Chazon Ish said, the key is to make sure you don't do aveirot—sins. Stay away from the sins. B'seder Rabotai, tomorrow night we'll continue going over some more questions. Thank you for learning with me. B'ezrat Hashem, we'll learn some more Ramban next week. Also, there's a good chance I'm coming to New York. I believe it's the 15th to the 17th, possibly, during Elul. So anyone that is watching and wants to arrange a lecture, please contact me. Baruch Adonai le'olam. Amen ve'amen.

2:49:33Thank you for watching. Baruch Adonai le'olam. Amen ve'amen.