THE JEWISH HAT STORY (11 Minutes)

1:32Did you think for a second that if you do it really fast, maybe God's not going to care? Like He cares if you do it fast or slow? Like if you do it really fast, ah, it's no big deal? Like if you just light the cigarette really quickly, take one puff, throw it out and it's finished, no big deal on Shabbat? If you cheat on your wife for two seconds, one, two, three, you finish, you go back to your wife, "Honey, I love you," that's okay? you walk around not modest for five minutes, not the whole day—five minutes a day, five minutes a day you decide to walk immodestly? It's okay; it's only five minutes, 24 hours in a day, it's okay? You do the percentage; it's a very small percentage. What, Hashem's not going to care? This is what this pasuk (verse) is all about. This pasuk is telling us: is there such an existence, such a thought? That there's such a thing that could happen in this world without me seeing it. And then he continues with the word of Hashem: "Do I not fill the heaven and the earth?" In so many words, he's telling us, if there's such a thing as me not seeing it, there's also such a thing as me not being there. And that cannot be. Because I fill the whole world.

2:56When Jews cry for money because they don't have enough parnassah, or they want more than what they really need, Hashem says, "What does it mean, mine is the money, mine is the gold? It's all mine." The money that's in your pocket, it's mine. In the bank, it's mine. The IRA is mine. The stock market is mine. The money you want is mine. Everything is mine. Do you want me to give you some? Ask nicely. Give me a reason. Do you want more money so you can buy a fancier car to be Mechalel Shabbat? Or do you want more money so you can give more tzedakah and publicize my Torah? What do you need the money for? Rabbi Akiva is already telling us that the freedom of choice is given. Despite the fact that Hashem knows that sometimes He's going to give us much and we're going to do things against Him, He still gives us the ability to choose. The ability to choose is to such an extent that Chazal say that when a person decides on something, Hashem helps him regardless of what the choice is.

4:14Whatever the choice is, if he wants to be holy, Hashem will help him become holy. In Parashat Kedoshim, Hashem says, "Be holy because I am holy." So if you want to be holy, Hashem will help you. If you want to be a rasha, Hashem will help you too. Whatever you want. You have free choice. But just know it's the beginning. I know, I know it's going to happen. Whatever you're going to do, I know. Why is it important to know that Hashem knows? Because the next part of the Mishnah says the world is judged with goodness, meaning a few things. First and foremost, when you make mistakes, whether it's violating Shabbat or any of the other sins that are in the Torah, you need to remember that Hashem's system includes the concept of teshuva. When Hashem says "goodness" here or when Rabbi Akiva and the Meiri mention "goodness," it means teshuva. Hashem created the world with the concept of teshuva, and the reason is that He realized that without teshuva, the world cannot exist. The world cannot survive without teshuva. So, the first thing that we learn from Hashem in...

5:37Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 13, as Hashem says, gives us one of the key mitzvot, which is to fear Him, to fear Hashem. Interestingly, I learned from one of my students. He says, "Look, 613 – chapter 6, verse 13 – meaning you can't fulfill the 613 commandments without fearing Hashem." It's a nice chiddush. So here Hashem tells us one of the major mitzvot, one of the 613 mitzvot, is for you to fear Me. It's a very important mitzvah to such an extent that without fearing Hashem, you cannot connect to Him. So, for all of those who believe that you can connect to Hashem through love, Chazal explains to us that fearing Hashem without loving Him is an incomplete connection. It's a connection nonetheless, but it's incomplete. Ideally, you want to be like Moshe Rabbeinu. Ideally, you want to be like our own Aharon HaKohen, or David HaMelech, or Avraham Avinu. They feared Hashem and they loved Him. Ideally, so if you only fear Him, it's not enough, but it's a connection. Loving Hashem without fear is no connection at all. Zero. Why? It's impossible to love Him without fearing Him.

7:01In order to love someone, you have to know what it is and who it is. Once you know what and who Hashem is, immediately you're scared. He's in control of all of the cells in your body; He's in control of your health; He's in control of your parnassah; He's in control of your kids; He's in control of everything. The only thing He's not in control over is whether you fear Him or not. That's your free choice, and Whenever anyone asks you, "What is free choice? Do I really have free choice?" The Torah says yes, you have one single free choice: whether you're going to fear God or not. That's your only free choice. Everything else has nothing to do with you. You say, "Well, whether I decide to drive on Shabbat," and... That's my choice. Yes, exactly. That has to do with fearing God, or not, if you drive on Shabbat. You don't fear God. If you don't drive on Shabbat, you fear God. Yeah, but what about if I decide to choose one profession or another? It also has to do with free choice. That profession can be a sniper for the mob, or you could be a sniper for the army. You can either kill people for money, or you could protect people, and...

8:30One has no fear, the other one has fear. Even though they're both technically the same job as far as the actual action. One guy can have a hunger for blood and be a surgeon. Some people are created with some type of desire to see blood. They have a desire to see blood. Me, on the other hand, I see blood, and I cringe. So I have the opposite. It doesn't help me. But some people see blood. Whatever, however, it makes them feel, it satisfies them to some extent. So with that inclination that Hashem put in you, you could decide to be a surgeon and save people's lives. Or you could be a butcher and give people kosher food. Or you could be a murderer. All three do the same thing.

9:31But to show fear of God, one doesn't have free will. Your only free choice is whether you fear God or not. To love Him without fearing Him is impossible because as soon as you understand that He's in control of all things in your life—the hair on your head, the car you drive, the parnassah you get, the parnassah you end up not getting, the contracts, the deals, the clients, the children—you realize it is all in His hands. The husband, the wife, all of those things are decided by Him, and He already knew it before you even realize it exists. And this is what Rabbi Akiva is first telling us in the first part of the Mishnah, is that you should know this: Everything that you're going to do, Hashem already knows. He already knows before you're going to do it.