The Jewish Ticket to Heaven - MUSSAR Iggeret HaRAMBAN (27)

0:17Today, for anyone who doesn't know, there was a fast. It was actually one of the easier fasts of the year because you only have to fast from the morning. Today we'll also be praying for a Refuah Shlema for Doris Bat-Jorah, David Ben-Esria, Levana Bat-Sara, Chaim Ben-Sara, Sara Bat-Levana, and all of Klal Yisrael. B'ezrat Hashem, they will have a Refuah Shlema, Refuat HaNefesh, and Refuat HaGuf. Today we'll also be praying for a Refuah Shlema for Doris bat Jorah, David ben Esria, Levana bat Sara, Chaim ben Sara, Sara bat Levana, and all of Klal Yisrael. B'ezrat Hashem, they will have a Refuah Shlema, Refuat HaNefesh, and Refuat HaGuf. So anyway, today was a fast, a relatively easy fast. Thank you. A relatively easy fast for anyone that actually wants to get themselves into a better situation with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Anyone who doesn't, it's a very easy fast to ignore and "accidentally on purpose" forget. But the good news is, for anyone who forgot, it's the fast...

1:38is that this is one of those fasts where it's not as high of an obligation as, let's say, the fast of Yom Kippur or the fast of Tisha B'Av. This is not to say that it's not an important fast. This is not to say that it's okay if you missed it. It's simply to say that there's more leniency with this. For example, in a fast like today, if, let's say, for example, a person is sick, then they don't need to fast. whereas if a person is sick on Tisha B'Av or Yom Kippur, they have to fast anyway, unless they're critically sick and things like that. But the point is that this is one of those lighter fasts. But more important really than the fast, more important than the fast itself, is why do we fast? Why do we fast? Now, right now, There is news that is causing a lot of people to have higher blood pressure. A lot of people are stressed out. I got at least a few text messages just in the last few minutes I was looking at from people asking me if Gog u'Magog officially started. Like I'm the official, let's say, I'm the kashrut of Gog u'Magog.

3:00I know. But why? Because Iran just confirmed that they launched a bunch of missiles against U.S. bases in Iraq. And this is obviously an unofficial declaration of war. I say unofficial because it's unofficial. What's official? Official is if they start using chemical weapons. Official is if they start attacking with airplanes. That's official. 30 missiles is like terrorism. It's almost like everyday life in Israel sometimes. So it's not such a big deal. Also, I highly doubt that those missiles are ever going to reach their destination. Number one, because the U.S. is not exactly sitting ducks, just sitting there waiting to get hit. They also have weapons. You shoot, they shoot. Sometimes they shoot just in case they think you're going to shoot.

4:05the other reason is, personally, I don't really think that Iran is as powerful as Iran thinks they are. It's been a while since they went to war, so their weapons, I don't necessarily think, are as up-to-date as they would think they are. But either way, that doesn't really make that much of a difference. I'm not a war critic, nor do I care about it. But the reason why I mention it is because I know it causes some of you to be very nervous. I wish, I wish that some of my shiurim would make people as nervous as 30 missiles that are in a far, far away land. Why? Because in reality, these 30 missiles are not going to affect a single one of you. Not the ones that are watching here, not the ones that are watching at home. But what I say in the shiur, for sure is going to affect you. Why? Because the second, the second you hear it, it's in your neshama, that's it, finished. You can never say, "Oh, I never heard it."

5:05I never heard this before. I never heard I'm not allowed to drive on Shabbat. I never heard that I'm not allowed to have a girlfriend before I get married. I never heard that I'm not allowed to eat treif. I never heard that I'm not allowed to look at anything that moves and doesn't move. I never heard. The second you have the information entered into your mind, that's it. You're no longer an ignorant person in that particular regard. This is a very important argument for all of these, we call them, people that cause others to sin with their titles of being a Rabbi, by simply telling everyone, "No, no, this whole generation is full of, you know, captured babies." I've talked about this extensively in the past, but just for those who haven't heard it before, the Gemara in Masechet Avodah Zarah says that In the older days, almost 2,000 years ago, but it also happened 80 years ago, the Christians and other idol worshippers in the world used to kidnap Jewish babies and raise them as their own, raise them as Christians, raise them as idol worshippers. And the kid would grow up not even knowing that he's Jewish. The girl would grow up not even knowing that she's Jewish. Hashem yerachem.

6:33I asked if this kid that was born Jewish—Jewish mother, Jewish father—but got kidnapped, grows up as Jesus. He doesn't know he's really Moshe. He thinks he's Jesus. He's 20 years old, he's 25 years old, he's driving on Shabbat, he's eating treif, he's living like a Christian, goes to church, decides to become a reverend. He doesn't know any different. So, the Gemara asks, does he get judged the same way as the Jew that drives on Shabbat also? says, "Of course not; he's a captured baby, doesn't even know he's a Jew. A captured baby in Hebrew is called 'tinok shenishba,' meaning a child who was taken captive." So, from there, some Chachamim said that some people who grew up in a secular world that's anti-Torah—not the secular world like we know today, where the guy knows there's a Bet Knesset and he knows that there are Chagim, but he just doesn't feel like keeping anything. secular world, meaning the world of 150-250 years ago, where to be a Jew was sometimes a life risk. Synagogues—maybe there was one per community, if that much. He lived in a place where there were people like the Maskilim, who were the Jewish Nazis. Yes, yes, there wasn't such a thing. I

7:54Jewish Nazis—they didn't call themselves Nazis; they called themselves Maskilim. Why are they called Jewish Nazis? Well, I'm calling them Jewish Nazis because their number one mission was to kill Judaism, to kill rabbis—literally, not just spiritually. That's what they did in Russia. They were the guys that made the whole world hate Judaism and Jews in general in Russia. Communism and so on. Now, if a person grew up in such an environment where his father is the Efektia chief, his father is a Communist, this guy is pretty much bred to hate Judaism. He has no idea what Judaism is, but he knows that if he finds a rabbi, he has to kill him. He has to do something to hurt him. A person like this, the Chachamim said, this guy is similar to a tinok shenishba. He's similar to a captured baby.

8:55Even though his father's a Jew, he himself doesn't even know what Judaism is. So some Chachamim said, okay, let's elaborate further. What about the people of, you know, now? There were a couple of Chachamim, big ones, that say anyone that's really secular, doesn't keep Shabbat, doesn't keep mitzvot, because he grew up in a secular house. The Lubavitcher Rebbe and the Chazon Ish also said something similar. And to an extent, Rav Moshe Feinstein, not in the same way, but to an extent, said if they're secular, this is 80 years ago, they don't know anything about Torah, they never went to yeshiva, maybe they are considered tinok she'nishba also. The rest of the poskim, which you're talking about thousands, all disagreed. When they asked Rav Elchonon Wasserman, which was the talmid muvhaq of the Chafetz Chaim. They asked him, "Kvod Harav, all these secular people, these people are Jewish people, they drive on Shabbat. Why? You tell me all of them are going to go to Gehenom?" He said, "Of course they're going to go to Gehenom. What do you mean?"

10:08So why are they going to go to Gehenom? It's because a person lives in this world for an X amount of time. He doesn't live for a day. He has a certain amount of time to discover the world, just like he learns a career. He learns how to be a husband. She learns how to be a wife. He learns how to have kids. He learns different professions, different things. He has to learn about who created him in the world. And if he thinks that he's going to arrive at Shamayim, he's saying, no, no, I never asked the question of where I came from. Hashem says, look at all the times you asked the question of where you came from. Every person asks where they came from, who created me, every single person. There's no such thing as a human being that goes throughout his entire life never asking who created him and what's my purpose. No such thing. Hashem put a brain in your head, put a neshamah in your body. For sure you've asked yourself this question before and you will ask this question again in the future. So Rav Wasserman says, this person cannot say, oh, I was roaming in the desert by myself, trying to survive, and all of a sudden I saw a big castle, a big palace. I walked in, and I saw that everything is brand new. There's a bunch of food and jewels and all types of great things, but there are no people. So I started grabbing whatever I could.

11:20And then the guard, I didn't see him, but he caught me. He said, "You're under arrest." I said, "Well, I didn't know it belongs to anyone." He said, "Okay, you tell that to the judge." I came in front of the judge, and the judge said to me, "No, what do you plead?" I said, "I plead innocent." "Why do you plead innocent?" This is the example, the analogy Rav Wasserman said 80 years ago. He said, "Why do you plead innocent?" I said, "I plead innocent because I didn't know that the castle was owned by anyone." So the judge says, "I'm going to punish you double now." One is for the crime. You stole. You stole. You took stuff that doesn't belong to you. Two is for the stupidity. Thinking that fresh fruit came from nothing. That fresh steak came from nothing. The jewels, no one owns them. A castle, a palace, nobody's the Ba'al HaBayit. No one's the owner of this. The stupidity deserves a second punishment. Rabbi Wasserman says this is exactly HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He is going to judge every single person. you could claim that you didn't get the education and you didn't go to yeshiva and your father ate treif and your mother went to this one. It doesn't make a difference why. You lived in the world and this again, Rabotai Yekarim, this is 80 years ago, pre-internet, pre-TV, pre-everything, and then he already said, and many, many others said, there's no such thing as a Tinok Shenishba. There were a few that said, but now, what about today?

12:48There's zero people that are out like real poskim, not fake rabbis. Fake rabbis you could buy at every toy store. I'm talking about real poskim, Gedolei HaDor, zero in the world that say that your average secular Jew is a Tinok Shenishba. Why? Every Jew that knows he's a Jew, knows that means something. Why? The world reminded you a million and a half times, whether it's the Holocaust, or it's anti-Semitism every other day, or it's the Jewish people you see on TV being highlighted or being frowned upon, and so on and so forth, in a synagogue in your neighborhood, and the different languages that you see in your books sometimes, and so on and so forth. Every Jew knows that Judaism is a class of its own. you could no longer claim, "Oh, I didn't know. I didn't know." Well, you didn't know how to make money, but you found out how. You didn't know how to make yourself into a husband, but you found out how. You didn't know how to get dressed, but you found out how. You didn't know how to eat right, but you found out how. How come you found out everything else except the purpose of life? Now,

13:55if somebody wants to use the argument that he had a unique upbringing—all of his friends were Hispanics and Blacks and all types of other religions—and this guy literally was like born in a box. He's in the middle of Montana, his next-door neighbor is a horse. Okay, no problem. How many of those do we have? Few, few. But even then, Rabotai HaKedoshim, waiting, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to send his son, he's going to send his daughter to the end of the world into Montana, into different places in the world. He's not going to call you home. He's not going to send you messengers. So that's why He invented the internet. That's why He invented the internet. Now the Torah arrives at your house without you paying a nickel for it. I have people watching this shiur right now, live. They're gonna watch it tomorrow on the internet, and there's others the day after, and so on and so forth. From all over the world, every single continent, there are people watching this shiur. Somebody sent money today, a donation from the Philippines, Abu Dhabi, and Saudi Arabia. I got a new friend from Iran. I don't know how he has internet, or how he's allowed to watch my shiur. Baruch Hashem, he likes me. Iran, Iran, how he's alive, I have no idea, but he's watching.

15:21Australia, obviously, the United States, Israel, Europe, all over the place. How do they find me? Waiting? I send notes to people. Please watch my shiur. My name is Yaron Reuven. Don't call me "urine." It's not nice. It's Yaron. Why, what do you think I do? Nothing? I come here, I speak to you guys, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu does the rest. Why? Because He cares about you. he's going to send you a custom-made message to your YouTube inbox, to your Gmail, to your this mail, to your that mail, and it's going to get to you. So there's no such thing as you're never going to find out what Judaism is throughout your life. The only thing is, what are you going to do once you find out the truth? Now, what does this all have to do with everything? There are many people Unfortunately, they'll watch a few shiurim to start getting stronger, to start going to shul, and they end up going to one of these shuls where, unfortunately, a guy who calls himself a rabbi tells them, "No, everybody goes to heaven anyway. Hashem loves you as you are. Mashiach is going to save everyone," and all types of things that are the opposite of what the Torah says.

16:42The guy or the girl cools off, meaning they were excited to do teshuva, but suddenly they're okay. "Let me just continue my life. All I need to do is just come see this... this, you know, 'rabbi'—it's hard for me to call him a rabbi. The words are hard to come out. Call this 'rabbi.' He's going to make me feel good, pacify me, and give him a few dollars. That's how I'm going to heaven." Now, days like today, days like today, rabotai... We commemorate these days to remind ourselves that this is all fake. Why? Because everything that is and everything that will be already happened in the past. The Holocaust that we're afraid of already happened several times. Today, we fast as a commemoration. when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Bavel, the strongest king that's lived in the last couple of thousand years, twenty-five hundred years, and according to the prophet Daniel, he will be the strongest king until Mashiach. That was a promise that Hashem gave Nebuchadnezzar and

18:03And we fast today because today is when he pretty much started his attack. Today is the day that he shot the first 30 missiles. He didn't destroy anything yet, but today shots were fired. Now, anyone that knows the story knows that it didn't end too well for us. So many of our ancestors, which in reality are us, by the way, Murdered in cold blood, it literally created a river of blood from city to city. But not a river like a puddle, a river like one that reaches the stomach of a horse. The Gemara says that's how many Jews died; they made walls of bodies. And this was 2,500 years ago, and guess what? It happened again 2,000 years ago and... Happened again a thousand years ago and happened again 500 years ago and happened again 70 years ago. Why does it keep happening to us? Because we keep pretending with tinok shenishba.

19:10Chachamim are trying to tell us, "Listen, you want to be a tinok shenishba. You don't want to be tinok shenishba. Don't worry. Let's just give you the once and for all bottom line. Whether you got a secular education or you learned at one of these rotten yeshivas that teaches you kefirah, like this one place in New York that I know, or you learned in a good way, it doesn't make a difference. If you see a captured baby and you know this is a captured baby, why are you leaving him captured?" You are the captured baby. Why are you keeping yourself captured? Free yourself; you have an opportunity. Get yourself out of this mess. Why are you forcing yourself to stay captured? Why are you forcing yourself to stay ignorant? Are you really going to put everything on the line and bet everything on the fact that you don't have to do anything because you had an unusual upbringing? There are millions of you.

20:12I was like that too. And that's why, Rabotai, Shlomo HaMelech tells us in Sefer Mishlei, one of the most important lessons that a person needs to know: that an ear that hears the rebuke of life—what does it mean to hear with the ears? Says there's gonna be rebuke in your life. Your wife is sometimes gonna say something she doesn't like about you. Your husband is sometimes gonna say something he doesn't like about you. Your customers are gonna say something they don't like about you. Your teachers are gonna say something they don't like about you. All types of people are gonna tell you stuff they don't like that you did. You want to have chaim, you want to have life? Start listening. You have an ozen. Start paying attention. Are they right? Or are you right? I'm not trying to give you the American motto, "the customer is always right." The customer is often wrong, but not always. The wife is often wrong, but not always. The husband is often wrong, but not always. You've got to let him win once in a while, or else he's going to feel demoralized. You've got to let him win. He's wrong all the time, but once in a while, you've got to let him win. Just, you know, go, go, go.

21:36You're going to get depressed if you’re always wrong. But the reality is, it's not always the case. Which means we have to listen to the rebuke from the customer, to the rebuke from the wife, to the rebuke from the teacher, to the rebuke from the kid. You've got to listen. You've got to ask yourself, are they right? Are they right? Why? If you cannot listen and evaluate and reflect, then you will never have chayim. the Klausenberger Rebbe, one of the most amazing human beings that ever lived—all 10 or 11 of his kids, including his wife, were brutally, brutally murdered in the Holocaust. That didn't stop him from becoming one of the gedolei hador. That didn't stop him from restarting; that actually didn't stop him for a second from rebuilding Judaism. They say that if

22:39Kotler was one of the builders of American Judaism, but the Klausenberger Rebbe, they say, he put the neshamah in there. Before he did it, he was in the Holocaust, tortured, family killed, saw a lot of dead bodies. The second that the salvation came... He didn't think for a second. He already started working on rebuilding Judaism. The camps started turning into DP camps. They couldn't bring everybody somewhere, so they stayed at the camps just now. There's no one killing you anymore. Baruch Hashem. There's medicine, there's food. He got the Americans to bring some kosher food, to start a kosher restaurant, start a kosher kitchen for everybody. He got a few of them to get tefillin, everybody started putting on tefillin, started giving shiurim in the camps. For you know it, he started rebuilding Judaism. He opened a yeshiva. And then another yeshiva. Then a Beit Yaakov for girls. All of these girls, their parents are dead. Who became their father? The Klausenberger Rebbe. The Klausenberger Rebbe became the father of hundreds and hundreds of young girls whose parents had died.

23:57Some of them went to bad places. He would go find them, bring them in. No, no, you don't need to be with these bad people. Come, come. Yeah, but I'm depressed. Look what happened to my family. What could happen to me? They did this to me. They did that to me. Okay, they did it. Let's move on. You're a Jew; you know how to move on. You brought them back in after he built literally an army of yeshivot and batei knesset and Beit Yaakov for girls, all types of things. What do you think you and I would do? Retire, that's what we would do. Guess what he did? He left everything. He said, "Good, everything's good. Okay, I'm going to America now." Why? "Gotta do the same thing over there. Gotta do the same thing over there." He left everything. It's built. Got people running it. Yalla, let's go. Next. Goes to America. Does it bigger. Starts building yeshivot, all types of things. Meaning this is a person who didn't care about money, didn't care about fame, for nothing. You hear his prayer that I put on one of my shiurim from, I think, last week or two weeks ago. You hear him pray a regular mincha, and you start crying. Why? Because you realize how far you are from what this tzaddik is.

25:11Now, this means that he cared about every Jew. Everybody agrees? Okay. One time, Friday night, they started singing Lecha Dodi, as it is customarily sung in all Jewish synagogues, for the most part. As far as I know, all traditions sing this song. It's a very famous and old song. Maybe there are different tunes between the Ashkenazim and the Sephardim, but generally speaking, it's a well-known song, and everybody has their own tune to this very famous song. For some people, this is the highlight of their Friday night. They love this song. Now, the president of the yeshiva lived in Belgium, and he sent his son to go learn under the Kloizenberger Rebbe. And he was there with everybody else. They're singing "Lecha Dodi." And he starts, you know, chit-chatting with his friend. Like talking to his friend. He's not singing with everybody else. The Kloizenberger Rebbe saw this. He didn't like it. So he told one of the students, go tell him, it's not the time to talk. Shabbat. The young man went to him.

26:38went to this other guy, told him something, and the Kloizenberger Rebbe is watching the whole thing. The guy shoos him away. Go, go, no, no, come on, leave me alone, it's just a song. Nothing happened, they continued singing, they continued eating, Shabbat happened, Motzei Shabbat, he asked the kid, the president's son, he asked him to come see him, he said, here, okay, Shavua Tov, pack your bags, go back. Go back home. You're kicked out. You're out of the yeshiva. Why? Why? What do you mean? My father didn't pay? He didn't donate? No, no, no. It has nothing to do with that. Go home. You don't belong in the yeshiva. You don't belong in the yeshiva. I cannot help you. Go back home. What's the kid going to do? The Rosh Yeshiva just kicked him out. What are you going to fight him? What are you going to do? Go home with your tail between your legs. He goes back home to Belgium. His father, what's going on? Nothing. Your son does not belong here. The father comes to see the Rebbe. Nothing. Under no condition is he back. Why? Your son has an ozen. He has an ear, but he doesn't like to hear rebuke. Doesn't like to hear constructive criticism. Someone like that, I cannot help him. Can't help him. So, Rabotai, we get criticized all day, all night from different parties. But the only times...

28:06That it bothers us to no end is when it comes from HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This is one of the most important things that we need to learn. HaKadosh Baruch Hu is not our friend. He is the King of Kings. He is going to send us different messages. Sometimes the message is going to come in a simple shiur. Sometimes the message is going to be with rockets. Sometimes it's going to be anti-Semitism. Sometimes it's going to be a financial crisis. The point is that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is trying to get our attention. Almost 2,000 years ago, over 2,000 years ago, 2,500 years ago, HaKadosh Baruch Hu tried to get our attention many times. He sent us different prophets. And even though prophecy ended towards the end of the Second Temple, almost 2,000 years ago, the word prophet, navi, She said that anyone who speaks of a myth is, in essence, a form of prophecy. Not that we speak to God, but in essence, if someone speaks the truth, Hashem is putting that truth in his mouth, and he's in essence choosing to say it. So HaKadosh Baruch Hu sent us a message today, not the rockets, but the fast, the reminder of who Nebuchadnezzar is and...

29:33In fact, He sends us a message about Nebuchadnezzar three times a day. Anyone who prays knows that when it comes to prayer, the two key parts of... In the morning and at night, it is Shema Yisrael and Amidah. In the afternoon, there is no Shema Yisrael. But nonetheless, Amidah is the critical part of prayer. That's when they say Tefillah. In the Gemara, they're talking about Amidah. Anytime they're referring to Shema Yisrael, they say Shema. Now, at the end of Amidah, each one of us takes three steps back. We say, "Oseh Shalom Bimromav, Hu Ya'aseh Shalom Aleinu." Why do we say it? Why do we do that part? So, the Gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin says on page 96a that 2,500 years ago there was a young man who was the scribe.

30:46the king and the king was impressed by the Jewish king, Hizkiyahu, and how Hashem made a miracle for him and resurrected him, in so many words. He was very sick. He was supposed to die. Hashem made a miracle and gave him back health, changed time, made the sun stay in its place for a certain amount of time—unusual, miraculous things. So the non-Jewish king was so impressed, he said, "Let me send a message," and... He says, "Shalom to Hizkiyahu, shalom to your people, and shalom to your God." So the scribe says to the king, "Wait a minute, Your Highness, you believe in their God?" "Of course I believe in their God. Their God just made the sun stay in the same spot for half a day. Our statues can't do that." Their God just made the guy that was about to die alive and well like he's 18 years old. Our gods can't do that. So the scribe says, "Okay, Your Highness, I'm just asking. I believe in their God also. I have a friend; I grew up with him. His name was Yirmiyahu. He knows God really well, so I believe in their God. The only thing is, I'm just wondering, how come if you believe in their God, He was named last in the letter? If you believe in their God, shouldn't He be named first?"

32:14says, "You're a genius. Yes, get the letter." So the scribe runs out three steps outside of the castle, outside of the door. He catches the guy that was going to deliver the letter and says, "Come here, give me the letter." He takes the letter and rewrites it, "I know your God, hello the king, hello the people." He changes the order. Now this may not seem like such a big deal. I But HaKadosh Baruch Hu found it to be a big deal. And He decided that this scribe, not the king, the scribe that gave Him so much honor, is going to become the most powerful king in the world until Mashiach comes. The scribe's name was Nebuchadnezzar. So what does that have to do with our Amidah? Every time we pray three times a day, we're trying to undo what Nebuchadnezzar did 2,500 years ago by taking three steps back because he took three steps forward. But aside from that, Rabotai, my whole life I was wrong about Amidah when it came to the last part, meaning that maybe I'm not the only one. Maybe you guys are all geniuses and you know the answer.

33:42Or maybe you don't. But my whole life, I figured, you take three steps back, you just pray to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, you say Oseh Shalom, you are just finishing your conversation. So you know what? Let's ask, by show of hands, how many of you guys think, who are you saying shalom to? Who are you saying shalom to? You take three steps back. Who are you saying shalom to? Are you saying shalom to yourself? Raise your hand if you think you're saying shalom to yourself. No one. Okay. Are you saying shalom to the people around you? Show of hands. One person. Are you saying shalom to Hashem? Raise your hands. Are you guys still sleeping? There are only three choices. Wait a minute. Say shalom to the deli? Three choices. Hashem is the third choice. How many of you are saying shalom to Hashem? Everybody thinks pretty much shalom to Hashem. That's what I thought. That's what I thought. I thought you were saying shalom to Hashem. We're all wrong. Only Satan is a talmid chacham here. Only one. The rest of us are idiots. Why? The Gemara, Masechet Yoma, says rabotai yekarim, when you pray to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that means you believe he's here. That means you believe that you are face to face, not that you're talking to the mountains. Stop looking up; he's right here.

35:03In fact, the sages say you should never look up when you're praying. Just look down, as a sign of fear of the Almighty being in front of you. He's right there. If you believe that He's right there, now at the end of the conversation, at the end of the plea, at the end of this whole meeting that you just had with Him, what are you going to show? You're going to show respect. When you walk away from a Sefer Torah, what do you do? You take three steps back. When you walk away from the Beit HaMikdash, what do they do, the Kohanim? Three steps back. When you walk away from the king, what do you do? Three steps back. How do you signify that you understand that now there's enough separation between you and where you were? By saying Shalom to the people around you. I am no longer next to the Almighty. I'm next to the regular commoners. I'm no longer in the heavens with the Kedoshim, but now I'm next to you people. Oseh Shalom. You think, Shalom to you, Steve. Shalom to you, Dave. Shalom to you. Oh, my meeting with them is finished.

36:13Rabotai, we've been focusing sometimes on doing prayers without even knowing why we're doing everything that we're doing. And it's important to know these things. They're little, but they have a lot of meaning. They're little, but they take your prayer to a whole different meaning. Because what happens is if you pray three times a day, things become robotic. You forget why you're even praying. In the middle of Amidah, you're thinking about Birkat Hamazon because you're so hungry. In the middle of Amidah, you're thinking about your business, you're hoping that the prayer is going to help your business, it's going to help you with this, it's going to help you with that. You're forgetting who you're praying to. So these little notes are going to help you pray. That's what HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted to remind us today. Today is a special day because today Nevuchadnetzar won. When we get closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, we start winning. Now, the Ramban... Alav HaShalom wrote us a letter 800 years ago, and he gave us a letter of instructions on how to win one of the most critical battles that a human being has in his life, which is to overcome his bad traits. The Gaon MiVilna says almost 200 years ago, if a person comes to this world and does not overcome his bad traits, then...

37:36There's no purpose for his life. Meaning, if a person comes to this world, and he puts on tefillin, and she puts on kisui rosh, and he's modest, and she's modest, and he keeps Shabbat, and she keeps Shabbat, and they eat kosher together, and they have kids at the best yeshivot, mitzvot, they're good, the sukkah no debt, the lulav $400, the etrog $1,000, best etrog in town, and... Every single time somebody comes with tzedakah, they give them an attitude. Every single time somebody says to them, "Listen, I think maybe you're wrong about this halacha," they start eating them up. "What, you tell me I'm wrong? I forgot what you're even learning. I know so much!" You're arrogant still; you have no shame whatsoever. You walk around like you own the town and... Your whole life? Purposeless. That's what G-d says. Why? The whole purpose of this life is to fix your character traits. Don't walk around just thinking that the mitzvot are the purpose. The mitzvot are the way HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us ways to fix our character traits. The mitzvah of tzedakah is not because Hashem needs a loan from you. It's to teach you generosity. To say Modeh Ani

38:58in the morning is to think what first and foremost say thank you to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Being grateful, second of all, to understand that Hashem doesn't owe you anything. He didn't have to put your neshama back. And the same thing goes on with every single mitzvah, which has a purpose that connects it to one of your character traits. The mitzvot are there to fix your character traits. So, the Ramban wrote us a letter telling us that there is a way that you can fix your character traits. First and foremost, understand that there are some flaws in every one of us. Don't be embarrassed by it. You're not the only one; if you have a flaw, all that means is that you are human. If you don't have a flaw, then you're simply not human; you don't belong in this world. Now, in the last several months, we've covered the danger of being angry danger of being arrogant, the importance of valuing your wisdom, but understanding that Hashem is the one that gave it to you. Valuing how you treat money, but understanding that Hashem gave it to you. Now, the Ramban gives us another tool. He told us last week that we have to treat certain people, whether they're rich or poor, whether they're smart or not, with a certain level of respect. Always see a good point in everyone and...

40:26But now he says the following: The Ramban says, act with busha, which really means shame, shamefacedness. But some translate it to the word restraint. Busha means shame. Act with shame in the company of others, and if one should call out to you, don't answer with a loud voice but respond gently in low tones, just as you would if you were standing before your rabbi, your mentor. So here we see that... First and foremost, the Ramban says, you want to go to Gan Eden? You have to have some shame. Where did the Ramban get this from? The Mishnah, foundation of our Oral Torah. Masechet Avot, Chapter 5, Mishnah number 24. Yehuda ben Tema says, "Az panim leGeihinnom u'Boshet panim leGan Eden."

41:52Actually, we say this in our prayer every day in the morning. Someone that's arrogant, someone that's brazen-faced, goes to Gehinnom for sure. There's no "maybe." No, someone who's arrogant, who walks around like he owns the town, or she walks around like everybody works for her, starts yelling at people about what to do and how to do all this stuff, for sure you're going to Gehinnom. It has nothing to do with me; I didn't make the rules. This is not alright. This is what it says. But someone that's shamefaced... he has a very high chance of going to Gan Eden. Why? Because this already shows you understand the magnitude of doing something wrong. If you understand the magnitude of doing something wrong, that means that if somebody's going to come to you and tell you you're doing something wrong, there's a higher likelihood that you'll change. Whereas if you're arrogant, If you're an arrogant person, if you don't care what anybody else thinks, guess what? That automatically makes you a person that doesn't want to listen to anyone. Don't tell me what to do. You mind your own business. You do you. I'll do me. You live your life. I'll live my life. All those expressions people make into their first language. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, that kind of attitude, Gehinnom. Now, the Chovot HaLevavot,

43:19one of the most critical Mussar books ever written, in Sha'ar Gimel, the third Sha'ar, he writes the following: A person must be shy in front of any person, meaning have some shame, have some restraint in front of any person. It doesn't matter if it's your father, your mother, a neighbor, someone you like, or someone you don't like. Somebody in front of you automatically acts differently than when you are by yourself. Why? Because their perception of you matters to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. You may say that you don't care, "I don't care what anybody thinks of me." Okay, but HaKadosh Baruch Hu does. Who is she to tell me what to do? She's not telling you what to do; HaKadosh Baruch Hu is telling you what to do. If you give her an impression of Judaism that HaKadosh Baruch Hu says it's not, then guess what? That's called Chilul Hashem. There was a video that came out a few days ago where a bunch of black people were interviewed in New York, and they were asking them, "Listen, how come anti-Semitism has increased so much in New York? Why?"

44:33Almost every guy and every girl says, "Yeah, because these Jews, they don't treat us right. They own all these buildings, and they increase the price on us, and they're not giving back to the community, and they're making our life tough," and so on and so forth. Now, even though that's not 100% true—number one, not all the buildings are owned by Jews. Number two, there's no monopoly on owning buildings. You want to own a building, go buy one. It's not like, "Oh, I only sell to the Jewish market." It's the stupidest thing in the world. But there is some truth in what they're complaining about. If you were a good landlord that owned the building, you would do something to help the community. You would do something to help your tenants. You would do something so they don't hate you. Not because it's good for business, but because it's good for Olam Haba. It's good for the recognition of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. If all of your tenants are complaining that your building is infested with rats and you leave it as is, guess what? That's a sin from the Torah. That's countless sins from the Torah. If all of your tenants are complaining about your building being pretty much asbestos-infested and you don't do anything about it, guess what? That's a sin from the Torah.

45:55You take advantage of people in any way, shape, or form? That's a sin from the Torah. You're sinning against Hashem. Forget about just the people. You have a serious problem with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So guess what? These people that are complaining, whether they're directly affected or not affected, HaKadosh Baruch Hu put the message in their mouth, and He wants you to know it. Apparently, we're doing enough wrong. Who is getting the green to tell us about it? Why? Because we want to listen to him. So, HaKadosh Baruch Hu said, "Okay, I'll send the goyim to give you a message." This is absurd. Why? Because many times the non-Jews cannot tell the difference between a good Jew and a bad Jew, a religious Jew and a non-religious Jew. Why? Because, in essence, they look at everything as being the same and... Someone looks religious. They think he's religious. They can't tell the difference. Oh, he looks religious. But he may not necessarily be religious because the clothes are, in essence, only a uniform. The guy dresses like he's a Chassid, but he goes to casinos on the weekends. That's not a religious Jew. That's a guy with a uniform. That's a guy with a costume.

47:09On the other hand, they see some other guy who doesn't have the whole thing. He has a little kippah on, but he's a straight guy, a straight shooter. He's got tzitzit on. He puts on tefillin every day. He learns a little Torah every day. He's a regular guy. He doesn't look like Moshe Rabbeinu or anything. And the non-Jews that don't know the difference, this one, that one, are you really Jewish? Maybe not. No, no, he's just as much a Jew. He's probably even a better Jew sometimes. Looks can be deceiving. But guess what? When things are bad, they don't care what kind of Jew you are. They don't care if you're a religious Jew, non-religious Jew, even if you're a Jew that converted to Christianity. Guess what? They're going to still call you a Jew. That's what they did in Germany. There are countless stories of people on the line into the concentration camps, into the gas chambers, crying hysterically. And when they were asked, "How come you're crying?" He says, "Because my wife, the goya, The one that ratted on me to the Nazis, she's right there with my kid. She's right there, hanging out with the Nazis, watching me go to a gas chamber, and she's happy. Why? Because when all hits the fan, guess what? She'll remember you're a Jew. "Yeah, but he converted to Christianity." It doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way.

48:34You convert a thousand times to a thousand religions. Guess what? When HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants to remind the Goyim you're a Jew, He'll remind them. You cannot run away. But that also means that in other times you have to act accordingly. You do business with non-Jews, no problem. Remember, you have to be even more careful doing business with non-Jews than with Jews. Why? Because when you cheat another Jew, it's a sin. either stealing or taking advantage. Okay, but it's limited to that. Relatively easy to fix. You stole, give it back. Took advantage, give it back. But when you cheat a non-Jew, You overcharge them. You charge them this ridiculous interest that these mafioso-type businesses called cash advance businesses do. They charge them 50, 60, 100% interest to these poor people. And they don't care if the borrower is a Jew or a non-Jew. They're simply trying to kill everyone in sight, these people. You do that, it's hard to fix. You know why?

49:42Now, if you commit a crime, if you stole from a non-Jew, if you cheated a non-Jew, it's not just stealing anymore. It's a chillul Hashem, it's the desecration of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's name. It's the desecration of God's name. Why? Because the non-Jews, no matter what, will always look at the Jews as the representatives of God. By you being a cheater, they say, "Ah, I whole thing is a cheat. Judaism is a cheat. Mount Sinai is a cheat. Everything is a cheat. You just made God look smaller in the eyes of the gentile, and that's a sin you cannot fix very easily. In fact, it's almost impossible to fix it. Almost impossible. I gave you guys a solution for it a few months ago, which is the only way to fix it: two ways. One, death. You start fixing it after you die in Gehinnom, a nice warm place, for a very, very long time. Or two, Kiddush Hashem. You have to do something big to sanctify Hashem's name. Help people do Teshuva, help publicize the Shiur Torah, do something to make Hashem's name bigger. Those are the only two ways. There are no other ways to fix it.

51:07This is why, rabotai, if you're a businessman, you're in the money business, you do customer service, whatever you are, even if you go to the local supermarket and she miscalculated or she did something wrong or they brought you the wrong item, don't start yelling and screaming at people. Why? Because you are at risk for desecrating Hashem's name. Now, the Chovot HaLevavot says that a person has to be a shamefaced in front of any person, whether Jew or Gentile, because they need to understand that there's a lot on the line every time you encounter another person. By showing that he has shyness, this is a character trait that comes directly from a very precious neshama, a very precious soul, and Proves the status of its completion, the more shy a person is, the more shamefaced the person is, the more complete the person is, meaning the more connected they are to God. The more arrogant the person is, the more disconnected they are from God. A person who thinks that the world owes them something—him and God are almost not connected at all. Anyone that walks around thinking the world owes them something...

52:33You're in serious trouble. You're almost at a point. We have to give you, like, resurrection. Now, this is almost all of us at some points in our life. Sometimes every day, sometimes all day, sometimes once in our life. We all acted arrogantly here and there. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, "I hate arrogant people." To'avat Hashem kol gva lev is a pasuk in the Torah that says HaKadosh Baruch Hu finds arrogance disgusting. Because what are you arrogant about? What did you produce? Did you create anything? Money, Hashem gave you. Wife, Hashem gave you. Husband, Hashem gave you. Kids, Hashem gave you. Your life, Hashem gave you. You were just a putrid seed. Did you make yourself? What are you so proud of? Ideas, who made your brain? A lot of money, who gave you the customers? Everything that you have, HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave you. What is there to be proud of? Doesn't mean we have to be depressed, but understand where you're getting everything from. Now, the more a person understands this, the more shamefaced they are going to be, the more shy they're going to be among other people. And the Chovot HaLevavot continues saying that shyness is the ultimate metal fence to protect a person from aveirot, from sins.

53:59Because even though every person sins to a certain extent, when a person has some level of shame, the more shame he has, the less likely he is to make public sins. He may still sin. She may still sin privately. She found out bad news and some curse word comes out. Her husband did something she doesn't like. She takes the plate, throws it against the wall. That's not good, that's not a mitzvah. Throwing a plate, starting to break your house, is not a mitzvah. It's never a mitzvah. Maybe fine, but it's not a mitzvah. Now, that's private though. She does that in a restaurant. She does that at work. She does that in public. Now you have a problem. Now you have a very big problem. She says, the more shy... The more shamefaced a person is, the less likely they are to make these public sins, which means that all of their sins are private, which means it's contained. That's why Rabban Yochanan said to his talmidim in Gemara Masechet Berachot, page 28a, when they asked him for a blessing that will allow them to enter Olam HaBa,

55:14You're on your deathbed. Please give us one little bit of advice that's going to help us get to Olam HaBa, to heaven. So, Rabbi Yochanan says, "May you fear Hashem as much as you fear people." So they said, "Rebbe, this sounds like a curse, not a blessing. Are we supposed to fear Hashem even more than people?" He says, "Technically, yes, but you don't." Well, HaKadosh Baruch Hu said not to do a million and a half different things. You still do it. But if you see a cop, automatically you're scared. Without the cop even saying anything to you. He's not even looking at you. You just saw that you're driving on I-95, and you saw that, you know, like a quarter mile ahead of you, 200 feet away from you, whatever it is, you see there's a cop car over there. Automatically, all of a sudden, you're like the best kosher driver in the world. 40 miles an hour on a 60. Two hands on the wheel.

56:15What happened? What happened all of a sudden? The music's off, the phone is shut off. "Honey, I gotta go." Everything. He looks like he's from somebody, he's from the country, he's like this. What happened to this? Driving like this, like he's rolling. What happened to that? Why? He saw a cop car. Now, how annoyed is he when he finally passes the cop car and he sees it's empty? Why? Because he feels he wasted the whole thing. Happens, by the way, every day, every time we go to shiur in Sunny Isles. There's always a cop car in the corner right next to the light. There's nobody there in that cop car. It's just the cop car to scare people. There's no one there. It's the best. But that's us. How about it? We see a cop car, we're scared to death. Rabbi Yochanan says, "May you fear HaKadosh Baruch Hu as much as you fear the cop car." Why? Because if you do fear Him... As much, you'll fear Him before every single thing that you do. Because He has a cop car everywhere. Before you do business, you're going to think, wait a minute, am I doing the right type of business? Yeah, okay. Before you get married, am I marrying the right person? Is she a kosher girl? Is he a kosher guy? Or he just cares about this, she cares about that? She wants to keep Shabbat, she wants to keep family purity? Or she's like, no, we'll grow together.

57:40go together, we'll see what happens. Well, we'll see what happens. Are you kosher today? Are you planning on being kosher when you're 90? No, you know, over time we'll do it together. After making every sin under the sun, a couple needs to know that in order to get married, you have to have the same goals before you get married, not figure it out after. That's why, in the Jewish world, when you go into a shidduch, there's no touching. There's no holding hands. There's no kissing. There's only talking. It's like business. What do you want? What do you want? What's your goal? What's your goal? 500 interviews of how many things you want, how many things you want, and then you compare and contrast. Okay, you want X, A, B, C, D, E, F, G? Okay, fine. A, I'm cool with it. B, okay. C, not so much. D, I can deal with it. Well, think about it. All right, what about you? A, B, C, D, E, F, G? 900 numbers? Why? It's the girl's list. She has more. Okay, so what do you want? You really want all that stuff? I can't afford all that stuff. "Don't worry, my father's rich." Okay, I want all of it. You can't just do that. You have to see if her goals are the same as your goals.

58:56This goes even when one of the people decides to marry based on things that are temporary. They decide on things that are temporary, and that's why the divorce rate keeps going higher. You have to look at the Torah; you have to understand the Torah is a manual for life. If you plan on building a family, you have to plan ahead. You have to plan ahead; you have to get the guidance from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. No one else knows as much. You have similar goals, spiritual goals first, everything else second. There's not a shame you'll succeed. But if she wants to go to the salon all day and all night, and you want to go to the yeshiva, most likely it's not gonna work out so well. Most likely it's not gonna work out so well even if her father's rich, even if his father's rich, even if everybody's rich. Why? Your ideologies are too far apart. She wants to live in this world; he's planning for Olam Haba. It doesn't work.

59:56Either you're both in the next world or you're both in this world, but usually, this world doesn't last very long. Now, the Gemara in Masechet Nedarim quotes a verse in the Chumash, in the Torah, in Parashat Yitro. In Parashat Yitro, we have a very interesting meeting with HaKadosh Baruch Hu where we get the Torah, we get the Ten Commandments. Now, what a lot of people don't know is that when you say, "I was scared to death," that expression actually comes from the Torah. It comes from Parashat Yitro. HaKadosh Baruch Hu said for the first time in history He spoke to the public. He spoke to millions of people at one time. Am Yisrael was there. Everyone heard His voice. Everyone saw His voice. Every time a word came out of His mouth, there was an image of the letters, of the sound in the sky. They saw the sounds and they heard the sounds. And from the fear, they all died. Everyone died.

1:01:24Shechina's extraordinary and unlimited ability resurrected them, brought them back to life. He said the second commandment, and guess what? They died again. They died again. So now it passed that He threw. He says to them something interesting. He says in chapter 20, verse 17, He says that... Am Yisrael says to Moshe, they spoke to Moshe, they say to him, "You speak to us, and we shall hear. Let God not speak to us, lest we die." In so many words...

1:02:25Moshe, you go deal with God, we'll do whatever He says. Why? Every time He talks, we die. It hurts to die. I don't want to die. Nobody wants to die. Am Yisrael said, we've already died twice. We don't want a third time. Enough. So Moshe says to them the most important lesson that a Jew needs to hear. Moshe Rabbeinu says to them, Al tira'u Moshe said to the people, "Do not fear, for in order to elevate you has God come, so that you have fear of Him. So that the fear of Him that you have shall be upon your faces, so that you shall not sin." The fear upon your faces... So the Gemara says, what does it mean to have fear upon our faces? And it says fear upon our faces is busha. It's having shame. You have to have shame in order to avoid sin.

1:03:39From there, we learn that busha, that having shame, is a good sign of a person's character trait. If you know somebody who is the most popular guy in school, the most popular guy in the building, the most popular girl everywhere, and everything seems good, guess what? That's not exactly the best character trait to have. Why? Because usually those people are very flamboyant, very flirtatious, very everywhere. It's not exactly the best thing. Even though people think it's the best, HaKadosh Baruch Hu disagrees. What did He say? He says, "I actually prefer the exact opposite. The one that's shy to himself. Not that he's antisocial, but he's shy to himself. He's just, she's just, you know, before she does anything, she thinks about it twice. She's not looking to be friends with every girl. She's not looking to be friends with every guy." has one friend, she has a parent, she has her kids. That's it. Simple life. She's not looking to be at every single party, every single bar mitzvah, every single wedding, invited to everything. No, she knows she wants a simple life: take care of my husband, take care of our kids. That's it. Enough. That's what you want to be. Why? Because that kind of attitude, that busha, that shyness, that embarrassment

1:04:57gonna lead you to sin. That's what HaKadosh Baruch Hu says. He says that busha panim is going to lead you to not sin. Now, the Be'er Mayim Chaim says anyone who is only shameless once, meaning he lost the shame for a moment, for sure he's gonna sin and... Anytime we don't have shame, for sure we're gonna sin. But he even elaborates and says anyone who is simply not shameful, who is shameless all the time, there is no way that his ancestors were at Mount Sinai. You should question his Judaism. Why? Because, Rabotai HaKedoshim, shame is one of the things that we took into our blood system, into our DNA as a people. It's hereditary. It's supposed to be in you. So now you're going to say, "So what, are you saying that most Jews today are not Jews?" No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that something went wrong. Something went wrong along the way. And the Rambam writes,

1:06:18And also the Rambam writes, and I went over this in my shiur about kosher intimacy. Any couple that wants to have a kosher life and beautiful kids and successful kids, but that are also kosher kids with holy neshamot, should watch that shiur. Why? Because it will teach you that intimacy, when a husband is with his wife, when a wife is with her husband, is also supposed to be kosher. Not that you're not allowed to have joy, not that you're not allowed to have fun, that's not what we mean. You can have fun, you can have joy, but it has to be according to the Torah. You can't act like an animal. You can't watch these movies and think you're going to be like that. That's how animals behave. We have to act like Jews. And Jews have certain things to do. Most importantly, you have to have shame. When a man is with his wife, If he is modest, he's only going to be with her at night. If she is modest, she's always going to remind him that even though it's night, and even though the room is dark, we're still going to cover ourselves. And everything we're going to do is under the blanket. We're not like some...

1:07:36Stereotypical Nazi-type mentalities think that people do it through a sheet or something like that. That's not what Jews do, but nonetheless, under a sheet. Why is it so important? I could also see you naked with or without the sheet. It's not for a kiddush Hashem. That modesty is for you. It's a reminder for you that you're not an animal, that you don't go in the streets and do your business and Unfortunately, today we are so far away from it that you have rabbis and rebbetzins having their Facebook profile hugging and kissing their wives, which, as the Shulchan Aruch says, is not allowed. You are not even allowed to show affection to your wife in public. This means we are so far away from what the Torah says that many of the so-called leaders are not even following it themselves. How do you expect the people to do it? Here's the key: All of you can see that this generation is not exactly the best generation we've ever had. You look at young kids today, with all due respect to you young guys and young girls, you're not exactly the best of breed in the world. You could be, but you're not the best. Our ancestors, be sure, were better than you. They were better than me also. The kids over 150 years ago, 200 years ago, 300 years ago were much better than us. And...

1:08:55When I was a kid, I was 10 years old, I already had three jobs. Kids today, kids today, when they're 10 years old, they're just finishing their Game Boy. They get their first job in their mid-20s. Sometimes the kid is 30 years old before he gets his first job. It's a different generation. Now, no one is happy with how their kids are turning out. That's the truth. Except the really, really... religious people that are glued to Hashem. The reason why the Rambam writes halacha, meaning this is a law in nature that HaKadosh Baruch Hu instilled, when a man is with his wife and they do it according to the Torah with modesty, the neshamot that they will create will come from a place of Kedusha and When they do things in a fun way, pleasurable way, it's no less fun. Don't think for a second that religious people have less fun, less joy. Complete nonsense. In fact, they have more fun. But it's kosher. It has to be done a certain way, with modesty and play and everything else. Guess what? That neshama that you produce comes from a bank of neshamot called guf.

1:10:16Full of kedusha, that neshama comes with shyness and shame and all the good character traits automatically. But then sometimes you see a kid. The rabbi tells them, "Hey, how come you're late today?" "Rabbi, shut up." What? Where'd you come from, Gehinnom? What happened to you? Yeah, that's where he came from. His parents weren't exactly modest; they wanted to be like the movies and ...wanted to be like the magazines; they wanted to be like the behemoth. And guess what? That's what they got as a kid. The neshama they produced came from a different place called impurity. Now, can that kid do teshuvah, become a big tzaddik, big tzaddeket? Absolutely. But there's going to be a learning curve. It's going to be a lot more difficult. Why? They're already coming with a mun... The generation that you have today, it's not a surprise to anyone that knows Torah. Anyone who knows Torah knows this is the outcome of the action. The less modest we are, the more problematic our kids. Because if you're not modest in the streets, you walk around with a miniskirt. You walk around with half your body showing to the average Joe. Everybody knows what you look like naked just simply by you walking around.

1:11:42Then what do you expect that girl to be modest in when she's with a husband? She's not modest in the streets. The guy looks at every girl that moves; you think he's gonna be modest at home? No chance in the world, and that's why the divorce rate increases and the kids get worse and worse. Because the generation we're producing is not exactly the ideal generation. Now, for any kid that was brought into this world. This shouldn't discourage you at all because we have a mission. Chazal say that the reward is based on the toil, meaning if it's more difficult for you to learn Torah than someone that was born into a different circumstance, if it's more difficult for you to overcome your anger than someone that was born into a different circumstance, if it's more difficult for you to overcome anything... Someone that was born into a different circumstance, guess what? If you overcome it, you will reach a much higher place than those people that were born into a better circumstance. That's why the Gemara says, "In a place that ba'alei teshuva stand, even tzaddikim gemurim can never reach."

1:13:06That was born into a good circumstance, good for him. He didn't have those tests, but he also can't reach that higher level. You can't reach that higher level because he didn't have those tests. So you can't get a reward for something you didn't have a test for. You overcame it; you overcame your anger, you overcame your stinginess, you overcame your desires, you overcame your obsessions, you overcame your addictions. Hazak u'Baruch! Just wait until you see all of us and... Now, the Mesilat Yesharim, the Ramchal, Rabbi Moshe Luzzatto, says something out of this world. In his Mesilat Yesharim, I mean every page, every paragraph, every line is a chiddush. But he says some things that really should make every single human being want to be a Baal Teshuva. Like, that's what we should aspire to be. Never, ever consider yourself a frum person. You're never frum enough. You're never religious enough. Always be ba'alei teshuva every day. Why? He says that the fools walk around confidently and end up stumbling and perishing without any prior awareness.

1:14:21It says in Mishlei, "The path of the wicked is like darkness; they know not what they stumble." He says a guy that walks around arrogant, thinking he's religious enough. She thinks she's religious enough because she looks a certain way. She has a mitpachat, she has this, she has that, her Shabbat table is $10,000, everything. He looks good, looks good from the outside. He says that's a fool. Why? She thinks she's finished with teshuva. She thinks she's finished. She's done. He thinks he's done. Because he has a big kippah on, he thinks he's done. He thinks his beard can sweep the floor, he thinks he's done. He says, that's a fool. That's a fool, such a fool that he doesn't even know what he's doing. It's like he's walking in darkness. And he's going to fall so far that when he arrives in Shamayim, at the Beit Din, he's going to have the surprise of his life. Why? Because he doesn't even realize that he's causing damage to himself. Because he has the Yetzer Hara parked. Parked in his heart, making him only do one thing, making him feel like he's doing enough. Whatever he's doing is enough now. Rav Shlomo Miller says in Mishlei (Proverbs) 14:16, he says, "The fool is filled with transgressions, yet he feels a hundred percent secure and..."

1:15:38Who is he talking about? He's talking about everybody. He's talking about everybody that feels like they don't have to do anymore. You know how many mitzvot I do? You know how much tzedakah I give? That's what people tell me all the time. You know how good I am? I said, no, you already told me. I can see it on you how good you are. You're so good. You're glowing. They said Moshe Rabbeinu's face was light. Your whole body is lighting. What do you mean how good you are? You think you're finished? You're still alive, Habibi. still alive; that means you have a long way to go. What else can I do? Apparently, a lot. Apparently, a lot. Why? Because if you didn't have a lot, you wouldn't be alive now. The yetzer hara tells him, "You're okay, you're fine, you're religious enough. You've already done teshuva for about 10 years. Enough's enough." That's the mistake. But he says the second error is even greater than the first. they end up seeing evil as if it's beneficial and good as if it's harmful. The person is so secure in himself that he starts seeing things upside down, like this one guy sent me a message yesterday or the day before

1:16:53about some guy that I spoke against, some rabbi, Erev Rav, that I spoke against about a year ago. I don't want to mention his name simply because last time I mentioned him, I made the guy more popular. People wanted to see who the criminal is, so his subscriber list doubled from 100 to 200 or something, whatever it was. But still, nonetheless, I don't want anyone to listen to this clown. So one of his cronies contacted me and said, "Listen, I saw your video. It's not nice. It's not this." And I want to give people the benefit of the doubt. I don't assume that they're cronies and they're reshaim. So I assume, okay, this guy really honestly doesn't understand what's going on. So let me explain to him. Everything I say has a source. Whether I say something from the Torah or something about a person, if I say it, for sure I have a source. Why? Number one, I know my opinion is meaningless. So automatically, I try to limit it. Number two, why should I just say things for what? What purpose do I get? What benefit do I get out of making stuff up? So if I tell you that somebody's wicked, I have a million and a half sources for it.

1:18:03Anyways, I can show you, no problem. Listen, this guy speaks against rabbis. He speaks against famous people. He speaks against the Torah. He does things opposite. Oh, can you show me? Okay, so I said I have a lot of proofs. I'll send them. I think I sent him like five or six. One video, the guy speaks against the top rabbis in Israel. He calls them Palestinians, calls them terrorists, and but don't talk about the shame. Talk about the heads, the top guys in the game. He calls them Palestinians, like they're terrorists because he doesn't like their rules. That already by itself makes this guy a criminal. Just by doing that, you're a criminal. Then he calls another famous rabbi all types of names, publicly writes entire posts, makes entire videos against this rabbi, and the guy's a tzaddik. No problem. I and I think the third one was he started changing halacha or something like that in regards to kashrut or something like that. So again, I have more information, I have more stuff to show, but I don't need to show the guy my whole deck of cards. This is enough information to show you this guy's a criminal. I'm not saying these things for no reason. This guy says, well, you know, I mean, he just said they're Palestinians. He didn't say that they're really bad people.

1:19:27Then he says, well, what he said about this rabbi, although it's a little harsh, maybe he didn't really mean it. Or maybe, you know, it was taken out of context. Or maybe they should just agree to disagree. This demented liberal term that was created in the last several years, "agree to disagree." What is that even? You either agree or you disagree. I What's "agree to disagree"? I'm never gonna agree to disagree. I don't agree with disagreeing. If I disagree with you, I disagree with you. That's it. Agree to disagree? What is that even? So every single thing that I gave him, the guy dissected and literally manipulated the truth. It's like I just showed you pork and you called it cheese. I love Israel. That's what the Ramchal is saying. He's saying the Yetzer Hara succeeds... With the religious people more than he does with the secular people. Gemara Masechet Sukkah. Secular people, once they live a secular life, Yetzer Hara doesn't even bother them most of the time. Why? They're doing it themselves. They're already addicted to girls. They're addicted to guys. They're addicted to Tumah. They're addicted to drugs. They're addicted to everything else by themselves. Yetzer Hara doesn't have to do anything. So where does the Yetzer Hara have the most amount of work? Religious people.

1:20:53making them feel they're religious enough. They're doing enough and all of a sudden their mentality changes to the extent where they start seeing the bad stuff as beneficial. He's defending a guy that goes against all of the daas Torah, saying in the name of some unknown rabbi and But when that guy says something against them, oh no, that's not right. That's not right. Makes the evil look as if it's beneficial and the beneficial as if it's harmful. And not only do they lack the ability to see the truth and to perceive the evil that's before them, they also think that they can find analytical proof. Concrete evidence to draw from life to support their evil ideas and their deceitful opinions. This, the Ramchal says in Chapter 3 of his Mesillat Yesharim. Now, if that were not enough, the Ramchal says, what is this person like? This person is like a prisoner of his own crimes and...

1:22:12Not falsely excused, accused. He's a criminal, and he put himself in jail. He's in spiritual jail. He's constantly making the crime worse and worse every single day. He says, "So, how am I gonna learn how to get out of this hole? How do I learn how to get out of this place?" The Ramchal says, "The way you get out of this hole is to go learn from someone who's a Baal Teshuva." because they have already left this prison and know the truth of these matters completely and are capable of advising others. Meaning the only way you're gonna get out of the prison is by listening to someone that got out of it before you. Now, the truth is, this is a lot more difficult than it sounds, and the reason why is because to do teshuva is The number one most important character trait is to be embarrassed, to be ashamed of your actions. If you're not ashamed, you're never gonna change. If you're not embarrassed, you're never gonna want to change. If you're not shy, if you don't have shame, if you don't have embarrassment, guess what? You're never gonna take anyone's advice because you're automatically gonna think either they want something from you or you know better. It’s just, it’s not yours. It’s theirs.

1:23:41And you're not going to want to hear it. And to do teshuva, you have to be all ears. You have to be a person that simply becomes a sponge. A sponge of information. Okay, I have to do this. Okay, I'm going to start doing it. I have to do this. I'm going to start doing it. This, this. Whatever you know, you start doing. You can be skeptical. You can analyze. But until you verify, you keep doing. We don't wait to find out how the antibiotic works before we use it. If we're sick, we use it. Your life, it doesn't look so good, start doing teshuva. Start doing mitzvot. Don't wait until you understand the entire significance and why and who and what this mitzvah is for. Start doing it, find out later. Because if you wait to find out the meaning behind every single mitzvah, you're never going to move forward. Now, that requires a character trait that's very difficult for people, which is to be embarrassed of ourselves, embarrassed of our mistakes, admitting that we have been living a mistake. The older you are, the more difficult that is to do. That's why the people that are younger, even though they have big desires when it comes to immodesty, promiscuity, sexuality, and so on. Young kids have much more than the older people, but yet...

1:25:07Every time a young guy or young girl watches a shiur about this issue, they start changing. A 15 or 16-year-old has hormones coming out of their ears. They watch that lecture and they start changing. They may not stop immediately, but it affects them. Affects him in a big way, it affects her in a big way. The guy that's 40, 50, or 60 years old can watch it 50 times and may not change at all, even though he doesn't have as many hormones. The difference is he's used to a certain life. He has a certain ego already, a certain comfort level already. It's much harder for him to go in a different direction now. The biggest thing that we learn from this parasha that's perhaps something we didn't pay attention to that has to do with our subject is that Yaakov Avinu asks Yosef a very interesting favor. He says, if you care for me, if you love me, if everything you say is true about me, then you will promise me and you'll swear to me by making this special handshake that they made three, four thousand years ago almost on their brit, and he says you're gonna bury me with Avraham and Yitzchak, with Adam HaRishon, where? In Me'arat HaMachpelah. Don't bury me here in Egypt. Now the truth is, rabbotai, why is it such a big deal?

1:26:26Then you will promise me and you'll swear to me by making this special handshake that they made three, four thousand years ago almost on their brit, and he says you're gonna bury me with Avraham and Yitzchak, with Adam HaRishon, where? In Me'arat HaMachpelah. Don't bury me here in Egypt. Now the truth is, rabotai, why is it such a big deal? Sometimes you have a parent telling their kids, "Listen, son, listen, daughter. Just do me a favor. Don't bury me in America when I die, whenever that is. Bury me in Israel. Or if you're gonna bury me in America, at least give me a nice grave." Oh, you know, they have questions. They have something to put in their will. It's not exactly such a big request, especially if you have so much money like Yosef HaTzaddik. I mean, he's a billionaire. He's not some Joe Schmo. He has the ability to do whatever he wants. Why is Yaakov, his father, making such a big deal out of this? No, let's do this b'rit. We shake on it, this, that. What's the big deal? Abba, you want me to bury you in the Ma'arat HaMachpelah? I'll bury you there. I'll bury you in heaven? I'll bury you there also. What's the big deal? The Chachamim say in Midrash Rabbah, Parashat Vayechi, that a person can show all types of shame

1:27:54embarrassment and good attitude and positivity to a person because of a condition, not necessarily because of a feeling. Meaning, you only respect them because he's your father, you only respect her because she's your wife, because she's your mother, she's your boss, he's your boss. You only respect them, value them, you're ashamed in front of them because they're standing in front of you, because of their position, and maybe only because they're alive, and... says the only way you're gonna really show whether you value this person, whether you really appreciate this person, whether you really are ashamed to go against what this person said to you, is after they die. And that's what Yaakov is telling Yosef here. The Midrash says Yaakov is not asking Yosef, "What do you feel now?" He says to him, "I'm gonna know what you really feel and how embarrassed you are to go against my word and how much you care only after I'm no longer here to defend myself. Only after I'm dead. I'm asking you to bury me in Ma'arat HaMachpelah. But the reality is, if you don't, there's nothing I can do about it."

1:29:13you come up with excuses, because you have your visceral feelings. You think you're important, and you could send somebody to do it. I'm not saying you're going to bury me in the slums. You might send me there, but you're not going to be doing it yourself. So, after I'm dead, then I'll know what you really feel. That, Rabotai, is a priceless lesson for all of us. Because when you think about it, a lot of the things we do are because of circumstances, not because we really feel. The ideal Jew starts doing things he feels, which means that you're going to have to evaluate your feelings and see if these feelings are right or wrong. Is the fact that I'm annoyed by my mom right now and I don't feel like calling her, is that right or wrong? Is the fact that I yelled at my dad, Because he said this and that to me. Is that right or wrong? Is the fact that I did this to my brother right or wrong? You have to evaluate it. Oh, it's wrong? So it's wrong under all conditions. It's wrong whether they're alive or not. It's wrong whether they're here or not. It's wrong whether they're in front of me or not. It's wrong whether they realize I did it or not. It's wrong whether they know or not. It's wrong whether they see or not. It's wrong, it's wrong. That's who you have to become.

1:30:34You have to get to a point where you're the same inside and outside. You're real. Don't be a faker. Hashem doesn't like fakers. That's what Yaakov is asking Yosef. Don't be a faker. You love me, you honor me, everything, do it when I'm dead too. If you're not going to do it when I'm dead, stop it now already. But let's not pretend. The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat, page 119b, says that this lack of embarrassment between each other, this massive epidemic of fakeness, of hypocrisy, is what destroyed the Beit HaMikdash. There are many things that chipped the stones. Everyone knows Sinat Chinam. Everyone knows Lashon HaRa. Everyone knows murder, everyone knows all of these different things, but the truth is if you look at the Gemara, it's not just one reason. There could be a first reason, there could be a last reason, but there's a bunch of reasons in between. One of them that's critical, that's a foundational reason, is when we lost respect for each other. We started being fake. We smiled in your face, but we spoke against you after you left.

1:31:59People keep doing it. When he bumped me, he hugged me. Many times, Hashem says, "In their mouth, in their lips, they gave me kavod, they gave me honor, but their hearts were far away from me." They paid me lip service, Hashem says. But it's not just them; it's also to each other. We tell each other, "Hey, what's up? Okay, I see." As soon as the guy leaves, "Oh, you see how much money I took from him? You see how much money I took from her? You see this? See that?" That's a problem. It's not a problem just with the person; it's a problem with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Now, if a person is not going to learn Torah on a regular basis, or the Torah that he's going to learn is going to be fake, it's going to be Torah that's like driving on neutral down a hill. You don't have to do anything. It's one of those Torahs that pretty much he goes to the shiur, he watches it, he could fall asleep, he could be awake, nothing changes. A person learns that type of Torah, or he doesn't learn at all, he's going to be an am ha'aretz, he's going to be an ignorant person. And the Torah speaks very, very critically against people that are ignorant. So much so, that the Gemara Masechet Pesachim, page 49,

1:33:16says that if you let your daughter marry an ignorant person, it's like feeding her to the lion. Why? What's the lion have to do with an ignorant person? He says, just like the lion eats and mates whenever he feels like it, he doesn't really care if the female lion wants to or doesn't want to. He doesn't really care if someone wants to be his lunch or doesn't want to be his lunch. He does whatever he wants. He says the Am Ha'aretz is also the same. He's going to be with your daughter whenever he feels like it, whether she wants to or she doesn't want to. And he's going to eat like a pig whenever he wants or doesn't want. He doesn't care about anything. Why? He doesn't know the truth. He doesn't have any shame. He doesn't know what he's supposed to be like. Needless to say, you yourself have to learn. Why? Because how could you expect your daughter to marry a Talmid Chacham if you don't even know Aleph Bet? No one says that you have to become some big rabbi, a huge Talmid Chacham, but you have to at least know something. You have to know how to live day-to-day life. Now, the funny thing is, what's the connection between the Tzaddik and Am Ha'aretz?

1:34:31Or the religious, I should say. And the Am Ha'aretz, the same Gemara, same Gemara, tells us that sometimes the Am Ha'aretz, the ignorant person, is preferred more than the religious guy, the guy that's born religious. Sometimes HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells us, "Go stick with this guy. Don't go to the religious guy." Why? If the guy that's religious, he goes to shul a couple of times a day, he puts on tefillin like everybody else, his sukkah is in front of his house, in his backyard, he has a lulav, he has an etrog, he eats matzah, he's a regular guy. But he's not shy. He's not shame-faced. He doesn't really care so much about what people think. He walks around like a garbage pail sometimes. When he walks around, there's a stench that follows him because he forgot to take a shower in the last three years.

1:35:33When he says something, it's like vomit coming out because he hasn't brushed his teeth in a year. When he talks to you, he makes sure that you're embarrassed from toe to head, head to toe. He doesn't care about anything. He's religious by looks. Actions, not so much. A person with bad character traits. A person who doesn't listen to Mussar, doesn't listen to any type of advice. His wife tells him, "Please, honey, help me out with the kids." He says, "No, no, you do it. You're the wife." Okay, I'm the wife. You're the husband. You contribute. Yeah, yeah. No, no. Go away. Shoo. I'm with my friends. A husband like that is like a garbage pail, except the garbage pail you can use multiple times. This husband is only worth a dime. What do you do with this person? Now he says he's religious. He's religious. The Maharal says an ignorant person is better than him. Why? Someone that knows that there's Torah but still acts with bad character traits, a dead animal is even better than him. Now, which type of Am Ha'aretz is better than him? Which type of ignorant person is better than him? An ignorant person that's generous and has a little bit of shame. I don't have to have Moshe Rabbeinu's shame, just a little bit of shame. Why? That guy, he's a perfect candidate to help him do teshuva. And that's why...

1:36:55Rav Avraham Yaakov HaKohen Pam, known as "Rav Avraham Yaakov," was called the prison rabbi. He would go to prisons and give lectures to the inmates and help them do teshuva. He was like a specialist with gangsters in the streets, in the prisons, all types of places. Now, what, is he bored with his life? Why are you going to put your life at risk hanging out with some gangsters? He would look at each person and wouldn't just look; he wouldn't try to help everyone. No, no, what he would do is look for the guy that he saw was a little bit ashamed, had a little bit of shyness. How did he know? One time, It was a guy that would come to pray with him once in a while. And every time he would come, he had his kippah on, he'd put on tefillin and so on. But as soon as he left the shul, the tefillin go in the bag, the kippah goes in the pocket, and he goes back to crime. One day, Rav Aryeh Levin sees him in the street, and the guy's not wearing his kippah.

1:38:02And he sees the Rav. And he's so embarrassed, he starts running away. He's embarrassed from the Rabbi, so he starts running away. So the Rabbi starts running after him. The old man is running after him. He's running. The Rabbi is running. And the guy is embarrassed even more now. The Rabbi is chasing him. So he stops. He goes, Rabbi, why are you chasing me? He goes, I want to know. Why are you running away from me? That's why I'm chasing you. He goes, I'm embarrassed. Why are you embarrassed? Because I'm not wearing my kippah. He goes, oh, listen. He saw that the guy has some shame in him. He's embarrassed. He's not embarrassed of Hashem. He's embarrassed of the Rabbi. He says, that's already a good character. That's already a good point. He says, listen, I'm a very short Rabbi. I only see up to your heart. I only see up to your heart. That's all I see. The guy saw this. It's geshmak. So the rabbi is real. The guy is real. This is a special neshama. This is not just your typical, average guy. Sometimes you have people like this.

1:39:05Interestingly enough, there are many of them around the world. Usually, they're Israelis or some type of tradition from Sefardim. Most of them are very, very emotional people, very nice people, and they're also asking a question like that. But sometimes, you have the exact opposite. You have the exact opposite. So, how do you know who to help? Who is willing to accept some of it? Who is willing to accept some constructive criticism? Who is embarrassed by their wrongdoings? If they think that everything they do is good, they’re not embarrassed by anything; they’re one of those people who says, “I have no regrets.” You say you have no regrets, I'm going to the next customer. perfect as I am. Okay, next. You're perfect, perfect. You know what? I'll give you a check mark here, check mark. I'll put a check mark on you. Perfect, but next. He thinks he's perfect. She thinks he's perfect, next. They don't have any shame; they do whatever they do and they publicize it to the world. Next, a person that does not have any shame, no embarrassment, no...

1:40:25no thought whatsoever that there's even anything wrong with what they're doing or that they've ever done wrong. Don't even bother There are too many precious souls that are embarrassed, that are a little bit ashamed, that are willing to listen to some advice that may not necessarily be the most wonderful news, but nonetheless it's valuable. Go to them, help them. Don't debate with these akshanim, with these stubborn people that just want to tell you their opinion but care less about yours. You work three hours on some letter to show them all the proofs in the world. Within two and a half minutes, they've already responded, ignoring every single point you made. Why? Because they don't care about what you say; they just want to be heard. Next. Next, there's too many precious souls, there's too many valuable souls out there that are willing to listen, that are willing to change, and... Go focus on them. Stop going into these, people go into these debates online, on Facebook and YouTube, and they have 5,000 comments against each other. You don't know, you don't know, you don't know, you don't know. Guess what? At the end, none of them know. None of them know because neither one read each other's opinion. Everyone wants to show how smart they are, and at the end, they're all stupid. Why? Because they all stayed with the same exact information. No one actually watched the shiur. No one learned from anyone.

1:41:55we are a people that are called "People of the Book." We are people that are called smart. No nation thinks we're stupid; even our enemies know we're smart. What do you think makes us smart? We're not born smart. We're not born any smarter than everybody else. But we try harder; we learn; we put effort into things, and Regular kosher Jew already reads a 400-page book every single day. It's called a siddur. Every day you read a 400-page book not just for starters. That's not including the Gemara you're gonna read. That's not including the Mishnah you're gonna read. It's not including the Chumash you're gonna read. Parashat HaShavua—another 30-40 pages. That's not including your job either. You may be an analyst. You may read another 500 pages there. Guess what? You read all that stuff. Eventually, you become smart. Eventually, you buy buildings. If the people from Brooklyn want to buy buildings, you do the same thing. You want to be smart. Make yourself smart. Work on it. But if we want to remain smart, we have to continue doing this. The only reason why we've become such an ignorant people now is because we stopped.

1:43:17Stopped reading as much. We stopped praying as much. We asked the rabbi, "What's the shortest way I could pray Shacharit? Can I just do Shema Yisrael and that's it?" "Oh, Amidah also? Wow, you're strict. You're strict, rabbi. We're like Satmar. What are you? What are you? Hamas? What are you, rabbi?" "All right, the whole thing. No, can I do like a half Amidah? Is there like a short version of Amidah? Can I just do the Baruch and then run away?" How about this? Don't do anything. Who needs your prayer? The prayer is for you, habibi. The prayer is for you. When you say, Oseh shalom bimromav, you're not saying shalom to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. You are recognizing that you are insignificant, nothing, and you're far away from the amazing place you were in when you prayed. You were next to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, you little nothing. You're saying shalom because now you're back to the rest of the nothings, next to you, next to me, next to everybody else, all of us. Nothings. If you don't think that's a special moment, don't do it, b'chalal. Who needs it? Stop looking for shortcuts. Value your prayers. Read your Siddur. Read your Chumash. Understand where you came from. Yeah, but I read it before. You know everything? Rashi read it a million and a half times. Did you read it as much? When you read it a million and a half times, you can stop too.

1:44:41When you read the Gemara a million and a half times, you can stop also. But until then, you have to keep going. Why? Because that's what makes us a people. That's what makes us the people of the book. You have to try harder. You have to work harder. Because that's the only way we're going to get out of the hole that we're in. Hashem is giving us some strong signs right now. There's all types of hate everywhere. There's all types of geopolitical risks. There's all types of financial risks. The whole ship can sink in 24 hours. I'm being generous with the 24 part; everything can sink in a second, or everything can continue for a little longer and give us more time to do teshuvah. Either way, if you start taking things seriously... You start doing teshuvah, you start improving your actions, you start improving your marriage, you start improving your business, you start improving yourself as a human being, you start improving your Yiddishkeit, you start learning Torah on a daily basis, making that the number one priority in your life, it doesn't matter whether the whole world blows up or not. Why? You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay. Why? HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to protect those people that are good.

1:45:52This is not like the previous generations where He killed a bunch of people because He had to reincarnate them and give them another chance. There are no more reincarnations. If you're good now, you survive. You're finished. You don't have to worry about anything. People are worried, oh, should I move to Eretz Yisrael? Why? Should I move to America? Why? Should I move to Honolulu? Why? You should move to teshuva, you should move maybe to the shiur Torah, sleep here wherever we are. You should move inside the Chumash, inside the Gemara, that you should move to there. Places that are not going to help you. Why? Because the only thing that's going to help us is getting closer to Hashem. Those missiles are not going to hurt people that are close to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. But remember, there's only one real way of getting close to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. One guy told me yesterday, "You know, Rabbi..." I'm not that religious, but I'm very spiritual. I love those types of people. Why? Because they don't even know they drink poison every day. They think it's Coca-Cola because the poison tastes good. Rabotai, real Torah, a Torah life, means that your religiosity, your servitude of Hashem, your mitzvot...

1:47:08Your understanding of the Torah increases simultaneously with your spirituality. The more you learn Torah, the more spirituality you have. You could have just knowledge with no spirituality. There are many people that have some basic knowledge, but they don't have real closeness or emunah in Hashem. It's a very miserable life, but it does exist. The way it's supposed to be, the more Torah, the more spirituality. So it can be both. It can be just Torah, but it cannot be just spirituality. Because spirituality without Torah is simply one big life of lies. That's all it is. You're lying to yourself that you're close to Hashem, while you're disobeying everything He says. It's like saying to your wife, "I love you," while you're hugging your girlfriend. It's the dumbest thing in the world. And the reality is, when a person goes against Hashem, yes, he says, "I'm close to Hashem, He understands me," and you're right, He does understand you, and He's reserving a place for you. It's not Gan Eden though, I'll tell you a secret. Rabotai, the missiles are for us. The enemies are for us.

1:48:35antisemitism is for us, not to hurt us. To change us, to improve us, to get us to do more. Whatever you're doing, do more. Get other people to do more. Do more kiruv, help your community. This is one of the most critical things that every Jew has to do, especially Jews with money. The most miserable people in the world the time of Mashiach. Rav Elchonon Wasserman writes in his epic work about Mashiach. He writes that the people who are going to be the most miserable are of two types: one is the false leaders and two is the people that had a lot of money and didn't use it to publicize Torah, didn't use it to help Am Yisrael do teshuva. Those are going to be the two groups of people that get punished the most. Why? Because those two were, in essence, the last hope for Hashem to help His nation do teshuva and... You have money? Instead of helping Am Yisrael do teshuva, you bought another building that you don't need? That means you used the money and the gift that Hashem gave you against Him. The same thing goes with the people that are false leaders who tell people that everything is okay, even though it's really not. They tell people that they're perfectly tzaddikim even though they drive on Shabbat. Those people also get punished the worst.

1:49:53Today, Baruch Hashem, there was a small down payment that Hashem gave one of the reshaim in the world from London. If you guys remember, some time ago I spoke to you guys about this big rasha, the head rabbi of the UK, of England, Mirvis the rasha, Ephraim Mirvis. He's the head rabbi there. He thinks he's the gadol hador. The guy is an anti-Torah reform that pretends to be Orthodox. He does a lot of things that are against the Torah. He befriends Christians and Muslims; he does all types of things against the Torah. He tells his people to pray a special prayer for soccer teams— all types of nonsense. Baruch Hashem, today... HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave him a small down payment. Why? Because some time ago, he got in the way of Kiruv. Rav Mizrahi was invited to do a big, big event in London to help Am Yisrael do teshuva. But Mirvis didn't like it. So he got in the way since he's politically strong, and

1:50:54He's got a lot of connections with the Erev Rav because he's one of the leaders of it. So they got in the way. They threatened Rav Mizrahi. So Rav Mizrahi says, okay, trip's canceled. He didn't bother going. So that means that all those thousands of people that would have actually listened and possibly done teshuva, now they don't have it. He thought he won. He thought he won. So Baruch Hashem, today, HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave him a small little down payment. What happened? was a huge event in the UK, meaning in his backyard, not in America. Uh, no, no, in the UK, in his comfort zone. He's the head rabbi, huge event. All the biggest rabbis from Israel, all the biggest rabbis from Israel are showing up. Last minute, all the biggest rabbis, including some Kohanim and a few other huge rabbis, publicized a big sign: "None of us are coming. We're not coming. Cancel the event." Why? "If Mirvis HaRasha is coming, we're not coming." Guess what? His own country says, "Mirvis, you're not allowed to come. Why? Because you're going to ruin the whole event. Stay home, Mirvis. Stay home."

1:52:07This is a small, tiny, little payment, a small, tiny, little payment, but you know what? We need it. You know what? We need it because sometimes, sometimes it's so painful to see the Reshaim win. It's like, "Hashem, please do something to show, like a little something, like a little treat." Not that we benefit in any way, but you see that HaKadosh Baruch Hu—if you would have given the guy cancer or something, it's hard to say all this is connected to this. But this, you see, this is Mama’s custom service. It’s like a custom suit. It fits perfect. You got in the way of Kiruv. You tried to publicly embarrass a big rabbi. Guess what? You got a bigger embarrassment. In your own backyard. In your own backyard nonetheless. This, Rabotai, is a little bit of a sign for us. Not that we look for signs, but it’s a sign for us. What? HaKadosh Baruch Hu is watching. HaKadosh Baruch Hu is running the show. For us to do teshuva. He's giving every one of us a chance. If you could see this clearly, to you this is amazing. You don't see it clearly? Like, no, it is not connected. It has nothing to do with it. It's politically driven. You're going to make up all the excuses. All the excuses in the world. It's important, Rabotai, that we understand that all of the things that are happening in the world are for us.

1:53:28All of them for us to do teshuva, for us to get closer and closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This will help us get closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Tomorrow night, we have a shiur in Sunny Isles, with questions and answers. But hopefully, this one will give us enough chizuk to help some more people do teshuva.