TISHA B'AV MUSSAR: What We LOST and Why

0:18In the name of G-d, we will do and succeed. In the name of G-d, we will do and succeed. Special cheer tonight regards to Tisha B'Av, Day of Mourning for Am Yisrael, really a day of mourning for the entire world. The question is why? What are we really missing here? You know, if you ask people, most of the time they just tell you about the Churban Beit HaMikdash, but... special cheer tonight regards to Tisha B'Av, Day of Mourning for Am Yisrael, really a day of mourning for the entire world. The question is, why? What are we really missing here? You know, if you ask people, most of the time they just tell you about the Churban Beit HaMikdash, but Today, b'ezrat Hashem, we will try to find out what that really means. So today, the shiur will be for iluy nishmat, Tzach ben Ilana, and lehavdil, refuah shlema for Tanya Tamar bat Zulpa. Also, David ben Esria, Doris bat Jorah, Dvorah bat Mercedes,

1:43Esther bat Zipporah, Rabbi Ephraim ben Shulamit, Rabbi Nitzara bat Anat, Rabbi Chaim ben Vitor ben Jorah, Rabanit Shulamit bat Najima, Rabanit Levana bat Sara, and all of Am Yisrael will have refuah shleimah, refuat hanefesh, refuat haguf. And also a special hatzlacha rabah for Shimshon ben Tanya Tamar. also the Montenegro family, and Shaul ben Farzaneh, Oshri ben Doris, Gabi ben Doris, Elad ben Doris, and all of the wonderful sponsors and supporters of Irgun Be'ezrat Hashem,

3:03whether it's the past campaigns or the current one that we're doing right now to raise some money to help some poor people that are struggling in Eretz Yisrael, especially with this coronavirus situation and how much it hurt the economy more than others. The people that were already struggling are in a very difficult time right now. So, Baruch Hashem, we... are becoming a shaliach of Hashem to try to help as many people as we possibly can. And Baruch Hashem, many people want to be partners in this chesed. So, the topic tonight is, what did we lose? Meaning, what is really the Beit HaMikdash? And why? Now, superficially, what did we lose? We lost the Beit HaMikdash. Anyone that thinks that we're crying over a building is simply a fool. Because there are many buildings. You go to New York, huge buildings. You go to Dubai, huge buildings. You go to Los Angeles, huge buildings.

4:28Go to Shanghai, huge buildings. Are we crying over a building for 2,000 years? We're not crying for a building. We're crying for what the building represented, what happened inside the building, what happened outside the building, what it really means to not have the building. This Beit HaMikdash was much, much more than a building can ever represent. And it's also not to be understood for people to say, "Okay, fine, so maybe they did the korbanot, the sacrifices, at the Beit HaMikdash, so that's probably why we're crying." Although that is the avodah of the Kohanim, and the Leviim was a very big deal. Bringing a korban to Hashem is a very big deal. But Chazal teach that after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, the prayers that we pray every day, Shacharit, Mincha, and Arvit, replace our korbanot, our sacrifices.

5:56And it's not something new, because we actually had those same prayers at the time we were at the Beit HaMikdash. While we were making sacrifices, we were also praying. Why? Because the prayer, even back then, was much more valuable than the sacrifice. So, part of the Avodah, we still have technically. So we're not necessarily just crying because we're missing korbanot. The second question is, why did we lose? You could say the sinat chinam, baseless hatred, lashon hara, avodah zarah, gilui arayot, these are different reasons that both Batei Mikdash were destroyed. But really, if you look at the Gemara, those are just a few of the reasons. In fact, to estimate, the Gemara has probably around 40 different reasons of why HaKadosh Baruch Hu destroyed His own house. So we like to say lashon hara because in today's world that is the easiest thing to talk about. Why? Nobody feels too guilty about it because everybody else is guilty too.

7:24You know, if everybody else is a criminal, you don't feel so much like a criminal. You feel normal. If you're the only one that's a criminal, let's say, for example, it's murder. And there's a room full of people, a thousand people, and the rabbi is giving a shiur about how the Beit HaMikdash is not being built because one guy in this room murdered somebody. And you're the guy. The whole Beit HaMikdash, everybody has to suffer. The whole world has to suffer. The whole Jewish community has to suffer. The whole world has to suffer. 8 billion people are getting cancer, AIDS, all types of epidemics, coronavirus, problems with pregnancy, problems with financial conditions, all that because there's no Beit HaMikdash. Why? Because you murdered one person. Of course, you're going to feel guilty. But if the Torah tells you that it's Lashon Hara, And you know too well that, yeah, you're guilty, but so is he, and he, and he, and he, and her, for sure, her, her, her, her, pretty much everybody. You don't feel so bad about it so much. Well, it's not my fault. Okay, even if I stopped, nothing would change. Nothing would change. So it's very easy to say it's Lashon Hara because everyone's guilty. And the truth be told, anyone that learns a little bit

8:51A little bit, a lot of bit, the Chafetz Chaim's laws of Lashon Hara. It's very extensive halachot. So many words, unless you're saying Divrei Torah, now let's talk. Don't talk. That's how hard it is. That's how hard it is. People always ask me, you know, "You want to meet for coffee?" No. "Maybe for dinner?" No, I'll eat at home. Why would I give you a phone call? For what reason? No, I just need to talk about a few things, maybe we could chat a little bit. Sorry, I don't have that kind of time. When do you have that time? Never. Number one, it's because I get 300 plus questions a day I have to deal with. Number two, because I don't want to chit-chat. Why? If I chit-chat, like any other human being... It's very possible I'll start saying Lashon Hara about something. I don't want to say Lashon Hara. I don't want to go to Gehinom. I don't want to get punished. I'd rather not talk. I want to say it's Divrei Torah. And if it's Divrei Torah, I have 2,000 shiurim online. What do you need to talk to me for? No mundane talking. Why? No reason. The Mishnah in Avot says that a person has to be careful talking to his own wife. Mundane talk.

10:14Needless to say to other people. So, if I could barely talk to my own wife, mundane talk, surely I have to be careful before I talk to somebody else. So Lashon Hara, you type it on the internet, most likely next to Shalom Bayit, the most talked about topic out there. How many people say Lashon Hara? Almost everyone. In fact, if you don't say Lashon Hara, maybe I have to put you in a mental institution. Why? Because most people either do it intentionally because they simply don't care, or they don't even know that what they're saying is Lashon Hara. They don't even know that what they're saying is Lashon Hara. Like, the example, the best example is, I'm not saying any name, but you know, that guy lives in that building, but I'm not going to say any names. You know, they don't think it's Lashon Hara. I'm not going to imply who it is, but I'm not going to say the name. If you say the name, that is Lashon Hara. Oh no, you know, he just got a raise, and the guy is making a million dollars now, instead of a hundred thousand. I'm complimenting him, it's good, no? Lashon Hara.

11:30Who told you that he wants you to publicize how much money he has? Oh, you know what happened? They got divorced. Lashon Hara. Oh, the kid didn't get accepted into school. Lashon Hara. Everything is Lashon Hara. In so many words, don't talk. So to say that the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed based on Lashon Hara, it's hard. It's easy, but it's hard. It's easy because we're all guilty. It's hard because it'll never be rebuilt if that's what we have to fix. So it has to be something that's deeper. In years past, in our shiurim about Tisha B'Av, there's always a few people crying in the crowd. And I always cry preparing for it. And the reason why is because What we lost is a lot more than a building. And some of the things we'll go over today are not going to be the most pleasing things in the world to hear. But nonetheless, they need to be heard because this is the day to learn them. This is the day to know them. And in reality, this needs to carry us to teshuva.

12:51So, b'ezrat Hashem, we don't have to be here sitting on the floor next year because we made enough people do teshuva that Mashiach will come in a good way. But either way, even if we can't get other people to do teshuva, at the very least we can get ourselves to do teshuva. At the very least, hopefully all of us exit this sad day as Baalei Teshuva, finally. Now, the biggest thing that people do not know about the Beit HaMikdash, as far as what happened there and so on, is that there's a lot more than just the Korbanot. You see, the Gemara in Masechet Yoma, Page 9 says that there were five differences between the first Beit HaMikdash and the second Beit HaMikdash. The first Beit HaMikdash had the Aron HaKodesh, which inside it had both sets of Luchot HaBrit, one that HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself made

14:20And Moshe broke the Luchot because Am Yisrael sinned with the golden calf, or the Erev Rav sinned with the golden calf, but Am Yisrael did not rebuke them. Therefore, they were guilty too and nearly got themselves wiped out as a result of not rebuking, as a result of not... telling the Erev Rav to cut it out as a result of simply staying quiet because they didn't want to have any machloket. And the first Beit HaMikdash had the broken Luchot HaBrit in it. It also had the second pair that Moshe Rabbeinu made. It also had the Sefer Torah that Moshe Rabbeinu wrote himself. Before he died, he wrote 13 Sifrei Torah, miraculously all in one day. One for each of the Shevatim, and one for the Aron HaKodesh. So that Sefer Torah was in there. Later on, the Kohanim would hide this Sefer,

15:35And it was lost for hundreds of years. They couldn't find it because they were hiding it from the Goyim that came to attack the Beit HaMikdash, and they forgot where they hid it. For many years, they didn't know where it was. But later on, they found it, only to lose it again with the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. But that was in it. The staff of Aharon was in it. All types of wonderful, extraordinary things. Imagine that in the next shiur Torah, I tell you we're going to have a shiur about a single proof in the Torah that by itself should make all of you Chareidim, Yirei Shamayim. And ba'alei emunah, all in one shot. Everyone would want to join that shiur. And the shiur will last two minutes. Not two hours. You're even more excited. Next shiur, I bring you a little piece of glass showcasing what's inside. What's inside? The manna.

17:02The manna bread that we had in the desert for 40 years. Imagine you saw food from G-d. Not food you're buying from the store, it's also from G-d. Talk about achshei mamash, came down from heaven. Bring it to you. In a shiur, here you go, is the manna bread. You know what? Because I like you guys, each one can have a little piece. Any flavor you want, every one of you verified that it's any flavor you want. He wants chocolate, he wants steak, he wants milkshake, he wants bubble gum, everybody, he wants egg and cheese, he wants a taste of bacon because it's not kosher when it's real, so it's kosher when it's manna. Whatever it is, everybody gets their flavor and everybody verifies it is 100% fresh. Some of the younger guys want to test out the system to see if they can change the taste while they're chewing, so the first bite they want steak, the second bite they want it to be cheese. Can I still do it? And it happens. and all of you see it. You need any more shiurim after that? To believe that HaKadosh Baruch Hu created the world? To believe that you have to fulfill every one of His mitzvot? No. After you have the manna in front of you, finished. Well, guess what? That was inside the Aron HaKodesh in the Beit HaMikdash. That was inside the Aron HaKodesh. We had an enormous...

18:22enormous place where anyone with eyes was able to see the Shechinah and open miracles every single day. 410 years and not a single zvuv, not a single mosquito, not a single fly ever roamed around Beit HaMikdash. Despite the fact that they had hundreds and hundreds of animals being slaughtered daily. You go to your local butcher; if there isn't a fly there, that means the meat is fake. Even if your wife is cooking and she left the door open, flies are coming to eat also. Beit HaMikdash, not a single fly. Nothing.

19:23Throughout the years, not a single woman had a miscarriage. Just in the last two months, three different women that I know had miscarriages. That's just the ones I know about. I don't say, "Oh yeah, he sinned, he said he could." One better than the next. Miscarriages. Rav Tzion Abba Shaul, his wife, Tzadika, from what I heard, she had nine miscarriages. Or ten. Gadol HaDor, his wife, miscarriages. Nightmare. Beit HaMikdash, no miscarriages. Best yet, the Gemara says that when they made sacrifices,

20:26a fire from heaven would come down in the image of a lion and consume the korban. In the second Beit HaMikdash, it was the shape of a dog, though. And the Gemara in Masechet Yoma says that's because the second Beit HaMikdash was controlled by the Satan. Whereas the first one was a hundred percent Hashem. Why? There was a lot more Yetzer Hara in the second Beit HaMikdash. But if you look at the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash, it says it got destroyed because of Avodah Zarah, Shfichut Damim, Gilui Arayot—idol worship, murder, and immorality. Three sins. Second Beit HaMikdash, Lashon Hara, one sin. So how is it that the first one, that had the Shechinah itself, a lion, coming down from heaven every day, Aron HaKodesh, prophets everywhere, three sins, fixed within 70 years, Second Beit HaMikdash is built. Second Beit HaMikdash, 420 years,

21:54once in 1952 years, and it still hasn't been built. Which the Gemara says, any generation that lives when the Beit HaMikdash is still not here, they are the same as the one that destroyed it themselves. Meaning, had the Beit HaMikdash been here today, our generation, which includes us—I don't think we're pointing at other people; it starts here—our generation would have caused it to be destroyed. Because if we don't have the merit to build it, that means we do not have the merit for it to exist either. One sin, how could it be? You look at it from the surface: speech crime, one thing. Shefichut damim, murder? Shem yishmor. For any rational person, murder is much worse than lashon hara. On top of it, idol worship? Shem yishmor. Much worse than lashon hara. Worship another god? There are many people today that worship another god and they don't even realize it. One fool tells Rav Ephraim just yesterday, "Yeah, no, no, I do everything."

23:17I put on tefillin, I have a kippah, I keep Shabbat, I keep kosher. Just one thing I don't agree with. What don't you agree with? I don't believe Hashem runs the world anymore. What do you mean? I think He created the world, he says. I think He created the world, then He left. He doesn't care. I just do the tefillin, the kippah, the tzitzit, the Shabbat. It's tradition. I do it. It's nice. I like it. But I don't actually think Hashem cares. Rabbi Ephraim says to him, "You're not a dati. You're not religious. You're not a shomer Shabbat. You are the same as the Gemara says…" a monkey that does whatever for no reason. The monkey goes like this, you think he's saying hello. No, he's just moving his arm. You don't light fire on Shabbat, they think you're keeping Shabbat. No, it's just you don't feel like lighting fire on Shabbat, that's why. Why, you put the tefillin on? No, you just like the way it looks.

24:28You're a kof. You're a monkey. Why? The minute you say something that's against the 13 Principles of Faith, you're a monkey. Everything you're doing is worth zero, he says to him. Why? That's what the Rambam says. So there are some people who fulfill mitzvot, but they violate the 13 Principles of Faith on a regular basis. Knowingly, they just feel like it's their own prerogative to just pick which ones they want to follow. Well, they figure, listen, I'm keeping 12 out of the 13. That should be good. So what if I don't believe in the resurrection of the dead? What's the big deal? So what if I don't believe that the Mashiach is going to come? What's the big deal? So what if I don't believe in reward and punishment? What's the big deal? The big deal is Yaakov Avinu. A monkey, that's what you are. Why? Because you're missing the whole point. We don't do it because it makes sense. We do it because God said so. And when a person does not understand that, he's not going to understand the rest of what we're going to talk about. He's not going to understand why we're all sitting on the floor, mourning that the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed for something that's hard for us to understand.

25:56How could Lashon Hara be so much worse than murder, idol worship, immorality, wasting seed? The truth is, Rabotai, it was a lot more than just Lashon Hara. But it's just like the generation of Noach. The generation of Noach, Rabotai, made a lot of sins. The generation of Noach committed many sins. Idolatry, immorality, stealing from each other. Homosexuality—they made it legal. They even made a chuppah between men and men, women and women. But the straw that broke the camel's back was when they started stealing from each other.

26:58So no one actually thinks that the reason why Hashem destroyed the world in the generation of Noach was because of stealing. It's just that was the straw that broke the camel's back. The Zohar HaKadosh says the biggest reason was the immorality: the fact that they were wasting seed and homosexuality. That was the reason why Hashem destroyed the world. He said such a world does not have a right to exist. The same concept goes for the time of the second Beit HaMikdash. It wasn't just Lashon Hara. But that was the straw that broke the camel's back. So how do we get to that? How did we get to that? Now in the Midrash Mishlei, in Perek Aleph, it talks about a meeting between Shlomo HaMelech and Malkat Sheva at the time of the first Beit HaMikdash. And

27:58The Queen of Sheba asks Shlomo HaMelech questions to see if he's really as wise as people think he is. But she's not asking questions like you guys ask on Stump the Rabbi. She's asking questions that you could only prove if you're Shlomo HaMelech and you have the Beit HaMikdash behind you. So she brings him a bunch of men, and she tells them, "Tell me which ones of them are circumcised and which ones are not circumcised, without checking. Let me see how wise you are." Shlomo HaMelech says to his Kohen Gadol, "Open for me the Aron HaKodesh." The second the Aron HaKodesh opens, all of the ones that were circumcised, their faces lit up like the sun. And the ones that weren't circumcised fell on their faces, showing Queen Sheba, who was also the Queen of Tumah, of impurity.

29:24that coexistence of Kedusha and Tumah cannot be. So then the natural question would be, why would Shlomo HaMelech want to marry this woman that's full of Tumah, full of impurity, all types of idolatry, all types of things that are against Torah, why would you want to marry her? Why would you even believe her through the conversion process? For what? Shlomo HaMelech used his own wisdom and made a mistake where he wanted to bring Mashiach by creating world peace and by destroying the Satan one piece at a time. One of the ways was to destroy tumah. How can you destroy tumah? Go and marry the queen of tumah and make her kedushah.

30:24marry her, get her to do teshuva, make her holy. So that's what Shlomo HaMelech did. The Gemara says, when he married her, HaKadosh Baruch Hu sent Malach Gavriel to hit the ocean. And the ocean spit out sand, made an island. later to become Rome, who would destroy the Beit HaMikdash. And then Queen Sheba, Shlomo HaMelech, brought a daughter into the world. And that daughter, a Jewish daughter, had a son. And that son was Nevuchadnetzar, the Jew. who destroyed the first Beit HaMikdash. Now, despite his wisdom, he made a mistake. He made a mistake, which HaKadosh Baruch Hu showed us clearly, that mistakes are expensive, especially when you are expected to

31:53No better. Because you're seeing all these open miracles. In the second Beit HaMikdash, it says that, although it was lesser than the first Beit HaMikdash, because we did not have the Aron Kodesh anymore, in the second Beit HaMikdash. We lost it in the first one. We also did not have prophecy. Like the first Beit HaMikdash, we had five different losses in the second Beit HaMikdash. Yet, the Gemara in Masechet Sotah, page 33a, says that Shimon HaTzadik heard a bat kol in the Kodesh HaKodashim saying that the decree heaven was cancelled to bring an enemy that would bring an idol inside the Heichal of the Beit HaMikdash. And he told the Am Yisrael, meaning you still had enough Kedusha that Shimon HaTzadik would pass by and hear a decree from heaven. Imagine you walk around to Yeshiva and all of a sudden you start hearing HaKadosh Baruch Hu talking with the Beit Din of Shamayim. No, what do you guys think? No, what are you asking?

33:15Rabbi Akiva, guilty or not? Moshe, guilty or not? David, guilty or not? What do you guys think? Imagine you have such a conversation over here. Shimon HaTzadik, he's in the Beit HaMikdash, in the Kodesh HaKodeshim, and he hears the decree was cancelled. What good news is that? So how could it be that the Beit HaMikdash, the second one, was lesser, The Gemara in Massechet Yoma, you're only allowed to study the Gemara in the next 24 hours about specific topics that are relevant to the Beit HaMikdash and its destruction. It says that in the first Beit HaMikdash, 410 years, 410 years,

34:16only 18 Kohanim Gedolim over 410 years. The Second Beit HaMikdash, which lasted 420 years, had over 300 Kohanim who served in the Second Beit HaMikdash, but in reality, One of the Kohanim, one of the Kohanim was Shimon HaTzadik, who himself served 80 years. So 420 minus 80, 340. 300 Kohanim, over 300 Kohanim for 340 years? No, even less. Yochanan, the Kohen Gadol, served 10 years.

35:17And Yishmael ben Pabi also served 11 years. So, we see when you calculate, the Gemara says, and also Rabbi Elazar ben Charsom, we see here that over 300 Kohanim Gedolim in less than 300 years. Teaching us that not a single Kohen finished the year. They all died, year after year. Yom Kippur arrives, dead. Goes inside the Kodesh HaKodashim, dies. Okay, let's find a new one. Alright, the second guy comes in. Goes in the Kodesh HaKodashim, dies. One after another, one after another, one after another. What happened? What happened? What happened is, Rabotai Yekarim, is that in the second Beit HaMikdash, the Gemara says in Masechet Yoma, page 8b, the Kohanim were resha'im gedolim. The kehunah was sold in a market. Who was the richest guy? Who wants to be Kohen? It's like, unfortunately, sometimes in Batei Knesset today, when you have Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah...

36:41Who gets the best aliyah? Who gets the petichat haheichal? Who gets the aliyot laTorah during the big holiday? Who? Not the biggest tzaddik. The guy with the most money. Because he's going to donate. "I'm going to donate 100,000 to get this aliyah." Yeah, but you don't even keep Shabbat, buddy. What are you getting an aliyah for? The same Torah that you're representing and you're donating to says you're going to die. Because you're a rasha. But that's the reality today. In fact, if it wasn't for reshaim donating, many people don't think there would be any shuls anymore. Now, in the second Beit HaMikdash, same thing. Whoever had the most money, he was the Kohen Gadol. Only difference is, he really died right away. Now it's mind-boggling how, not the first guy, the second guy, or the third guy, but everybody else continued buying the kehunah, seeing that everybody else died before them. Now even if you want to say the first 20, number 21, you saw the other guy didn't last. He didn't finish the year. And the other 20 guys didn't either. You still want to be Kohen Gadol?

38:06Mr. 100, you just saw 99 people before you not complete the year after they became Kohen Gadol. It became a curse. You still want to be Kohen Gadol? Yeah. Number 300, you saw 299 people die, not finish the year. You still want to be Kohen Gadol? Yeah. Why? Because when you don't have Torah, and you're so poor that all you have is money, I'll live for another day as the Kohen Gadol, rather than live another 20 years as a regular person. Why? Because you're so poor, all you have is money. And you need the world to know you have it. So we see here, Rabotai HaYekarim, that the problems with the Beit HaMikdash weren't exactly just Lashon Hara. The head, people, Now, still HaKadosh Baruch Hu blessed the Beit HaMikdash to last despite the many, many sins Am Yisrael committed throughout the years.

39:26of idolatry, of all the sins we committed in the first Beit HaMikdash, we also committed during the second Beit HaMikdash. Don't let anybody fool you. The Gemara mentions dozens of reasons for what we did. It was just that Lashon Hara broke the camel's back. Idolatry, Hashem Yishmor. We had kings, kings like Achav and his wife Izevel, who was a goya, practicing idolatry in the open. No problem. His son, idol worship. One king after another was an idol worshiper, causing Am Yisrael to sin. The kings. So yet, HaKadosh Baruch Hu had mercy on us for many, many years and allowed it to last 420 years. Now, what does it mean that He allowed it to last for 420 years? What does it mean to have the Beit HaMikdash? In so many words, when the Beit HaMikdash existed, we had protection. A unique protection unlike any other.

40:41It's not like the fake protection people think they have by living in America and the so-called protection called freedom of speech or freedom of democracy. No, it's not that kind of protection. It's not the protection that people in Israel think they have from the Iron Dome that could shoot down the rockets at $100,000 a clip. You're shooting down firecrackers with $100,000 a clip. That's what the Arabs are shooting. They're taking a two-thousand-dollar rocket, and you have to shoot a hundred-thousand-dollar rocket to take it down. That's not protection. So, it's not that kind of protection. And it's also not the kind of protection that people think they have—no, no, if we ever get to war, America will protect us. Not that kind of protection. We're talking about the protection from HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself. Where He simply makes it clear: no one can touch you unless I'm the one sending him. How did people see this in their day-to-day life? Because you're not always at war. You're not always at war. So you could say, yeah, war, they won. No, no, but what about the average guy, the average farmer? He's not going to war. How does he see HaKadosh Baruch Hu's protection?

42:01We have a mitzvah in the Torah that you have to do aliyah la-regel to go to the Beit HaMikdash during the high holidays. Now, what does that mean? That means you have to leave everything behind. You have to leave your cows and chickens and sheep behind. It's not like you have, listen, maybe I'll, you know, get some company to watch them for me. No, you leave. Leave it, gates open. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu promises them, not only is no one going to touch them, but you don't have to worry about food, you don't have to worry about anyone stealing them, nothing. So you would make an aliyah, go to Yerushalayim, stay there for a while, and come back several weeks later. And your cow is in exactly the same place. What did you eat for the last two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, a month, two and a half months? What did you eat? Good. What did you eat? Food. Where did you get it? I was here. What about the chickens? One time.

43:18One of the people came back down from Yerushalayim. So there are chickens roaming around, still alive. How are you still alive? Look around, a bunch of cats surrounding them. All dead. All the cats are dead. How did they die? As soon as they came, Hashem killed them. Why? Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, you don't have the right to kill the chickens. Because the owner of the chickens went to do a mitzvah. He went to Beit HaMikdash. The lion started eating straw. The lion started eating straw. Why? He had no right, he had no permission to go eat the cow or the calf or anything else. So he had to change his diet as long as this guy is out. He couldn't wait for him to come back home. The average person during the Beit HaMikdash saw the protection from HaKadosh Baruch Hu in such a fantastic way that you had to be blind not to see it. Even if you're outside of the Beit HaMikdash, meaning the protection and the kedusha that came to the entire world was apparent for everyone. That's also the reason, Rabotai Yekarim, why HaKadosh Baruch Hu punished so harshly. The Rav Chida,

44:46...says our world will live 6,000 years, as the Gemara states. The first 2,000 years, the Yetzer Hara for the generation was the Yetzer Hara of znut, immorality. The second 2,000 years, idol worship. That covers the time of Noach... all the way to the beginning of almost Egypt. The second 2,000 years cover Matan Torah, the first and second Beit HaMikdash. So what about the last 2,000 years, which is since the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash until now? What's the Yetzer Hara? Okay, so, znut, immorality, HaKadosh Baruch Hu destroyed the world. Yachad, idol worship, HaKadosh Baruch Hu destroyed the Beit HaMikdash. Now we have a Yetzer Hara for 2,000 years and we can't get anything going. Why? What's the Yetzer Hara? Money. The Chida says money. That's the Yetzer Hara. Money, which leads to all of the other sins.

46:05When a person idolizes money, he becomes an idol worshiper, he becomes immoral, he becomes a thief, he becomes everything bad. Hence the reason why we don't have a Beit HaMikdash. Now, the question is, what does the Gemara say about the final straw? What took place? It says that HaKadosh Baruch Hu decreed, in Gemara Masechet Shabbat, that there were enough sins. It got to a point where it was too much, and Hashem said, enough is enough. Satan came to Him, and Hashem said, go kill all the reshaim. Satan

47:05Responds to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and says, "Yeah, but what about the tzaddikim? What about those people who keep Shabbat? What about the guys going to the kollel? What about the kids that go to yeshiva? What about those women? What about all of them?" Hashem says to the Satan, "No, the tzaddikim." Satan responds, "If they're tzaddikim, how come there are still reshaim?" If they're such tzaddikim, that means they have to be compliant with the entire Torah. If they're compliant with the entire Torah, there shouldn't be that many reshaim worshipping idols, saying lashon hara, committing murder, stealing in their business, lending money with high interest, stealing. Oh, it shouldn't be if there's so many tzaddikim. What does that mean? That means that these tzaddikim, that are going to yeshiva, going to kollel, going to nice batei midrash, everything good, they're not fulfilling the Torah. They're doing something wrong. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu, I got a chidush for you.

48:08I know the mitzvah that they're missing out on. They're not rebuking their brothers that are reshaim. Satan comes, he's the new one. Of course HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows. But he's trying to give kavshut to Am Yisrael, trying to see if he can get over on this yetzer hara that He created. But He created him also smart. And the yetzer hara says, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, I got a job to do that You gave me. Your signature is emet, and the emet right now can only be practiced if you kill the tzaddikim. If we're not fulfilling the Torah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu tries another case with the yetzer hara. He says, "Yeah, but I know this generation. I know my kids. This generation is terrible. Even if the tzaddikim came to them and said, 'Stop driving on Shabbat. Stop stealing in your business. Stop doing all these bad things,' they wouldn't listen anyway." Divorce the goya. Divorce the goya. Stop going to all these clubs and pubs and watching TV. They wouldn't listen. They're reshaim. They're not going to listen to the tzaddikim. HaKadosh Baruch Hu is fighting for His kids. He doesn't want to kill them. But His soldier, the Satan, the Malach HaMavet, the Yetzer Hara, or being the saint, G-d says,

49:31It says, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, your signature is Emet. And Emet means that the tzaddikim have to fulfill the entire Torah. That's why it's Emet. Emet starts with Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Tav, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and Mem, the middle letter of the Hebrew alphabet. That means that your truth, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, has to be true from beginning, middle, to end. Nothing flawed in there. And the truth is here, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, is that you know that the reshaim wouldn't have listened. But you also know that it doesn't matter. Your people still had the obligation to rebuke them. Your people still had the obligation to protest. Even if they wouldn't listen because they didn't know. whether they're going to listen or not. And even if they know, there are two mitzvot when it comes to rebuke. We've spent a lot of time learning about one of them, which is rebuking somebody. That's a personal mitzvah. You see somebody sinning, you have to say something. But then there's a mitzvah that I fulfill, Baruch Hashem, on a regular basis. Very few people like this mitzvah. You know what mitzvah it is? Mecha'ah.

50:56What's mecha'ah? Protest. Protest against the sin. Why? It's not against just a specific person. It's against a sin for the sake of the honor of HaKadosh Baruch Hu himself. That's why you're protesting. You're not protesting to make money. You're not protesting to get fame. You're not protesting to actually make anybody do teshuvah. You're protesting in order to protect the name of Hashem, in honor of His Torah. There is somebody doing something wrong. He's bringing missionaries to a shul. He's stealing in his business. He's promoting all types of things against Hashem. This is mecha'ah. And the Satan comes to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and says that even if they knew, they still had to do it. And the reality is they didn't know. And HaKadosh Baruch Hu says to His soldier, the Satan, He says, you're right. You now have permission to go kill all of the tzaddikim first. All of the people that kept Shabbat, went to yeshiva, went to kollel, built a sukkah, built a lulav, kill them before you kill anyone else. Why?

52:17Because if they were really fulfilling the Torah, they were supposed to do something about the rest of their brothers. So now, there is a question of what happens when HaKadosh Baruch Hu rebukes us. What does that look like? In a new kuntres, a new sefer that Rabbi Ephraim is coming out with. B'ezrat Hashem, initially, it will be in Hebrew, and at some point in the future, B'ezrat Hashem, it will be translated also to English. He's coming out with a sefer that is unlike any other. Right now it's in the last stage of editing, but I'm going to read you a few parts of it.

53:24With this sefer, he shows how literally everything is in the Torah. Everything. Now we just sat on the floor while the Rav was reading Megillat Eicha, Lamentations. And anyone who didn't cry may have missed the meaning or significance of what Jeremiah was saying there. Jeremiah told HaKadosh Baruch Hu, why did You do all this? In chapter 2, chapter 2, Verse number 20 of Eicha (Lamentations). Jeremiah speaks to a Bat Kol and says to it, "See, O Hashem, and behold whom You've treated so." The first Beit HaMikdash is destroyed. There are mountains, mountains of bodies. Literally, they made walls of bodies. That's how many people died.

54:53A river of blood from city to city. There was so much blood, the Midrash says that it reached the stomachs of horses. Horses—the blood reached their stomachs, talking about three feet high. From city to city, that's how much blood. Jeremiah, who rebuked the people for many years, got tortured by them. They threw him in a hole. They forced him to waste seed. Did all types of horrible things to him. Chazal said, "Look what you did. Look who you did it to. These are your children. Look what's happening here. Look what happened. Hashem, these are not the enemies of your children. Look what you did."

55:54Jeremiah continues in his verse, and he says, and we just read it, "Should women eat their own babies, the babies of their care?" The starvation got to such a point that women, tzadikot, kedoshot, holy women, that love their little babies so much. They carried them for nine months in their body. and then, after they carried them for nine months in their body, they breastfed them. They gave them food from their body. They protected them. They woke up in the middle of the night to feed them again and again as much as they needed. They played with them so they wouldn't cry. They did everything possible to make sure the clothes looked good. And they were happy. And they weren't upset. And they literally gave their lives to these babies, these very same tzadkaniyot,

56:59ended up eating their own babies because they were starving to death. Look who you did this to. These are your kids. Look what you did. Yirmiyahu is crying, telling us, once you took away the protection that we had of the Beit HaMikdash, look what happened. It wasn't just that we can't bring sacrifices. It wasn't just that we don't see a fire from heaven coming down and taking the korbanot. It wasn't just that there were no more Urim VeTumim. It wasn't just that there were no kohanim with their special clothes. It wasn't just that there was less prophecy. No! Look what happened, HaKadosh Baruch Hu. You hid Your face for a day and look what happened. Look who You did this to. The verse continues. The verse continues and the bat kol responds to Jeremiah, saying, "Should a Kohen and a Navi get murdered inside the Mikdash of Hashem?"

58:20Meaning, Rabotai Yekarim, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu says to Yirmeyahu, Yirmeyahu, Yirmeyahu, I didn't do this for nothing. I didn't bring my own children to this stage. They brought themselves to it. Look what they did a few hundred years ago. I sent them a Navi. I sent them a Kohen. His name was Zechariah. Zechariah was a tzaddik. But not just a tzaddik because he knew Torah. Zechariah came to Am Yisrael and he told them, Am Yisrael, you have to do teshuva. Am Yisrael, you have to keep Shabbat. You have to stop murdering. You have to stop wasting seed. You have to stop violating the Torah. You have to stop eating non-kosher. You have to stop stealing. You have to keep the Torah. Because all HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants, the only reason why He gave you this Beit HaMikdash, is so you can connect to Him on a day-to-day basis. And so you connect to Him on a day-to-day basis. Which means, keep the Torah. That's it. He's not asking for anything else. He gave you food; make sure it's kosher. He gave you the ability to procreate; make sure it's with a kosher person, a Jewish person. You're a Jew; you have to be with a Jew. You're a non-Jew; be with a non-Jew. That's it. He gave you the ability to make money; make money in a kosher way. Don't steal from people.

59:43Don't sell them fake goods or broken stuff on purpose. Don't sell them refurbished but tell them it's brand new. I gave you the ability to make money. Why do you have to do it in a non-kosher way? I gave you the ability to eat. Why do you davka have to eat non-kosher? I gave you the ability to bring kids into the world. Why do you have to bring kids with a goya? Why do you have to marry a non-Jew? You're a Jew. You have to marry a Jew. I gave you these abilities, I gave you these gifts, why can't you just pay attention to HaKadosh Baruch Hu? What is He really asking from you? That's what Jeremiah heard. That's what Jeremiah heard. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, look what they did. I sent them Zechariah a few generations ago, who came and told them, what do you want from Hashem? He's given you everything. He's given you everything. He gave you the Torah. He gave you the money. He took you out of Egypt. And if it wasn't for Him, you'd still be there. The world would eat you up alive if it wasn't for HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

1:00:51He gave you food. He gave you women. He gave you kids. He gave you parnassah. He gave you everything you have. You're a special people. All He wants in return is for you to keep His Torah. Moshe Rabbeinu came to us 3,332 years ago with the Torah. Forty years after he gave us the Torah, he gives us the last rebuke. And he says, Am Yisrael, remember. if you keep the Torah you are going to live, but if you don't keep the Torah, you will get the worst punishments known to man, more than any other nation. Because your gift is much greater, the amount of suffering that you will get will make you crazy. And he goes into details about what the punishments are. And despite Am Yisrael failing time and time again, Hashem keeps taking them back, taking them back, taking them back. So He sends them Zechariah. Zechariah is a prophet who is also a Kohen Gadol.

1:01:57He comes to them and he tells them, listen, all I'm doing is I'm repeating what Moshe Rabbeinu said. I'm not creating anything. All I'm saying is what's the halacha. I'm not giving you any chiddushim. I'm not giving you any new insights. I'm telling you don't drive on Shabbat. I'm telling you don't listen to music on Shabbat. I'm telling you don't intermarry. That's all I'm telling you. And Am Yisrael was not having it. They said, Zechariah, take a hike. We like people that are a little bit more modern. We like people that don't rebuke us. We like people that maybe just, you know, get us to give them some money, and they go away. You don't care about money, Zechariah. We don't like it. Go away. Zechariah said, I'm not going away. We're not going to pay you. I don't want your money anyway. We're not going to come to the shul. I'll put it on the internet. We're not going to listen. I'll wait for somebody to listen. Zechariah came back and back again, and Am Yisrael got sick of it, so they killed him inside the Beit HaMikdash. They killed him inside the Beit Knesset of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Inside the house of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, they killed His messenger.

1:03:20And HaKadosh Baruch Hu says to Yirmiyahu, I'm not going to forgive them for this one. I didn't punish them right away. I gave them time to do teshuva. I even gave them you, Yirmiyahu. Look what they did to you. And now that I see that not only have they not changed, but they've even gotten worse, I have to punish them. I have to punish them. And what was this punishment, Rabotai Yikarim? The punishment came from the grandson of Shlomo HaMelech, Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar sent his head general, Nevuzaradan, who came to Yerushalayim to see the beautiful Yerushalayim, to see what was going on. He went into the Beit HaMikdash, the general who had won many wars and conquered the world. came to the Beit HaMikdash, this beautiful place. They showed him around. And then suddenly, he saw on the floor, there was blood, which was normal in the Beit HaMikdash, because of all the Korbanot. But this blood was different. This blood was boiling. So he asked the Kohanim, what is that?

1:04:48And the Kohen says, "I think it's blood. It says, I've seen blood. I murdered millions of people in war. That's not regular blood. What is it? Tell me or I'm going to kill you." The Kohanim respond, "No, no, no. It's just that we do sacrifices here. We do sacrifices. We take the sheep, the cattle, you know, big cows. Sometimes that happens." The Kohen insists, "Go show me. I want to see." What are they going to do? Tell the Hitler of his day, "I don't want to listen to you." They bring him. They start slaughtering. Blood comes out like water and stays like water. Nothing is boiling, and this blood stays boiling. He says to them, If you don't tell me what this is, I'm going to kill everybody. And it's not like today, where people say things and try to act tough. They knew, Nevuzaradan said, "I'm going to kill everybody." He's literally going to kill everybody. So, in their own embarrassment, they said, "Nevuzaradan, we're sorry to tell you, this was our Kohen. This was our Navi, and his name was Zechariah."

1:06:05That HaKadosh Baruch Hu sent to rebuke us and tell us to do teshuva. Tell us to keep Shabbat. Tell us to stop intermarrying. Tell us to eat kosher. And we didn't want to listen to him. And he was annoying. He kept coming back. More videos and more videos and more videos. And more stuff. Enough. Go away. Go to a different community. He kept coming back. So we killed him. Nebuzaradan gets a chiddush in his head. Don't worry, Zechariah, I'm going to take revenge for you. And he starts killing the Kohanim. Then he starts killing the Talmidei Chachamim. Then he starts killing the yeshiva students, little kids. He kills all of the righteous people he can find. And every time he kills another community, he comes back to the blood. It's still boiling. Okay, we're not finished yet. He kills more religious people. Comes back to the blood. Still boiling. Kills more religious people. Until he got to the point that he killed all the religious people. And the blood's still boiling. And Nebuzaradan looks at Shamayim and he says, I killed the best of them.

1:07:22If that's good, then stop boiling. If not, I'll kill everybody else. The blood stopped boiling. At that moment, Nebuzaradan, when he did the calculation, he said, look at that. These people murdered somebody a few hundred years ago, And look at the punishment that they got from my hands. Hashem gave me the ability to kill millions of them for murdering one person a couple of hundred years ago. What will be with me? What will be my punishment for killing all of them, though? And at that moment, he realized that God runs the world measure for measure. He took off all of his

1:08:22commend their symbols, put on sackcloth, sent a letter to his family that he had committed suicide, and converted to Judaism. And his children reached a level of having Ruach HaKodesh. Meaning, he became a slave under his own conqueror. Because that's what happened to Am Yisrael at that point. Now, The punishment for not listening to the rebuke was horrific. After all of the people were killed, Nebuchadnezzar had Am Yisrael march on the ground from Jerusalem all the way to Bavel.

1:09:25Walking without stopping for a minute from Jerusalem all the way to Bavel. Many people died on the way, experiencing all types of unusual deaths. They ran into the Yishmaelim, the Arabs, and begged them, "Please give us some water." These evil Yishmaelim gave them containers that used to hold water but were full of air. But they purposely made sure there was no water in it, just air. And because of how famished they were, as soon as they took it, they inhaled all the air with no water and died on the spot. Why? Because right before they gave them this, they gave them a bunch of salty fish to make them even thirstier. So they died in all types of unusual deaths. But before that, Rabotai Yekarim, before that, there's an event that breaks your heart. Jeremiah cries to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and says to Him, why did You do all of this? And HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells him why. Look what they did a couple of hundred years ago. They rejected the rebuke that I sent them, time and time again. Even yours, Jeremiah.

1:10:54Jeremiah runs to Am Yisrael and he starts walking with them. Because he has special protection from Nebuchadnezzar, who was the grandson of Shlomo HaMelech, and knew that there was something unique about Jeremiah, knew that there was some type of connection between their two neshamos. And the Chachamim say, what was the connection? Jeremiah was the reincarnation of Shlomo HaMelech. Meaning, Jeremiah is Nebuchadnezzar's grandfather, theoretically speaking, as far as the neshama is concerned. So he tells Nebuchadnezzar, "Don't touch him. Be very careful with him." So Jeremiah has free access to go next to Am Yisrael that's marching and dying and so on. But he gets to the border. He says, "Listen, I got to go back. There's a few left. I got to go watch them." And then he sees the people start crying, "No, no, no, Rebbe, Rebbe, don't leave us. Don't leave us." And they start crying. The very same people that threw him in a hole in the ground to die. The very same people that tortured him. The very same people that wrote articles against him. The very same people that hated him while he was rebuking them were now crying, "Rebbe, don't leave us. Look what happened to us."

1:12:19And they start hysterically crying, and Jeremiah starts hysterically crying, and he says, "Look at this, look at this, you're crying. I promise you, in the name of Hashem," he swears, "in the name of Hashem, I promise you, had you cried one time before the destruction, it would have canceled the entire decree. Had one person, one person cried to do teshuva, one person listened to the rebuke, cried to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, 'Please forgive us.'" One person listened to me. One person. One. The entire decree for the entire nation would have been canceled. So yes, you're crying. And your cry is amazing. But it's too late. Meaning, that when a person cries for HaKadosh Baruch Hu and does teshuva, they're not just crying for themselves, they're actually giving for the entire nation. Needless to say, when a person helps other people do teshuva, when a person rebukes other people, he's giving the rest of the generation more merit, more protection.

1:13:39But what happens when you lose that protection, Rabotai? 2,500 years ago, there was a massive holocaust that killed millions and millions of people. 2,000 years ago, it happened again. During the Spanish Inquisition, it happened again. And many other times, it happened again. Most recently, it happened in Germany. under the Nazis. And this too is written in the Torah. In Parashat Haazinu, 3,300 years ago, 40 years after we received the Torah, at the end of Moshe Rabbeinu's life, in Sefer Devarim, which are the last

1:14:40almost two months of his life. Last five weeks of his life. Moshe Rabbeinu warns Am Yisrael not to forsake the Torah, not to go against Hashem, or they will suffer horribly. They will suffer things that the rest of the world will see. This is clearly a hand of Hashem. And in this section... of Sefer Devarim (Deuteronomy) chapter 32 verse 24, Moshe Rabbeinu says to the people of Israel Bloating of famine, battles of flaming demons, cutting down by the noontime. He says to them, rabotai yekarim, that one of the punishments for going against Hashem is starvation. Starvation like what Yirmiyahu saw with his own eyes, where women ate their own children because of that starvation. Righteous women.

1:16:00but Moshe Rabbeinu describes it a little bit differently. He says in Parashat Ha'azinu, this type of starvation, this type of famine, will cause a bloating. A bloating, when somebody doesn't eat for a very long time, after they lose all of their weight, the body starts becoming bloated. and also on the commentary of Rashi. This was first printed in 1783 in the Gregorian calendar, so about 250 years ago or so.

1:17:07They said that this means starvation. Now, the sefer that discusses different things that happened during the Holocaust is from a Holocaust survivor. It's in a sefer called The Battle of the Ghetto, printed in 1972. She writes that in the Warsaw Ghetto, there was such starvation where groups upon groups of children would die. And before they would die, they would become bloated from starvation.

1:18:35In Dvar Sha, she says that there were 40 different points regarding the children. And the most horrific way would be through starvation. Now, furthermore, Aside from the starvation, the Torah says in Parashat Ha'azinu that part of the punishment will be Machalot Hashachefet. Machalot Hashachefet is tuberculosis. Rabbeinu Bachya gives commentary on Choli HaShachefet, and he says this is tuberculosis. That's what Shachefet means. In the ghetto of Łódź, there was always tuberculosis to the extent where at least 15% of the people had tuberculosis at all times.

1:20:05said 50% of the kids would have it, especially the kids, and at least 10% of them would die from it. The rebuke continues. It says that in the Song of Songs, There's one of the things that was going to be, which is balls of fire. Balls of fire would punish us. In a commentary, based on the Tosafot and also the commentary of Rashi, that was also printed in 1783, the commentaries... said that these are going to be like balls of fire, huge balls of fire, and it's known through different books that have been written that one of the ways that they would kill Jews in the Holocaust would either be by shooting them with huge balls of fire from cannons

1:21:24Or there are some stories from survivors that would say that one person says that he cannot forget the image of seeing a six- or seven-year-old kid being murdered by being shot only because his murderer wanted to test out if the gun was working. The Nazi murderer didn't actually have a reason to murder the kid. He didn't do anything bad. But he wanted to see if the gun was working. So he shot the kid and killed him. Furthermore, in one of the other sefarim about the Holocaust, which is quoted here in the Sefer Be'er Ephraim, it says that during one of the times they tried to revolt, one time, They tried to break out of it. Thousands of Jews broke through the fence and started running, and the Germans just started firing at them with balls of fire and machine guns, killing 2,500 people in a matter of minutes. About 1,000 people survived. He, the one who's telling the story, is one of them that actually ended up surviving. But he says he estimates at least 1,000 people.

1:22:551,000 people survived, 2,500 people were murdered. The rebuke continues. It says that there's going to be a Ketav Meriri. There's going to be a certain punishment that's called a Ketav Meriri. What is this Ketav Meriri? Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Michel Wisser, In the year 1809, when he was born and left the world in 1879, the Malbim brings it out, saying that this Ketav Meriri means poisonous air will bring death. Everyone knows the very famous way that the Nazis murdered millions of people was with a poisonous gas called Zyklon B. Zyklon B and Oregon D were two major poisons. Zyklon B was actually discovered by a Jew, and they used it to murder millions of Jews, just as the Torah said.

1:24:22What happened is the rebuke. And the Malbim says this Ketamiri is poisonous gas, poisonous air. The verse says that there's going to be the teeth of beasts will be dispatched against them. And one of the writers that wrote his memories of the Holocaust says that there was no punishment worse. There was no punishment worse than the Nazi dogs that were released to kill Jews. The Malbim, I'm sorry, the Even HaEzer says that this V'Shen Behemot HaShalach

1:25:23It's specifically talking about how animals will be used intentionally to kill Jewish people. And we see that the SS, the Nazis, used their dogs specifically to torture and kill Jewish people, more times than not, without even having a reason other than their own sick entertainment. In the For the words "V'Shen Be'emot," Rabbi Chaim Paltiel from France, about 700 years ago, in his commentary on the Torah, says that "V'Shen Be'emot" is referring to how people became famished from not being able to drink

1:26:27to the point where they would have to drink the urine of animals. Geveret Sarah Schnirer in Machaneh Dvorek says that in the Holocaust the Starvation got to such a point that it wasn't just that they would imagine having bread and so on, but they would even want to commit suicide because they couldn't handle hearing their kids crying simply for water. So they would get to a point where they would simply just give them urine because that's all they had. Geveret Sarah Schenirer in Machane Dvorek says that in the Holocaust the...

1:27:29And immediately, the child would start crying that he wants different water. The verse continues, saying, "That's already on me." end of the verse. The venom of those that creep on the earth. In a commentary by Matityahu Biesky, which came out in 1931, he says that... that the filth, I'm sorry, this, yeah, so the people that are surviving, this later on was published, says the filth in the ghettos and camps was so horrible that they would be tortured by huge, enormous lice. They would take off their clothes and use a rock to kill them because of how many and how big they were. They simply did whatever they could to get these things off, and the Germans cared less about it because they simply waited for everybody to die, he writes.

1:28:58be tortured by huge, enormous lice. They would take off their clothes and use a rock to kill them because of how many and how big they were. They simply did whatever they could to get these things off, and the Germans couldn't care less about it because they simply waited for everybody to die, he writes. And then it says that one of the last punishments in this particular section that's noted by the sefer is the fear, the punishment of being scared, even to be in your own house, in your own bed. And in one of the horrible stories,

1:30:15that quoted here says of a story of a very difficult halachic question that was brought to one of the poskim after the Holocaust of how does somebody do teshuva for murdering a Jewish baby for their own protection because in one of the times there were afraid of the Nazis, afraid of them walking in, so you had to be very quiet anytime they would pass by and do everything possible not to bring attention. One of the people in the house had a baby, and the baby started crying. So, one of the other people put a pillow over him and killed the baby. So, because he knew that if this baby continued to cry, they would all die, he ended up killing him. After the Holocaust, he came to a Rav and asked him, "Is it murder or is it pikuach nefesh? Because the baby was technically a rodef."

1:31:36If it wasn't for the baby, because what Halacha says is that if, let's say for example, a woman is pregnant, but the doctors say that if she gives birth, she's going to die. So, there's a permission to have an abortion and kill the baby, because the decree is that her life comes first, and the baby is decreed as if he's a rodef, meaning he's in essence trying to kill her, even though it's unintentionally, obviously. So, the Halachic question was, is this the same thing? Is this the same thing? So, we see here, Rabotai, as Rabbi Ephraim showed us in his sefer, and as Abisid Torah, has literally everything. But the point being is that when we cry about not having the Beit Hamikdash, we're not crying about not having a building. We're crying about not having this divine protection that simply...

1:32:37makes none of what I just said even a possibility. Because when you have HaKadosh Baruch Hu on your side, no one can touch you. When Moshe Rabbeinu went to war, no one would die. When David HaMelech went to war, no one would die. Now everyone knows that even if you have the most advanced weapon systems in the world, like some people think America has, or some people, other things, point being is, even when America goes to war, with their great weapons, with their great planes and tanks and this and that, guess what? People die. It may not be as much as, let's say, in the past wars, but still, people die. When David HaMelech would go to war against much greater armies, no one would die. When Moshe Rabbeinu went to war, no one would die. Why? There's divine protection.

1:33:42When you have HaKadosh Baruch Hu on your side, when you have the Beit HaMikdash, when you have HaKadosh Baruch Hu saying, we're on the same page, no one can touch you. Every horrible detail that I just described to you, all of the suffering, the anguish, the torture, the miserable situations, all of that is only if we don't listen to Hashem. That's what Moshe Rabbeinu told us 3,300 years ago. These punishments are only going to happen if you don't listen to Hashem. If you listen to Hashem, none of that's going to happen. No one can touch you. No one can hurt you in any way, shape, or form, even in a war. Even the animals will be scared of you. So the last question we're going to answer tonight... is what went wrong? Okay, we sinned. Fine. But how did we get to the point that no one said anything? To the point where Hashem just destroyed the second Beit HaMikdash. The first Beit HaMikdash, we got the answer.

1:35:01We continued sinning even after HaKadosh Baruch Hu sent us Zechariah—we killed him; then Yirmiyahu, and that's it. They didn't want to do Teshuva, so HaKadosh Baruch Hu destroyed the First Beit HaMikdash, but He gave it back to us 70 years later. What happened to the second one? Because that one has been waiting for 2,000 years. So the only thing we heard so far is that when the Satan came to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and said, "HaKadosh Baruch Hu, you got to kill these people, they're going against You, they're going against Your emet." Hashem said, "Yeah, but just do the Mechallel Shabbat, not the religious people." "No, no, no, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, You have to kill the religious people because they didn't rebuke." Why did HaKadosh Baruch Hu allow him to do it? Why is not rebuking such a big deal to the point where it deserves a Holocaust and another Holocaust and another Holocaust? 2,000 years of Holocaust because of no rebuke? Why? Why is it such a horrible thing to not rebuke? There's a very famous Gemara.

1:36:15Gemara. It's a very famous Gemara in Masechet Gittin, page 55b, of the famous story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, where a certain Rasha had an event. It doesn't say his name because Resha'im are generally not mentioned in a Gemara. by name, but a certain rasha had a party, and he invited all of the rabbis, the good people, and his friends. He told one of his servants, "Go invite my dear friend Kamtza." Now, his servant made a mistake, and instead of going to invite Kamtza, he invited a person by the name of Bar Kamtza, a similar name.

1:37:17The problem is this Bar Kamtza is his enemy. He hates him. We also learn from the names that Kamtza is the name. Bar Kamtza means the son of. Meaning Bar Kamtza was the son of his friend. But the son was an enemy while the father was his friend. So this Bar Kamtza attends the event. And as soon as this guy sees him, he can't take it. And as soon as this guy sees him, he can't take it. He says, no way, no how. This is not going to be. You get out of here, in front of everyone. Bar Kamtza gets embarrassed and says, listen, listen, quiet, quiet, quiet. Don't embarrass me. I'll pay for my food. I'll pay for my food. So you're not going to lose anything on me. Get out of here. I don't want your money. Okay, okay, fine, fine. I'll pay for half the event. You got an event. It cost you $100,000. I'll pay for half. Just don't embarrass me. He says, no. Get out. He says, stop embarrassing me. Don't say it so loud. They're going to hear you. I'll pay for the whole event. Just let me stay here for a little while. No, look. I'll be out a little while later. I'm going to pay for the whole thing. $100,000 for your event. I'm going to pay. Just don't embarrass me.

1:38:43He says to him, "Get out," and he takes him by the hand and gets him out of there in front of everyone. And everyone sees it, including the Chachamim of that day, the people who knew Torah. And then Bar Kamtza sees that all of the Rabbis over there are watching this happen and not a single one says anything. And that makes him even angrier than he was about getting kicked out. He says, "You're all sitting here, watching this guy embarrass me, and not one of you speaks up. Not one of you says anything to him. Not one of you fights for me. Not one of you says anything. Okay, you're going to regret it." This Bar Kamtza, who also made a mistake for what he did, is not righteous. But nonetheless...

1:39:45This Bar Kamtza goes to the Caesar, and he tells the Caesar, "Caesar, Caesar, these Jewish people—I know them, I'm one of them—they're betraying Your Highness." The Caesar says, "How are they betraying me?" Bar Kamtza replies, "Because you're a goy, so they won't accept your sacrifices." The Caesar says, "Of course they'll accept. I'm the king. What are you talking about?" Bar Kamtza responds, "I'll show you. They won't accept it. Give me a korban and I'll take it." He said, "Okay, let's try it." He sends a korban, and this Bar Kamtza knows that at the Beit HaMikdash, you're not allowed to bring a sacrifice if it has a mum, if it has a deformity. You're allowed to take a sacrifice from a non-Jew, no problem. In fact, during Sukkot, we would bring sacrifices from non-Jews. But now, one exception is, it cannot have any deformity.

1:40:45If it has a missing leg, or it has some type of sickness, or anything like that, you cannot bring it as a sacrifice, because it's not kavod for Hashem. So this Bar Kamtza sees he gives him the best thing he gave him, the king. He's got a lot of money. He's not going to give him some little ugly sheep. He's going to give him something that's worth a million dollars. But he knows if he brings this to the Beit HaMikdash, they're not going to take it. So how could he prove his case? He stabs it, hurts it, and creates a deformity. When he comes to the Beit HaMikdash, they said, listen, we're sorry, we cannot accept this Korban. The messengers come back to the king and say, you know what? This Bar Kamtza is right. They rejected it. Because they didn't explain to them why they're rejecting it. They just told them, we can't accept this. Instead of telling them, listen, you know what? This one's no good, but we'll take this one for it instead. It's even better. And we'll do it in the name of His Highness. No, they just figured, no, no. It's not for us. Go, go, go. When he came back to the Caesar with this message, he says, ah, that's how they disagree with me. That's how they go against me. We're going to destroy the Beit HaMikdash. We're going to destroy their house.

1:42:05So now, this story is very famous because it represents the common theme of baseless hatred. Why did the host of the party Why did the host of the party hate this guy so much that he couldn't even allow him to stay at the party, even if he paid for the whole event? I mean, that's sinat chinam. What's sinat chinam? You're hating somebody more than enough, like too much. Okay, you're allowed. There are certain people you don't have to love. But that extra hate, that's too much. For example, sometimes you live in an apartment building, And you have your own peace of mind, you want to learn, you want to do this, you want to do that, but your neighbor has kids, and the kids are jumping off the walls. Now, surely, you're right, it's annoying that they're jumping off the walls. Surely, you're right, it's annoying. You want to go to sleep, you want to study, you want to do stuff. But if you call the cops, that's sinat chinam. If you start talking bad about them, that's sinat chinam.

1:43:11If you start hating them, that's Sinat Chinam. Why? You're right. You should hate them a little bit because it's annoying what they're doing. But to get to the point where you want to take revenge, cause them to get fined, go to jail, talk bad about them, or ruin their reputation—that punishment is much higher than the crime. That's extra. That extra hate, that's chinam. That's free. It's too much. That's too much. That's how Rabbi Yagen would describe Sinat Chinam. So, yes, you're right to not like Bar Kamtza. You're right. He probably didn't get along with you. Probably wasn't a good guy. Yeah. But to embarrass him in front of all the rabbis, all the people, that's Sinat Chinam. So that's the way this story is represented. But then comes the Ma'arsha. The Maharsha, you cannot go through a page of Gemara without seeing the Maharsha's commentary. The Maharsha comes with a simple question that we should have been asking all along. Why didn't the rabbis rebuke the host of the party? Okay, the Sinat Chinam between the host and Bar Kamtza, we got it.

1:44:39But the question is, why didn't the rabbis do anything? Like, what was their excuse? Comes the Maharsha. Comes the Maharsha, Rabotai Yekarim. And he says, this is because these rabbis, these Chachamim, they saw... The host of the party, they say he was so angry, he was so upset, he was so against, he's probably not going to listen anyway. He's not going to listen anyway. He drives on Shabbat, the guy. The guy drives on Shabbat, I'm going to tell him to fast on Tisha B'Av? The guy drives on Shabbat, I'm going to tell him to stop going to clubs? The guy eats on Yom Kippur, I'm going to tell him to keep kosher? He's not going to listen anyway. That's what the rabbis figured out. He's not going to listen anyway. And then the Maharshal says, why did they just rebuke him anyway? Because, okay, even if he doesn't listen, why did they rebuke him anyway? The Maharshal says that's because that generation was a generation of chanfanim, kiss-ups. They were kiss-ups because he had a lot of money.

1:46:01And they figured, listen, this guy's got a lot of money. If we rebuke him, he's not going to donate anymore. If we rebuke him, he's going to go against us. He's not going to come back. Listen, just stay quiet. Because anyway, he's not going to listen to you. Anyway, he's not going to listen to you. The painful truth, Rabotai Yekarim, the painful truth is... ...that had the rabbis rebuked the host of the party one time, the Beit HaMikdash would still be here today. One rebuke. One rebuke would have caused HaKadosh Baruch Hu not to destroy the Beit HaMikdash. One rebuke. Because, Rabotai HaKedoshim, HaKadosh Baruch Hu said in the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat that He destroyed the Beit HaMikdash, He destroyed the religious people because they didn't rebuke. Why is it such a big deal? Why is it such a big deal to not rebuke? Because the only reason you're going to say, "No, I'm not going to rebuke," is because you think he's not going to listen anyway.

1:47:29I'm not going to rebuke because he's not going to do it anyway. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, the only reason you're saying that is not because you know he's not going to listen. You're not a prophet. You're not a navi. You don't know he's not going to listen. There's always a 50-50 chance. Yeah, but he said no 50 times before. So what? If you flip a coin 50 times, and it all comes out heads, and then you flip it the 51st time, does the chance of heads or tails change? No, it's always 50-50. It's always 50-50. The only reason why you're saying he's not going to listen is not because you know he's not going to listen. You're saying he's not going to listen because you're a chanfan. You're a kiss-up. You're worried for your own little tuchus, and you don't want your reputation to be on the line. You don't want to lose money. You don't want to lose donations. You don't want to lose reputation. You don't want to lose friends. You don't want to lose popularity. And guess what? HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, in the Beit HaMikdash that I built, that's my house, no chanfanim allowed. No kiss-ups allowed. This is a place of Kedusha.

1:48:43And if there's going to be a generation of chanfanim, they're going to simply not rebuke anyone. No Beit HaMikdash. What does it mean, no Beit HaMikdash? No protection. Chas v'shalom, no protection, rabotai. Do you guys realize what that means now? Do you understand what no protection... Do you understand how vulnerable we are? Do you understand that the Holocaust, chas v'shalom, chas v'shalom, can actually happen tomorrow? What's holding HaKadosh Baruch Hu? What's holding Him from destroying it? What's holding Him? Why is He not doing it? Because there are still a few people out there, a few tzaddikim in the Netherlands, a few tzaddikim in Eretz Yisrael, a few tzaddikim in America, a few tzaddikim in different places in India, a few tzaddikim in different places in Australia, in all types of places, a few tzaddikim, and guess what they're doing? They're telling their neighbor, "Listen, you know, driving on Shabbat, you're not allowed."

1:49:46You know, listen, I know you're probably going to not like me anymore, and you're probably not going to invite me to your birthday party, but I have to tell you this. You and your wife, you're not allowed to be together. What? Who are you to tell me? No, no, I'm not telling you. Hashem said it, and here's a CD. This CD will explain why I just said what I said. There are a few tzaddikim in the world, rabotai yekarim, that are not chanfanim, they're not kishufim. They're not worried about telling other people you're doing wrong. Even if they're not rabbis, even if they're not talmidei chachamim, even if they don't know the entire Torah, even if they don't understand it themselves, but they know it's wrong and they say, listen, you're a Jew, I'm a Jew, I have to tell you this, you're doing wrong. You're doing wrong, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to punish you for it. How do I know you're doing wrong? Hey, look, listen to the CD. Listen to this video. Look at this book. Here you go. Rambam. Look at Shulchan Aruch. Look at this. Look at that. A few people are doing it. A few people are supporting it. A few people are speaking about it. And if that's not enough, when you have big Rishaim, then no one can rebuke.

1:50:59Because they're so popular, and they're so big, and they're big rabbis themselves, then a few people are rebuking them. Not directly, but they're fulfilling the mitzvah of mechaa, protesting against it. Like Rav Sternbuch came out yesterday against another big famous rabbi, saying he's not part of Am Yisrael. Why? I have to protest. What he's saying is against the Torah. That, Rabotai, those rebukes, those inconvenient rebukes, those inconvenient protests, are the only things that are holding HaKadosh Baruch Hu back from destroying everything. Because the only reason why He destroyed it already is that we stopped rebuking. The minute we stopped rebuking, there was no way for us to do teshuva anymore. To such an extent that an argument between two people, Bar Kamtza and the host, occurred. Few rabbis attended and didn't say anything. Hashem says, this is the last straw. This is the last straw. This is the last straw. And that's why the Chozeh Mi Lublin, the Chozeh Mi Lublin says, Rabotai Yekarim, in the generation of Mashiach, there's going to be Erev Rav.

1:52:22Rabbis that are part of the Erev Rav, regular people that are part of the Erev Rav, politicians part of the Erev Rav, different types of people that are Erev Rav—meaning people that are enemies of the Torah. And he gave different signs and so on to the talmidim. He said, "Listen, these people are horrible. They're going to destroy the world." How do we know it's them? He said, "No, this, this, this." He said, "Yeah, but what if it's the Rabbi? How do we know if the Rabbi is Erev Rav?" You just give us some details that scare the lights out of us, Rabbi. How do we know if it's the Rabbi, if he's Erev Rav? How do I know? He's such a good speaker. He's so good-looking. He wears suits that cost at least $3,000, lives in a $3 million house. He's so successful. So it looks like everything is going for him. How do we know this guy that's so popular, that's so everything, charismatic and everything, how do we know he's Erev Rav? The Chozeh MiLublin gives a Chiddush of a lifetime. He says there's one sign that's indistinguishable. There's one sign that's actually as clear as day. But this sign, you have to pay attention to at the right time.

1:53:49What is the sign? It says, if this rabbi gives the benefit of the doubt to the resha'im all the time. Oh, he drove to shul. Oh, no, no, he didn't mean to. He forgot it's Shabbat. Oh, he's married to a goya. He probably didn't know you're not allowed to marry non-Jews. Oh, he's a homosexual. Yeah, you know, everybody has feelings. Hashem will understand them. Oh, wow, what a chassid this rabbi is. He gives all the How does that make him Erev Rav? He goes, no, no, that doesn't make him Erev Rav. You know what makes him Erev Rav? When that kaf zechut in the resha'im is combined with the kaf chova, the opposite to the tzaddikim. When a tzaddik does something wrong or something that looks like it's wrong, oh, we have to go against him, go against this guy, you have to ban him, you have to throw him out of the shul, you have to throw him out of the world. Wait a minute, but he's a tzaddik until today. He keeps Shabbat, he keeps Taharat HaMishpacha, he studies Torah, he learns Torah. How come you're so against him? No, no, it's too much. He went too far. He said things that we shouldn't hear. Yeah, but until today, everything was good. Until today, he wrote books. Until today, he gave shiurim. Until today, he was a tzaddik. One time he said something that maybe you don't like so much. How come you're so against him? No, no, no, it's too much. He should have known better.

1:55:15Ah, the tzaddik should have known better, so he's going against them, huh? But how come the rasha should have known better? He's been violating Shabbat for 20 years straight. The Chozeh of Lublin says, this guy is Erev Rav. Why? Because it's supposed to be the exact opposite. it makes himself look like a tzaddik, looks like a chassid, looks like the best lover or a Chabadnik, or a chassid that came from some different Baal Shem Tov world. Looks like, because he's giving everybody kaf zechut, I love everybody. Oh, Mechalel Shabbat, no, I love them. Oh, he's married to a Goya, I love him, I love everybody. Oh, you love everybody, but how come you hate the tzaddik? How come there's no benefit of the doubt to the tzaddik? Because he has a different style than you? You're Erev Rav. Ya Erev Rav. That's what the Chosev MiLublin says. You see, Rabotai, in today's world, it's clear as day to know who's Erev Rav in certain aspects, but every day there's a few more coming out of the bushes.

1:56:22There's a few more coming out of the bushes that you're surprised with. Well, I didn't know this guy is Erev Rav. Well, I didn't know this guy is Erev Rav. I didn't know this guy is Erev Rav. Because you have to follow. There are certain people, you can only tell that they're Erev Rav at unique times. There are some people, you know they're Erev Rav all year round. It's obvious. But there are some people, it has to be the perfect opportunity. And that's when you see their real colors. This is why, Rabotai, in today's world, we have to be like Rabbi Akiva. What's Rabbi Akiva? Rabbi Akiva, Rabotai, had 24,000 students. Why 24,000 students? Why not 25,000? Why? He didn't want to grow any further? Why not 20,000? Isn't 24,000 too much? 20,000 is maybe better. It could fit only, you know, maybe a couple of buildings, not a whole city. Like, why 24,000? Because Rabotai, Hakadosh Baruch Hu... In order to teach Torah, if you're going to be a rabbi, it's for every 25 kids, one rabbi. You want to teach 50 kids? You need two rabbis. 100 kids? Four rabbis. So now you have 600,000 neshamot of Am Yisrael. You divide that by 25. One rabbi for each group.

1:57:47One rabbi feeds 25. How much is that? 24,000. Rabbi Akiva was trying to fix the world. He was trying to bring Mashiach. How could I bring Mashiach? I'm going to make the 24,000 rabbis. They're going to help the 600,000 neshamot. 600,000 Jewish neshamot all do teshuva. I need to have 24,000 rabbis. The problem is, Rabbi, they had, on their own level, messed up. But HaKadosh Baruch Hu made it much easier for us. Today, you don't need to be Rabbi Akiva, who was at the 50th level of kedusha, higher than anybody else in history, in order to have 24,000 talmidim. You know what you need today? A button. Today, Rabbi, everybody can be a rabbi without ever speaking a single word. What do you do? You take this lecture, you press share. You share it as best as you can. To all the groups that you can. To as many people as you can. As often as you can. And before you know it, you reach thousands of people. Tens of thousands of people.

1:59:00And guess what? A few of them are going to watch. And guess what? A few of the few that watch are going to do teshuva. Are going to stop living a fairy tale life and actually start living what HaKadosh Baruch Hu said. Because they want the protection. They want the Shechinah in their personal life. And when you share, when you support, when you do kiruv, you are doing what Rabbi Akiva tried to do, but in a much harder way. He actually had to teach 24,000 people. You don't have to. All you have to do is make sure that you exert enough effort for your Torah, for this Mussar, for this Emet, to reach 24,000 people. Sometimes that's with a button. Sometimes the combination of a button and a few dollars. Sometimes the button and some effort and some time and some phone calls and whatever it is. But if you exert some effort, At the very least, you're going to bring enough emet to the world to give the rest of us time to do teshuva. Because we cannot afford to have another Holocaust. It's too painful. Aren't we... I've had it already with the pain. I've had it already with the disease. I've had it already with the murder. I've had it already with the losses. I've had it already with the agony. I've had it already with all the loss. I've had it already!

2:00:25Don't you have had it already? Every other day somebody is in the hospital, somebody is dying, somebody got robbed, somebody got murdered. Every day there's some tragedy. Every day there's a divorce. Every day there's somebody getting cancer. If I told you guys how many problems I deal with this phone, if it wasn't a mitzvah, I'd take the phone and I'd break it. And I'd never answer it again. It's a tragedy machine. All day there are tragedies. Haven't you had enough? Because some of you are the ones that are calling me. And if I didn't love you, I wouldn't do it. If I didn't love HaKadosh Baruch Hu, I wouldn't do it. I just take this. Enough. I don't want it. I don't want to talk to anybody ever again. I come to the lecture, I teach you, I'm running out. No personal nothing. But that's part of the job. It's part of the job. Haven't you had it with the tragedy? If we have HaKadosh Baruch Hu's Shekhinah back, no more tragedy. If we have the Beit HaMikdash back, no more tragedy. No more Holocaust. If we have HaKadosh Baruch Hu's protection back, Rabotai HaKareem, no more worrying about Gehenom, no more worrying about punishment, no more worrying. It's finished. We're done. We made it. But all we have to do is do everything possible to get everyone else to know.

2:01:53HaKadosh Baruch Hu runs the world, and you have to comply. Whether you like it or don't like it, doesn't really make much of a difference. Because your actions affect all of us. So, at the very least, regardless of what your choice is, I have to tell you. Either by saying words, or giving you a CD, or giving you a link, or a USB, or whatever other amazing way that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will give us to share His emet, to share His Torah. How many ways did He give us to share Torah in the world? How many ways? So at least use them. Each one of us has to take time every single day to do something simply for Kevod Shamayim. Not for rewards, not for Gan Eden, not for money, not for any type of fame. No, just for Kevod Shamayim. What's for Kevod Shamayim? Get Hashem's kids back home.

2:03:02fight against the ignorance and the evil in the world, regardless of where it's coming from. Because that way, Rabotai, we're not only buying ourselves more time to do teshuva, for all of us that are still lagging, but on top of it, at one point, we're preparing, we're preparing ourselves to have that protection back, to have that Beit HaMikdash back, to not have problems anymore. If I wrote you all the problems that I deal with every day, the world would end and the problems wouldn't. Please, I tell you this every week, and I tell you this every day, and I tell you this every lecture. Please, please, Ribono shel Olam, do something about it. I don't want to be here next year, crying again, and again, and again, about all the tragedies that we lived through for another year.

2:04:05At least let's improve. I have no idea when Mashiach is coming. But let's improve a little bit. Let's improve a little bit. How? Focus on yourself first and don't be so selfish. Share too. B'ezrat Hashem. This too will give this morning, give this strategy more meaning. Because finally, we get enough chizuk to do something about it. B'ezrat Hashem, tomorrow we'll be back here at 2 o'clock, giving you different information, different chizuk. If we didn't get enough chizuk from this, Then we'll get some more tomorrow. And even if you got from today, surely tomorrow we'll seal the deal even more. Tomorrow, there will be a shiur at 2. And then again at 6 o'clock. We may go straight. I have no idea how much strength HaKadosh Baruch Hu will give us. But nonetheless, try to make it on time. Baruch Adonai le'olam. Amen ve'amen.

2:05:23Then we'll get some more tomorrow. And even if you got from today, surely tomorrow we'll seal the deal even more. Tomorrow, there will be a shiur at 2. And then again at 6 o'clock. We may go straight. I have no idea how much strength HaKadosh Baruch Hu will give us. But nonetheless, try to make it on time. Baruch Adonai le'olam. Amen v'amen.