Tough Questions, FREE WILL, Kosher PIG Prophecy, MITZVAH KILLER & much more -STUMP THE RABBI (60)

0:09In the name of G-d, we will do and we will succeed. May the Torah be blessed. We're back here in Aventura, Florida, during our shiur on the ikveta, not ikveta, the stamta rabbi. You aged, things like that happened to you. B'ezrat Hashem, today's shiur will be for Ilui Nishmat Julie bat Gertrude, and also for a refuah shlema for Sharon bat Avraham, and Tinoket bat Sharon. We're back here in Aventura, Florida, during our shiur on the ikvita, not ikvita, the stamta rabbi. You aged, things like that happened to you. B'ezrat Hashem, today's shiur will be for Ilui Nishmat Julie bat Gertrude, and also for a refuah shlema for Sharon bat Avraham, and Tinoket bat Sharon.

1:10Also for Rav Ephraim ben Shulamit, Rabbanit Sarah bat Anat, Rabbanit Levana bat Sarah, Yitro ben Avraham, Talia bat Sarah, Stefan ben Katarina, Yosef Yitzchak ben Baila Rochel, Michal bat Yael, Serach bat Batya, Batya bat Sarah, Orit bat Ilana. And also, hatzlacha rabah for Shaul ben Farzaneh, Yitro ben Avraham, Marsha bat Julie, And also, Ayla bat Marsha. And also for all of the tomchim, all of the contributors to our Torah, to our Zikui HaRabim, all the wonderful things that Irgun Be'ezrat Hashem does and tries to do. There's, Baruch Hashem, so many different projects, you simply can't even get to them. But a lot of good things happening.

2:10Whereas a short update, you know, in regards to a space, a few people are asking us in regards to the yeshiva, in regards to the new location and so on. So, of course, anything that you try to do good is going to have some stumbling blocks. We're still looking. We moved to Cooper City, and we highly recommend everybody that wants to move, whether you're from Holland, a different part of America, or wherever you are and you want to go to a Jewish community, that you move by us. You don't necessarily need to move there tomorrow, but I'd recommend you move by us simply because we're going to try to do a lot of big things, try to build a Jewish community over there. a place to do the shiurim a bit and a lot of other wonderful things. We're looking for a location right now; it's proven to be a little bit more difficult than I thought. Some spaces are vacant, but the leases are still valid technically.

3:14Some are simply not big enough, some are too small, and some are owned by landlords who can't afford to do the work to build out the space. So they want you to spend the money on their space. It's like you're renting me a house and you want me to fix it. And if I own the house, no problem, but if I'm renting the house, it's a little bit more difficult to justify such a thing, especially since the leases are not lifetime. But based on the show, we're still working on it. Still, again, there are a few people already moving here from Texas, from Colorado, from a few other countries, b'ezrat Hashem. Again, b'ezrat Hashem, all of it's going to happen. We're actually even having people from Eretz Yisrael and... are going to move here. And I know a few people who are very zealous for moving to Eretz Yisrael who wonder why anybody would move from Eretz Yisrael to Cooper City. It has nothing to do with Cooper City. It has to do with where they want to learn Torah and who they want to learn Torah from, and if they want to do it live or they want to do it on YouTube. Simple. You can learn on YouTube. You can learn live. The difference?

4:30The heaven and the earth is a difference. It's the difference of learning live and learning from a screen. But nonetheless, again, if you have Torah wherever you are, it doesn't matter where you are, stay where you are. But if you're looking for more, come and join us. Anyway, so that's in the process. We're going to need some more tools to get this game plan going. But it's going already. Anyway, we have our questions and answers, which gives you an opportunity to ask questions that you've had your whole life, or at least the last week, and we'll give you answers. Sometimes you have questions, but that's only when the camera is off. When the camera is off, you have 500 questions. But when the camera is on, apparently everybody becomes mute. if you have questions, you could ask questions. If not, I could just give you a few that, perhaps, are also going to maybe not only enlighten you with a little bit more Torah but also maybe give you some food for thought to maybe ask questions about it. Sometimes I go on with the idea itself right away, but I know that people like the questions, you know, and we run out of time. So, let's see if you guys have some questions. We'll start with that if you guys actually have questions.

5:57No, all go at the same time. Don't go at the same time. Relax, guys, relax. Relax. What question have I answered that's worth repeating right now? To be honest with you, I don't know. I mean, every question has its own value. It all depends on the audience. you know, it's a, one person can ask a question about a Midrash. And he's going to ask you, wait a minute, so you're telling me that all of Am Yisrael crossed the ocean in broad daylight and that's how it was? No, no, actually, no, it's not crossed the ocean, what was it? Ramban writes that they didn't cross the ocean. They didn't cross the ocean. What did they do? They went back to the same end. Go to Midrash Me'am Loez and several other Midrashim. You see that HaKadosh Baruch Hu made tunnels for each one of the tribes inside the ocean. He split the ocean into 12, not into two, like it's in the movies. He split the ocean into 12, and it was a tunnel, but it was a tunnel in the shape of a rainbow. So they went in one end, and they came back around. This is the reason why the Egyptians didn't run away.

7:16You know, if it's like the movies, where the Jews passed and then the Egyptians followed them, then as soon as the water started collapsing, as soon as they saw that the water was collapsing, some of the Egyptians would have run away. They went back to the coast, but it didn't work that way. why did it work that way? Because, as the Rambam explains and the Midrashim explain, the Yam Suf was split into 12 parts. Each one of the tribes had their own tunnel, and they were able to see each other so they wouldn't become afraid. Trees and different fruits grew instantly. Anytime you wanted fresh water, fresh water would come out of the salt water. The ground of the ocean was flattened so nobody would hurt their feet. It was very comfortable. The Egyptians were the opposite. But nonetheless, when the Jewish people got to the point where it was the top of the rainbow, They started turning the corner. The Egyptians thought they got to the other end, so they didn't know that they were still on the same side. They could have just simply turned around and caught them on the other side. So that's why they continued following them, and that's why they ended up killing all of them except for:

8:32so a person that can ask a question like that, for example, for him, this is worth a million dollars. Why? Because all his life he wondered, "How come this and how come that?" Another person, perhaps, this is not going to be as valuable for them because he cares more about, "How come I’m not allowed to eat milk and meat but milk and chicken is allowed?" Technically, chicken is not meat; it's poultry. So why did the Chachamim make such a gezeirah that they care what I eat? How come, to him, it makes all the difference? Now, unless you value the Chachamim, you're never going to understand such a question. Meaning, if you think that the Chachamim are like you, a human being with a head, arms, legs, eyes, nose, and the only difference between you is age, then you're not going to value the answer. But if you're going to look at the Gemara Masechet Shabbat, it says that the Chachamim themselves say that the previous generation's Chachamim, meaning 30-40 years before them,

9:40The previous generation's Chachamim are like angels among men. But if they were humans, we would be donkeys. Meaning, the Chachamim that were able to resurrect the dead are saying that the Chachamim before them, the previous generation, were like angels if we are humans. But if they are humans, we are donkeys. And this is being said by people who know the entire Torah by heart, not by people who merely talk about it. So if you understand the Gemara and you understand that any sage that came before you, including the one that's currently right now 80 years old, that there's no way in the world that you could ever be like him. You could aspire to reach your full potential. You could aspire to be a Gadol HaDor. But a Gadol HaDor today will never be like a Gadol HaDor of a previous generation. Why? There's a rule in the Torah, Yeridat HaDorot. deterioration of the generations. So unless you understand that, you won't appreciate the value of the answer when I tell you, "Listen, you're not allowed to eat the poultry with the milk."

10:51Because the Chachamim said so. Why did they say so? They said because the poultry, the chicken, the duck, or whatever other bird that's kosher could look like meat to somebody passing by, and therefore it would look like you're sinning, and it's a very big deal for one Jew to see another Jew sinning. If one Jew sees a goy kill another goy, it's not such a big deal. Why? They have their own rules; it's their problem. That's their problem. You're never going to see a Jew lose sleep over whether the conspiracies about coronavirus are true or not, unless they have no Torah. But if you find out that a Jew is behind it, if you find out that one Jew killed another, if you find out that one Jew hurt another Jew, you're going to lose sleep over it. Oh, I can't believe it. He did it. How could it be? For one Jew to see another Jew sinning affects their neshama. So the Chachamim said, for you to even look like you're sinning, and another Jew sees you, that's already a problem enough. Therefore, we have to put a fence around the fence, in accordance with the Torah. Permission from the Torah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu told the Chachamim, you're allowed to put a fence around the fence in order to protect the generation. Even though the Torah says, don't eat meat, basar, meat, like a cow.

12:16Wheat milk, don't cook it, don't eat it, don't sell it, don't benefit from it. Three times it says it. Why three times? Because there are three different rules. Even though it says meat, not chicken. Chicken too. Duck too. Why? Because it could potentially look like it's meat. Because it could potentially look like it's meat. You know what I mean? It's white meat. This is black. Yeah, but maybe it's the black. Maybe you cook it. Maybe you have to put the sauce on it. It's going to look like it. It has a texture. It's enough. It could potentially look like to somebody who doesn't really know steak. He never ate steak in his life. It looks like that. That's enough. Chachamim say it's too much. It's too much risk for a Jew to see another Jew sinning. For a guy like that, that got this whole explanation, now it finally makes sense. Now he wants to learn the Midrash that the ocean was split into 12 parts and that Moshe Rabbeinu flew in the air and that its eyes turned into hot coals and he beat up the giant who picked up a man. Now he cares about the Midrash. Why? Because now he got an answer for a question that bothered him for 50 years.

13:25All makes sense. So, therefore, now I want to learn the rest of this stuff. I can tell you personally, when I first started learning Torah, I didn't like Midrashim. I didn't like it. Somebody came to me and told me some story about one of the stories in the Gemara of a few sages arguing, one of the great sages arguing, arguing big famous debates. Sad situation. Point being is, all types of mystical things were happening there. One sage wanted to prove himself, saying, listen, if I'm right, then the water in the river will go reverse. If I'm right, the wall will fall. If I'm right, there's going to be a bat kol coming from shamayim. All types of mystical things. I stopped him in the middle of the story. I said, do me a favor, don't tell me this stuff. I don't believe it. I don't know it. I don't know. I'm not at that level. I know Hashem runs the world, but I can't handle this right now. I can't handle this stopping rivers. I don't know. I don't know what you're talking about. I'll learn from the Ran. If he says it's different than if you say it. Well, he was like a mountain for me. You know, you're like me. You're like me, you're trying, and I don't really know if you know what you're talking about. You're seeing rivers reversing, going back and forth, walls falling, but I don't know about that. Leave me alone for now.

14:39as I continue to learn, as I continue to have more and more Torah in my own neshama, all of a sudden I fall in love with the Midrashim. All of a sudden I want to learn it all day, all night. Why? It makes sense. You need to know all of these behind-the-detail details in order to know why this detail is such. Whether it's the halacha, whether it's this, whether it's that. So, as I said, Your question is a wonderful question, but for a unique reason. Meaning that it all depends on where the person is in their life and what matters to them. Because the question that you ask today may matter to you, but not to the guy next to you. But one of the benefits that you have in being part of a shiur versus, let's say, sending me one of the three or four hundred questions that I get per day on WhatsApp and email and all the other vehicles that we have, is that when you send me a question on, let's say, the internet, on WhatsApp or something, it's not as much siyata diShmaya. It's not as much divine assistance. Why? Because that question pertains to you. Because no one else is going to see that answer.

15:47So that question matters to you and that's it. But when you ask a question because you're part of a shiur, if HaKadosh Baruch Hu allowed those words to leave your mouth, surely that question matters to other people that are watching the shiur either live over here or live on camera. So that's because Hashem is, you're part of the shiur, you're part of the kehillah, you're part of the siyata dishmaya itself. So again, feel free to ask questions. Surely it matters not only to you but to others. But the point is that that's also a major benefit that you have in being in a live shiur versus online or a recording. Next question, yes. Has there been... Off the top of your head, something that's a very significant question that was asked to you that's of great significance, a very interesting backstory, a very interesting story that comes to mind. I mean, again, it all depends on what's interesting to different people. I think one of the most difficult questions for people to understand, it's a very easy thing to explain in a superficial way, not in a detailed way, because the Rambam writes in Shemona Perakim that it's not humanly possible to understand it, but one of the most difficult things for people to understand is the concept of free choice.

17:10So, free choice means, how does it work that I have free choice, but Hashem knows the future? Say I have free choice, great, but you also said that at the same time I have free choice, I can do whatever I want, Hashem knows the future. So if He already knows the future, how is my choice free? That's a very difficult concept for people to understand. In a simple way, because this is already answered at least twice in this series, in a simple way, it's this. If, let's say, for example, I put... I write down on a piece of paper everything that you're going to do tomorrow. Then I put it in an envelope, and we place it in a safe. The people here will stay overnight and watch the safe. You go about your day and do whatever you want. Tomorrow we come back to the same place, we open the safe, everybody's witnesses, we open the envelope, we read everything that I wrote down today about what you're going to do tomorrow, and you see that I already wrote everything that you're going to do tomorrow today, meaning I knew the future. Did my knowing your future affect your decision?

18:11No, right? Because I wrote it on a piece of paper. That's the same concept. Meaning, HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows the future, but it does not affect your free choice to choose it. Why? Because for HaKadosh Baruch Hu, He is one. What does it mean, He is one? It's not that there's just one God. not just that. Meaning, He is one is that He doesn't have parts. We have parts; we have a body, we have different body parts. Our neshama is separate from the body. Our ideas are separate from us. For Hashem, there's no separation; He is one. The past, the present, the future, His thoughts, His reality, it's all a piece of one. There is nothing separate from Him, which means that that when He created the world, He created the past, the present, and the future. So, He already created all of the possibilities, all of the possibilities that are the outcomes of your choices.

19:14Which means that you can pick whatever you want. He already knows it. What is that like? Imagine you are on a highway, and you're driving, and now you get to a fork in the road, but not a fork with just one, two, or three options, but rather a hundred options, a thousand options. If you go right, you're going to end up in Honolulu. If you go left, you're going to end up in Texas. If you go in the middle, you're going to end up in Zimbabwe. If you go slightly right, but northeast, northwest, somewhere there, you're going to end up in Eretz Yisrael. And so on and so forth. Each road leads to a different destination, right? That is your free choice. You can pick whatever you want. The destination is there regardless of what you pick, right? Meaning, whether you choose to go right and end up in Texas or not, Texas will always be there. Whether you choose to go left and end up in Honolulu, it doesn't really make a difference. Honolulu will always be there. Why? Because the Designer already placed it there. That's in essence HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

20:16a very microcosm explanation of it is that regardless of what choice you have, the outcome is already there. What you choose is which outcome you want. Do you want Israel? Do you want Texas? Do you want Honolulu? Do you want this wife? Do you want that wife? You make that choice. Everything is from Heaven except the fear of Heaven, meaning Everything, all of the outcomes and the possible choices, are from Heaven. But the fear of Heaven is which one are you going to choose, meaning are you going to choose to go to the place where there's less Torah or are you going to choose the place that has more Torah? Are you going to choose the kosher food or the non-kosher food? Are you going to choose the modest woman to get married to or the immodest woman to get married to? you're going to choose the kosher job that makes a little bit of money in the beginning but maybe more later on, or the non-kosher job that makes a ton of money before you go to jail. The choices are available to you, and Hashem is not going to decide for you. You decide, but the outcome of those choices is already there.

21:22So in essence, again, HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows the future, knows all of the choices, knows all of the outcomes, yet you still pick which road you will take. This is a very difficult concept for people to understand, and the biggest part of the reason is because of ego, believe it or not. Reason why it's ego is because we are determined, determined to believe that we are in charge of our life. No, I did it. I made the money, and I went there, and I, and I, and iPhone, and iPad, and I this, and I generate everything. I, I, I, because everyone wants control. You don't have any control. You're not gonna get your control. Right, wrong, that's control you have. righteous, wicked — everything else: tall, short — not in your control. Married, single — not in your control. Alive, dead — not in your control. Rich, poor — not in your control. Children, no children — not in your control. Live to 120 or till 20 — not in your control. The only thing in your control...

22:34righteous, wicked. It's the only thing that's in your control. The problem is that people have a very, very big ego because of the secular knowledge they've learned, because of the less Torah in their life, and they're determined to be in control even though they know that they're not in control. And for that, HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave us different little things to remind us that we are nothing. To remind us that we have no control. One of the things, for example, is you see as people age, They start becoming more like when they were born. When you were born, you had no control over anything. You weren't even able to control your body parts. You weren't able to control your digestive cycle. And all of a sudden, something came out. You know, but you're a baby, so it's cute, and your mind will change you, right? Now, once you're 80, it's not cute. There's nothing cute about it. But that's what happens again. With all the money that you worked for for the last 70, 80 years, you think you're powerful, but all of a sudden, ha, ha, ha, and something comes up. It's not comfortable, it's not funny, it's not nice, but it's a reality.

23:36and you have to decide, okay, I'm gonna have to walk around with a diaper as if I'm two months old. Why does HaKadosh Baruch Hu do this? To remind you that you're not in control. It's just that you didn't figure it out for the last seventy years, so I'm reminding you now. Now, where do we also learn that from? It says there was a very, very big king who was the most arrogant person that lived at that time... And HaKadosh Baruch Hu sends the prophet to him, and says to him, "I looked at you when I created the world, and because of you, I created the body with, meaning, the holes that you have in your body, in order for you to eat something and let it exit your body. To show you that I created something beautiful, smells good, looks good, but everything that you produce is disgusting." why? Because I know that you will get the gift from Me, and then think that you got it. I gave you money, but you think you made it. I gave you a wife, but you think you got it. I gave you the kingship and control, and you think you got it. So because of your arrogance, I created the whole digestive system for you.

24:56Not just for you, him, for us too. For us too. So the more arrogant a person is, the more difficult it is for him or her to believe in free choice, to understand it, to accept it, needless to say, to accept the entire Torah. You know, when you see people that are rejecting the Torah, "No, I don't accept what this rabbi said." "No, listen, rabbi, I like everything you say except this." What, did I make this up or is that also in the Torah? "Yeah, you say it's in the Torah, but..." Oh, as soon as you say it's in the Torah, but, oh, you have arrogance. You have a big ego and it's going to be very difficult for you to learn anything. You accept everything that you already accept on your own. It's not that you're accepting the Torah. You're accepting whatever you've arrived to on your own. And that's why the Rambam writes that a Noahide, a goy, ...that fulfills the seven Noahide rules. He doesn't murder, he doesn't commit adultery, he doesn't worship idols, and so on and so forth. But if he only fulfills those Noahide laws because it makes sense to him, not because God said so, the Rambam writes that he does not even get a reward for it; he goes to Gehenom.

26:12He's considered one of the foolish people in the world. Why? You did all of the work but you didn't get paid for it. You're only going to get paid for it if you do it because God said so, not because you arrived at your own conclusion that murder is bad, or because it was illegal, or because it wasn't socially acceptable. If you did it because God said so, you'll get a reward for it. If you don't, you'll get punished for it. if you wash your hands in the morning and you do it because God said so, you get rewarded for it. But if you do it because you want to get the cobwebs out of your eyes and go to work, you don't get a mitzvah. In fact, you'll get punished for it. How come you didn't do this? I'll give you a free pass; you're doing it anyway. Why couldn't you say My name? So the point is that what we have a difficulty with is truly because of our ego. Our ego gets in the way, and it gives us the thought that we are greater than what we are, we are in control of more than what we really are, and it makes us reject the sages, it makes us reject the Torah, and needless to say, it makes us reject Hashem. The one most important rule that we learn from Parashat Noach, is that if he's tzaddik why are you mentioning his tamim? It says that he's tzaddik, he's righteous, but he's tamim, he's complete. Isn't tzaddik complete? Why are you mentioning both? Hakadosh Baruch Hu says this is tzaddik, this is tamim. Chachamim tell us to be tzaddik you could look like a tzaddik.

27:27says that Noach is tzaddik, why are you mentioning his tamim? It says that he's tzaddik, he's righteous, but he's tamim, he's complete. Isn't tzaddik complete? What's the why are you mentioning both? HaKadosh Baruch Hu says this is tzaddik, this is tamim. Chachamim tell us to be tzaddik you could look like a tzaddik. But to be a tzaddik in the eyes of Hashem, you have to be complete. What does it mean to be complete? Anything Hashem says, anything the rabbis say, the righteous ones, not the Erev Rav, anything they say, you accept it blindfolded. Don't wait until you understand it, just like you don't wait until you understand the antibiotic, how it works, before you take it. Don't wait until you agree with it. Don't wait until you like it. No, no, you accept it. Why? Tamim tiheyeh im Hashem. I'm complete with Hashem. He says it, I do it. No, but it's the rabbi who said it. It's the same thing. The rabbi is a talmid chacham. He said it, it's the same thing as G-d said it. That's the halacha. That's what the Shulchan Aruch says. That's it, that's what G-d said. It's Mount Sinai. No, but isn't there rabbinical mitzvot and biblical mitzvot? Yes, there's rabbinical mitzvot and there's biblical mitzvot. There's a biblical mitzvah that says don't violate Shabbat, death penalty, right?

28:49There's also a biblical mitzvah, don't steal. But for stealing, you have to pay double. What about rabbinical mitzvot? You violate rabbinical mitzvot, all of them are death penalty. All rabbinical mitzvot, you violate them, it's death penalty. In the hands of Hashem. Why? HaKadosh Baruch Hu is willing to forgive His own kavod, but not the kavod of His talmidim. Not the kavod of His netzigim, His representatives. Not willing to give up on their kavod. That's why the Gemara says, someone that makes fun of a Talmid Chacham, there's no medicine for the hit that he's going to get. There's no medicine for it. you made a nice post, I’m making fun of you. You made a movie against you making fun of that, people are making fun of the Torah or distorting it. You’re making fun of him. He said, “Nah, come on, who wants to listen to this guy?” The Gemara says, it promises, promises in the words of Hashem, there is no medicine to the hit that he's gonna get.

29:59You know what no medicine means? Cancer. No medicine means AIDS. No medicine means a disease no one has even heard of. That's the type of makkah. And people are surprised. Oh, wow, you're here. Wow, this guy got cancer. He was only 28 years old. I can't believe it. Why is God doing it? Why is God doing it? Look at his Facebook account. Look how many rabbis he's making fun of. Look at all of the Talmidei Chachamim he's making fun of. What do you mean, why did he do it? It's surprising to look that long. Look how much mercy Hashem had on him for 28 years. But that's the thing. So, again, bigger ego, less Torah. Smaller ego, more Torah. One of the biggest proofs that we have is the greatest that we have, that ever lived among us, Avraham Avinu, Moshe Rabbeinu, David HaMelech, All of them, what were they known for? They were known for their simple, non-existent ego. Avraham Avinu says that I am dust and ashes, nothing. Moshe Rabbeinu says, I am nothing, outright nothing. David HaMelech, Melech HaMashiach says, I'm a worm but not a man.

31:18how could somebody that's Melech HaMashiach, how could somebody that's the Mashiach, before him, the only person to ever speak to Hashem face to face, how could Avraham Avinu, Avraham Avinu was able to create cows, create anything? He had the book of the Sefer Yetzirah. He was able to create stuff when the malachim came to him, malachim came to him. told his son, "Okay, let's get some calves, make one calf for each one." One of the calves ran away, and he chased after it. That's how he discovered the cave. He realized that if he had to go find another one, it was going to take too long, so you know what? He took the cow. Let's go. He created a cow to go feed the malachim. He didn't know the malachim. He created a cow. Why did he create a cow? He said it's going to take too long, the guests are going to wait too much. That explains, by the way, so you know, you've seen in Sefer Bereishit, in the whole sippur, in the whole story, of how Avraham Avinu had these guests, these three malachim, and he thought they were three Arabs. And he fed them, what did he feed them? Milk and meat. And people ask, how could Avraham Avinu fulfill the entire Torah?

32:32feed his guests milk and meat. He’s fulfilling the entire Torah. It says why he’s allowed to feed them milk and meat. Why? Because the cow wasn’t real; he created it. It’s not a cow that came from a mother. That kind of cow, if you create a cow, you can eat it with a cheeseburger, no problem. If you create a cow, you can eat a cheeseburger from that cow, not from a different cow. But unless you care, if you can’t, then you have to eat the burger and cheese six hours later. So Avraham Avinu created a cow; that's what he fed them—milk and meat. Milk and meat. Everything has an explanation, but unless you're going to go to the Midrashim, unless you're going to go to the Chachamim, unless you're going to lower your ego and know that whatever doesn't make sense to you, it's because you don't know anything. Yeah, but I just finished another Masechet—you still know nothing. I finished all of Shas—you still know zero. No, no, why? Don't I know at least the Shas? No, you know nothing. Nothing. Whatever you learn is still nothing in comparison to the Torah. The lower your ego is, the more you're going to become a vessel for the Torah. The bigger your ego is, the more you're going to reject the Torah. And that's why the Gemara says in Masechet Shabbat, the Torah for a person can either be sam chayim or sam hamavet. Either the potion of life or the potion of death. If your ego is small, it's a potion of life. If your ego is big, it's a potion of death.

33:54Meaning, you can learn a lot of stuff and take the yetzer hara and make mistakes non-stop, become a big chilul Hashem, a walking chilul Hashem. And a lot of those people, unfortunately, spend a lot of time online, making all types of comments, all types of psak din, all types of foolish comments, thinking that they are the mara d'atra of Facebook. They are the mara d'atra of Twitter. They are the mara d'atra of some blog that they have, not realizing that for every single letter they write on the internet, they're going to create another chamber in Gehinom specially for them. But they think they're doing a mitzvah. And that's how the Satan himself fools people. With a kippah, with a beard, with kisui rosh. Into thinking they're doing mitzvot, but in reality they're digging themselves a Gehinom. So, to answer you, we can go on this particular subject for five years. Point being is, it's all about ego. Ego. You have a big ego, your Torah is going to be some of it. It's going to be a portion of death. Small ego, some chayim. Next question.

35:00Well, I've got to get somebody to have the nes. Yes? A simple question, I think, is... All these simple ones. Give me a freebie. The rest of these guys are asking me tough questions. I have to find what to respond. A hot plate, when you put the food for Shabbat, to let it heat up, you know, you put the food in there, you turn it on before Shabbat comes in, Friday. And after Shabbat comes in, the meat is in there. Let's assume there's a piece of steak on there. you are allowed on Shabbat to take that meat and to turn it on the other side so it becomes well done or it becomes as warm as the other side, or you're not allowed because you're actually heating it up. Okay, so any food that you put on the plata (hot plate) before Shabbat already has to be ready. The hot plate is for the purpose of it being heated up, not for it to be cooked. So even your cholent, let's say you make chamin. Chamin, usually the longer it cooks, the better it is. But even that chamin that you put, you can't put it completely raw five seconds before Shabbat, turn it on, and it'll be ready by tomorrow at 12 o'clock. It already has to be at a point where it's edible.

36:15it's edible and before Shabbat, and in essence, all you're doing is just continuing to heat it up, making it more edible and tasty. So if that steak was not edible already before Shabbat, you're not allowed to heat it. You have to be very, very careful with stuff like that. The hot plate is not to cook your food; the hot plate is to heat your food. It's to heat your food now. When it comes to specific things like solids, it's a lot easier to heat and not necessarily wait until it's completely done because if you cook it for too long, you're going to burn it and so on. One issue that confuses a lot of people is soup. Things that are liquid—you have to be very careful. If you have a soup that you've made already before Shabbat, it's ready before Shabbat, you put it on a hot plate. So, into Shabbat, it's already on a hot plate, right? That soup, once you take it off the hot plate, once you take it off and serve everybody, you're not allowed to put it back on a hot plate for the rest of Shabbat.

37:16because then you'll be actually with the water, because it's actually so much the majority of it is liquid, you'll be recooking it, and that's forbidden. You're only allowed to leave it on the hot plate before Shabbat. Leave it on the hot plate for as long as you want, but once you take it off, it has to stay off. So you have to know the halachot of Shabbat. Anyone that does not have a book in their house, a single book—there's a whole series of books, but I have a single book. It's in our kiruv package. Whoever doesn't have one, let me know. You can order it online. If you don't have any money, I'll just give it to you for free. But for anyone that needs to know halachot Shabbat, just wait for me after the lecture. I have some books in my car. We'll give you a simple book, one simple book with all of the basic halachot for Shabbat. Now, of course, Shabbat is an endless subject. You can learn from now until the end of the millennium, and it's still not finished. But there are basic day-to-day things you need to know, like the ones we just explained. Why? Because what ends up happening is that if you don't know all the basics, for sure you're violating Shabbat.

38:17and not knowing is not an excuse. So you have to know it. I recommend, generally speaking, for people to learn Shabbat from simple books in the beginning. One book, or let's say if you're Sephardi, Yalkut Yosef. It's three books in simple language. Don't learn Hilchot Shabbat from the Shulchan Aruch on your own if you're just starting out. Why? Because you're not going to understand how to apply it. have to learn this from simple books. I learned about Shabbat in the beginning from a children's book. I've already said this several times in the past. I learned a lot of basics from a children's book. It's called "39 Avot Melachot of Shabbat" or "Sabbath." That's how I learned in the beginning. Why? Because that's where I was. Now, if you think that you're better than I was, I promise you, you're not. promise you, you're not. I'm human, you're human. I put my pants on one leg at a time, you put your pants on like that. But the people that have egos, no, come on, I'm gonna go straight to the source, I'm gonna learn, I'm gonna learn about Shabbat. You learn about Shabbat, Shabbat...

39:37learn about Shabbat all over. That's why the Rambam did us a favor and took all of the rules, put them in the Mishneh Torah, and then in different places around the world. Different poskim, different she'elot that became relevant in a generation, and then more recently put it in simpler books of what's relevant to you and your little iPhone. unless you're spending your whole day, and you know Hebrew fluently, and you know what you're doing with the Gemara, you know what to do with the poskim, you know what you're doing. You need to learn from a basic book in the beginning. Why? You simply need to know yes, no, yes, no. It's not for you to decide, "I know what I think he means over here." No, it's not for you to decide what you think he means. you're in first grade, yes, no, yes, no. For how long? Until you know all the yes, no's by heart. Until you can give a shiur about all the yes, no's you do. Yes, no's, that's what you have to learn. Why? Because violating the yes, no is much worse, much worse than you missing a chapter in this because you weren't...

40:55yes, no. You have to know. Anyone who doesn't have it, I have some books in my car, I will give it to you for free. It's on the shiur. Only $500 for free. No? Okay. No, with a $1,000 donation. No. It's good. It's good. Free. Yes. In this week's Parsha, in the context of bringing offerings, do you want to comment on a phrase in any place that you see? Well, as far as the false prophets do it, the false prophets do it, And that's actually part of the tools that the Chachamim used in order to identify false prophets. You know, the korbanot, the whole issue of korbanot and sacrifices is something that we had the permission to do before the Beit HaMikdash. Avraham Avinu brought a korban, Noach brought a korban, Moshe Rabbeinu brought korbanot.

42:05But then David HaMelech goes, you know, we have. But then once the Beit HaMikdash was built, that's it. You were no longer allowed to bring a korban anywhere else outside of the Beit HaMikdash. Once the first Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, that stopped. The Second Beit HaMikdash started again. The Second Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, Hashem Yishmor VeYatzil. We were no longer allowed to bring korbanot, to bring sacrifices. Take a calf, take a cow, take a chicken, dove, take chavitot, all types of different types of sacrifices. It's forbidden from doing any sacrificial things. As the Prophet says, what do we still do? We still pray, and that is a replacement for our sacrifices because that is something we did do at the Beit HaMikdash. And actually, the prayers... the prayers that we pray today are the same prayers that we prayed at the time of the Beit HaMikdash. They were more significant than the actual cow being sacrificed. So, nothing really changed as far as the sacrifice, except that it's not a cow, it's just a prayer now. There are certain exceptions, like you're mentioning, if a prophet comes, but prophecy ended at the same time or even beforehand.

43:12But if, let's say, Eliyahu HaNavi would come, the Beit HaMikdash would come with him also. That's one of the things, Eliyahu HaNavi, next time he's coming, he's coming with the Beit HaMikdash. So now, what the false prophets do is, the false prophets tell you, "No, I'm a prophet, I'm going to misuse this verse, and I'm going to do a sacrifice because I'm a prophet." One of the most recent examples we have is Shabtai Tzvi, shem reshaim yirkav. Shabtai Tzvi was a false prophet who, most famously, was a talmid chacham. He knew a lot of Torah and had different Kabbalistic knowledge. Some people say witchcraft, whatever it was, in essence leading people to believe that he is the Mashiach, and he would do what he would do. that would, uh, uh, baffle people is he would simply make a blessing, take a pig, take bacon, say it is permitted, and make the forbidden allowed. He would go with a married woman, go with the married woman.

44:16He made every sin in the Torah. Why? He's a prophet, he's a Mashiach, he said. That's how the Chachamim knew that he's a faker and didn't follow him. Who followed him? Unfortunately, many, many ignorant people. A few Chachamim thought he was really a Mashiach, but obviously even Chachamim make mistakes. But the point being is that one of the things that made it obvious to everybody, one of the main things that made it obvious to everybody that he's a Rasha, is this particular thing. This particular thing that he would simply make the forbidden allowed. Make the forbidden allowed by making a blessing on it. Simply by making a blessing on it. And he would do it often, and obviously, that's one of the ways that he was exposed. So this is why the Chachamim say that even if Moshe Rabbeinu himself comes and tells you that you no longer have to put on tefillin like the Torah says, not only do you not listen to him, you have to kill him. For changing the Torah.

45:16Changing the Torah, anyone changing the Torah, is a death penalty. Now, we don't have a Sanhedrin, but the point is, if we had the Sanhedrin and somebody would say that they are Moshe Rabbeinu, that changing the Torah, or even Eliyahu, or whoever would come—not that there's sizes or bigger or smaller, but you get my point—somebody would say to change the Torah, we kill him. Now, today we don't have a Sanhedrin, but you get the point. The point is that it's a very, very severe crime to change the Torah, but that's one of the tools of the false prophets. There is a sefer that documents the last couple thousand years of different false prophets we've had throughout the generations. At the time of the Rambam, the Yemenites, was struggling not only with the Muslims, who were pretty much forcing them to convert to Islam, but also they were dealing with false prophets over there. And the Rambam mamash saved them. And that's why until this day, the Yemenites hold by the Rambam and not by the Shulchan Aruch. Now, many that have moved to Eretz Yisrael are held by the Shulchan Aruch because Rabbi Ovadia Yosef told them this is what they have to do, as that is the rule of the land there. But the ones that still live in Yemen and other parts of the world, many of them still hold by the Rambam exclusively, not by the Shulchan Aruch. Because mamash, they hold the Rambam as their Moshe Rabbeinu. For the right reason, he mamash saved the Jews of Yemen. Now, they also dealt with a false prophet at the time of Rabbi Akiva.

46:41Bako Tziva, he was a false prophet and we had many, many of them. Nobody is obviously confused when you say that Yeshu is one of the false prophets—unfortunately, the worst one, one of the worst ones. Now, you could say he didn't; you could say he did. Bottom line is, there are a couple of billion people who think that he's somebody that he's not, and he's caused more Jews to sin than anybody else in the history of mankind, this Yeshu. Unfortunately, over the last 20 or so years, over 500,000 Jews have converted to Christianity because of the false teachings that are taught by Christianity in the New Testament. Now, one interesting question is that somebody asked one time, it says that there's a prophecy that when Mashiach comes, at the time of Mashiach, the pig will become kosher. So how could that be? The pig is going to return… How could a kosher pig exist? You just said you can't change the Torah right now. So how could it be? So the Me'iri explains, don't let it slip into your mind, the foolish thought that a pig would ever become kosher. Don't ever let it slip into your mind, because that would change the Torah. So what does that prophecy mean? The nations, there's Yishmael and there's Edom. Yishmael is compared to a donkey. Parable: Yishmael is a donkey. Edom is a pig.

48:06Edom is a parable for a pig that looks kosher but is not. He has one sign out of the two signs that a kosher animal has. At the time before Mashiach, there's going to be a unique time where the pig is going to become kosher, meaning there's going to be an enormous amount of Christians leaving Christianity and converting to Judaism. For anybody that's not sleeping under a rock, you can see that prophecy is being fulfilled on a day-to-day basis. I speak to different batei din, you know, on a regular basis, and once in a while, I ask them. I asked one time one of the big batei din that I deal with. I asked them, "How is it today compared to when you first started 20, 30, 40 years ago?" They said, "There's no comparison because we used to get maybe one convert a month." One guy would come to convert, a little tzaddik would want to convert, maybe sometimes with his family. That's it, 20, 30 years ago. One. So what about now? Five, ten a day. Twenty a day sometimes. We can't handle them. Can't handle them. A lot of them are ready, a lot of them are not ready. Bottom line is, every day. I deal with converts on a daily basis, in case you guys didn't know. And... every single day, more and more people...

49:28send me emails asking me, "Please, I want to convert. I'm in Michigan, I'm in India, I'm in this place, I'm in that place." All the people watching this shiur, and many of them are converts or want to be converts, ask different things every day. I can't even respond to the emails anymore. I mean, I respond as much as I possibly can, but many people wait for a response for a month, two months, three months. It's not that it takes so long to respond; it's just that until I get to that message... just there's 300 before you just today, and then there's tomorrow; there's going to be another 300. Eventually, you get to it, and sometimes you just simply don't get to it. You simply don't get to it, you know? So, uh, but there's a lot. That's the prophecy; that's the prophecy. Next question. See, your questions create more questions in the back. Yeah, no? Okay, no, Joshua. One of the ways to explain reward and punishment without getting somebody confused is, first and foremost, you have to get them to admit that...

50:56No, the Torah was given to Am Yisrael at Mount Sinai by God, and not by Moshe, meaning it wasn't a person that wrote the Torah. So that's the first thing. You have to get the person to, most importantly, agree that the Torah is from God. Many people have doubts about whether the Torah is from God or not. So the first and most important thing for you, before you teach them about Gan Eden and Gehinnom, is to show them different proofs that the Torah is actually real and it's from God. Once they've arrived at that conclusion that it is from God, then they themselves will be motivated to want to know what it says. So, well, this God... says that if you do everything he says, you go to Parashat Bechukotai, he says he's going to give you blessings. There's a dozen verses that talk about different blessings. Oh, Baruch Hashem, what a great God. I always knew God is great. Wow, wow. Hold on a second, I'm not finished. Then there are over 40 verses that talk about what he's going to do to you and the different types of punishment he's going to give you if you don't do it. What? I thought God is good. That's the good. The warning is the good. He's telling you already before he does it, so you don't do it.

52:05Where? But he's saying it'll be a war and this and that. Let me explain to you. Before you read, I'll explain to you. You ever know anybody that got cancer at 25? Yeah. Okay. That's punishment. That's punishment. You ever know somebody that went to war and didn't come back? Yeah. That's punishment. You ever know that, you know, Twin Towers, they fell, planes hit them or missiles or whatever, somebody hit them? Remember those things? People died. Three, four thousand people died. Remember that? Punishment. Holocaust, you know, six million people died. Punishment. That's punishment. You want that to happen to you? No. Okay. Do everything He says. You don't have to go to Gehinnom. punishment in this world. Oh, your friend overdosed? Yeah, punishment. You know the other guy, car accident? You want that to happen to you? No. Okay, don’t do it. Keep your brit. That guy who made 20 million dollars before he was 26, right? Remember him? He lost all of his money by the time he was 30. Yeah. You want that to happen to you? No. Okay, keep your Torah. People need to know of punishment in this world because they can connect to it even more. once they believe in the Torah, once they believe in punishment, and then they still need a little bit more, then you give them a little bit of a taste of Gehinom and all of the different things, and how the malachim will have a soccer ball match with their neshama and stuff like that. But for most people, it's not appropriate to start with Gehinom, because, number one, they're not even sure.

53:25Whether what you're telling them is true or it's just some scary movie that you had a nightmare about. You know, because what happened today is that people spend a lot of time watching scary movies. So a lot of the things that it says about Gehinom are not scary to them because they've seen it in a movie and they actually paid $20 to watch it two or three times and... So, a lot of the things that you tell them about Gehinnom, it's like, "Oh, yeah, somebody's going to rip you apart. Yeah, yeah, I remember I saw that. Stephen King, yeah, yeah, 1996, yeah. Yeah, and then they're going to throw you away. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's, yeah, good. Yeah, I remember. That was in the face mask, this mask, that mask, Freddy Krueger. Yeah, I remember. He's there also. Stop making fun of you. Well, I saw this in a movie. I saw this in a movie. You tell them about a car accident. Remember your friend? He's 26. He died. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What happened to you? No, that's the other thing." understand, so that's what you have to explain to them. In the beginning, as their neshama purifies, their klippa, the shell that they have on their neshama as a result of all the sins, will start peeling off, and they'll be able to accept the truth of Gan Eden and Gehinnom better.

54:40in the beginning, they have such a big shell that's blocking their neshama that they're simply incapable of being scared of Gehinnom. I have certain students who can watch my shiur about Gehinnom a thousand times, and nothing will change. They'll continue wasting seed, they'll continue making sins; nothing changes, nothing changes. And then there are certain students who are too scared to even watch it. Complete Tzadikim. I don't need Gehinnom. I already know it. I have it in my mind. I don't need to watch anymore. Complete Tzadik. We're not watching it. What's the difference? One has a klipah the size of the equator. The other one has virtually nothing. Tzadik. Tzadikah. So, what's the difference between the two? Desires. How much do you allow your desires to control your life? The more you allow your desires to control your life, the more klipah you're going to have. The more addicted to money, the more addicted to women, the more addicted to materialism you are, the more addicted to your desires, your physical desires, the bigger your klipah is, the more difficult it's going to be for you to get scared of the truth, to even change anything.

55:53But on the other hand, the less addicted you are to material, the more successful you'll be in learning Torah and fulfilling the mitzvot. This is actually written by the Rambam in his commentary on Mishnayot, Masechet Sheviit, chapter 5, Mishnah number 7, where he actually says that... You have a halakha that tells you, "Don't put a stumbling block in front of a blind person." So he says, how come a sinner is called a blind person? How come a sinner is called a blind person? blind blind can't see. How come it says don't put a stumbling block? Meaning, if you're a woman and you walk around, you're not only being a machtiyat harabim (causing the public to sin), but you're also putting a stumbling block in front of a person.

56:53Even if that person is your cousin or your brother, whoever it is, you're walking around immodestly, you're going to cause people to see you, you're putting a stumbling block in front of somebody. If you're distorting the Torah, you're changing things, you're putting a stumbling block. If, let's say, you invite a Christian missionary to your shul because you want him to give, you know, some chizuk to the Jewish community from Yoshke, that's a stumbling block. That's a stumbling block. So, but what's the stumbling block in front of the blind? Why is the blind? Blind is a sinner. Why is it a sinner? So the Chachamim discussed this. The Kli Yakar says, what is the most common name that the Torah calls the Satan? Samech Mem. Samech Mem. which is an acronym for his real name. We shouldn't say his real name. Samech Mem is the name that we use. Why Samech Mem? Samech Mem also, if you actually spell Samech Mem, is Sam. Sam is a drug, because his whole purpose, the Yetzer Hara, is to give you a drug so he blurs your vision; he makes you blind. The sinner is blind. Blind from the truth. So the Rambam writes,

58:06Why is there a law, "Don't put a stumbling block in front of the blind"? Because the sinner is blind; he simply cannot see the truth. Why? His desire is in the way. There is the truth that you're not allowed to look at women who are not your wife. But she's really good looking, though, Rabbi. Shouldn't I enjoy the beauty of the world? There's a prohibition against eating non-kosher meat. Yeah, but McDonald's is so good. Rabbi, come on, one time. There is a prohibition against stealing money. Yeah, but Rabbi, I give tzedakah. Chomesh I give, Rabbi. Without me, the yeshiva won't be built. So what does the Satan, the Malach HaMavet, do? He blinds you. How does he blind you? With a mitzvah. A mitzvah from the Satan. That's what it is. Now, Shlomo HaMelech was the Chacham Mikol Adam. And in his Sefer Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, chapter 4, verse 13, he says,

59:25This is better as a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to take care of himself. So Chazal ask, who is this foolish king that Shlomo HaMelech is referring to? Foolish king? I mean, that's not exactly a common term to give a king. If he's a king, we don't really care how smart he is; he's a king. If he says something, pretty much you just say, "Yes, Your Majesty." Calling a foolish king that's old, too, Satan? That's the name for the Satan now? Shlomo was the wisest man of all. And if we already know that the Satan is a genius above any human being in history, how can the smartest man of all call him a fool? He's not calling him a fool. If you think he's calling him a fool, that's a foolish thought. What is he really doing here? He's saying, look at this Satan. He is a melech. He's a melech. HaKadosh Baruch Hu, zeh k'neged zeh bara Elokim, He actually made the Satan a throne of glory.

1:00:47He's zaken. He's been here since the beginning. He's old. He's a kesil. What is a kesil? Fool. What fool? Not that he's a fool. He fools you. His whole job and how he operates is he fools you. And the Gemara says the Satan has seven names. Seven names. How? Why do we care if he has seven names? He's Ra, he's this, he's that. Why do I care if he has seven names? The Avdi is like the seven clouds that surround Am Yisrael in the desert. right, left, up, down, front, backwards. You didn’t have to walk on the ground because there was a cloud lifting you, so your feet never got tired. You didn’t have to bathe because the cloud would wash you. You didn’t have to change your clothes because it would wash your clothes too. You didn’t have to worry about scorpions and snakes because it would kill them on the way. Imagine 40 years you're in Gan Eden, and you're inside a cloud. Who would want to leave and go to Israel? Let's stay in the clouds forever!

1:01:51But the Satan is the opposite. Satan comes to you with seven names, meaning he comes to you in every direction: right, left, up, down. What does it mean right, left, up, down? He's going to come to you in the obvious: some woman that's forbidden to you, some movie that's forbidden to you, some place that's forbidden to you. That's on the right, from your friends; from the left, from the liberals. But also, also from the tum'a of pornography and internet and all that filth, that's the bottom. But also, ta'av. What ta'av? From the rabbi. The guy that calls himself a rabbi. The guy that calls himself a rabbi tells you, "Listen, it's okay to listen to Christian missionaries. I'll quote them in issue. Yeah, and it says in John 16." What do you mean it says in John 16? Why do we need to learn about John 16? I'm a Jew. What are you going to learn about John 16? What do I care about John and Johnny? What do I care about this? What are you quoting Christians for? Well, there's some wisdom among the Goyim. Yeah, in math and sciences, not Torah.

1:02:59It's going to come to you from the rabbi sometimes. It's going to come to you from somebody who calls himself a talmid chacham. Complains about, oh yeah, this rabbi, he's talking about Yoshke, and he's saying that Yoshke, and I'm not a believer in Yoshke, but still, he misquoted, and he didn't look. Why are you defending Yoshke? You're a Jew. No, it's not that. No, it is that. You think that your talmid chacham, it's going to come to you from that type of thing. satan is going to fool you in all types of ways, blind you in all types of ways, and unfortunately, the satan wins every single day. What is it like? There was one time a jeweler in Warsaw, in Germany, called Mr. Bonin. Mr. Bonin was a top jeweler; all the rich people would go to him. At one time, a woman comes in, well-to-do, and she says, "I am Dr. Brzezinski's wife." Everyone knew Dr. Brzezinski; he had a psych ward. He dealt with people who had mental problems, difficult cases, big money. And she says, "My husband wants to buy me a birthday present piece of jewelry." So Mr. Bonin says, "What's your budget?" "Oh, you know my husband, price doesn't matter." So Mr. Bonin says, "Okay, this is the best that I have." He opens the safe and shows her three sets: earrings, necklace, this, that—the whole thing, but three different ones. And Mrs. Brzezinski looks and says, "Wow, it's beautiful stuff. You know what, I can't make up my mind."

1:04:23birthday present piece of jewelry. So Mr. Bonin says, "What's your budget?" "Oh, you know my husband, price doesn't matter." So Mr. Bonin says, "Okay, this is the best that I have." He opens the safe and shows her three sets: earrings, necklace, this, that—the whole thing, but three different ones. And Mrs. Brzezinski looks and says, "Wow, it's beautiful stuff. You know what, I can't make up my mind." I can't make up my mind. It's so beautiful. I can't make up my mind. So Mr. Bonin says, "You know what? Why don't we let your husband, the busy husband, the doctor, decide? Since he's the one paying for it, let him decide." She says, "You know what? It's a good idea. Let's do it. So how do we get him to come here? No, he's busy. Let's go to his office. We'll go there." "Okay, you know what? Close the store for such a sale. It's a million-dollar sale." Whatever piece she picks, it's a million dollars. Okay. She goes, you know what? Why don't you bring a couple of others just in case he likes something else? I said, okay, fine. So they go. They travel over there. They get to this giant building. Dr. Brzezinski. Psych ward.

1:05:37She says, "Okay, listen, we can't bother my husband. He's dealing with, you know, so let me take the stuff. I’ll go inside. I'll show him. He'll pick something. I'll come back to you with the money, the check, the money, and I'll give you back whatever he didn't pick." "Okay, no problem. Wait over here." He waits. He waits 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 minutes. An hour later, an hour passes. He goes, "What's going on with this woman? What did she do with it?" said, "You know what? Let me go check." He goes, "Hello, yeah, Dr. Bujanski here. Yes, who are you? Oh, Mr. Brunner. Oh, okay, one second." Dr. Bujanski comes out and says, "Here you are. Come on, let's go." He goes, "Women, let's go, come on, let's start." He responds, "No, no, no, maybe you're missing the thing. I'm here because of the jewelry." "Exactly, exactly, because the woman, the woman came for the jewelry." "Yes, yes, I know, I know." So she showed you the jewel. Can't I know everything about it? He goes, well, I need the money. Exactly, I know. What's a million dollars? That's exactly what she said. So give me the money. He goes, come on, let's go start the treatment. What are you talking about? What are you talking about?

1:06:49He says, listen, the woman came to me already yesterday. She told me that you've been chasing after her because of some fantasy you have in your head that she bought jewelry from you for a million dollars. And you keep telling me you owe me money, you owe me money, you owe me money. And she says, I want to help this poor guy that keeps telling me I owe him money. So I said, listen, I can't help somebody that's a mental case without him coming to the hospital. So she said, okay, I'll bring him here. And here you are. So let's go start the treatment. And Mr. Bonner passed out. Passed out. Not only did he pass out because he just lost millions of dollars. Millions. Not just one piece of dough, all of it. But he was now called a crazy person. How did she succeed, this thief? She was well prepared. She came yesterday. That's the Satan. Satan comes to you yesterday before you even know he's there. As he comes to you, he comes to you with a mitzvah. He says, look at you. What do you want to study? Let's do Masechet Berachot. Masechet Berachot. Yeah, Chazak U'Baruch. You're learning, you're learning, you're learning. You get to page 10, 12, 13, 14. You're reading about Shema Yisrael.

1:08:16I think you're doing a mitzvah. You're already a... Oh, Beit Shammai says this. Beit Hillel says this. They're arguing this, that. Then you see your wife sitting down in the middle of Keriat Shema. Start yelling. No! No, what are you doing? You crazy woman. Beit Shammai said if you sit down on Shema's head, it's better that you die. Start yelling at your poor wife. I think you're doing a mitzvah. You think you're doing a mitzvah yelling at your wife. You don't understand what kind of Gehinnom you're going to go to for yelling at your wife on such a stupid thing. You have no idea how the Satan's going to rip your party. You know what he's doing? He's laughing. He's having such a good time. He goes, look at this guy. Look at him. He thought he became a Talmid Chacham in six months. Look at how he got to page 13 of Masechet Berachot. He thinks he knows what he's doing. He's yelling at his wife for sitting or standing during Kriyat Shema. Look at that guy. I'm having a good time with a mitzvah. With a mitzvah. Or better yet, mitzvat tzedakah. Rabbi, give tzedakah. No, I'm a tzaddik. I give tzedakah, Rabbi. Oh, you give tzedakah. Chazak u'baruch. You give tzedakah, chazak u'baruch. You know what the problem is? The Satan knows you give tzedakah.

1:09:26what he's going to say is he's going to send you Rabbi Smith, and Rabbi Smith doesn't have much. And he comes to you, and you know, taka taka taka, you see this Rabbi Smith says, "You know what? Yeah, no, a thousand dollars, that's not hard." It's a dig. You feel like you're Moshe who just lifted the mountain on your own. The next day, you see this little poor Rabbi Smith the shul, there’s people there. He said, "No, Rabbi, did you get the nice pants? Did you get new ones? Because yesterday they were ripped." "Oh, okay. By the way, did you take care of your wife also? Because last time I saw the rabbanit, she didn't smell so good. Did you get her something for a better smell? And what about your kids? Did you feed them? Each one of them is walking like this." Like they haven't eaten since the Holocaust. If you feed them, you feed them, Rabbi. You feed the kids, but don't have any more kids. How are you having all these kids? Who told you to have all these kids if you know you can't afford them? You're giving the Rabbi an education. Why? Because you thought you bought him with your thousand dollars. You don't realize that every single word that comes out of your mouth is another chamber in Gehinom. For that mitzvah. For that mitzvah.

1:10:34Why? Satan says, look at this tzaddik. Look at this tzaddik. He gave him a mitzvah. He gave a thousand dollars to Rabbi Shmirel. But now he also wants to give him education on how to live a life. Now he also wants to give him mussar. Now he also wants to tell him what to do. Now he also wants to tell him about his wife, that she needs to do this, this, and that. Now he's making fun of him in public. Making fun of him in public. And the Gemara says, he just lost with a thousand dollars. You could have at least done it for free. Mitzvah. Mitzvah. He wants to yell at his wife. He wants to yell at the rabbi. Another hero wants to say, "Hey, listen, honey, don't bother me right now. I'm praying. Honey, don't bother me. I'm studying." The poor lady comes into his room. She opens the door. She wants to give him coffee. "Come on, I'm in the middle of Kavanah. I'm in the middle of Kavanah. I was with Moshe Rabbeinu right now. Why are you bothering me?"

1:11:38The poor lady wanted to give him coffee. Now the hot coffee spilled on his face. And you know what's going to spill on his face? The lava that comes from the malachim, because they're so scared of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. The Gemara Masechet Chagigah says the malachim, the chayot, are so scared of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, their sweat is fire that fills Gehenom. And that's what's going to burn him, for learning, for doing a mitzvah and yelling at his wife at the same time. The ladies, no different. No different. You have to be careful why the Satan comes to you. Front, back, right, left, up, down, mitzvah, aveirah, in the mall, in the store, in the house, in the bathroom, comes to you in every single way. And unless you are prepared like the thief, like the thief in the story from yesterday, you're already lost. You're already lost. How do you beat this? How do you beat him? There is a mitzvah. It says, it says, that if somebody has two donkeys, and one of the donkeys on the way falls, gets hurt, and now

1:13:08The stuff that was on top of him falls off one donkey, he's free. You're riding him, he has nothing on it. The other one falls and the stuff is on him, so he's hurt. So the question is, what do you do? If you leave the guy that's free, you leave him alone, he's gonna run away maybe. So shouldn't you take care of him first, tie him up first, and then take care of the guy that fell? guy that fell, you know, he's struggling, but I don't want to lose this other donkey. The Gemara says, no, no, first you go take care of the one that fell because there's an animal suffering, and then go catch the one that maybe walked away from you. So, what about, the Gemara says, if I have two donkeys, both fell, one belongs to my enemy and one belongs to my lover, my friend? can I at least go save my friend's donkey first? No, the Gemara says you go and save your enemy's, your hater's. You go save his. What's the pshat? What's the understanding here? Why do I have to go save my enemy? I hate the guy. I just work for him to make a living. I don't like the guy. Why do I have to go save his donkey before the guy I like? The Gemara says because you go save the one that you don't like.

1:14:26It's worth it. Why? It's going to be working on your middot. Because you don't like him, but you're still doing the right thing, it requires you to overcome your flaws and your character traits. Now, how is this applicable in real life? I'm going to ask you a brief question, and then I'm going to tell you a story, and then we'll go to the next question. If somebody came to you, Rabbi, you are all rabbis, even the girls are all rabbis, And said to you, listen, I'm new in this Torah world. You said a lot of stuff. All this stuff. Fine. Great. Fantastic. Listen, I can't handle all of it. I got to pick one of two mitzvot that you said. Taharat mishpacha or Shabbat. Which one should I? I'm not doing both. Maybe down the road. right now either taharat mishpacha or Shabbat, which one should I do? Satan in the back, both are already so he does at least he's not causing his wife/spouse to have party to close, so you have to want it. Okay, Satan says that no. Who says Shabbat? Why Shabbat? Shomer Shabbat. Okay, who has a different opinion, third opinion?

1:15:50I think that I would say for him to keep the Sabbath because when he keeps the Sabbath, it'll bring his family together. Okay, because his family together by keeping Shabbat. No, no, no, no. I have one. I know it's not pick and choose, but I'm doing one. Which one? Tell me, Rabbi Joshua, tell me. Thank you very much for your question. You have to keep both. I'm picking one. Give me one. I understand. So I'm not going to do anything. So I should do zero? One. Give me one. Start with one. Which one? You're not a good rabbi right now. You got to give me one. 50-50 chance. Got to do both. Okay. He's not leaning at all, this guy. He's a tough rabbi. Shtark. No? No?

1:16:53which one? That's the question I'm asking you. Which one would you say? If I was a new ba'al teshuva, and I came to you and said, "Give me one," this is not an easy question. I had to go to the door with this question. It had to go to the door. It's a real question that came to the door. It went to Rabbi Elyashiv. Give me a reason. Okay, why are you thinking? No, give me a reason. Okay, so Shabbat. Shabbat. Well, I mean, technically, Taharat HaMishpachah is also Bein Adam L'Makom. Taharat HaMishpachah is from Hashem. It's not from your wife. Hashem said to keep Taharat HaMishpachah. Not your wife. Hashem also said to keep Shabbat. Both of them are karet. That's the point. Both of them are karet. Which one should I pick? Either way, I'm in trouble, but the bottom line is at least I'm keeping one of them. At least I'm going to be in less trouble. So, there's seven yamim of Gehinom either way, but the point is at least less time. You know, only a million and a half years. Not two. No, no, no. You said your answer. You stick with your answer. I want other people to give me answers.

1:18:16...you guys don't know hypothetical situations, huh? You guys are not such good rabbis. You're fired. No, no, give me one. Okay, okay, it's a tough question, guys. It's a tough question. It had to go to the Dor HaDor, Rav Eliashiv. The Rav came to Rav Elyashiv and said to him, listen, Rabbi, this guy's a tough cookie. I deal with Kiruv Rechokim. I try to help people do teshuva. This guy says, listen, I like you. I like what you're saying. I'm just not going to do it. I'm going to do one mitzvah. Tell me which one. Taharat Mishpacha or Shabbat? Which one? Rav Elyashiv said, Taharat Mishpacha. Why is it Taharat Mishpacha? Why is it Taharat Mishpacha? Rabbi Elyashiv, you said Taharat Mishpacha for two reasons. He says, first of all, Taharat Mishpacha has to do with two people. Shabbat is one person. So at least when he does Taharat Mishpacha, two people are making a mitzvah and two people are not making a sin. Whereas Shabbat is just him keeping it.

1:19:34Just him, yeah, his wife may join, may not join, but the mitzvah itself doesn't force her to be a part of it. So that already is better. But secondly, secondly, which is the most critical, is what we learned from this Gemara, from the chamor, from the donkeys. What did we learn from the donkeys here? We learned that if there's a donkey that fell, and it's owned by your enemy, and there's another donkey that fell, and it's owned by your friend, you go help the donkey that's by your enemy. Why? To work on your middot. you keep Shabbat, it doesn't help your middot. Why? You keep Shabbat, there's no real desire to violate Shabbat. You don't have some crazy desire, "Oh, I want to turn on the screen for no reason and not watch it. Ha ha, it's on." No one cares. It's not a desire. But to be with your wife and not to be with her for a certain part of the month, that requires you to overcome your character traits, to overcome your desires, to put everything under control, and not be an animal. If he learns not to be an animal, eventually he's going to keep Shabbat.

1:20:44That's why the Gadol HaDor says you have to do Taharat HaMishpacha. Not that Taharat HaMishpacha is more important than Shabbat. But rather we're going to win more with this one. Because this one requires two people and on top of it, it requires him to work on his Middot. And if he works on his Middot, eventually he's going to keep the entire Torah. If he doesn't work on his Middot, eventually he's going to violate the Torah anyway. There are many people that keep Shabbat, R'sha'im Gemurim. Plenty. This is one of the most important things. Why? Because the Satan tells you, "Listen, you learn, you don't have to have good middot. You keep Torah, you don't have to have good middot. Why? You're stingy, you're this, you're that, you're doing a mitzvah. So what if you told the homeless guy, 'No, no, go get a job.' So what if you told the rabbi, 'Listen, I don't think you know what you're talking about' in front of the students, or at all. So what if you embarrassed your wife a few times, you yelled at her, you gave her a nice punch, maybe." like one tzaddik. One tzaddik says, "Listen, Rabbi, my wife gets on my nerves, so you know, I show what's going on." I said, "What? What do you mean 'show'? What are you showing? Please explain." He says, "No, no, I show what's going on." I said, "What do you show? What do you mean?" He says, "You know, last time she didn't, you know..." And I said, "No, no, speak English to me or Hebrew, whatever you want."

1:22:03She said, "No, she just did something I didn't like. So I gave her a nice elbow. She never did it again." I said, "Ah, tzaddik. Tzaddik. No, I'm not going to cook you. And in this world, if they had a tzaddik, they'd cut off your hands. Tzaddik. Tzaddik, you show your rabbi. Rabbi. You thought you were doing good? Why? Because she didn't cook for the children the right way? Because she didn't take care the right way? Tzaddik. Tzaddik." Poor women cry to me on a weekly basis because of these reshaim husbands. And sometimes the opposite. Poor husbands call me about their reshaim wives because they think they're tzaddikim. They think they're doing mitzvot, but they're hurting each other in the process. You have to be very careful. Why? Because Satan comes to you with mitzvot. Comes to you with mitzvot. And if you're not prepared from yesterday, you're going to fall into his hands. No, we're almost finished. Kavod, couple more questions. In the back.

1:23:05Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. was about to sin, and then he saw his father's face. He came to him, you know, and he saw him, and he reminded him that if he did that sin, it would not be inscribed in the breastplate. So, if his father didn't because he didn't waste seed, which implies that the other ones may have wasted seed, So if they would be in the breastplate, why wouldn't he? He would not be at that point, since, you know, that means if he's not going to be, therefore the others will be, and he will not be because of that sin. But the others, you know, I don't know if you see where I'm going. I get what you're saying. Okay, so what he's saying is that the Gemara Masechet Sotah says that Yosef HaTzadik was called a Tzadik because he overcame the test.

1:24:26of the Brit, the Brit test, where he had Potiphar's wife in his hands, pretty much, who was throwing herself at him several times, and he overcame the test, and even though when he was almost ready to sin himself, he saw the image of his father, Yaakov Avinu, which reminded him that if he does the sin, he's not going to be inscribed in the Choshen of the Kohen Gadol. And that gave him the strength, the last-minute strength to overcome and not fall with her. And the Chachamim even say that because his desire was so strong, The beauty of Potiphar's wife was extraordinary also. She was one of the most beautiful women that ever lived in history. The seed miraculously left through his fingernails. But he literally took his hands and broke his fingers on the floor to relieve himself from the agony of the desire that he had. And that's what made the miracle happen. And that's also, we learn from there, that sometimes if somebody has great desire, in order for them to overcome it and not waste seed, they sometimes have to inflict minor pain on themselves. You know, either scratch themselves or pinch themselves.

1:25:43at a sensitive spot, like under your wrist or under your thigh, in order to relieve the desire, because if you're a normal person, then pain and desire don't go together. If you're not a normal person, which unfortunately there are many today, you'll actually like the pain. So it all depends on whether you're normal or not. By normal, I mean like normal, not normal like today's "normal." So anyway, so Yosef HaTzaddik, had a great desire, also had a beautiful woman who actually meant well, believe it or not, and he overcame the test. So does that mean that the other brothers who were not called tzaddikim fell for the test? No. The absence of the word tzaddik does not imply that they are not tzaddikim. It's just simply saying that he got a special degree for passing a test they did not have. They did not have the same test. The only exception was Yehuda, but Yehuda was something that HaKadosh Baruch Hu Himself put together. That test itself, that whole issue with Yehuda and Tamar, that's in essence HaKadosh Baruch Hu taking two putty pieces and making it into something. That's a completely unique case. But generally speaking, everybody else didn't have that same test. So it doesn't mean that they're not tzaddikim. Every single one of the Shevatim was kodesh kodeshim.

1:27:10kodesh kodeshim, was able to resurrect the dead, and was able to do a lot of things that we cannot even fathom. They were kodesh kodeshim. We cannot think of anything negative about any of them. Even the stuff that's really negative about them in the midrashim or different things, we can't use this and utilize it as if it's a regular person like us and we're better than them. Or like when people read about the sin of Adam, and it's like, "Ah, come on, this guy made one sin. He only had one mitzvah, and he ate that fruit. Well, he couldn't just hold himself? I can hold myself." No, no, it's not the same. Don't compare yourself to anybody that's mentioned in the Torah. You're supposed to learn lessons from it, but not compare. The point being is, they were tzaddikim, but they're not given that specific title, because they didn't have the test of Yosef HaTzaddik. Yosef had a unique test that he overcame. And that's actually one of the things that Rabbi Nachman of Breslov and many, many other chachamim say. From there, we know what the true definition of a tzaddik is, as someone that protects his brit. you protect your brit, you're a tzaddik. What about if I know a lot of Torah? It doesn't mean you're a tzaddik; it means you're a chacham, but not necessarily a tzaddik.

1:28:18necessarily a tzaddik. A tzaddik is someone who has protected his brit. Now the problem is that people get fooled by the same yetzer hara we just talked about for a half hour. What do they say? They call the rabbi. Just today somebody called and said, "Listen, I have a problem." So I asked, "What's the problem?" He said, "Listen, I'm still, uh, I'm listening to the shiurim, I do this, I do that, I keep, I learn all that stuff." I said, "No?" He said, "Yeah, but when I go to sleep, there's still, you know, semen that comes out." ... can't overcome it, you know? I don't understand what's going on. So, I find it says, "You watch your eyes." Oh, come on, of course, I watch my eyes. Okay, you learn Torah. No, come on, I'm learning Torah. Okay, you go to the Knesset. Yeah, especially during corona, no corona, I go, I pray 10, 20... yeah, okay. you learn, you watch your eyes, you go to the Knesset before you go to sleep. Yeah, I heard you want to shoot a little movie. Scared the hell out of me. I do it all the time and still, yeah, you have to think like a thief. He says to him, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

1:29:32somebody that says he learns Torah every day and he goes to the Knesset and he watches his eyes and he's a tzaddik, you're not going to ask him normally, "Do you have a girlfriend?" Why? It's the last thing you can ask a guy. When you have a girlfriend, if you watch your eyes, you watch this, you're not going to ask that question. But knows what a thief is thinking, and yes, "Do you have a girlfriend?" Yes, so what? He says, "Excuse me, what do you mean, so what?" He goes, "No, no, but we don't do the actual thing. You know, girlfriend, you know, girlfriend." He says, "Look at that. That's the fulfillment." That's the fulfillment of the verse, "A king that's old and foolish." Meaning, look at that. The melech, the Satan, the old man fooled you. You're worried about wasting seed in your dreams, but in reality, you have karet every single time you see your girlfriend. You're worrying about your dreams. You have to worry about why you're alive, when you're awake. You think it's okay?

1:30:39You think it's okay? It's not okay. And that's the problem. People worry about small things. Sometimes they say, "Listen, Rabbi, if I keep Shabbat like Rabbeinu Tam, you think it's going to be good for me?" Be'ezrat Hashem, you can, you can. You don't have to, but you can. "Now, if I do Tefillin, Rabbeinu Tam, it's better than Rashi." No, it's not better than Rashi. Rashi is halacha. It's going to be good for me, be'ezrat Hashem. Now, if also a makpid, a makpid to be b'simcha on Shabbat, that's good for me, b'ezrat Hashem. Also, seudah revit, I make a big meal like David HaMelech, it's good for me, b'ezrat Hashem. B'ezrat Hashem. If I learn three, four hours straight, it's good for me, b'ezrat Hashem. B'ezrat Hashem. So how come you don't give me kavod, Rabbi? I said, because none of those things are your problem. I said, what do you mean? I said, if you stop wasting seed, it'll be good for you too. Much better than all those things you just mentioned. If you stop being an angry gremlin every single time somebody crosses you the wrong way, it'll be much better for you than all four of those things.

1:31:58You're worried about being makpid on this and makpid on that and a specific haircut and a specific this and a specific that. According to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, every single day you're murdering people, either your wife or some other baby that was supposed to come to the world. And you're worried about Rabbeinu Tam? Rabbeinu Tam is crying in Shamayim, saying, "HaKadosh Baruch Hu, why are you letting this rasha put my tefillin on?" worried about the small. It's not relevant to you. It's not relevant to you. You have to worry about the big stuff, big stuff. Then you do the other stuff. But that's the problem. I remember one time I went to this big nest at one time in New York, and I see a group of guys that I know. They come out. I think it was Yom Kippur. and come to the guy. A few guys come to listen. "You're coming to where? To the ocean. You know, before Yom Kippur we're going to dip in the mikveh." I said, "No, no, I'm okay. Thank you, thank you. I'm good, thanks." "No, no, but you know, the rabbi is coming, this one's coming." "Thank you very much, thank you very much."

1:33:14Sure. I thought you were. I said, "No thanks. Okay, okay, no. I said I'm not interested. Aside from the fact that I have no interest to go to the beach ever, every single one of them was a mechallel Shabbat. Every single one of them was a mechallel Shabbat. But they think that they're going to clean themselves in the beach for Yom Kippur by going into the ocean." That's Melech Zaken U'ksil. He makes you think that you can have the entire Torah with one single mitzvah that's sometimes not even a mitzvah. He makes you think that you're doing something good, but in reality, you're murdering people. So that's the big thing. Now you're going to have a big test. You're going to have a big test like Yosef HaTzadik. Tikkun HaBrit. Every single day a guy has to survive. Every single day a woman has to survive. Every single day, women are not free from this sin. Either they cause it, or they themselves also. A woman is not allowed to be promiscuous either with herself or with somebody else. The problem is that many women never learn this stuff. Point being, Rabotai, HaKadosh Baruch Hu hates immorality. Hates it. Even Bil'am HaRasha knew it.

1:34:27So, a person needs to first worry about the big things, and little by little grow with the other things. But the Satan is going to tell you, no, no, no, worry about the small things, and that will make up for the big things. A lot of small things make up for the big things. No such truth. No such truth. No? Next question. Chabad Sutton. If you... No, I mean there are times, yeah, right, it's a good question. So if a woman is in front of you, not even in the corner of your eye, you know that happens, but sometimes the woman is right in front of you. You're going to the Department of Motor Vehicles. You need to get a new license. The woman that is the attendant over there just came to work in underwear. What are you gonna do? Not get a license? Or maybe you're going to bring the jacket from the car. He says, "Here, lady, listen, I want to get a license, but I want to give you a jacket as a present." What are you going to do? Obviously, you have to get your license. Or you go to the supermarket. You want to get some challot for something, but instead of the challot, you get a shem yishmor v'yatzil. Right? So what do you do? There are people that exist in the world, Jews and non-Jews. There's nothing you can do about that. They exist in the world.

1:35:52They are going to cross your path, even if you're the most religious person on the planet. Even if you're Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, most of you are going to stay in a cave for 13 years. That's it. After that, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to kick you out. At some point, you're going to encounter people. What do you do? When you encounter those people, you are not allowed to make fun of them. You are not allowed to say, "How are you dressed like this?" You know why? Because by doing that, you're going to inherit heartache. To go make fun of everyone in the middle of the street like that, you're not going to get... There's no mitzvah like this. There's no mitzvah like this, to go make fun of people. You want to help somebody, you want to rebuke them, tell them something in an appropriate way, at an appropriate time, and if you know you have the appropriate skills, it's a different story. But to go start making fun of people and say, "Ah, filth, gross, ugly," all these things, just go to the zoo. Over there, it'll work out for you. People are people. You have to be cordial with people. It doesn't mean you have to be friends with them. It doesn't mean you have to hug every single person. But you have to be cordial. You have to be a civilized human being. A woman who is modest or immodest approaches you, you have to treat them exactly the same way. How is it? First, let's say they're a cashier or something like that. You say, "Hello," and then after that, you look down.

1:37:16Hello? You know that they exist because obviously you have to talk to them. After that, you look away. You look down. You look up. You look somewhere. Down is the best way. Yes, I need my license. And here it is. And also, yeah, this is my ID. And this is money. And this is the credit card. And this is a CD by Rabbi Reuven. I mean, it's a license. And this is... And that's how you talk. And that's how you talk. Because you cannot simply say, "Hey, listen, lady, since you don't have any clothes on, I can't talk to you, but here's my life." No, you can't do that. You have to be cordial and respectful, which, by the way, only this generation doesn't know how to do. Until recent history, that's how all people talked. Jews and non-Jews: Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. What do you mean, "But you're not even Jewish"? Yeah, but that's how we talk. That's how you talk if you're a civilized human being. You don't look at somebody else's wife. You don't need to be Jewish to know this. Only this generation doesn't know this. Your grandparents will call each man and lady by the appropriate name, not "Hey." "Hey" is to a horse.

1:38:32Yes, ma'am. Here you go, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. Don't look at them. You go to some old-fashioned people. You go to some old-fashioned people, they're never going to look at your wife. Never. That's one of the things, by the way, you see. Some Middle Eastern people, Arabs, different types of people, they're never going to look at your wife. They may have crazy stuff in their head. They may do crazy stuff otherwise. But this they have. They don't look at each other's wives. Why? That's just society. That's how it's supposed to be. So you act like your ancestors act, even if they weren't religious. Hello? And you look down the whole time. Look down the whole time. That's it. That's how you do it. Now, what does that mean? It means that the first look is not a sin. Seeing someone who exists in the world and whom you're encountering and approaching is not a sin. What's a sin? If you continue staring at them. if by the time you left you understand the measurements of different body parts and you know how many earrings she has in her right ear versus the left ear, and whether the shade of lipstick she wears suits her, then you already know that's tough. You have a serious problem. You looked too long. All you should know is that there is a person in front of you who is not your wife. That's it. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Let's say finished, finished. Don't follow your heart, don't follow your eyes.

1:39:58Why? Because although your eyes are the ones that begin the crime, how come the Torah says the heart first? How come it says the heart first? In reality, the crime starts with your eyes, right? You look at her, you have stuff in your heart, right? Maran says no. Chachamim say no. The only reason why you looked at her is because those things were already in your heart. You already had desires; you were just looking for an opportunity, and you got it. Why? The Gemara says... The merit to the meritorious and the obligation to the obligated. The only reason you're constantly being presented with immodest, immoral people that want to sin with you is because that's what you want to do, puppy. That's what you want to do. You want to sin. So HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, go sin. The only reason why the guy came to you for tzedakah is because HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, this guy likes to give tzedakah, so I'm going to send him something that gives tzedakah.

1:41:13... and that's the reality. So you have to know, if you become a tzaddik, the tests will become less frequent. They’ll exist because even Yosef HaTzaddik had a test, but less frequent—probably bigger, but nonetheless less frequent. If you're getting a test every two seconds, that's because you're causing it yourself. Yetzer Hara is on vacation already. You're doing it yourself. You're on autopilot. So you have to overcome that. How do you overcome it? By first preparing yesterday that Yetzer Hara is going to come. I have to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles. I already have to prepare myself how to talk to this lady, how to talk to this man, how to talk to, it doesn't matter who she is. She could be Fatima from the Middle East who only shows her eyes. I'm still not going to look at her. Why? She's somebody else's wife. it's definitely not mine. I'm gonna look down, "Yes ma'am, no ma'am," in Hebrew, or give it in Japanese. So that's what you do. Last question for the night—no, actually, we have a little time. I'm going to try to go through everybody once until we get to the second round. It says that there's seven planets...

1:42:37Kind of like Earth is the top of the planet, right? Okay. And it says on the other planets there's other creatures, like with multiple heads, right? Is that talking about nowadays, or is that talking about like before? The Me'am Loez is actually talking about all of it as in here, as in this world. So there's seven sections to this world, meaning our planet, not different planets. Our planet has several different sections that have various types of creatures. And the Midrash says that Shlomo HaMelech brought some of them to show his people. He brought the king of the demons. He showed it to the people. He brought a different creature that had several heads. He brought it to the people and showed it to them. He also had an enormous eagle. He showed it to the people. The eagle was so big that when it would fly, it would literally make the entire sky black. It was an enormous eagle. And so on and so forth. He had different types of creatures and he showed them. The problem is that returning them to where they came from was not possible.

1:43:38So many of them, like for example the person that was with multiple heads, continued living and ended up marrying a regular person. They ended up marrying a regular person, and this became a machloket (dispute) whether this person is two different people or one person with two heads. Whether there's a get, there's an inheritance, do the one head get more than the other head, and so on and so forth. Very interesting stuff. The point being is that all of this stuff, all of this stuff is in this world. Now, why don't we see what Shlomo HaMelech saw? Part of the reason is because some of these things don't exist anymore, or at least we don't have the merit to see them. And part of the reason is, like I said, we don't have the merit to see them. the merit to see them. There are certain things that are in this world right now, but you can't see them because HaKadosh Baruch Hu did not give us the vision to see them. The Gemara says that you can see them if you do certain things, but you're going to regret the day you were born. You will regret that there are certain ways that you can see all of the creatures that are around you.

1:44:43You can see them. You take a cat, you take a stomach, you burn it, you put the ashes on your eyes, and you're going to see a lot of stuff. The problem is there's no way to undo it. Unless you're a sage in the Gemara, which you're not. And the problem is that you're going to pray to die because of how scary the world really is. So there are a lot of things that exist in the world that we don't see, but yet they exist. For example, everyone knows that radio waves exist. We use them every day. You have a phone, you have this, you have that, a lot of different things we have. The fact that you can call and reach Japan in five seconds, that's not because this phone has a wire connected to the... It's because there are different things in the air that you can't see. Also, there are different sounds. For example, dogs. Dogs have a different tune in their ear. So anyone who wants to train dogs usually uses a special whistle. Now, when you blow that whistle, a regular human cannot hear it, but the dog goes crazy. Dog loses his mind. Why? Because their ear is tuned differently. And sometimes if you actually want to hear it, there's special equipment that will allow you to hear it. And if you hear it, you'll start going crazy, because it will drive you crazy, this sound. Same thing with radio waves, sound, different things that exist in the world. So some of these things still exist, and Shlomo HaMelech was able to uncover them and show them to the public.

1:46:07some of the things exist and then we simply don't have the merit to see them. Some of them cease to exist. So, there are many, many different unique creatures. There was the tachash, a beautiful animal, a beautiful, beautiful animal that was created simply to be used for the Mishkan in the desert. What was used from it was its leather, its skin. And this animal was uniquely beautiful, something out of this world, but as soon as there was no purpose for it, Hashem took it from the world. It looked like a combination of a bull and a deer, but it had a single horn. So some people say, "Oh yeah, maybe this is the unicorn." No, it's not a unicorn. It's a tachash. But the point is that it's a beautiful animal. There's also the re'em. The re'em was an enormous, enormous animal similar to a dinosaur.

1:47:07So the dinosaur, uh... the little baby ones, two baby ones, nearly destroyed all of Jerusalem. These babies were enormous. Why don't we see them today? Some families say it’s because there’s an essence that there was no purpose for them in the world. They may still exist, they may not. The point being is, uh... you know, there are certain things in the world we still haven't discovered. Just recently, a team of scientists, I believe from Australia, discovered a worm in one of the Asian countries that lives inside rocks because that's what it eats, which makes it very similar to the Shamir worm that we had at the Beit Hamikdash that was able to cut stones. discovered a worm in one of the Asian countries that lives inside rocks because that's what it eats, which makes it very similar to the Shamir worm that we had at the Beit HaMikdash that was able to cut stones. You know, people made fun of the Jewish people saying that a worm can cut stones like a machine, like a laser machine. How could a worm do that? But recently, a team of scientists discovered this worm that actually lives inside stones because it eats the stones. A worm that's flesh. this little gooey stuff eats the stone. Unbelievable! Something that's against what we knew as nature was recently discovered. So these types of creatures exist in the world. Sometimes we don't see them, sometimes we do. They do exist, but we can't see them; sometimes they simply become extinct. The point being is that all of this stuff is in this world. Now, to finalize that question: are there aliens?

1:48:25are there July 4th, uh, types of things, little UFOs that you see shows about on Discovery Channel, National Geographic? Oh look, there's three lights and all that stuff. The Torah says nothing, meaning it doesn't say that they don't exist and it doesn't say that they do exist. Why? Why no comment? Because it will never affect your life. Meaning, there will never be a July 4th movie in reality where a bunch of aliens come to America or come to planet Earth and want to take over. That will never be. Something may exist on Mars and Pluto and wherever else. It may or may not. The Torah doesn't say no. But what the movies and all the conspiracy theories want you to believe is that, yeah, they found an alien in Area 51 and this and that. Those creatures, if they found them at all, are probably from this world. They didn't come from a different planet. They didn't come from a different planet. They're in this world. It's just creatures that look different than you. But people say, no, but maybe he came from a spaceship like in the movies. Yeah, that's good for Hollywood.

1:49:46Hollywood, if there's an alien and Pluto, he's not coming here. Why? Because if he comes here, he's going to say, "Look at this master, look at these kings. He has a tail, he has four legs. How could it be that this little master is controlling all these bigger people?" Why? Because he sees the bigger people picking up the poop of the dog, so he's going to take the dog as the master on this planet. He's going to leave. Who wants to be a part of this planet where the dogs are the masters? That's what he's going to come see. He's not going to come here. All joking aside, aliens are not coming to this world. They're not coming. So the time that you've spent and invested in the Discovery Channel is not going to help you. It's not going to help you in life. Do odd creatures exist? Yes, they do exist in this world already, and there's a Midrash that talks about it. There are lots of very, very interesting creatures that exist and have existed. But it doesn't mean that they're aliens. They look like aliens to you and to me, but they're not aliens from a different planet like in a movie. It's nonetheless things that are in there. Many times you'll see, if you learn enough Torah, you'll see that all of these comics, all of these superheroes...

1:50:59Many times, it's simply Midrashim distorted and modernized. Simply pick up the Midrashim, and you start reading about the 12 tribes, the sons of Yaakov. You're going to find almost every superhero there was a movie made about. Why? Because the 12 tribes had superpowers according to our standards. Their powers were super. Whether it's the Incredible Hulk, or it's the Flash guy, or it's the people that turn into vampires, or werewolves, all these different things, they existed in the world. So, you read enough Torah, you're gonna find it. And many times you're gonna see that the people that discovered this creature, the guy that created this superhero, many times was like a former talmid yeshiva that went off the derech. and made you think that he created this superhero. In reality, he just remembered a Midrash from his childhood and he gave him a new name, and he said, "Look, look, I have such a great imagination." Imagination. Imagination. Imagine. You imagine yourself to be creative. That's what you imagine. Anyway, next question. Next question. How about in the back? You haven't asked something. In Nekudah,

1:52:27no, same question again, the same question, the same question we've been arguing about for three months. No, what's the point? We already argued about it. Give me a question we didn't argue about. There is an answer, you just didn't like the answer. There's an answer, you just didn't like the answer. No? If I may, what's that book that Mizrachi mentioned one time? Rav Mizrachi mentioned what? He mentioned one book about Gehenom, but if you read it, you won't sleep for a month. There are several books that mention Gehenom. When we did a shiur about Gehenom, based on Chassidut, we went over 1,400 sources. But the most common book that has a lot of it is a book called Reishit Chochma. Reishit Chochma has a section in it called Masechet Gehenom. It's only in Hebrew. It was not translated to English, and it has a section. When I publish my first book, we will include a section from that book that we translated.

1:53:35to English. We already translated it, but we haven't published it. Maybe one day we will, B'ezrat Hashem. That's a book that goes over Gehenom, the different chambers, the different malachim, and so on and so forth. But there are other books that discuss Gehenom randomly in different places. Now this book is not just about Gehenom, it's a Mussar book. And the... Uh, Rav Kuli, actually the Midrash Me'am Loez and several, several others would say that when you complete that book, that Reshit Chochmah, you should treat that day like a Yom Tov. When you complete that sefer—it's in Hebrew, it's two books—you should treat that book like it's a Yom Tov. And many Chassidim today that are Talmidei Chachamim read that book on a regular basis. Many people that think that they're Chassidim but know nothing about Chassidut, they just look like Chassidim, they're scared of that book and they say you shouldn't read it. But what they don't know is that the Baal Shem Tov would highly, highly praise this book to such an extent that his Talmid, his Talmid Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, read it 400 times.

1:54:55was most proud of reading it 400 times All of the tzaddikim would read this book on a regular basis, even today. But unfortunately, today there are many people that the Yetzer Hara has fooled into thinking that you shouldn't learn Mussar because somehow you're good enough or you're going to learn something else. But the point is that the particular book he mentions is the one that we used as a main source. in many of our shiurim about the discussion of Gehenom, but there are many other books that talk about it, not in as much detail or at much length, but nonetheless there are other books that talk about it. Okay? You want to bring one to the shul next week? Okay, so we're going to the Kabbalah now. No, man. We're not. Adam HaRishon stayed in this world. He didn't go to Gehenom. He left his wife because he wanted to do teshuvah. He was away from her for almost 130 years.

1:56:20made a mistake, after mistake, after mistake, which was worse than the original mistake. But nonetheless, he was a Kodesh Kodashim, and he was Adam HaRishon. He was the perfect human being, to the best that a human being can be. But no, these creatures that we're talking about did exist at the time of Adam HaRishon. He saw them, he named them. He named every creature. Every creature that exists, he gave them a name. Because he had that type of wisdom that when he would name something, he would name it based on the entire essence of that creature. So when he called a sus, a horse, a sus, it's because the nature of a sus, of a horse, is to run into war. And that's why it got the name sus. and so on and so forth. Every name that we have in the Hebrew language is based on the essence of that creature, the demons included, and so on and so forth. Now, as far as Gehinnom, Gehinnom has two parts, and Gan Eden has two parts, meaning that the inside of Gehinnom has seven parts, but I'm talking about locations. There's one Gehinnom in this world, and there's one Gehinnom in the upper world.

1:57:34There's one Gan Eden in this world, and there's one Gan Eden in the upper world. So there is one Gehinnom that actually physically exists here. It's a physical location. And there are some people that believe that there is a recording of sound from that place that was captured by some drillers who went to one of the Arctic locations and dug something like 13 or 1600 miles into the ground. They threw in recording equipment just to measure where they were and what they found, and they were surprised that this recording equipment captured screaming and yelling of people. Now, I heard this recording a couple of times, and every time I hear it, it's scary. But you could hear it and hear nothing, meaning you could hear and say, "No, this is just nothing." So it all depends on your ear. But the point being is that there are some people that say this was an actual recording of Gehinnom.

1:58:35...uh, whether you believe it or don't believe it, it's not going to make you more righteous or more religious. The point is that with or without this recording, there is a physical place in this world that is Gehinnom. It's also Gan Eden, but the bigger locations, the other ones, are in a different world—they're not in this world... Um, so Adam HaRishon did not go to Gehinnom, he did not go to, uh, not this one or the other one. But Adam HaRishon had an experience or an encounter with pretty much every creature because he named them. As far as what kind of conversations they had, that I haven't gotten to yet. No, you have a second question. You've been asking one. Do you have a favorite Torah subject to learn about and teach? So, what is it? If I have a Torah subject that I like to teach? Emet. Whatever is Emet, whatever... I mean, generally speaking, my main focus is Mussar.

1:59:38Because I think that, just like I learned, and it's not like my own chiddush, but if a person is going to learn Mussar on a regular basis, then he's going to, little by little, or she's going to, little by little, improve their character traits and soften their character, which will make them a better vessel to learn Torah. But if they don't improve their character traits, then whatever Torah they do learn is going to be spoiled anyway. What is that like? It's like if a person learns Torah along with Mussar, then he's going to put all of the beautiful ingredients on the cake, and he's going to put the sugar, exactly how much, and all the different things, right? If he doesn't learn Mussar, then what he's going to do, he's going to use a foundation You know, he's going to use a foundation that has mold in it because that's the best price. But he's going to put toppings on it, and candy on it, and different Torah chidushim on it, so on the outside, it looks good, like the guy knows Torah, but the real foundation is rotten. Where do you see that in real life? Many times you see people that look religious, sometimes even go to yeshiva, or have gone to yeshiva, do things that are the worst things in the world. Like, even secular people won't do it.

2:00:59know, make fun of rabbis, make fun of God, go out with their shtreimel, with their hats, go to a casino or a club. Hashem, what do I mean by that? Go to all types of places that even civilized, regular people who are not religious don't go to because they know it's a bad place. But you see them acting that way. Why? Because what they have is a rotten foundation. foundation with some nice, beautiful seasoning. Sometimes you're going to see a so-called religious person, sometimes even a rabbi who knows Torah but will do horrible, evil things. You know, there are some big people out there that have been caught doing horrible, evil things. There's one big rabbi in London that was caught with one of his own students who was married to somebody else The rabbi of Dekilah went with somebody else's wife. Craziest thing in the world. And he's still a rabbi. He's still a rabbi, this guy. And this woman is still being encouraged to stay with her husband, which is forbidden by the Torah. It's forbidden by the Torah for her to stay with her husband. But why? Because he's rotten, she's rotten, and all the other people over there are rotten too. All of them have this rotten foundation.

2:02:22And that's unfortunately what's happening in the world today. There's a lot of rotten foundations. You have people who are rabbis, but they're doing things that are not normal. It's not acceptable until we've gotten to this Sodom and Gomorrah generation. And people need to know that the Torah has Mussar. Mussar, in essence, is a "check yourself" system. This is what you're supposed to do, and you have to compare that to what you are doing. you are supposed to be kind. You're not supposed to be kind because you expect something in return. That's not kindness; that's business. You're supposed to be kind for the sake of kindness, not because you're expecting something in return. Because that's politics and business. If you're only going to give in order to receive, that's not kindness; that's business. You can call it the barter system. You can call it an exchange. You can call it a lot of different things. But it's definitely not kindness. You want to be kind? Kindness is a free gift with no expectation whatsoever. What does it mean, no expectation? No expectation of even kavod, of even a thank you. If you're expecting a thank you, that's already too much.

2:03:38Why? Kindness, real kindness, is simply a free gift. Who gives free gifts all day? HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And we're supposed to emulate Him. And so on and so forth. So Mussar is going to teach you what is true kindness, what is true cleanliness, what is true righteousness, what is true zealousness. Are you really zealous or are you arrogant? The line between them is very thin. Because many people think that they're zealous, but in reality, they're just arrogant fools. They think that they're being zealous in the name of God, but in reality, these are the worst people on planet Earth. How do you know? You have to check yourself. Where am I? Where is the Torah? Now, if you're deciding what the Torah is, for sure you're not in a good place. Why? You have to have a rabbi who you obey like he's HaKadosh Baruch Hu. He says this is halacha, you don't ask a question. Why? That's what Torah says. You have to be afraid of him like you're afraid of God. Almost every single person, this is the most difficult mitzvah for them. Why? No one wants to subject themselves to anybody because everyone thinks that they're better than their rabbi. Everyone thinks that they're just as good at least. Everyone thinks that they can understand it without him. Everyone thinks a little bit too much of themselves and it's very difficult for people.

2:04:52So this requires a destruction of your ego, which takes time. That's what Mussar does. It reminds you of your flaws. And if you're a real person, a serious person, you're going to learn it, and that's going to make you a better vessel for Torah. On the other hand, if a person simply skips Mussar, he'll become a Talmid Chacham Yetzer Harah. Meaning, he'll know Torah, but he's going to be a Rasha Merusha. He'll finish Masechet Shabbat, he'll finish Masechet Ta'anit, he'll finish Masechet this and Masechet that, he'll read Midrashim, he'll read a lot of different things, but his wife is going to divorce him, his kids are going to hate him, the entire Kehillah can't wait until he dies, and no one's going to show up to his funeral. Why? He's just a despicable human being. Despicable. How do you know? Look at what people are saying about you. Not the haters. Regular people. People who are supposed to be your lovers. If your lovers are constantly complaining about you, there's something wrong. Surely a few people are going to dislike you. There's no question about that. But if the people who are supposed to like you are constantly complaining, if your wife is crying every week, there's something wrong with you. It's not just her. If your kids can't wait until you go to work, there's something wrong with you.

2:06:08There's something wrong with you. If your kids can't wait until you go away, there's something wrong with you. If your wife asks you, "Honey, are you going on a trip this week?" and you reply, "Oh, no," and she seems disappointed that you're not going away, there's something wrong with you. There's something wrong. If your loved ones can't wait to see you go, there's something wrong with you, not with them. Surely there could be something wrong with them also, but for sure it's you as well. So that's the thing. If your world around you is complaining and you just simply assume everyone is wrong, you are, you know, Mr. Mashiach, you are the Mrs. Mashiach, you're always right and I'm always wrong. Rabbi, what would you attribute it to as a Jewish people, generationally, you've seen regression in family values and traditions and morals and understandings, what would you attribute that to and how can we stop it or prevent it and improve for future generations to come? regression in family values, traditions, morals, and understandings. What would you attribute that to, and how can we stop it or prevent it and improve for future generations to come?

2:07:23What's the reason why there's Yeridat HaDorot? What's the reason why we've deteriorated on a regular basis? One simple answer that the Torah mentions time and time again. We actually learned a little bit of it this week in Ikveta DeMeshicha. We've learned a lot about it. It's simply less Torah. When there's less Torah, there's less knowledge of God. When there's less knowledge of God, then there's more knowledge of man, and knowledge of man changes, is subjective, is full of arrogance, and simply a mistake. so the less Torah we know, the more mistakes we make, which in essence makes the people more wicked. When you rely more on the rules of men versus the rule of God, you are bound to make mistakes that will destroy the very same man that you were trying to protect. And as you see this in society today, just like, for example, this whole coronavirus craziness. From day one, I told you guys that the biggest danger of coronavirus is going to be not the virus, but the reaction to the virus. And that's exactly what ended up happening. Not because I'm some genius or prophet or anything. It's simply, that's what the Torah says.

2:08:32The Torah says, you look at how people react when they don't have a Kadosh Baruch Hu in their life. It's so dangerous; you're not even allowed to be in a room with somebody who does not have Yirat Shamayim by himself. If your friend does not have Yirat Shamayim, he's not afraid of God, you're not allowed to be in a room with him by himself. Why? He may kill you. When you have an entire government system that calls itself democratic, you have an entire anti-God society, and they're the ones deciding the rules, and they're telling you, "Listen, this virus is a killer, this virus is this, we're shutting down everything," without really having a legitimate rhyme or reason, without having a legitimate way out of it. You're just pretty much waiting for people either to die, or hopefully this works. You see, there's something wrong. Something wrong, especially when you see that whoever speaks against it is, you know, quickly quieted, sometimes disappears like Clinton's friends. They always happen to disappear and die early, you know, it's not a, you know, you see there's something wrong with the system. Again, I'm not saying that all the conspiracy theories are right or wrong. I have no idea; I don't follow this stuff. But when so many people are saying right, and you're saying left, there's something wrong. There's something wrong.

2:09:47If an entire society is collapsing and you're saying everything is okay, there's something wrong. If there's a revolution in your backyard and you're acting like nothing is happening, there's something wrong. There's something wrong. So that's in essence what's happening. The less Torah the world has, the more they rely on the rules of man. And the rules of man, unfortunately, are flawed at best, biased, obviously, and evil at worst. This is happening in the Jewish world, in the non-Jewish world, in the White House, in the Black house, in the Burgundy house, in the China house, in the Bangladesh house, in every house. The more Torah you add to your life, not just more Torah you learn, but more Torah you learn and apply to your life to the T, just as if Moshe Rabbeinu himself came and told you, you did it and...

2:10:51...better your life is going to be. It's not necessarily going to remove all your problems overnight, but it'll give you a reason for them. It'll give you a reason for all those problems and also give you a way to get out of them. But the less Torah we have, unfortunately, the more problems we're going to have and the worse the generation will be. Last question for the night: How about you? You haven't asked a question... You're wrong. I'm sorry. No, you're right. You have to be a chacham to think like a thief. Meaning that the Mishnah has, I believe it's Rabbi Yochanan. Rabbi Yochanan says to us that there are kelim. There are certain tools that become impure if they touch something impure. So if it's a dead carcass, it's impure. If it touches it, the kli becomes impure. So if you have a piece of metal that touches a dead animal, it becomes impure. This is not really relevant in today's world because we don't have a Beit HaMikdash. So in essence, everything is impure because either you touched it or you touched somebody that touched it, and you became impure. So you didn't have to touch a dead body to become impure because you probably hugged your father or your cousin or somebody that did touch a dead body at some point, and he became impure, and therefore, you became impure.

2:12:16But nonetheless, the Torah says that at the time when there wasn't a way to purify things, we were more conscious of things that were impure. But it says there are certain things that are impure without touching something that's impure, and these are the tools of the thieves. is a hollow stick that a person pretends to be homeless but, in reality, is hiding money inside it. Or another one that has a hollow stick that he uses; you give him the goods, and he goes to the market with the goods. He comes back with less money than the goods, and you ask him, "Where's the money?" He says, "Look, I don't have any pockets; this is all the money." Why? Because the money is hidden inside the stick, and so on and so forth. So, the Mishnah says Rabbi Yochanan was teaching this, and he says to us: "Woe to me if I teach this, woe to me if I don't teach it. Woe to me if I teach it and the thieves learn these different tools that maybe they didn't know how to steal with this hollow stick. Not every thief knows the same trade. But woe to me if I don't teach it, and the thieves will think that the Chachamim don't know their trade, don't know their ways."

2:13:32So what is the halacha? Halacha is we teach it anyway. Why? We don't care about these resha'im. If these resha'im want to use our Torah to make sins, let them fall on their face with the Torah. with making the sins. Why? Because we need to teach Torah and to show that the Chachamim have literally Da'at Torah. So that means the Chachamim knew everything about stealing, everything about the criminals, everything about witchcraft. The Chachamim needed to know witchcraft, which the Torah says, What is that? As a rule in the Torah, mitzvah de'oraita, you see a mekhashefa, somebody that performs witchcraft, you have to kill them, according to the Torah. Not today, we don't have a Sanhedrin. But the point is, if the Sanhedrin sees a mekhashefa, someone that performs witchcraft, there's no teshuva for them, you have to kill them. You have to kill them. That's the law. But yet, the Sanhedrin themselves would learn witchcraft. What's the pshat? In order to identify witchcraft, you have to learn it.

2:14:38In order to know how to defend against witchcraft, you have to learn it. And that's how they knew it. Same reason why each member of the Sanhedrin had to know all 70 languages. Why? You cannot trust a translator. You can't trust a translator. You have to talk to the witness in his language. Why? Because the translator may be making a mistake. Maybe he's making a mistake, and in the end, that mistake could cause the person to be guilty instead of innocent. So our chachamim are not like judges of today with little headphones and a translating system. Our chachamim are much more knowledgeable in all wisdoms. They needed to know the wisdoms of the criminals. Why? In order to know whether it's a crime or it's not a crime. in order to know whether it's witchcraft or not witchcraft. So, in order to know the mind of a thief, you have to be a chacham, not a thief. Why? Because a thief knows his mind, but not necessarily the mind of another thief, because the other thief could be a better thief than him. He knows how to rob banks, he knows how to rob art galleries, he knows how to rob his friend.

2:15:40One thief says, "Listen, I'm the greatest thief in the world. Watch, I can go to this tree, take this dove, pluck one feather out of it, and it won't even feel it, and I'll end up taking the dove and putting it in my pocket. Such a good thief." The other thief says, "I'm so good that I will be able to take off your pants without you feeling it." says, "Yeah, because they're going to do it." So, the guy goes, climbs the tree, takes the dove, plucks one feather out, puts it in his pocket, and no pets are disturbed. All right, the other guy says, "Listen, I took off your pants without you feeling it. Who's the better thief?" We will continue to learn Torah and it will continue to guide us.