What Happens When You Prevent A Kiddush HaShem?

0:34Elisha, a student, took over as the prophet of the generation. Elisha was regarded as a Kadosh. One time, a man contacted Elisha, asking him to heal him. Elisha told him to go to the river and dip in it. The king thought that Elisha was making fun of him and... He didn't want to go until his servant said, "Listen, you already tried every other medicine; you already tried all the other wise people of the other nations. Why don't you try the wise person of the Jews? If he's already here, might as well go to the river, what's the big deal?" He went to the river, and as he went into it, everyone saw him naked, and his whole body was full of disease, his whole body was full of a disease called tzara'at. Everybody was like, you know, when you see something disgusting, you're taken aback. When you see something painful, you're taken aback. Combine both of them and multiply by a thousand, that's what he had—an awful, awful disease that's both spiritual and physical at the same time. Gehinnom in this world. So they saw him take off his clothes. All of his servants were taken aback. He went into the water, and when he got up out of the water, everybody sees him like a baby.

1:58He's gone. Completely gone. Be mikadesh Hashem. Be mikadesh Hashem. He goes back to Elisha HaNavi and says, "Thank you very much. Now I know that you're a man of God. I want to convert myself and my whole nation. I want to become Jewish, join Am Yisrael, and become part of this. This is the type of strength that your God has. I want to become a Jew, and I'll convert my entire nation." Welcome, welcome. Those of us who are in positions of wealth and power, like a king, may often feel compelled to offer something in return. But we don't accept money for the work we do in fulfilling Hashem's will. We cured you because Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us the wisdom to do it, and we performed this act not because we expect anything in return. We desire nothing from you. In fact, it's even more impressive. You did all this not even for kavod, not even for honor, not even for money. There's really no reason for you to do this. It's even more impressive. I'm converting my whole people to you. He leaves. He starts walking half a mile away. All of a sudden, the servant of Elisha, Gehazi, catches up to him.

3:10Catches up to him. A man by the name of Gehazi. Now, Gehazi wasn't a fool. Gehazi was always smart. Gehazi had a beard that reached the floor, a stride mold, everything. He had a chassid. Chassid, chassid. You know how many shiurim in Torah Gehazi used to give? Gehazi used to teach Torah. What? His rabbi is the prophet. When the rabbi is not giving a shiur, who's giving a shiur? Gehazi is giving a shiur. It's not like just some nobody, some homeless guy with a hump. No, Gehazi was always wise. Gehazi had a lot of Torah in him. His rabbi was the Gadol Hador prophet. Do you know how much Torah he knew? You combine all of the world's Torah today, he knew more than them. That's how much Torah he knew. But the Gemara says, Gehazi doesn't have a part in the World to Come. Gehazi has no share in the world to come. Where is he now? He's in Gehenom and he'll never leave. Why? Because Gehazi liked money a little bit. Just a little bit. He had a little chidak, a little germ for money. So he chased this king, caught up to him. Hey, listen.

4:23My rabbi, Elisha, he's kadosh, he's holy. He's too holy to say yes when you offer him some money. But between you and me, he's so humble, he's so pure, he's so good, he's not going to say yes. But really, you should give him something. You should give him a few suits, a few nice suits, a few nice things. He'll be good. The king says, "Of course, give him suits, give him a few, no problem." But in his mind, he thought, "Of course, no problem." However, the value of Elisha, the value of Am Yisrael, the value of Torah, and the value of HaKadosh Baruch Hu himself just dropped. Why? Because now it has a price. Your God has a price. Your people have a price. Your Torah has a price. Your prophet has a price. Your rabbi has a price. Once he has a price, I can pay for it. I can buy it. So you know what? I'll just be a Noahide; I'm not going to convert. He's still righteous, but I'm not going to convert. When Elisha saw Gechazi come back, he asked him, "What did you do?" He knew it already from prophecy.

5:41Elisha and Avi said, "The curse that was on him will be on you and all of your descendants, and your suffering will never end." His own rabbi cursed them to no end. Why? Look how many lives you destroyed by this Chilul Hashem. This guy would have converted, and every single second of his life would have been a mitzvah. Those mitzvot were going to honor Hashem. Honoring Hashem is the only purpose of creation. Now, He's not going to do it. That's gone. His wife would have converted too. How many thought you were going to do? That's gone. The kids, gone. The grandkids, gone. The great-grandkids, gone. The descendants of the grandkids, the descendants of the nation. Look how many mitzvot and opportunities to sanctify Hashem's name at the highest level possible are now missing. Why? Because you wanted to interrupt. Because you wanted to tell people your opinions.

6:43You wanted to get involved, to be interactive and give your own piece of mind, even though it was not asked for. So, Alicia says you caused such a desecration to Hashem's name, and just like... The greatness will never cease, and it will never come to the world. The suffering will never end either. Why? Because I could ask about how His goodness and His mercy are extraordinary beyond our imagination, but so is His wrath. It comes together. All of the people that want to ignore that part are just living in an illusion. Illusion. All you've got to know, as far as we see wrath, is to go watch the video. I recommend it to you guys about the Holocaust. Look at the millions of dead bodies on the floor of our brothers and sisters. If that's not wrath, what's wrath? Go to the hospice center, any local hospice center, and just walk bed by bed, bed by bed, and just hear their screaming and yelling right before they die.

7:48Go, go. Or no, better yet, if you want to see suffering, go to the cancer ward, go to the hospital, go to the cancer unit. Hear them as they undergo chemo. Hear them suffer through the treatment. Go to the patients, go to the ICU. I spent months and months in the ICU. I spent months there. Sometimes I even contemplate admitting myself again, just to cope with the challenges of the day. Go to the ICU. Go witness how we truly scream from the pain there. What do you think that is? What do you think that's a bonus? What do you think that's a present? It's pain, rabotai. Wrath exists. Punishment exists. Yes, there's always something good that comes out of every bad, but it doesn't mean that the bad is not bad. It doesn't mean Gehinom doesn't exist. And for people who want to live this imaginary life, we just pray for them to do teshuvah, or that Hashem will judge them as a shotah. a crazy person because a crazy person is not obligated to fulfill the entire Torah. The Talmud discusses the concept of a "shoteh," someone who is not of sound mind, and explains that they are exempt from certain mitzvot. This is because they do not have the necessary awareness or ability to comprehend and perform these commandments properly. It is essential in halacha, Jewish law, to understand who is obligated and who is exempt in fulfilling the mitzvot, as it guides the applicability of Torah law to individuals.