What Stands Behind People Who Go Off the Derech?

1:02So, there are several different reasons why such a thing could happen. First and foremost, the Gemara specifically says that there's no such thing as someone going off the derech, meaning that there's always a problem with the root. This implies that the person was never truly religious to begin with. What's the example? The example is Elisha Acher, Elisha ben Avuyah, who learned an enormous amount of Torah. To such a point that he became one of the Tannaim. But unfortunately, one day he went off the derech. He became a kofer. He became a really big problem for Am Yisrael. And they changed his name to Acher. When a prostitute saw him violating Shabbat, she said, wait a minute, aren't you... Rabbi Elisha, then he violated Shabbat. He goes, no, he's someone else. There's no way that you're the rabbi. Why? If you're a rabbi, maybe you have a desire to go to a prostitute. But if you're violating Shabbat, there's no way you're a rabbi. This suggests that in the eyes of that generation, and it should be for us too, it's even worse to violate Shabbat than to, chas v'shalom, go to a prostitute.

2:14But nonetheless, people need to understand that Elisha Acher didn't just go bad. There was something wrong with the roots, and the ma'aseh is that when he was born, his father invited some of the Chachamim, and he saw them studying Torah and creating a holy fire. He exclaimed, "You come to burn my house?" They replied, "No, no, no, we didn't burn your house. This is a holy fire. This is a spiritual fire. It's not a regular fire. It's a spiritual fire. And this fire is created by our learning Torah." He then said, "If this is what the Torah does, then I'm going to have my son study Torah." So, the Chachamim ask, what do you mean? His father was a chacham. He knew what Torah does. What does it mean that he's going to dedicate his son to the Torah? is what the Torah does, then I'm gonna have my son study Torah. So the Chachamim ask, what do you mean? His father was a Chacham. He knew what Torah does. What does it mean that I'm gonna dedicate my son to the Torah? It means that now he recognizes the benefit with his own eyes, so he's truly committing to it. It means that now that he sees with his own eyes the benefit, now I'm going to give him the Torah. Before that, I wasn't sure. If you're not sure, that means it's not coming lishmah. You're not doing it for the right reason. You're not learning Torah for the right reason. You're not learning Torah because Hashem said so. You're learning Torah because your Abba, your biological father, said so. You're learning Torah because you go to yeshiva. You're learning Torah because that's your life, just like the people in Africa walk around in underwear and they feel perfectly fine about it. You're learning Torah. It's a custom. It's not your life.

3:28And the reason why such things happen is because there's always a bad root. It can either come from bad education, it can come from the person himself not dedicating himself, it can come from a number of things. There's no one thing that we can pinpoint. One thing that we can do is know that these people that turn into heretics and want to publicize their horrible, horrible sins, they're not doing it because they don't believe. They're doing it because they're yearning for attention and to justify their actions. Inside them, they know it's wrong. Inside, they know it's 100% wrong. But every person needs to calm their nerves, calm their conscience. How are you going to do it? I'm going to get other people to do it with me. Why does the thief invite anyone else to come steal with him? Not because he wants to share the spoils, but because he knows it's wrong. If someone else steals with him, then it feels less wrong.

4:29If he steals also, then it's less wrong. Why am I going to invite him to the club? Because if he comes with me, then it's less wrong to do it. So, they want to invite the world to do the same thing. They're yearning for attention. They're yearning for justification. And last but not least, they're also making the ultimate mistake. The main reason why people become less religious is because they make the mistake of thinking that Judaism depends on the Jews. This is a mistake. Judaism does not depend on the Jews. Judaism depends on the Torah. How do we know this? We know this simply because before we went to Mount Sinai, the Torah existed already. 974 generations before the world was created, Hashem created the Torah, black fire written on white fire. But he did not have a Jewish nation yet. Why? Because no one received the Torah yet. No one accepted the Torah yet. Once we went to Mount Sinai and we accepted the Torah, Judaism was born. Meaning that if Chas V'Shalom, somebody else would have accepted the Torah, instead of Am Yisrael, they would be the Jews. Once we went to Mount Sinai and we accepted the Torah, Judaism was born. Meaning that if Chas V'Shalom, somebody else would have accepted the Torah, instead of Am Yisrael, they would be the Jews.

5:36which means that what makes you a Jew is not just that your mom is Jewish, even though, Halachically speaking, it does. In reality, what keeps you Jewish is whether you observe the Torah or not, just like we did at Mount Sinai. So instead of focusing on what other Jews are doing, and thinking that if this guy did this, then I'm going to steal, or if that guy did this, then I'm going to do the same, remember that all people trying to justify their sins because there are other sinners, are missing the point. He's a sinner. It's not going to help you. If he stole, it doesn't mean it's right for you to steal. If he cheated, it doesn't mean it's right for you to cheat. It has nothing to do with you. He's a bad Jew. That's his problem. He'll have to pay for it on his own. It doesn't justify you doing it also. So stop blaming other people for your own desires. Overcome your desires. Overcome your yetzer hara and b'ezrat Hashem. You'll have a life with a lot of success, a lot of good things, and a lot of Siyata Dishmaya (help from heaven), where you're not going to actually ever have any type of confusion that you need to go elsewhere for answers.