Which 3 Things Require Hard Work?

0:26Three most important things you have to work on endlessly your whole life: One, you want to live in Eretz Yisrael. You want to live in Eretz Yisrael? You have to work hard for it. Why? Because this is a special land that if you don't act appropriately according to what Hashem has for you, the land will vomit you out. The reason why all of us are here in America is not because we're all tzaddikim. It's not because of that. It's because at some point, either we, ourselves, or the previous generation—our parents, grandparents, somebody—made a mistake to such an extent that the land vomited us. Could be our parents, grandparents, or a thousand years ago—whatever it was. The reason why Am Yisrael is in exile for the last couple of thousand years is because the land vomited us out. But there's also a good part of it. Part of the mission of the last generation before Mashiach is to actually get the whole world to do teshuva, especially for the people who want to convert to Judaism. So, HaKadosh Baruch Hu placed Am Yisrael in all four corners of the world, as the Zohar says.

1:29Why? Because there are going to be gentiles who want to convert to Judaism in all four corners of the world, and it's our responsibility to be a light to the nations and help them convert. However, the important thing is for a person to realize that living in Eretz Yisrael comes with challenges. There's no free lunch. It is difficult to live in Eretz Yisrael. If you aspire to achieve it, you should already expect it to be hard. The second thing that's hard, as the Gemara says, If you want to learn Torah, you want to learn Torah, don't think that you're learning math. If you just remember a few formulas in your head, like length times width times height, the diameter squared, pi times this, you remember a few formulas in your head, oh, you're a Talmid Chacham. No, my friend, it doesn't work that way. Torah, Torah, you have to learn day and night, every day, all the time, if you want to have a chance of being a Talmid Chacham. You want to just be an average Joe, you want to just know Torah just enough to get by, you still have to learn every day. You got to learn it day and night. You learn a little bit in the morning, a little bit at night, you learn the halachot, you learn the gemarot, you learn what you need to learn, you'll be okay. But if you think that you're gonna learn whenever you have time, once a week, once a month, once whenever you feel like it, you think that's gonna get you by?

2:38But if you think that you're going to learn whenever you have time, once a week, once a month, or whenever you feel like it, do you think that's going to suffice? says it's not possible, it's not possible. Why is it not enough? Because who created you in the world in order for you to learn Torah every day? Some learn more, some less, depending on how high you want to get in your servitude of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. But nonetheless, every single human being must learn Torah every day. I started with 15 minutes a day. Now, 15 minutes may not seem like much, and it's not. But when you make that commitment every day, that no matter what, just like I eat and breathe every day, I'm going to learn 15 minutes a day. Now, everybody in the world has excuses; I had more. I had a business, I had health crises, I had all the excuses in the world not to learn 15 minutes a day. I was a very busy person. Nothing's changed, but somehow I found a way to learn 15 minutes a day. Eventually, I said, you know what, maybe 30 minutes, maybe I could do 30 minutes, but every day. Not 15 minutes today, seven minutes tomorrow, next week I'll do an hour to make up for it. No, no—15 minutes minimum. If I could do more, more, but never less, just like I never breathe less.

3:50I'm never going to learn less. The 15 minutes is the threshold. I could do more if I can, but 15 minutes is the threshold. Eventually, I increased it to 30 minutes, and then eventually more, and so on and so forth. The point is, every human being, Jew or otherwise, needs to do the same thing if they want to have a chance of learning Torah. Third thing, Gemara says, Olam Haba. Now, Olam Haba has two places. I always like to mention both to you. Gan Eden and Gehenom. That's Olam Haba. Gan Eden, you want to get there? Hard work. Gehenom, easy business. Easy. Don't do anything. Don't listen to Hashem. Drive on Shabbat. Go with goyot. Dress immodestly. Eat whatever's in front of you. Do whatever, act like an animal. Gehenom, guaranteed. Or your money back. Gan Eden. Gan Eden, you want to go to Gan Eden? Hard work. Why? Because the reward of Gan Eden is eternity. That means you work your whole life, 70, 80, 90 years you work hard, but then your reward, your prize, is forever. You never have to work again. So for such a prize, it takes a little work. How much is 70, 80 years out of eternity? Nothing.

5:09Nothing. So that's the point. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, you want to go to heaven? You want to go to Olam HaBa, the good part? It's hard work. But it's only hard for 70, 80 years. After that, it's easy. After that, it's easy. So, if you look at the... To toil in the right way means recognizing that when we face a test, we should think, "You know what? When who is giving me a test, in essence, what is He trying to do?" We should understand that Hashem is trying to elevate us, make us better versions of ourselves, and give us more reward. That's the right way to look at it. However, since naturally we desire an easier life, we might say to Hashem, "Okay, you know what, give me a test, but not too much. Go easy on me," as if Hashem doesn't know. as if Hashem doesn't know. So, that's part of the reason, but I'm sure there are other things we can say. How about the next question? Bring you back to the...