Who is Your Tzadik? | Torat HaChassidut (19)

0:00So the Me'or of Hashem tells us the first thing you want to look for is not someone that is looking for leniency. He's not saying to look for someone that's the most strict. There are some people that all they say is "everything is not allowed." A donkey can also say "everything is not allowed." We're not looking for someone to say "everything is not allowed." We're looking for someone that stays true to the Torah and is not looking to veer right or left. and doesn't think he's smarter than he really is. Further, if his heart burns with the flames of spiritual unification and his thoughts are reflected in his actions, you should choose him. Meaning, it's not enough that he's knowledgeable. It's not enough that if you ask him a question, he can give you an answer. You must also see how he lives his life. What's he all about? In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Shiur Torah. Welcome back. We're back here on our Sunday night. Shiur Torah, the Tzetl Katan, based on the teachings of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, where Rabbi Elimelech teaches us the foundation of Chassidut, very much relevant not only to Chassidut, but also to the rest of Klal Yisrael, anyone who wants to

1:20fix their middot, perfect their middot, fix their life, perfect their life. There are countless people that are coming every day to me, and I'm sure to countless other rabbis, always looking for answers to their problems, and anyone that has Uh, listen to this entire series. It is known that the series has certainly helped quite a few of those problems get answered, and usually the ones that ask the questions are either the ones that are the most attentive or the least attentive—nothing really in between. Either they're asking specific questions about the lectures that they heard, and they want clarification, so they're the most attentive. And that's a very good sign. Or they're the least attentive, meaning they don't watch any of the lectures but want the answers anyway. The reality is that what I try to explain to people all the time is that the shiurim are going to give you the bulk of the advice you need for your life, the bulk of the answers you need for your life. And without them, you're simply going to be like a blind man walking during the night.

2:25You're simply going to be like a blind man walking during the night. So, B'ezrat Hashem, this shiur is going to be another clarification and another extraordinary addition to our servitude of Hashem and to get some answers to our lives. Tonight's shiur is going to be for the Refuah Shlema and Hatzlacha Rabah for Rabbanit Levana Bat Sarah. Rabbi Ephraim Ben Shulamit, Rabbi Nitzara Bat Anat, Avi Mori, David Ben Nesria, Imi Morati, Doris Bat Zohra, Sarah Bat Levana, and all of Am Yisrael and all the Righteous Noachides that continue to support and help our organization with all the wonderful things that we're doing, Baruch Hashem, whether it's the BH Kids channel, the Teshuvah Music channel, all of the English and Hebrew lectures that we have, Baruch Hashem, and of course all the chesed and helping all the poor people in Eretz Yisrael and the Avreichim. At our Kollel, at the Beit Din, there's quite a bit to do. Anyone that wants to donate can go to Bezrat Hashem.org and donate over there. You can become one of the monthly donors and have that blessing in your life on a monthly basis rather than on a random basis because you'll see a lot more blessing that way than anything else. So, with that being said, we have the Tzitzit Katan. And in last week's shiur,

3:50One of the great things that Rabbi Elimelech told us is, in essence, something still being used today in Chassidut, which is really having some type of mentor. Now, he didn't emphasize all the details of the Tzaddik, which is above and beyond. what your typical mentor or friend is going to do. But we see from the rest of Chassidut and how Chassidut is, how he was himself, how the Rebbe Elimelech himself was. He was the tzaddik, but he had himself a tzaddik, which was the Maggid of Mezritch. And the Maggid of Mezeritch had his tzaddik, which was the Baal Shem Tov. And really throughout all of Am Yisrael, everyone has always had that key figure in their life, call it a chacham, tzaddik, rabbi, whatever you want to call it. Everyone has always had somebody very extraordinary in their life, not just to tell people that they know this person or that they've spoken to him or they have a picture with him, but rather someone that they can go to for guidance about everything.

5:00Now, one of the things that you see in the world today is that very few people really understand the value of a rabbi, the value of having a tzaddik, which can be quite different from just your typical rabbi. Many times, those very same people have a lot of unanswered questions in their life. a lot of unanswered questions, a lot of issues in their life that they don't really know what to do with. They usually come for questions after it's already too late, after they're already so confused, they don't know which way to go. And one of the things that we saw in last week's parasha, in Parashat Yitro, is that despite Yitro's extraordinary past and how successful he was in the world of idolatry, he did not stop himself from submitting and humbling himself to go to his son-in-law Moshe Rabbeinu and say, this is my Rabbi.

6:07This is my rabbi. He's the one that named his son Gershom because he always treated this world as if it is a temporary world. He's the one that named his son Eliezer because he always looked for Hashem to help. He never took the power or the credit to himself. And that's the one that I want. That's the one I'm willing to leave everything for. And really, this is baffling when you really think about it because Forty years after he left Cush, he went to Midian. Initially, he was after saving Tzipporah and her sisters and... 40 years after he left Kush, he went to Midian. Initially, this was after saving Tziporah and her sisters.

7:09introduced himself to Yitro because he said, “Who could this person be that saved my children? I have to show him gratitude.” And of course, that was actually the strong midah that Yitro had, which was showing gratitude and being appreciative of anything that he received. At the same time, he was a man looking for the truth, so as soon as he heard that Moshe was dressed like an Egyptian... was dressed like that because he ran away from Egypt after killing an Egyptian. He was thrown in jail for ten years, and the keys were thrown away. Of course, Tzipora saved Moshe Rabbeinu's life by giving him food and drink every day. But after ten years, He released him from the prison and saw the extraordinary nature and holiness of Moshe Rabbeinu when he took out the staff that was buried in the ground in the field of Yitro for many centuries and saw that Moshe Rabbeinu is not a normal person, and therefore he let him marry his daughter Tzipora. And that was for 10 years, meaning that he was his son-in-law.

8:25...of prison, living in his house for ten years, and for ten years Moshe Rabbeinu did not abandon Hashem. Quite the opposite, he got closer and closer to Hashem on a daily basis. Yisro knew all about it. Yisro knew that Moshe Rabbeinu was following Hashem, a different God than the ones he had; he had many different gods during this time, and no matter what Moshe Rabbeinu told him, he didn't listen to Moshe. Meaning that this whole experience that happened at Mount Sinai, where it says that Yitro heard—he heard about what Hashem did to the Egyptians. He heard what Hashem did for Am Yisrael to destroy the Egyptians, to destroy Amalek—all of these different things. This was not the first time that Yitro heard about Hashem. He's heard about it before, he's heard about it before. but after hearing those things, that was more than enough, and he knew exactly what address to go to, meaning whom to go to in order to find out all of the possible details that he could obtain in serving this one and only God. Now, one of the things that the Chachamim teach us is that the punishment that Hashem put upon the Egyptians and Amalek was exactly what got Yitro

9:49rattled to the point where he abandoned all of his idolatry instantly and went to Mount Sinai, went to the middle of the desert, abandoned all of his money, all of his fame and fortune, and everything that he had. He simply went to the desert, went looking for Moshe Rabbeinu, seeking access to the one and only God of Israel. Yitro recognized how precise the judgment is from Heaven and... Now, why was Yitro so special? Technically, the whole world knew about this. The whole world knew that Hashem punished the Egyptians and destroyed them with the plagues, one after another. The whole world knew that Hashem split the sea. The whole world knew all of this. The difference with Yitro is that, as the Gemara tells us, Yitro was there from the very beginning before Am Yisrael became slaves. As the Gemara says that... had a decision to make because he was scared of the fact the army of Bnei Yisrael was growing so rapidly. Every time a woman gave birth, she had six children, and they were literally outgrowing the Egyptians.

10:57He had the exact opposite of what he was supposed to have, which was gratitude. Instead, he had ingratitude. He was an ungrateful person, and unfortunately, that little bit of power is still found in many people today. He did not want to be grateful to the Jewish people, who were called Bnei Yisrael at the time. This has nothing to do with the crazy people that call themselves Israelites today. That wear the Power Ranger costumes and Mortal Kombat. We're talking about the real, you know, Bnei Yisrael, the descendants of Yaakov Avinu, who was also called Yisrael. And one of the things that Pharaoh did not want to do, he didn't want to say thank you to anyone. That's also what made him an atheist. That's also what made him an idol worshiper. That's also what made him turn himself into a god. And therefore, in order to remove any connection to anything to which he feels he has to say thank you, he had to come up with some type of strategy to destroy the Jewish people. And he came to a decision. I have to do it, but how? What's the best way to do it? He had three main advisors. One of them was Bil'am. Second was Iyov, Job.

12:17And the third one was Yitro. Bilaam told them, "You should kill all of them. Kill them, enslave them, kill them slowly because you can't kill them right away. They'll revolt; turn them into slaves." A whole strategy, which is, in essence, what Pharaoh ended up doing. Iyov did not say anything. that's actually why He says that's why Hashem gave him the problems that he had, that big test that he had unlike any other man. For a period of a year, he didn't speak up when the time was to speak up, and he thought, he said, "Why are You doing this? Why are You doing this to the Jewish people? They did good to You." They built the pyramids. Contrary to what fools think today, it was not the Egyptians who built the pyramids, but the Jews who lived in Egypt. They built the pyramids. The Talmud says they built all of the wealth that Egypt had. You guys were nothing before them. They did all that for you. Don't you remember the previous king right before you was Yosef, and you guys call them Avrech or Tzafnat Paneach, all types of Egyptian names.

13:26You guys call him Avrech or Tzafnat Paneach, all types of Egyptian names. Don't you know? That's a Jew. And he was voting for this. Bil'am was voting the other way. Iyov could have broken up the tie and gone with Yitro, but he didn't. Hence he got punished. And Bil'am won. And after Bil'am won the vote, And he became powerful, no different than how Haman became powerful after he won the vote under Achashverosh. Yitro knew that he had to flee; he had to run away. The slavery of the Jews began. Now, fast forward 116 years from this time. Yitro now hears that Hashem destroyed the Egyptians, the very same Egyptians, the very same Pharaoh that was drowning the Jews, drowning the kids, is now drowned. The very same Pharaoh that didn't let the Jews bathe, was now drinking, or was now having frogs, was having blood, was having all types of things that were precisely the measure for measure punishment.

14:53They did to them. After hearing all of these details, it all hurt enough. He said, "Now I know that there is no other God. God is the greatest among all, and I also know who is the greatest messenger that I need to go to." And that's Moshe. Yeah, but Moshe is just your son-in-law. He was your prisoner. He was nobody in your house. No, no, no. Moshe was always a somebody. I just didn't recognize him. Moshe was always great. I just did not recognize him. It's my flaw. It's my fault. And now I have to humble myself and beg for him to take me in as a student. This, Rabotai... The one thing that made it all so great is that HaKadosh Baruch Hu designed it in such a way that the parsha where we received the Torah is named after him, Yitro. When we get to all the Ten Commandments, the Written Torah, the Oral Torah, the two places in the Torah when we talk about the Ten Commandments, and...

16:08Specifically, receiving them, which is possibly referring to Hanan, as far as the details of the commandments. Obviously, there are other parts; even this week's parasha, Parashat Mishpatim, also talks about the details of the commandments. But the point is that Yitro humbled himself and said, "I need Moshe; Moshe doesn't need me." This realization led to Yitro's greatness, and... And this realization can lead to every single person's greatness. But greatness begins with humility. So now, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk has told us that we have to have a spiritual mentor, a trusted friend to improve our thoughts, to help us. And in fact, the next segment Starts off with segment 14. He starts off by telling us to review everything that we've read so far, hence why we're doing what we're doing. He says be extremely careful to review that Satan Katan at least once a day. Translate each word into your own language and make it an invaluable practice.

17:30Study chapter 16 of the Shulchan Aruch before marital relations, as well as the practices of the Arizal. If time permits, you should read chapter 17 of the Shulchan Aruch as well. Consider this an inviolable rule. So here, we're not going to go through the entire instruction set of what he gave us today, but we're going to cover just a little bit. The Tzaddik is telling us that this Satan Katan is... it's not a one-time read; it's not a one-time "I heard it, I'm done, the end." It's not even a once-a-year type of instruction set. We read the Torah. Every Jew has to read the parasha technically three times a week. have this time you could have read Chumash twice. You read the commentary on the parasha, and once you read the commentary, technically, you're reading the parasha three times every week. Here, he's saying something very similar to what the Ramban said to his son: read this instruction set every day. Is that because he's questioning his memory abilities?

18:49He won't remember what he read yesterday or the day before or the day before that. Rather, because when something is part of the Torah, every time you read it there's divine inspiration to direct you to a specific place within those instructions that you did not see the day before, even if you read it a hundred times. 101st time is going to be a world of difference between the one hundred first and the first one hundred. That's the difference also between the meaningless Harry Potter books and all types of other secular books out there and the Torah. The Torah is going to give you guidance that no matter how many times you read it, how many times you learn it. Always going to be something new. Same thing I always tell my students or different people that come for advice. I tell them to take on a series. If they want to work on their middot, they could work on, uh, let's say, the Iggeret HaRamban or the Iggeret HaGra series that we did. If they want a real serious foundation, go watch the Pirkei Avot series. If they want to have better hashkafah, you could go to the Jewish hashkafah series, and so on and so forth. Each series has its own.

20:10Significant teachings in there, and sometimes the people that are asking me a question are people that I know for a fact watched those lectures before, and I still tell them to go watch the same thing. Why? Because I know that this time, when they watch it, they're watching it with completely different lenses, completely different lenses. The first time they watched it, they watched it with the spiritual tools they had at the time. continued growing, continued learning. Since then, the tools they have today are very different than the tools they had a year, two, three, four years ago when they first heard it. This is also the reason why when people stop watching lectures, stop learning Torah, they start going down rapidly. It's as if you have a tire, and there's a hole in the tire. Little by little, the air comes out, and little by little everything that they've gained starts becoming lost in the wind. Torah is either something that goes higher or goes lower; there's no neutral. So now the tzaddik is telling us that this instruction set, this tzavta katan, is something we must read every day.

21:34Something we have to apply every day. In fact, his talmidim, who wrote commentary on this, commentary on different parts of the Torah, clarify his thoughts. If you were to repeat this teaching of the previous section we had about having a mentor, Having a guide or the previous ones to talk about a tzaddik, where do we see that in the Torah? In the sefer Ma'or Va'Shemesh commentary on Parashat Shoftim, which is in Deuteronomy chapter 17, verses 15 to 19, it discusses the importance of appointing a king over Israel and the significance of having a leader chosen by Hashem. The verse says: "You shall appoint a king over you whom the Lord your God shall choose, and he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah on a scroll. He shall read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and keep all the words of this Torah and these statutes." This, says the mouth of Hashem, is commenting on this pasuk (verse).

22:58Even if a person has learned the entire Torah and all the holy books of our sages, he still cannot fully do teshuvah or remove all the barriers between him and HaKadosh Baruch Hu if he does not attach himself to the tzaddikim and the holy people of his generation. Here, the mouth of Hashem first tells us that... based on everything that he knows, even if he read all the books, even if you read all the books, watched all the lectures, but you don't attach yourself to the tzaddikim of your generation, you have a very serious problem. And he specifies "your generation." Why "your generation"? Many people have a rabbi or a tzaddik that passed away. Oh, yeah, no, I'm, you know, Rabbi Nachman or the Lubavitcher Rebbe or some other tzaddik that's out there, great, but who's your living tzaddik? Who's your living rabbi? Who's your living mentor? Oh, you know, I asked my rabbi here and there some questions. The problem is, if you don't have that tzaddik in your life, you're going to be missing a key part of the ingredient for teshuva. Why? Because the tzaddik is the one that's supposed to direct you to...

24:24Which way to go, what you have to fix, whether you're going in the right direction or not. So, the first tells us a shocker, which is, even if somebody read all of the books, all of the holy books—which is impossible—but let's say they did, without connecting themselves to the tzaddikim, the righteous individuals, and the holy people of his generation, they are missing a key part. He's missing a key part of the ingredient. Furthermore, he says, and this is what he learned from Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk. I heard from the tzaddik, Rabbi Elimelech, that a person should choose one tzaddik and make him his teacher. Yet, the question remains, how does one choose a tzaddik? So Rabbi Elimelech is not saying, listen, every day have somebody else. He says, you have to pick one. You have to pick one. That's going to be your sunshine. That's going to be the one who's going to clarify everything for you. Okay, fine. I'm willing, I'm able, but there are so many different options. How do I pick? If you see a tzaddik who follows the Holy Torah in everything that he does without relying on any leniency in scriptural or rabbinic laws, then he is the one to choose.

25:51If his heart burns with the flames of spiritual unifications and his thoughts are reflected in his actions, you should choose him as your teacher. So already in this segment, the Maor V'Shemesh really brings the sunshine on how to pick somebody to lead us. First and foremost, it has to be somebody that's truly a tzaddik, not just looks like one, dresses like one, or people say he's one. have to have some type of familiarity with his teachings and his behavior. As the saying goes, "If he acts like an angel, you can learn from him; if he doesn't, you can't." Meaning, not that he's perfect—nobody's perfect there's no perfect person. It doesn't make sense, but rather, if you see that everything he does is in order to serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu better and better every day, and he's not looking for any type of, "Oh, how could I make things more convenient for the community to violate the law of the Torah," you know certain people that ask questions, and really, you see that there's a criminal inside them and

27:18...is leading the role. How they asked you questions on a consistent basis about how they could violate the law: Can I take this if I know it was stolen? Can I make money off this if I know that it's illegal? But no, I don't think anyone's going to catch me. Can I take advantage of this person? Can I take advantage of that person? Can I just do this inappropriate act, but only for now? Like they literally, they don't even realize that the criminal inside them, the Yetzer Hara, is the one that's driving the wheel, trying to rationalize evil. Of course, people are unaware. Sometimes they ask questions. And you realize how unaware they are, but when somebody does it on a regular basis and you know that they are aware, and yet they continue to look for different leniencies, different permissions, you realize there's something missing in this person's life. What's missing? Not just Yirat Shamayim, which is obvious, but rather they're missing a tzaddik. They're missing somebody to tell them

28:44No, don't go there. Now, they may have somebody that tells them, "No, don't go there," but they don't listen to him, which means it's missing. It's like somebody has tens of millions of dollars in a bank, but he lives like he's a homeless person. Because he's too stingy to buy himself food. He's too stingy to buy himself a nice house. He's too stingy to buy himself a nice car or whatever it is that he needs. He's scared that he's gonna run out. He's like the snake. The snake has all the sand in the world, all the sand in the world that he can eat, but he still eats animals even though the animals taste like sand to him. Why? He doesn't want to run out. He doesn't want to run out of sand. The same to say, I... So he eats the animals, even though they taste like sand to him. That's the curse that Hashem put on the snake: everything is going to taste like sand. So eat sand. You have all the sand in the world. No, no, no. I want to eat the animals. Why? I don't want to run out of sand. Some people are like that. A person that has all the money in the world but does not spend it, does not use it, might as well not have it.

30:00A person who has a tzaddik in their life, has talmidei chachamim in their life, but doesn't use them or listen to them, it's as if they don't have them. It's like they're living on an island by themselves without anyone next to them. Usually, the reason for this is ego. They often have the exact opposite nature of Yitro. As we said, the two main qualities that made Yitro as great as he was... One was gratitude. He had to show gratitude—gratitude to Moshe Rabbeinu, gratitude to HaKadosh Baruch Hu to go serve Him, but also gratitude to Am Yisrael. Even though he was not some follower of Am Yisrael, he wasn't some Jewish supporter. But still, he knew that Am Yisrael is the one that built Egypt. How can you go against them? His gratitude was coupled with his humility.

31:00And many times people have the exact opposite of that. Because they don't have humility, they don't want to humble themselves, they refuse to show gratitude. Refuse to show real gratitude. Sometimes they'll show fake gratitude, but real gratitude is impossible for them. Why? Because real gratitude requires humility. So now, The Maor Vashemesh, which is one of the talmidim of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, is clarifying his own teacher's teachings. He's saying, you're not going to have Rabbi Elimelech as your rabbi. He's gone. He's already in Olam Ha'emet, enjoying the Shechinah with all the other tzaddikim. You need somebody that's living. But this very same Sun that came to the world, this very same bright Sun called the Baal Shem Tov, who came to the world, left us, left us teachings, and he told us, you can have your own to be a limit in your life. You can have your own bright sunshine in your life. How? You have to first look for someone who's not looking to bring all types of leniency, because that's what's going to make it more popular. Sun that came to the world, this very same bright sun called the Baal Shem Tov that came to the world, left us teachings. He told us: you can have your own 'to be a limit' in your life, you can have your own bright sunshine in your life. However, you first have to look for someone who is not seeking to bring all types of leniency just to become more popular.

32:20He's not looking for scriptural leniencies or rabbinic leniencies, and you see that sometimes in Kollelim, where you see the rabbi is trying to customize the Torah in order to fit his community. Unfortunately, today, with videos, you also see that sometimes in videos. Rabbis make videos about topics they know nothing about, and they go against the greatest sages in the world that spoke about this topic, and they contradict them. Rav Ovadia Yosef. Who can say they can even speak in the same sentence as Rav Ovadia Yosef? But they go, no, no, we don't agree with Rav Ovadia Yosef. He was too stringent on these wigs. We go the opposite way. Now, even if you want to say you disagree with Rav Ovadia Yosef, you actually have the audacity to say that publicly? Like it actually comes out of your mouth? In your head maybe. Foolish, but maybe you could do it in your head. However, people go out there, and they think, "Oh, let's disagree with the great sages." Why? Why do they do that? Why do they suddenly care about the topic of wigs or the topic of all types of strange things that are said out there? Because they're trying to get views. They're trying to become more popular, trying to find all types of leniencies to kosher the pig.

33:49Even though we all know there's no way to eat a kosher pig—there is no kosher pig. So, the ma'or of Hashem tells us, the first thing you want to look for is not someone that is looking for leniencies. He's not saying to look for someone that's the most strict. There are some people that all they say is everything is not allowed, a chamor can also say everything is not allowed. We're not looking for someone to say everything is not allowed. We're looking for someone that stays true to the Torah. and is now looking to veer right or left and doesn't think he's smarter than what he really is. Further, if his heart burns with the flames of spiritual unification and his thoughts are reflected in his actions, you should choose him. Meaning, it's not enough that he's knowledgeable. It's not enough that if you ask him a question, he can give you an answer, but you have to also see how he lives his life. What's he all about? Is he constantly looking? to get closer and closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu? Is he learning more Torah? Is he dedicating more of his life to the Torah, more of his life to help Am Yisrael? What is he doing with all of this? And that's why the one common denominator you will find about every single tzaddik, every single chacham, is that they're always, always dedicated to learning Torah and helping Am Yisrael. Those are the two priorities in their life.

35:18And in essence, in their mind, it's all one and the same. It's one and the same. And furthermore, says the Meor Vashemesh, what does this have to do with the verse that we just read about making yourself a king, you shall appoint yourself a king? It says this is the meaning. This is the meaning of you shall appoint a king over you. The Gemara in Masechet Gittin, page 62a, says that the rabbis are considered like kings. In the segment that says, "whom the Lord your God shall choose," in other words, this is saying whom should you choose as your rabbi and teacher? And when it says, "he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah," According to Rashi, the king carried one of these Torah scrolls with him throughout the day, while the other he stored in the treasury. Meaning that the fire of the Torah burns with love and fear inside the tzaddik's heart—that's his treasury—and his thoughts are manifest in his actions throughout the day.

36:34So here we see the fruits of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk's labor. How has the Talmid clarified the words of his Rabbi, and how can we learn from that? Now, as I said, Rabbi Elimelech is telling us this Tzetl Katan is something that we have to constantly review and translate into our own language and... Whether your first language is English, Russian, Hebrew, Indonesian, or whatever it is, it doesn't make a difference. You have to make sure you understand. Why? Because the oral Torah, which encompasses the Talmud, the Shulchan Aruch, all of the Sifrei Halakha, the Rambam, the Sifrei Chassidut—everything aside from the Five Books of Moses—is considered oral Torah. And the priority in studying the oral Torah is to understand what it says. That's why it's foolish sometimes for people who insist on reading the Oral Torah in a language they don't understand. Now, if you're a young person and you want to learn a new language, such as Aramaic, German, or French, because you want to read ancient Rashi script, that's fine. No problem. Rashi spoke French; in fact, they uncovered over three thousand ancient French words.

37:58The people lost in French, but you could read his commentary. So you want to learn? Fine. You want to read Rashi's words in French? By all means. You want to learn in Arabic? By all means. But as long as you understand it. Don't read it if you don't understand anything. Or you understand three words and don't understand 90. Because the key of the Oral Torah is to understand what you're reading. Same thing with having a rabbi. The key to having a rabbi is for you to go and ask the rabbi questions and have the patience to wait for the answers. And when the answer comes, that's it, that's final. There's no debate, "I don't agree, let me ask another rabbi." This is one of the things. Creates a lot of frustration in people's lives when they get different answers from different rabbis. They don't realize they did it to themselves. Who said you should go to multiple rabbis? You asked one rabbi. If that's your rabbi, that's it, finished. Oh, but I don't have a rabbi. So make yourself a rabbi. It's a mishnah in Pirkei Avot. So, one of the things the tzitzi katanos help us with is to try to clear up our minds, clear up our minds from all of the things that cloud it.

39:17is to try to clear up our minds. Clear up our minds from all of the things that cloud it, whether it be the troubles that a person deals with, the heretical thoughts, the, uh, you know, all the different things that go through a person's mind. And one of the things that the Tzitzit Katan also said... that you have to make sure that when you're praying, you don't have those distracting thoughts. How can a person control their thoughts when they're praying? Thoughts come by themselves. One of the ways is to imagine the Shema through the name of Hashem, and it will help clear your mind. If that's too difficult for some people, then...

40:19Nikita Shoshaneen says you should pray with every ounce of your strength, putting all your energy into your words. This is the aspect of what it says in Tehillim: "All my bones will say, 'Oh God, who is like you?'" This is Psalm 35, verse 10. You should concentrate fully on the words that you're saying and force out all foreign thoughts from your mind. Every type of confusing thought and all the doubts and questions a person has during the day enter his mind during prayer. Therefore, you must make a tremendous effort to overcome all of these confusing thoughts. Now, this likutei neura is critical for a person because sometimes... They don't have a tzaddik. They don't have a chacham. They don't have a direction, and they have to pray for it. Or they have one, but they don't realize it. So, if you have good prayer, use that prayer not just to fulfill your obligation of praying a few times a day, but also to pray to HaKadosh Baruch Hu to give you someone that's going to give you guidance.

41:41In order to have a prayer like that, you have to remove all of the shtuyot, all the nonsense you have in your mind. Another eitzah, another idea of how to clear your mind when you pray, in Likutei Eitzot, In Tefillah 84, it says when irrelevant and distracting thoughts enter your mind during prayer, you should simply ignore them. Concentrate on your prayers and think carefully about the words that you're saying. Don't look back to see if the thoughts you have have left you, for they will go away by themselves. Even if the same thought comes again and again, simply remain firm and refuse to pay any attention to it. Just concentrate your mind on the words of the prayer that you're saying at the time. In the end, Irrelevant thoughts will simply go away. This is also one of the great values of having a siddur when you pray. Because you look at the words, you can look, you could stare at them. You could stare at the name of Hashem, that can help you clear your mind. And when you find it hard to concentrate properly on your prayers because of irrelevant thoughts and distractions, remind yourself that you would certainly be ready to die al Kiddush Hashem.

42:58on Kiddush Hashem. For even the sinners of Am Yisrael have sacrificed themselves for this. This sense of self-sacrifice will enable you to bind your thoughts to the words of the prayer and pray with total concentration. Even if you are completely unable to pray, you should push yourself at least to pray simply like a child in school. Say a few words in total simplicity and listen well to what you're saying. So here are a couple of ideas regarding prayer. Now, why do we need to pray? The tzaddik you know says that there are two Mashiachs who will come. One is Mashiach ben David, whom we all wait for, and the other is Mashiach ben Yosef. What's the pshat? Mashiach ben Yosef is going to come and fight the initial wars, but the Gemara says that he may die. Why may he die? Because of our sins, he may not have the strength to overcome everything. Some say that the Mashiach ben David will resurrect him or bring him back to life. Some say he may not even have to die at all. The point is that when a person has the Torah,

44:27They can have endless ideas in their mind, and all of those ideas can help them pray even better. When a person is empty of Torah, all they're going to have is sh'tuyot in their mind. They're going to have nonsense in their mind, and therefore their prayers are going to be full of work, business, immorality, whatever it is that's out there. But when a person prays for the tzaddik, prays to have a tzaddik, they have to think of it as, "I need this." Why? Because this is my Moshe Rabbeinu. I need somebody to guide me in the right direction. Now, one of the things that the Tzaddik Hakatan brought was... Before unification with your spouse, section 16, and also section 17 if you have time. We're not going to go through the whole thing, but I found something that is very applicable.

45:57that gives us an idea of what makes a tzaddik better than us. This is in section 16 of the Reishit Chochmah. So, he says when a person is about to be with his wife, he has to think that this part of his body is like any other part of his body, no different than his arm or his leg. Many gleam a mystery whether what is hidden there is open. It was created like every other thing. They call them Adam HaRishon. In our view, there was nothing in Adam's vision that was below it. It was azov because we know they were created no differently than everything else. Because in Sefer Bereishit, Adam and Chava were created. They were naked, and they weren't embarrassed.

47:21That the heel of Adam HaRishon's foot was shinier than the sun. It made the sun look dim in comparison. imagine how much more so is uh his face was so. In essence, firstly, it is telling us that part of the body that people are spending their whole lives thinking about, running after, and so on, was created like everything else. So, how come people think of it so much? How come people are constantly revolving their lives and their actions based on that? What caused Adam and Chava to become embarrassed?

48:48because of that which caused them to sin, and that's what led them to damage that particular part of the body. But before the sin of Adam HaRishon, that part of the body was no different than an arm or a leg. Meaning there was no significance to it. He says it was just like somebody fulfills putting on tefillin on an arm, whether on the left arm or the right arm. Nobody thinks anything of it. He says the same thing was when Adam and Chava were having relations. because the yetzer hara caused them to sin, everything changed. Just like the regular arm, leg, and everything else doesn't have a yetzer hara, that part of the body didn't have a yetzer hara.

50:18Who will cause the Yetzer Hara to be covered now? This was the section where there was a sin. Adam HaRishon sinned with the Brit, and that's what happened. He says, and the whole purpose of the tzaddikim in this world, anyone that wants to be a tzaddik, anyone that is a tzaddik, anyone that you think is a tzaddik, the whole point of all of them, which is the reason why I brought you all of this, is for them to fix tikkun ha'brit. them to bring tikkun ha'Brit. Why? Because all of us are part of the neshama of Adam, and therefore, the tzaddikim have the responsibility to fix that original chet, that original mistake. And once a person does whatever they can to fix their mistake

51:38can get others to fix their mistakes. Not only can he become a tzaddik, but he can make others tzaddikim. Hence the reason why you'll see one common denominator in the tzaddikim of Chassidut, in the tzaddikim of Sefaradim, in the tzaddikim of Ashkenazim, the tzaddikim of Klal Yisrael is a constant focus on teachings about morality, on teachings about stay away from immorality. Constant teachings emphasize bringing holiness to the home, particularly in the context of unification between the husband and the wife. Why? Because that is the tikkun, that is the tikkun. So one of the key ingredients we see is that a person has to that they not only do teshuva for his ego and his ungratefulness and everything else, and be able to identify tzaddikim, but they also have to be fit and appropriate when they're determining who and what is righteous according to the Torah. Now, in the...

53:02gives a few tidbits on how a person can fix another corner, another piece, another aspect of themselves in order to make themselves fit, to have an easier and smoother path First off, we said we have to get rid of arrogance. One of the problems with arrogance, particularly among people who learn Torah, is that a person who learns Torah or has learned Torah, unless they have a tzaddik telling them who, what, when, and how, may not even know that they're arrogant. They may not even realize there's anything wrong with what they have done. They think that they are perfectly fine, thinking, "I learned this already."

54:07So the Chovot HaLevavot says, let not conceit lead you to think that you are no more intelligent now than you always were, or that it is impossible that you would ever change previously held views to come to judge them as erroneous. For such thoughts are part of the evil inclination's attempt to deceive you, to keep you from exploring and searching for the truth of things. It will instill in you the delusion that you are supremely wise and that you lack nothing of what you need to know. As Shlomo HaMelech says, in his own eyes a lazy man is wiser than seven who answer with sound advice. This is from Mishlei (Proverbs) 26, verse 16. If you see a man who is wise in his own eyes, know that there is more hope for a fool than for him. Chapter 26, verse 12. And he said further, the wise man, his eyes are berosho - that is, he reflects back. his beginning on his past experience in both religious and secular affairs, and he examines them critically, discerning the good and the evil in his past deeds. Then he continues to hold fast to the good and repents for the evil. The fool, however, neglects all of this, like one who walks a great distance in the dark of night without looking back, and if he does turn around, he sees nothing.

55:33Instead, he focuses entirely on what lies before him. For this reason it's said, but the fool walks in darkness. So, here, the Chovat HaLevavot, about a thousand years ago, tells us the one thing that's going to hold you back from getting to the next stage of Teshuva, getting to the Tzaddik, getting to Da'at Torah, getting to This segment of the Tzetil Katan is ga'avah, it's arrogance. It's arrogance. Another thing is ta'avah. What's ta'avah? Lust. Many times people, they're willing to learn whatever they want to learn, whatever you want to teach them. but they're only going to do it as long as it does not cost them any money, as long as it is not going to ruin or change their status quo in their life. They want to get both this world and the next, or they want to get both for free.

56:58of the wise men has said: just as water and fire cannot abide together in one vessel, so too love for this world and love for the next world cannot dwell together in the heart of the believer. The wise have already said: this world and the next are like two rival wives; mollify one, and you antagonize the other. So when a person is looking and getting guidance from a tzaddik, getting guidance from a Talmid Chacham, and that guidance sounds expensive, sounds like it's requiring too many changes, sounds like it's going to take too much time. If you're not willing to do it, that means you're already not willing to make the necessary sacrifices.

58:07The next segment says as follows: It says "don't be too wise," and it did not say "don't be too foolish," because for us there's a limit to wisdom beyond which we cannot go. Meaning, there's no limit to foolishness, but when it comes to wisdom... We're permitted and even obligated to pursue any kind of wisdom that draws us to God's service, leads us to the fulfillment of His commandments, and demonstrates His wisdom and power. It says, "Behold, the fear of God, that is wisdom" (Job 28:28). So another aspect of the tzaddik that the Sfas Emes emphasized and the Mei HaShiloach clarified is that a tzaddik is supposed to lead you in the ways of the Torah and not in ways that are opposite of the Torah. Not in ways that are opposite of the Torah. So, if a person says that they're a tzaddik, or people say he's a tzaddik, but he's not getting people to do teshuva, he's not getting people to get closer to Hashem in a real way, that means he's just a shepherd that's leading the sheep off a cliff. Because the ultimate goal in this world is to do everything possible

59:31The point of making every sacrifice possible to pursue the wisdom of the Torah and to follow its commandments is paramount. If something is causing you to violate the commandments, even if the end goal is theoretically to fulfill the commandments, it is misguided. For instance, those who might say to use drugs to become closer to Hashem — such statements are nonsensical. There is no truth in that; you are not allowed to commit a sin in order to perform a mitzvah. So, one of the red flags that you'll see about certain people is that they may look like, they may act like, but they don't lead like the tzadik. The tzadik's purpose is to get you to do teshuva regardless of where you stand. The next aspect that a tzadik helps people with is suffering. Why? Because the vast majority of this life is suffering. People suffer no matter where they are, how much they have, or which family they came from. Everybody has their own levels of suffering. What we have to reach is a point where we can make an accounting with ourselves.

1:00:58How do we heed the king's command and fear his punishment when he disobeys his orders, yet remain oblivious to God's command and do not fear the punishment when we violate the commandment? This means a person has to think about, "Wait a minute, how come I'm scared of the police, I'm scared of the government, I'm scared of all of these things, but I'm not scared of the Mishnah? How come I hear...?" about all the punishments that happen to people who are sinners, but I don't apply it to my life, as if it's not going to happen to me. Why is that important? Because many times people come and say, "Listen, such and such is happening to me. I have this happen to me. Why is that?" Now, really, before you ask why that is, of course, rabbis are there to help you, guide you. But really, before you ask the question, you should ask yourself: Have you perfected yourself? Are you sinless? Are you perfect? Have you done something that could have caused it? Meaning, the question shouldn't really be "Why is Hashem doing this to me?" but rather "What do I have to do in order to change the decree?" Jews don't ask "why"; we ask "what?" If you have a...

1:02:26brain of Torah, you think, you ask what? You don't ask why. Why? Because there are plenty of reasons why. Plenty of reasons why Hashem has given a person financial problems, health issues, relationship troubles, this problem, that problem. Plenty of reasons. Why? Look at your actions. If you identify what Torah is and compare it to your life, you will see that there are plenty of reasons why Hashem could have punished you. And you don't even have to rely on a previous reincarnation. Rely on this week. Rely on last week and how you behaved. So, One of the jobs of the tzaddik is to get people to think realistically about where they stand because that will allow us to fix things in a realistic way, rather than thinking about, "Oh wait, maybe I'm suffering because of my previous gilgul." Okay, if you're suffering because of your previous gilgul, what can you do about it? You don't even know what you did in your previous gilgul, but do you know what you did last week? Do you know what you did two weeks ago, two months ago, two years ago? Fix that, fix that—that's part of the job of the tzaddik, and ultimately the goal for all of us is... a realistic way rather than thinking, "Oh wait, maybe I'm suffering because of my previous incarnation." Okay, let's just say you're suffering because of your previous [incarnation]; what can you do about it? You don't even know what you did in your previous incarnation! But do you know what you did last week? Do you know what you did two weeks ago, two months ago, two years ago? Fix that. Fix that. That's part of the job of the tzaddik, and ultimately, the goal for all of us is...

1:03:37To build endurance to suffering. Why does a person have to have endurance for suffering? Because of something extraordinary that most people don't realize. Many times you hear people are suffering, and you know somebody tells them, "Listen, this is at least something that will pardon you from the sins that you've had in the past because you're suffering now." The truth is it's not true, at least not completely. Why? Says the Chovot HaLevavot, endurance of suffering and good cheer is a virtue, but suffering born grudgingly brings the bearer no reward, nor affects no pardon. In so many words, he says, if you suffer, but with a smile. at least not completely. Why? Says the Chovot HaLevavot, endurance of suffering and good cheer is a virtue, but suffering borne grudgingly brings the bearer no reward, nor effects any pardon. In so many words, he says, if you suffer, but with a smile, Thank you, Hashem. Baruch Hashem, I have pain. Baruch Hashem, I have struggles. I love you, Hashem. I know that everything that You're giving me, even though it hurts, is good for me. That's the greatest thing you can do for yourself. Why? Because that actually makes it kapparat avonot. But if you complain to Hashem, "Why did He do this to me? Why, why, why is He doing this to me?" you have a very serious problem. Why? That suffering becomes worthless.

1:05:10Now to show you that this is not the only opinion, I brought you another source. Rabbi Chaim Vital. Rabbi Chaim Vital, of course, the main Talmid of the AriZal. The AriZal was Kodesh Kodashim, also mentioned by the Seder Hadorot, that if you could learn the words of the AriZal, do so. The AriZal has endless stories of his holiness. how he helped Jews, how he helped Klal Yisrael. Unfortunately, we didn't have the merit to have him live a very long life. But he was active during the generation of Rabbi Yosef Karo and many of the great Chachamim we have had in the last 500 years. The Arizal's daughter married Rabbi Yosef Karo's son, so they were in-laws.

1:06:10abuse of color himself, even though he was a mekubal, had an extraordinary understanding, had a magid, he still learned Kabbalah from the Arizal. There was one time when one of these Arab sheikhs decided they wanted to torment the Jewish people and... pass a decree that they have to pay an enormous amount of money in taxes or else he's going to kick them all out of the place that they're staying in, or the city that they're in, and take everything they have, like they did in Spain, like they did in many other places. And Akiva said even if we took all of our money it wouldn't be enough to pay this rasha.

1:07:15There's no such thing as "we don't have that kind of money," and they went from kehillah to kehillah, from community to community, asking for help and for people to pray. Eventually, they got to the Arizal. They didn't know of his greatness yet; they had only heard about him. I didn't know of his greatness. As soon as they told him, he said, "She's fine. Come up." He told a couple of his students, "Bring me a..." "A couple of ropes. Thick ropes. Okay?" The students complied. They knew that the Rabbi was asking for something. You don't need to ask why and how and explanations. He took the visitors and the students. He went into some place in the woods. They dug a hole in there. And he said,

1:08:16take the ropes, put them down the hole, and hold the other end on both sides. So, they dropped the ropes, and two people were holding onto them. He goes, "Okay, now start pulling." So, they start pulling, and lo and behold, they can't see anything; it's deep, but something is on the other side of the rope. dropped it. There's nothing on the rope, and they keep pulling and pulling, and as they keep pulling, it gets heavier and heavier. Before you know it, there's nearly a big fright. This is a publicized story with witnesses and everything. Talmidim are pulling and pulling, and eventually, they see the entire bed - a huge bed of the sheikh - and him sleeping in it. The result wakes him up, yells at him, and... Why are you putting a decree on my people, the Jewish people? You know that they can't pay. The guy realizes this is a nightmare; he has no idea what's happening. He's scared to death. He says, "Sign over here, do you cancel the decree?" Immediately, the guy signs it and gives him back the document.

1:09:45The Arizal gives it to one of the visitors from that community. They put him back in a hole, and he's gone. The sheikh wakes up, and he's back home. He's like, "Oh, a nightmare. I'm so tired. I feel like I went far away. Where did I go?" He thinks the whole thing is a nightmare. A few days pass, and the deadline for the decree approaches. The deadline arrives, and he sends for the Jewish people, saying, "If you don't come up with the money today, that's it, you all have to leave." The visitors have already returned to town. They go to the king and say, "Your Highness, this decree has been canceled." "What?"

1:10:45Yes, his highness himself signed the document, and he gives him the document that he signed, you know, a week or two earlier. As soon as the king sees this or the sheikh sees this, the entire memory of the experience comes back to him, and he starts literally shaking from fear. He cancels the decree and, actually, from that day on, was very nice to the Jewish people. And he always told him, "Listen, if you go to the Arizal, please, please, have him bless me. Have him bless me. If he can do that for me while I'm in bed in my castle, oy, oy, oy, what could he do for me? Please, have him bless me." This is the Arizal. Now, I know some people are going to have a hard time believing these stories - how, who, what, when, how. In so many words, the extraordinary Kedusha of the Arizal and the Tzadikim of Am Yisrael is beyond comprehension. But you don't need to believe those extraordinary stories in order to see the wisdom in their words. And therefore, I bring you what Rabbi Chaim Vital said in the name of his rabbi, the Arizal. Arrogance is the root of many, many sins.

1:12:06Whether it's between a person and Hashem, the Omnipresent, or a person and his fellow. Because arrogance is what causes a person to hate another person, to say a lot of bad things about them, and to cause them damage. And if it's between him, if he has arrogance, and he's questioning, "How could arrogance cause me to sin against Hashem?" In the book of Devarim, chapter 8, verse 14, Hashem specifically says because you had an arrogant heart, you forgot Hashem, your God. And our sages said that anyone who has arrogance is considered an abomination in the eyes of Hashem. In Proverbs chapter 16, verse 5, it is written that everyone who is arrogant is considered an abomination, disgusting in the eyes of Hashem.

1:13:24Furthermore, it says that it is fitting to uproot him like one would uproot an Asherah tree, which is an idolatrous tree. He will never be resurrected with the dead, and the Shekhinah mocks him. I wish I could cover this topic further. An arrogant person is considered as if they are an idol worshiper and heretical in the foundation of the Torah. He is seen as if he has committed all of the immoralities combined and as if he built an idolatrous altar. And even when HaKadosh Baruch Hu ends this world, He's not going to end that person's Gehinnom. I'm sorry, even when Hashem, even if He does certain things like Avraham, that person is still going to go to Gehinnom.

1:14:46to have the Torah in their life, not to have a tzaddik, not to have a rabbi, not to have any real direction in their life is because of gava. It's because of arrogance. Furthermore, says Rabbi Chaim Vital, this is in Sha'ar. have that Torah in their life. Not to have a tzaddik, not to have a rabbi, not to have any real direction in their life is because of ga'avah, it's because of arrogance. Furthermore, Rabbi Chaim Vital says this in Sha'ar...

1:16:03One of the things that a person experiences when they lack Torah is a constant attack of sadness, confusion, and lack of purpose. This is because Hashem is telling the person that they are not fulfilled. Okay, so you have more money. It's not fulfilling. You have more food. It's not fulfilling. You have more material. It's not fulfilling. So what happens when a baby is not fulfilled? The baby is not fulfilled, starts crying. The same thing with the neshamah. When the neshamah is not fulfilled, it starts crying. So the person starts feeling all this confusion and random thoughts that lead to sadness. And the sadness causes even more problems. As Rabbi Chaim Vital says, a person who becomes sad causes himself to not want to serve Hashem, to not want to perform the mitzvot, and it also ruins his Torah learning, his kavanah in prayer, and any positive thoughts of serving Hashem.

1:17:32And this is the beginning of what the yetzer hara does in order to get a person off the derech, even if that person is a tzaddik. Why? Because he's suffering. Instead of accepting the suffering with happiness, acceptance, and an understanding that it's for your benefit, a person is sad about it. That means he's not benefiting from those sufferings. He's not benefiting from those sufferings, and I'm told there's no purpose for these sufferings. This lack of purpose causes even further sadness.

1:18:37says further that the person is suffering and they have complaints about Hashem How can you possibly have complaints about Hashem? You are going to go to dust, and there will be worms and maggots eating you. And you think that you can get closer to the understanding of HaKadosh Baruch Hu and His holiness? It specifically says that even if you do good, what can you possibly give Hashem? So, this sadness that you're experiencing because of your suffering is actually causing you more suffering. Therefore, when a person suffers, if they don't have a tzaddik, if they don't have a chacham, if they don't have that Torah, the suffering could literally continue on and on without having an end. So, another reason why a person needs that direction is because everybody suffers.

1:19:54how far and how much is determined by whether you know the direction back home or not, whether you know how to use that suffering or not, whether you have that or not. And further, it says that the sadness really comes from the impurity of the snake. as it says in Bereishit, that Adam is only going to eat with burden or in sadness, and you're only going to have children with sorrow. ...and because of this sadness, a person loses the Shechinah and loses the connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We know that a person, even if he has Ruach HaKodesh, can lose that Ruach HaKodesh because of sadness.

1:21:15showing that even if someone is a tzaddik, they also need a tzaddik to guide them back before they go too far. And last but not least, we bring the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov, in his commentary on Bereshit, Parashat Lech Lecha, says that Anyone that has had 40 days without suffering, it's as if he got his reward in this world. Because one is supposed to have some type of yisurim (suffering), at least suffering to the extent where he goes into his pocket and grabs the wrong coin. While I said, "What kind of suffering is this? He got the wrong coin — that's suffering? How could that be suffering?" And it's a Kiddush, says the Baal Shem Tov. No, no, you have to understand. If he believes in divine providence, then he's gonna know that he got the wrong coin because he did something wrong and...

1:22:42Whether big or small. Because there's no such thing as suffering without sin. And because he grabbed the wrong coin and he realizes that he did something wrong, he will now do teshuva and Hashem will forgive him. That's why it's called kaparat avonot. But if he grabbed the wrong coin and he doesn't think much of it, then it's not kaparat avonot. And therefore, he's going to continue getting suffering further and further than just that coin. because the suffering is only valuable if you understand how to accept it. If it leads to growth, then we see from here that our sages told us that in this world we are here to work.

1:23:42we say every single morning "לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם יְרֵא שָׁמַיִם בַּסֵּתֶר וּבַגָּלוּי, וּמוֹדֶה עַל הָאֱמֶת, וְדוֹבֵר אֶמֶת בִּלְבָבוֹ," which reminds us that the true service is consistent, whether in private or public, always aligning our speech and actions with truth. This battle with the Yetzirah is constant, and one must be ever vigilant and aware, understanding that the strength to overcome comes not solely from oneself, but with the aid and help of HaShem, Blessed be He. Satan says everything that we learn up until this point is where you see you can work on yourself. You can guard your eyes, you can guard your thoughts, you can guard your language. You have to watch, watch, watch, fix, fix, fix. Do not think you can do it on your own. Do not think for a second you can do it on your own. If you try to do it on your own, you have already failed before you started. It's critical for every single person to review this satan gaddol at least once a day. He says this in your own language so you can understand it. Why? Because if you miss one aspect of understanding these teachings, you can miss the whole thing. If you miss that one aspect...

1:25:00is how much you need da'at Torah, or how much you need a tzaddik, or how much you need to fix your mind, how much you need to fix your eyes, how much you need to fix your character traits, whatever it is. If you've missed one aspect of it, you've missed the whole thing. Hence the reason why Chassidut is something very, very praiseworthy and very elevated above and beyond the norm, but also above and beyond the reward for those that succeed in it. Maybe, as well, that we succeed in doing everything we possibly can to follow in the way of the Chassidim and the Tzaddikim, to know who is the Tzaddik, who to go with, who to go against, what to do, what not to do, what to follow, what not to follow, what to teach, what to learn. and follow in the footsteps of our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and all of the righteous descendants. Thank you very much for learning with me. Anyone that wants to support and help us continue teaching, helping, and doing all the wonderful things the organization is doing, can donate at bezratHashem.org. And you can also donate on the app, on YouTube, Facebook, and all the other different options. There's plenty of things to do.

1:26:27We actually have a huge, huge project that I haven't told you about yet. Let's see if I have it here. Yes, here we go. This is an opportunity. I'm not sure who wants to participate and who doesn't, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight Amalek. You see this? This has been years in the making. And this is about to come out. This is a war against the heresy of Manis Friedman. We need as many sponsors as possible because it's going to be distributed in the tens of thousands. If somebody wants to sponsor this, you can donate on the website, BeEzratHashem.org. You can wire, you can do many different things. I can assure you, every single person that reads this book not only is going to never listen to that heretic again, but it's going to become as vocal about it as we have been over the last seven years or so we've been fighting it. So far it's only in Hebrew. It's going to be in Hebrew for a while. B'Ezrat Hashem, one day it will be translated to English. But I can assure you that there are already Dayanim, Chachamim, who are literally pulling hairs out of their heads after they read all the proofs that are in here.

1:27:55Our own dear Rabbi Ephraim went through every single word from his book, where he calls it, his book in Hebrew, he calls it, I Didn't Ask to Come to the World, so we named the book, Too Bad You Came to the World. And this book is in the process. We need as much help as possible to print a lot of copies. and uh anybody that wants to be part of it has an opportunity. I don't have the time to do a campaign; I'm barely able to do lectures these days. Hashem will give me the health one day to be able to go back full force. um I probably have to take off some time, and I will probably have to take off some time starting next week. But there's a lot that's going on. Perhaps I'll give you some more details another time. Either way, the opportunity is there for those that are clever and blessed enough to see it. Thank you very much for learning with me, and we will learn again very soon.

1:29:12I'd like to introduce you to your new best friend. We did it. AI Rabbi is here. It's an AI model that is based on kosher Torah sources, available in 30 different languages. If you want to ask it a question in Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, or whatever language you want, it's available for you. Can you tell me about Rabbi Akiva? So, it's time-stamped to the shiur. Press this green button. AI Rabbi on your WhatsApp. You'll have the ability to ask questions at will. You'll be provided with sources. And most importantly, you'll be able to know the truth and be able to rely on the source.