Who Said HaShem Owes You An Explanation? (6 Minutes)

1:20Says, listen, if Hashem wanted to give me a better promise, He'd give me a better job. This one pays the most. 25,000 ahead. I work once a week. The rest of the week I study Torah. The rest of the week I'm in a kollel. 25,000. But, he keeps Shabbat. He keeps Shabbat. Thank you. He keeps Shabbat. The punishment for him... [The following text is corrected in line with the provided context and instructions]: ... is not as severe as someone who is not a murderer but drives on Shabbat to beit knesset. Not only does he drive on Shabbat, but he also drives to beit knesset to do a mitzvah, to go pray with the minyan. He drives on Shabbat to beit knesset. That person is in a much, much worse shape than the murderer. Now, when you tell this to people, it doesn't make sense. Rationally, it doesn't make sense. I agree, it doesn't make sense. But the Torah is not supposed to be rational. Rational means human.

2:22rational means it makes sense to you. Who says it's supposed to make sense to you? Who says that Hashem owes you an explanation? Mishlei (Proverbs) 19:3, Shlomo HaMelech says, "The foolishness of man," meaning his sins, perverts his way, meaning it brings him to punishment. However, his heart frets against Hashem. After a person sins, he receives punishment, because there is a concept of measure for measure. The righteous receive reward, and the wicked receive punishment, all according to measure for measure. Perverts his way, meaning it brings him to punishment, but his heart frets against Hashem. Meaning that after a person sins, he gets punished. The 13 Principles of Faith that we have include the concept of measure for measure, which means that a righteous person receives a reward, while a wicked person gets punished. This concept of measure for measure is fundamental in understanding how actions correlate with consequences in the framework of Divine justice. Shlomo HaMelech is telling us here that someone sins, goes against Hashem, and Hashem punishes him, and what does he do? He gets mad at Hashem. He gets mad at Hashem like it's Hashem's fault. You sinned. Why are you blaming Hashem for punishing you? He told you He's going to punish you. What are you so upset about? The kid died in a car accident. Or you think He was joking? Or maybe He didn't mean you specifically?

3:43Or a guy lost all of his money. Or he told you, "Stop stealing." "I didn't steal." "Did you lend money?" "Yes, I didn't steal." "You lent money to another Jew?" "Yes, I lent money to another Jew. I did a mitzvah." "You charged him interest?" "Of course, I'm not going to make any money." "That's stealing, my friend. Now, I'll have to charge another Jew interest. Unless he violates Shabbat. Unless he violates Shabbat." explained to such an extent that he told us, you are allowed to charge a Mechalel Shabbat interest based on the fact that once he's a Mechalel Shabbat, he's no longer considered part of Am Yisrael. It's to that extent. And anyone that knows even a little bit about Rav Ovadia Yosef, Rav Ovadia was very lenient on many things. He looked for leniencies, he looked for ways to even help the basic people. People that weren't Talmidei Chachamim. So for him to say something like that, you know, it's not a joke. But people have an easy time going against the Torah. And the reason why is because they think that just because their local rabbi is called rabbi, and perhaps maybe he's ignorant, or he's this, or he's that, or he doesn't know the ways of the world, or he doesn't know an answer to every single question that everyone asks,

5:11or they just don't know what he knows, but he just doesn't look, doesn't have the appearance of a smart person. His beard's too long, or it's too short; I'm not sure yet. So they don't think, they don't think that he's smart. So they say, ah, so he believes in Torah. Nah, it's just stories. And they easily go against it. Nah, it's, it's, one time I told a guy, I'm like, listen. It's what it says in Parashat Ki Tisa. Parashat Ki Tisa talks about a Mechalel Shabbat, what happens to them, having no share in the world to come, and so on and so forth. And the guy tells me, no, no, that's your commentary. That's your peshat. You translated it that way. I bet you I can give you a different translation. I said, no, but it's not a translation. This is what it means, literally. If you understand Hebrew, this is what the word means: death upon death. You can't die twice; you die once. So what's the second death? No share in the World to Come. What's cut off from the nation? If you already died twice, where are you being cut off from? If cut off meant death, why would it be a third time?

6:20Because karet means cut off. Cut off from what? Cut off from Am Yisrael, meaning no longer considered part of the Jewish people. This is not just a commentary; this is literally what it says. Until I read it, I didn't realize its full meaning. When I did read it, I understood that it was serious. I guess Rabban Yochanan wasn't kidding. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.