Who’s Your Real Best Friend On Judgment Day?

1:06Listen, I got this problem. I got a case against me. It's really dangerous. His friend says, "Sorry, buddy. It was fun while it lasted; you're on your own here." The poor guy gets let down by his best friend. He says, "Okay, you know what? Let me call my other friend. He's a really good guy. I'll call him. Hopefully, he'll help me out." He calls the second friend. The second friend says, "Listen, I understand you're in a jam, but the best I can do is give you a ride to the courthouse. I'm not going in." I understand you're in a jam, but the best I can do is give you a ride to the courthouse. I'm not going in. He goes, yeah, but I need a defendant. He goes, hey, now you're asking for too much. He may give you a ride or you'll have to pay for an Uber. Uber or nothing. I'm going to give you a ride if you want. That's it. It's the most I can do. We'll talk on the way. Okay, no, I'll take the ride. I'll take the ride. Fine. But he still needs somebody to defend him. Why? He doesn't know how to defend himself. All of a sudden, he gets a call.

2:08She's just a number. Oh, I haven't talked to this guy in a long time. You know what? Let's talk to him. He sounds all down. He goes, hey, what's up? What's going on? I said, hey, listen, I heard you're in trouble. He goes, yeah, how'd you know? He says, no, I heard. You know, word gets around. You need anything? He says, I actually need somebody to speak up for me. Tell the judge that I'm really a good guy. I didn't do it. He says, listen, don't worry about anything. I'm with you. I'll pick you up from the house. You don't need anybody else. I'll pick you up from the house. I'll take you to the courthouse. I'm going to write a letter ahead of time to all the judges that I know, everybody that I know. We're going to go there. We're going to win this case. "Because you're going to do all this for me?" "Yeah, you're my brother. I love you." "Brother, I haven't talked to the guy in years." "Okay, fine. No problem." The guy's so happy. That is what's called the mashal, the parable. What's the name, and what’s the lesson learned? The first friend that he called, who was his best friend and with whom he spent every minute, was his money. It represents the money we spend every minute of our lives chasing. We try to acquire more and more of it so we can get a bigger house, and then another house, and then another vacation, and a fancier watch, and a nicer car, and a nicer this, and a nicer that. We spend all of our lives just chasing money with really no thought process behind it regarding how much we're spending acquiring money and how much we're actually spending using it for the actual valuable things in life, like family, like serving HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

3:28another vacation, a fancier watch, a nicer car, and a nicer this and a nicer that. We spend all of our lives just chasing money with really no thought process behind it as far as how much we're spending acquiring money and how much we're actually using it for the truly valuable things in life, like family and serving HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We don't really take that into account. Why? Because we're so busy chasing money and paying bills. We're like blenders. We just consume all day, blend, blend, blend. It leaves, and we bring more stuff in over and over again. You wake up in the morning to go make money, work, and pay bills, go back home, eat, drink, and go to sleep. The next day, eat, pay bills, and work more again. That's it. Every day, every day, every day. You pay bills, you spend the money, you pay bills, you spend the money. And that's people's lives for 70, 80 years or until Hashem takes them. That's it. They spend their whole life being a friend. So the money says to the guy, "Listen, you spend your whole life with me. We're close. But once you leave this world, I can't help you. On judgment day in Shamayim, that's heaven, you're on your own. It was good while it lasted, though. I'll remember you, but I can't help you." That's the first friend. The second friend is your family.

4:52Family, sometimes you actually end up spending some time with them. Sometimes a little too much time. Sometimes you become one of the girlfriends. You're with your wife so much, you become one of the girlfriends. It's her, her friends, everybody else, and you're one of the girlfriends. You go to the mall with them to have coffee. Instead of going to learn Torah, doing something useful with your life, no, you want to talk with the girls. You want to talk with the guys. Every day you're out, going to the movies together. But at some point, you have to realize that our purpose in this world is more than just socializing. We have to make time for our spiritual growth and learning Torah to truly fulfill our potential. Too much so the best-case scenario person leaves this world, say listen. We love you. We'll take you to the grave. We'll take the casket. We'll cry, we'll cry, we'll cry for a year. Take the casket, bury it, say Kaddish. That's the most we can do, we can't help you over there. Why? It's one of those last, but we're still alive, you, you're finished. Can't help you over there. That's the second friend. The third friend that called him, excited to help him, saying he'll defend him, saying he'll fight for him, saying he loves him. That's the Torah that he's learned. And the tzedakah that he gave, that was actually valuable tzedakah; the chesed that he did that's valuable chesed, that he didn't do for the sake of kavod, that he didn't do for earning himself a name; real Torah that he learned, real chesed that he did, kindness that he did, for the sake of the truth. That is the only thing that's going to defend him, here and eternally.

6:08And the tzedakah that he gave, which was truly valuable tzedakah, the chesed that he did that was genuine chesed, was not done for the sake of kavod, nor for the sake of earning himself a name. Real Torah that he learned, real acts of chesed that he performed, kindness that was done for the sake of truth—those are the only things that will defend him, both here in this world and eternally. if a person actually takes the story to heart and applies it to their life, they could arrive at Rosh Hashanah perfectly comfortable and at ease, knowing that everything is going to be okay. Why? Because they're on the right road. Even if they haven't been until now, if they commit to being on this road, they're good to go. Why? Because they know that money is simply a tool, no different than a hammer. Use a hammer for putting nails in to build stuff. Use money in order to build stuff. What can you build in this world that you can take to the next world? Torah. You're going to use the money that you have to build Torah in this world? It's worth it. It's worth it for HaKadosh Baruch Hu to give you more of it. If you're going to use your money just to build houses, then Hashem says, okay, you're just building stuff that's temporary.