YOU WERE EXPECTED TO KNOW THIS!!!

0:42Hashem opens the mouth of the donkey to rebuke Bilam. Then, after Bilam threatens her again to kill her, the Malach comes up and he can see him. Bilam, this time, can see him. And the Malach, the angel, says to Bilam, "I'm almost going to kill you and not the donkey. Let the donkey live." Then Bilam says, "Oh, I didn't know. I didn't know you were here." And that's why I sinned. Because I didn't know you were here. So Chazal teaches over there a very valuable lesson. What's the lesson? The lesson is how come Bilaam says I didn't know you were here and that's why I sinned. So the question is, if he didn't know, then how come it's considered a sin? He said, I didn't know you were here. That's why I sinned. That's why I kept going. But Bilaam says, I sinned. He knows he sinned. But he says, I didn't know. So if you don't know, how come it's a sin? How come it's a sin if you don't know? And if you know, then why are you saying you don't know? So obviously, Chachamim say over there, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is teaching us an extremely valuable lesson to all of mankind.

2:11There are certain things that a person understands clearly. He should not act like an animal. Why? Because in the image of God you were created. People love to use that, even the secular ones. You tell them, "No, listen, I'm mechalel Shabbat." Death penalty? No, why are you speaking like that against Jewish people? They were created in the image of man. Okay, let's, we're obligated to kill Amalek. No, but they were created in the image of G-d. Homosexuals are an abomination to Hashem. No, but they were created in the image of G-d. Everything that, you know, they want to justify somehow? No, but weren't they all created in the image of G-d? Right? And here Chazal tells us, you have an important lesson here. You were created in the image of Hashem, but not to justify all of the sinful behavior that you have in your head that's against the Torah, but rather to remember that you were created in the image of Hashem in order to remember that there are certain things

3:22that you are expected to know without being taught in a school, by a rabbi, in a shiur, or even by your parents. You're expected to know these things, and therefore you are judged for them. You don't need your father to be a big rabbi or even a Jew to know that you're not allowed to murder. You don't need to be a big Talmid Chacham to know you're not allowed to steal. You don't need to be a big genius to know that you're not allowed to commit adultery. This you need to know because you were created in the image of God. In essence, what is the image of God? God has no image. Meaning, the ability to have common sense and know the difference between right and wrong. So what do we learn from Bil'am? Why was he almost punished? Because Bil'am, you were expected to know that you were doing wrong. Why? The donkey doesn't behave that way normally. It doesn't stop. It doesn't crush your leg.

4:30It doesn't do that. When it started doing that, you were expected to know that you were going in the wrong direction. When you got sick and the doctors didn't know the solution, you were expected to know that the doctors are not going to have the solution. Only the Ribbono Shel Olam knows. And He's the One that's doing it. When you continued going to another 49 doctors, you didn't realize that your trust should be in Hashem alone. You are doing more wrong. Why? Because you are expected to know. You were expected to know you were created in the image of God. This is a valuable lesson to all of mankind. Because when people say, "Yeah, but I didn't grow up religious," or "My rabbi ended up being Reform," or "My wife was this," all these excuses, Parashat Balak throws them all in the garbage. Why? You were expected to know. And that's what even the rule of law in every civilized country says.

5:34States clearly, ignorance of the law does not absolve you from the punishment. You are expected to know the law. Yeah, but I didn't know. Go study it. Before you go into a car and decide to drive at the speed limit that you feel like, you're expected to know what a speed limit is. You're expected to know traffic laws. What if I don't know? Well, whether you know or you don't know doesn't really make a difference to us because if you violate it, we'll still punish you. Yeah, but I didn't know. It's too bad you didn't know. You were expected to know. Whether you grew up religious or not doesn't make a difference. You were expected to know the Torah. Yeah, but I didn't know. Okay, so now you need to learn. And what if I die without knowing? You'll be judged that you didn't know on purpose. Why? Because you spent just enough time to become an expert in your career, just enough time to become an expert in every other trivial hobby that you have, but you didn't spend any time to know about why you were in the world. You were expected to know.

6:43And therefore, you will be judged as someone who ran away from the knowledge by choice. Consequently, all of your sins will be considered as if you committed them intentionally. So this, Rabotai, everything I just said to you, is politically incorrect. an anti-modernization of religion altogether. Why? Because the entire generation of Erev Rav rabbis are going to tell you, "Oh, you didn't grow up religious? Don't worry, Hashem loves you anyway." "Oh, you like men and you're a man also? Don't worry, Hashem will understand you." You're married to a non-Jew and you're a Jew. Don't worry; if Hashem didn't want you together, He wouldn't have brought you together. Which means that if you're already together, that means Hashem is okay with it. All types of tumah fit into this category. You want to know if it's tahor or tamei in Hebrew terms, but it's like a little more than tamei. Tamei with a foul smell. Disgusting, despicable—that's the teachings of today.

7:48Now, why do we start this way? Because that's exactly what Rav Elchonon Wasserman, zt"l, says. Rav Elchonon Wasserman HaKadosh tells us, over the last several weeks, that we are living in the era of Mashiach. In the era of Mashiach, it's not going to be all roses. In fact, it's going to be the opposite. You're going to have a lot of confusion. You're going to have a lot of heresy. You're going to have a lot of things that do not make sense to anyone who uses their common sense. But needless to say, you are expected to know this and therefore overcome the test. You cannot say, "Listen, I lived in a generation where your average rabbi was okay with being friends with Christianity. So much so, they invited them to the shul to give us a chizuk. So much so that NCSY, a very well-known and rich Jewish organization, just advertised their new mission. What's their new mission? Send a bunch of Jewish kids to go build a house for a pastor."

9:04Or better yet, Chabad inviting a reverend in Atlanta to give their kehillah chizuk. Why? Because they're learning from New York, which did that just a month and a half ago. Why? Because he's learning from his best friend in Boca Raton, Ephraim Goldberg and company. And this is becoming the norm. Invite the Christians, befriend them. Ignore the fact that they've been killing us for 2,000 years. Ignore the fact they've been destroying the Torah for 2,000 years. Ignore the fact that they've already missionized and converted 500,000 Jews to idolatry that they call a religion over the last 20 years. Ignore the fact they continue to do it despite their friendship. Ignore the fact that they have entire Christian organizations, like the one called "One for Israel," that is primarily focused on destroying the Torah in every aspect, specifically destroying the reputation of the Rabbanut by having countless, countless videos with Hollywood quality.

10:19Distorting the Torah and making the rabbis, the tzaddikim—not the resha'im—the tzaddikim look bad. Distorting the Gemara, making it look as if Jews hate women. Destroying everything connected to the Torah for the sake of their dead man. But we're going to befriend them in this generation. Why? because we feel like internationalization and unity is important. HaRav Elchonon Wasserman zt"l tells us in his era of Mashiach This indeed is one of the primary signs that he already saw in his time, and unfortunately, we're seeing to a much higher extent in our time. Needless to say, this means we are much closer to the Mashiach actually coming than he was 80 or 90 years ago.

12:05Certainly. Please provide the text you would like corrected, and I'll be glad to help.