Jewish Inspiration Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, director of TORCH, The Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.

00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Good evening everybody. It is so wonderful to be back here. It must be Mondays. I want to welcome some of our new participants who are here.

00:21
Last week we discussed the difference between knowing what's right and doing what's right. Just because you know something doesn't mean that you actually do it. We know that we shouldn't speed, but does that mean we don't speed? We know that we shouldn't insult somebody else, but does that mean that we don't insult them? We know that we shouldn't be arrogant, but does that mean that?

00:49
This is what the Ramchal, the author of Moshe Chaim el-Zato, writes right in the introduction to his book is that you know everything. I'm about to tell you. You know it all, but because you know it so much you don't remember it. It becomes so common that you don't even notice it. You don't pay attention to it. So the Ramchal tells us here something amazing. You could know something and it could be so clear to you, but you still don't act with that knowledge in your case. So let's give an example.

01:28
Does anybody here think that it's a good idea to be arrogant? No, we all know. I don't know if anybody like a person who is arrogant. It's a very unlikable trait. We all know people who are arrogant and yet when it comes to showing off and deposing about our accomplishments, we have no problem. Being that same arrogant person that we know is a terrible thing, a terrible trait for one to possess Kindness. Kindness is a great trait and we all know that it's a fantastic attribute for one to be kind and to be giving. And yet there are times that one may feel I'm not in the mood of giving. Right now I'm not in the mood.

02:16
So what the Ramchal is telling us is that we all have things that we know we should be doing or should not be doing. And just because we have that knowledge doesn't mean we actually put it into action. And that's why, if you remember, we discussed last week that he uses a double terminology. The double terminology he uses here is sheed barer ve'it amet. It should become clear and it should be verified to himself meaning to put it into implementation. It's not enough to just theoretically understand it, but to actually put it into play, put it into action in our daily basis.

03:01
So let's give you a practical example. You know, I remember when I was a young Yeshiva student and we learned about the terrible sin of disturbing someone's Torah study. So if someone is sitting and studying Torah in Jewish beliefs, that is the most valuable thing you could possibly do with your time and with your life study Torah. There's nothing in the world that's more valuable than the study of Torah. So if you want to, even to be nice, you want to ask your friend something and you interrupt their learning, it's a very, very terrible thing, terrible. Why are you? You're disturbing the greatest action a person can do. You're disturbing that from it's almost.

04:01
You know a similar idea. We know that. You know all theft can be returned. You steal from someone, you can return. By the way, it's a myth of the Torah to return it. So if you steal from someone a pen, right, you go to someone's house and you steal a pen, or, by mistake, you took the pen it's a myth to go return it. Now, it doesn't mean you have to humiliate yourself, right, you could just leave it in the mailbox, but you have to return it. You steal something, you have to return it.

04:35
There's one type of theft, though, to say just tell us that you cannot return Sleep, sleep Time. You can't, you can't, but you can, because you can take away. You can. If they had something they needed to do, you could do it for them. And now they have that time, right, okay, but sleep you can never return, can never return sleep. So it's a very strong emphasis not to disturb someone's sleep, because it's a theft that you cannot return.

05:10
Stealing someone's Torah study is the worst thing. Just to wave at someone and say hi, while they're studying Torah, you're interrupting them Terrible. So now, as a Yishiva student, this is one of the challenges that we had. Because you have a good joke, you want to tell the guy sitting at the end of your bench, right, but he sees learning seriously. So you know it's a terrible thing, but you have that impulse, so that urge, that desire to just crack a good joke.

05:42
My grandfather would always tell us that a very good exercise, a very good exercise to becoming a servant of God and overcoming your habits, is three times a day for starters. Three times a day. Overcome your impulse Three times a day. So think of it, think of it as an impulse. Okay, you're sitting at your desk and you're on the phone and you're doing your work, right, and you say, obviously, it's like, subconsciously, you realize that you're very thirsty, you want to go get a drink. You know what? I'll wait two more minutes. I'll go get my drink in two minutes. Many times it's very difficult. We have that impulse. We want to go do something. You know what? I'm in control. You have that something. You want to blur it out. You have some statement you want to make. I'll say it one more minute. I'll say it Just to hold yourself back three times a day, and that's a great tool to get a person to be in a place where they can overcome. So what's this exercise for? Why would this help someone? It?

07:09
would help someone because if you now have an opportunity to be arrogant, how are you going to overcome yourself? Well, if you keep on practicing with silly things, like I'll go to the water fountain, I'll go in another 10 minutes. I want to take a sip of my coffee. Wait a little bit before I sip my coffee. You know I have to. You know I want to watch the game. The game is on right now. You know what I'm going to be back in 10 minutes, just to be able to withstand that urge, that immediate desire to do. Or I'll give you another example.

07:54
Anybody here heard of a store, right it's. You go on the computer and you type in right on the Google, right Type in a m a z o n. Right, have you ever heard of it? And then you press a dot and then you do a C and an O and an M and you click the enter button. Familiar, okay. And then two days later, whatever you ordered, boom, it's by your doorstep. So you're very excited. You get your package and you're like, wow, I'm very excited, this is what I've been waiting for. It's that, whatever it is, everyone has an impulse or an urge to open up their bag. Right, you know what I'm going to put it on my desk. I'll open it tomorrow. You know why? Because I'm in charge. It's not in charge. I'm in charge.

08:56
Rabbi Shmuel Levitz, the great Rosh Hashif of the Mary's Sheva will do that. One of his students came, he was walking in. He says, oh, you got mail. So he just put it down as soon as, like, you're not going to open up the mail. I mean, you got mail. He says, if you want, you can open it Me. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to open. He was very excited about this. He was anticipating this letter coming. But now he's going to wait another day. Why? Who's in charge? Am I in charge over my impulse or is my impulse in charge over me? It's this idea of the mind versus the heart. The heart gets excited. It's emotional, he wants to do something. The intellect says who's in charge? You know, it reminds me.

09:49
We say in the prayers every day is a joke. They say how do the Gentiles? How do they travel the world? How do they travel the world? I'll tell you how they travel the world. King David, psalms, okay, psalm number 115. He says like this Ale Boerechev ve ale basusim. He says you know how the Gentiles travel, how they travel the world. They travel with chariots and some with horses, some get on planes and some go in cars and some go many different ways by train. They travel many different ways, but you know how us Jews, you know we travel. Be sheim Hashem alakennu naskir. All we need to do is open up the prayer book and we travel the world.

10:54
Right, we start praying and suddenly we're thinking you know what? It would be a really great idea. I wish I was in England right now. I'm in the middle of praying, right. The immediate what happens is, as soon as you open up that prayer book, suddenly our brain starts wandering. You open up a page of Talmud. You want a dream? Anybody here have a hard time sleeping? Yeah, you're hard time sleeping. Open up a Talmud, you fall asleep right away. Guaranteed. Open up a Talmud. You know why? Because the Yetzahara prefers you go to sleep than learn Talmud.

11:33
Right.

11:34
Because you'll be so inspired by the Talmud. He says you know what? Not a good idea? Right Reverse course.

11:41
Go to sleep, it's fine, I'm not going to bother you anymore, I'm telling you, think of it from his perspective, from the Yetzahara, from our evil inclination. Right, obviously that's not the real understanding of that verse, right? But it's something they used to tell us in Yeshiva. You know us Yeshiva students? Yeah, all we need to do is start traveling the world, open up a page of Talmud. Suddenly, you're sitting there and you're like thinking, mm-hmm, you're going all over the world. All over the world, you're traveling. Right, the mind versus the heart. Who's going to win that battle?

12:18
Once you start immersing your mind into a focused activity, your heart starts dreaming up, dreaming up ideas and sending you thoughts. So I remember I asked one of my rabbis. I said how do you control it? He said have a piece of paper and a pen. It's like if you run a business. This happens frequently. You run a business, you run an organization, you have any types of responsibility. Suddenly, as soon as you start learning, you start thinking oh, I forgot, you need dish soap. And you start thinking about you have to repair something on the roof. I'll take care of that right now. No, no, no, no, no. In the middle of studying Torah, write down a piece of paper and then go back to learning, something else comes to disturb you, just right on a piece of paper and continue learning. You're not going to forget it, and nine out of 10 times you realize it was just the Yitzahara who was just trying to bait you Again. That's the struggle that we constantly face in our lives. So he says, like this what has to become clear, what has to become real to a person? Aside for these challenges, aside for these two forces, mahobatou ba'olamu, what is man's responsibility in his world? We mentioned this, we touched on this a little bit last week.

13:46
Every single one of us is unique. Right, show me your finger. A second, show me your finger. Yeah, everyone have a finger. Right, do you know that every single person on the entire planet has a different fingerprint? Right, just ask Apple. Right, every single person has a different finger. There are no two people have the same fingerprint. You are unique and you are the only you there will ever be on this earth. That's it. You're the only one. Now, do you think God just puts you here with all of your talents, with all of your skills, with all of your abilities, with all of your background, with all of your knowledge, with all of your capabilities? God just put you here to be just like everybody else. No, you're unique, you're special. You're the only addition of you there will ever be. There's a specific task that God has for each and every one of us. Ah, what is that task?

14:59
What is that?

14:59
Mah Chovato? What is your obligation, Be'olamo, in your world? We each have our own unique world. It's true. This is something I remember hearing from my grandfather. He says one of the great anomalies of our existence is that you have your own world. Your fellow has their own world. Right, every person has their own world, and yet we're convinced that we're in the same world because we can intercommunicate between those worlds. But the truth is, you are your own world, your own little bubble, not in a selfish way, of course, but you are in your own little bubble in that you have your own set of responsibilities that you were brought into this world for. Think of your childhood experiences, think of your education, think of your parents, think of your siblings, think of your neighborhood, your friends, your synagogue. All of your life experiences that you had are guiding you to accomplish something unique that only you can fulfill in this world and that nobody else can fulfill like you can. You're the only you. You have a special task that only you can fulfill, and that the Ramchal tells us is our obligation to make it very clear to ourselves what is that responsibility, what is that role we need to play in our life?

16:36
It's an interesting exercise and it's a little bit scary at times. People say, I'm not sure, I want to know, it's frightening. But guess what? It's the most empowering thing you will ever experience Knowing why God put you on this earth. It's thrilling to find out. You know what God put me here? For a very, very, very good reason he really loves me. He really wants me to succeed. Now I've got a job to do and anything that comes in your way is a distraction. Yitzar has thrown stumbling blocks in front of you, trying to stop you from accomplishing your perfection. What is your perfection Now? We have another seven years to discuss. It's not going to be in one night, at least seven years. No, we have the Ramchal. We'll talk about it. He'll guide us and we'll have many other. That's what we're doing with Sir Mundi. He's trying to figure out what is the secret code to this maze called life, and each one of us has a different code and each one of us has a different task to fulfill.

17:55
Ulema Tsarich. So now that we're trying to make it clear to each of us individually what our responsibilities are in our very own world, ulema Tsarich, shiasi Mabbato Um Magamato Bechol Asheru Amel Kol, yemeh Hayyav, and to what a person must put his full focus and attention on throughout his life and through all of his toil. Imagine someone's responsibility in this world is to is to be charitable. To be charitable, so God will succeed their way, so that they're able to be charitable. Wrong, maybe God wants them to be charitable when they don't have. You see, we associate. Well, why did God give this person success so that they should give? That's very possible for them. But for me, maybe God wants me to give when I don't have. Maybe God right someone else. It could be overcoming their anger and God will send them curveball after curveball opportunities to get angry and their job is to overcome that anger. And to another person, it could be to study Torah diligently, without interruption.

19:31
Each one of us has a task that we are on this world for. We're convinced, we're primed from when we're children. From when we're children, you're gonna get a good job, you're gonna have a career, you're gonna be a doctor, you're gonna be a lawyer, right. And if all fails, you might be an accountant. And if even that isn't good, guess what? You'll have to be a rabbi, right? You know, it's like these women in Connecticut, in Greenwich Connecticut. They're talking about their children. So one says, you know, my son is a doctor. Another one says, you know, my son is a lawyer. Like, wow, what does your son do? He's a rabbi. What happened? So you know, everyone is here for a different purpose, but we're primed to believe that we're here to get a career and we're here to have a very specific you know, and if not, then either you're not a success. So you know just whole idea, just for a second.

20:48
People talk about oh, you know, they're very successful, very successful. Right, you know very successful. What is successful? See, the world is so corrupt that we think that success equals dollar signs. Do we know if they're a good father? Do we know if that maybe should be what success is? Are they a good husband? Maybe that's success. Are they a good boss?

21:25
I mean, we know many people who are you know these, these tech moguls very bad character traits, awful character traits, and that's what we're calling successful. They can be on the cover of every magazine, it doesn't make a difference. Bad me, don't bad traits. I'll say this because I feel that it's important for us to learn. But today, you know, most people have Apple products. Was that built on good me, don't on good character traits. Well, was there ethics in the development of it? Good characteristics? Yet the world is looking up at these people as, wow, these are the successes of the world. And be very careful before we define success as someone who has money. Success is someone who's a good father, who's a good, a good child, someone who worked on themselves, someone who changed and became a better person. That's success. There's a lot to talk about here, but we have to remember that every person is put here with certain talents and certain skills and needs to focus their entire lives on accomplishing success in that area.

23:05
But I want to just share with you a frightening. I say that many of us have Gil Gullim within our own lives. We have different phases in our life and the same challenges come back again and again. A very dear friend of mine I met him a few years back at a conference and he had recently gotten divorced. So I said so how things going? And he says you know, I actually read an article. I've shared this here before.

23:35
I read an article recently that frightened me. He says so what is it? He says it said in the article that they did tremendous research and they found that people who got divorced and then remarried. In their second marriage they had the exact same problems they had in the first marriage. He says I was considering starting dating again. But I'm terrified. I don't want to get into the same situation I had last time.

24:12
And I said to him why do you think they have the same problems? He said you know why? Because you don't change. If you don't change, you'll have the same problems. Your wife is a reflection of you, so if you don't fix yourself and fix your problems, it's not going to change. So you get married, you might be a different face, but your problems are still going to be your problems and at the end of the day you'll be stuck with the same exact issues. The same ones that play you do the first time will play you the second time. So you can save yourself the cost of a wedding, you can save yourself the cost of a divorce and you can just work on the problem the first time.

25:03
It's a little, it's a frightening idea, but yes, we, we, it's very easy. It's like you know the, the matrix you have this, the red pill, and you have the blue pill, and you can take one and you'll never think about it again You're living in oblivion and go shopping all day and do live whatever life you want, or you're gonna go through a rough patch where you're gonna have to learn the challenges of life and things aren't the way they seem and when you see success you will be able to see right through it. It's not exactly success. We're living in a world that's alluring and the Yetzahara is cunning and he is doing everything he can to show us a glamorous world. Out there, everyone's happy.

26:04
I remember there was a Hollywood couple that was once getting divorced after they were together for 11 years. They announced that they're getting divorced and I remember I was walking with a righteous person. It was a radio that was on the street. You know one of the cars who were walking past us in Brooklyn, new York, and you know we heard that this couple was getting divorced after 11 years. He says 11 years is pretty good. I thought they'd get divorced after two years or after two months. 11 years must be. They weren't even in the same house or in the same right. You know it's like you wonder, and those are the examples of what you know you think is a big problem.

26:50
I will tell you that today couples are facing serious challenges because their ideas of what a great romantic relationship should be with in their spouse which would harm peace and harmony should be is what they've seen on movies. Those are all fake and they always lived happily ever after. Well, guess what? In the real life, there are challenges In the real life. There are struggles In the real life. You're gonna have to work through issues. You're gonna have to talk through issues. You're gonna have to fix problems. You're gonna have to apologize. You're gonna have to work through a lot of things that you know.

27:36
Many people say you know, I'm done with this, leave me alone, I'm out. It's a terrifying world. You know that there's this trend in the world Instead of fixing a phone your phone falls and breaks instead of fixing it, just buy a new one. Right, your car gets a big dent why fix it? Just trade it in and get a new one. So when your marriage has a problem, why fix it? Just get a new one. It's a frightening trend that people aren't willing to work on things. At the end of the day, we can run away from all of our problems, but they won't get fixed on their own.

28:27
Where Om Chal is telling us here. We have to know why we are here, otherwise we're chasing after a oblivion. We think, oh, I'm going to drink a Coke and that's going to make me happy. It doesn't do it. I'll get some pizza. That doesn't either fulfill me. I'll go to the movies that doesn't either fulfill me. I'm going to try to erase cars that's not, either, going to fulfill me. I'm going to try we try all of these things to try to fulfill our soul that's yearning for something fulfilling. It doesn't fulfill us Till we find what it is that does quench that thirst, and we'll see in a minute what that is.

29:08
Now, what does every single human being, what does every single human being crave, no matter where they're from? What is every single human being? Is no human being who doesn't desire this Ready Pleasure, pleasure. Do you know why? God created you? Actually, for pleasure. God created you so that you have pleasure. The only question that we're going to run into now is what is pleasure? And if we don't define what pleasure is, you can go through all of Hollywood. All people think that they have pleasure. You can go through all of Vegas and people who think that they're experiencing pleasure. You can go anywhere in the world and people. That's what every single human being desires Pleasure. And you know well happiness is a pleasure. We're all pleasure seekers.

30:21
But here's the problem we don't know what pleasure is, so we get very easily caught on to fake pleasures. Counterfeit pleasures, fake pleasures are very, very easy. It's not so difficult to fall into the trap of counterfeit pleasures Base pleasures. Food is an example. It's a good example. We all need to eat food, might as well, taste good and eat lots of it. We love food. It brings us a level of pleasure, but it's counterfeit pleasure.

31:00
Anybody here like potato chips. So I've shared here many times I love potato chips, potato type. Anybody know Barbecue, barbecue potato chips. I love barbecue potato chips. Don't get any ideas, I'm going on a diet now. So thank you. I love barbecue potato chips. But we all know that if you open up a bag of potato chips and you're like, oh, this is so delicious, take one chip after another chip, after another chip after another chip. Finally you're at the end of the bag and you're sick to your stomach, right?

31:36
So is that the pleasure we're seeking? Why would there be such a bad after effect to something which is so pleasurable? Well, maybe it's counterfeit pleasure. Is there any type of pleasure that doesn't leave us drained. Is there any type of pleasure that does not impair our abilities to drive, impair our abilities to thrive, impair our abilities to be sensible? I mean, yeah, there are people who think that drinking alcohol is very pleasurable, so they drink as much as they can until they don't know what they're drinking anymore. And it's in with any other type of base pleasure.

32:21
But the Torah is very, very weird of this, and the Torah tells us what pleasure is. What is pleasure? Relationship with Hashem. The greatest form of pleasure on planet Earth is being in a relationship with God. That is, by the way, all of your pleasures, all of the other pleasures, the counterfeit ones, start becoming significant pleasures because God says you know what? I want Shabbos to be a day where we bond. So what does God say? When we bond and we have that spiritual, pleasurable relationship, you know what I want you to do. I want you to get the best foods. So then, it's not just food, it's not just food, it's food.

33:13
They say that one of the great, great Tanaic sages once invited a minister, a non-minister or someone from the government over to his house to eat. They were friends and he came on a Tuesday, the food was okay. The next time, the next time, the next time he invited him, he invited him to join him for Shabbos. So he says isn't this the same food you gave me last time? He says it's the same dish, he says, but this time it's so much better Because now we have something magical. It's called Shabbos. Shabbos is a different ingredient. I can give you the ingredient of how I make this dish, but if it doesn't have the Shabbos in it, right, cooking that same dish on Tuesday will not be the same. Shabbos is something special.

34:22
The pleasure of Shabbos is that we have a time where we don't have any of these distractions. We don't have anything else pulling us in any other direction. This is a time where we focus on our relationship with God. This is a time where we remove all of our other pleasurable urges, move them aside and focus on the real one, on the authentic pleasure, and that is our relationship with God.

34:55
Does anybody here ever have any form of anxiety or stress or worry? We all have. I don't know. I might be able to close my month. I don't know. What am I going to do. I'm going to pay the insurance bill. How am I going to take care of this? How am I going to take care of that? We all have worries. Don't worry about that, never worry about that.

35:16
But we've repeated this numerous times Hashem li, loy ra. If we have a shem with us, there's nothing to fear, nothing to fear. It's like a child who's afraid. When do they stop being afraid? When they're in their parents' arms, when their parents' arms have nothing to fear. They know their parents are protecting them. We're wandering around this world and we're afraid. We don't know what's going to be with the Jewish people. We don't know what's going to be with the state of Israel. We don't know what's going to be with terrorism. We don't know what's going to be with the economy. We don't know what's going to be with anything that's going on in the world. But if we're in Hashem's arms, we have nothing to worry about. Oh, so now the question is how do we get into Hashem's arms? How do we create that relationship so that we're there? Okay, that's a task.

36:14
It's an important task, but imagine how tragic it would be if someone spent their whole lives, if a person spent their whole lives of investing in an area and then, when they're 95 years old, they suddenly have an epiphany. You know something? I was supposed to be a carpenter. Instead I was a mechanic. With carpenter I could have created such magnificent things. I could have. You know. Think of whatever it is. They went the whole wrong path. On a spiritual level, it's much more significant. They say I haven't seen so many people in such a situation. But they say that on a death bed no one has ever said I wish I spent more time in the office. Usually, what people would say is I wish I spent more time with my family. And yet where do people spend their time In the office?

37:17
Why, you know, there's a story with a fisherman. This is a very, very wealthy man. He goes down to the riverside and you see, it's a simple man, on a small little boat, you know, with a fishing rod. He catches a fish. He's all excited, takes the fish. This guy is sitting in his yacht and he's looking. He tells the guy. He says I don't understand you. You're such a great fisherman, why don't you buy a bigger boat? He says for what he says, then you'll catch more fish. He says and then what? And then you'll make more money. He says and then what he says, and then you'll be able to sell your company, he says. And then what he says, then you'll be able to retire and go fishing. You know it's like he's doing that now. You know, think about it.

38:14
People say you know what? I have to go get a career. Why do you need to go get a career? So I can provide for my family. Okay, so why don't you start with the family first? No, no, no, no. I first have to have enough money so that I can afford marriage, and then have enough money so that I can afford children, and then have enough money so that I can afford to pay for their college tuition. And when everything is set in place, then I'll get married. Then by that time it could be too late.

38:43
People think it's all about me. It's much easier. Just let God handle it. You're not the first genius to show up on planet Earth. God's taken care of billions and billions and billions of people before us and He'll take care of many, many more after us. Hashem provides for every single human being in miraculous ways. Everyone ate breakfast today. Everyone had lunch today. Everyone had dinner today. Look at that Amazing how Everyone had their own miracle Right. It's an amazing thing. Think about that. Think about the entire world. How many meals were served today? Billions and billions and billions of meals. Hashem takes care of every single one of his Christians.

39:32
You don't think he can handle a problem or two of yours. Hashem can handle any issues, but are we ready to let go? That's the question. The minute we're ready to let go of those fears, then let Hashem worry for it. See, the problem is, why do we have that worry? Why do we have that anxiety? Because we want to find a solution and we want to succeed. We want to make sure that we're successful. You know what Hashem can lead us to, that success, just like that. Stop worrying about it. We worry so much. Don't worry. Put in Hashem's hands.

40:25
I urge everyone to read the book the Garden of Amunah Great, fantastic book. I'm actually considering starting a class in it. Rabbi Kohn had a class in the Garden of Amunah in the sugarland and it was very successful and I think we need to maybe do one here at the tour center as well. But it's so fundamental because we don't realize how much that relationship is so near to us. It's so easy for us to get into that relationship, but the problem is we get caught up with so many distractions. So many things carry us away from just simply connecting with Hashem. There's no greater pleasure on earth than a relationship with Hashem. We'll see this right here Now.

41:28
What our sages of blessed memory have taught us is that mankind was created only to take pleasure. Only to take pleasure. What type of pleasure? The Itanegah of Hashem? Take pleasure in Hashem We'll know it vis-à-shrina, and to benefit from the radiance of His Shrinah, of His divine presence. That's not referring to in a holy place out in who knows where. You don't have to be sitting by the western wall to be holy. You can be right here in Houston, texas, in the tour center, or on the new deck at the tour center, and be in a holy place. It's easier and much more accessible than we can imagine. And listen to this Shizehu hathanugha amiti, for this is the true pleasure, the true delight. All the other ones are counterfeit pleasures. They're fleeting, they leave you empty after they leave you feeling down.

43:00
sometimes you want to have a real, authentic pleasure, and the greatest pleasure of all pleasures that can possibly exist. There is no pleasure in the entire world that is greater than the pleasure of our relationship with God Nothing. And that is the world that was created with the design necessary for this purpose. Okay, sorry, I skipped. Where is the place where we have this ultimate pleasure? The true place for this greatest pleasure is the world to come. Shahu Hanivra Ba'hanam Itzara'khat Dabarazah 4. That is the world that was created with the design necessary for this purpose. So there is a place where we're going to have that ultimate connection with God. It's there, in the world to come. So what is this world then? So maybe in this world, this world should be a world where we get whatever we can get, and that's it Maybe.

44:31
So Ramchal will tell us otherwise. Ramchal will guide us onto the path of how we attain that greatness. You see, there are many things that a person can do. You know I've said this numerous times here in the Muslim Mondays, but I'll share this with you. You know, we have something called an ashamma. What's an ashamma? An ashamma is a soul. So let me give you an example. Anybody here have ever had a vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaner.

45:09
Right.

45:10
You know how a vacuum cleaner works.

45:14
It's suction right, it tries to pull in all the. Now, what is it really going for? Dirt, right. So you take the vacuum cleaner, you put it on the floor and little particles of dust and of dirt or pretzels, right. And then you scoop them up with the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner right, and it's delicious. That sound with going through the nozzle is like beautiful, okay, it's working.

45:49
So now, what is a soul? A soul, a lofty soul, called an ashamma, that every Jew has. You know what that ashamma is. It is a vacuum cleaner and you know what its food is Not garbage, not pretzels, spirituality, holiness. Now, what happens if you feed that vacuum cleaner? Jim, you feed that vacuum cleaner food, does it get satiated? No, it wants spirituality, it wants holiness. You try to feed it. Fashion Doesn't go. Try to feed it. Movies Doesn't go. Try to feed it. Music Doesn't go, it doesn't fulfill it. It's still hungry.

46:43
You ever see a nozzle of a vacuum cleaner, right, you leave, go of it for a second and then it grabs the tablecloth or grabs your pants, right, grab something and it's sucking it in. What do you want? Just sit quietly over there and relax, right? No, no, no. So you got to feed me. I need something. I need some dirt right. That's our soul. You ever wonder why Jews are always extremists, why Jews Think of all extremists, in every area of the world, in every profession, in everything. It's always Jews Good, bad and ugly. Think of Houdini and magic right. You think of the greatest Swiss bank thieves right. You think of any extremist, they're always Jews. Karl Marx, einstein, right. Madoff, right.

47:46
You think about it, think about it.

47:49
All the great scientists. Why are they all Jewish? You know why? Because they have that in the summer and if it's not fed spirituality, it goes bonkers and it doesn't stop. It needs to be fed, it needs to be fed and nothing satiates it except for spirituality and holiness, authentic spirituality. You know there's ones in Israelis. They do a lot of interesting things after they finish the army. So usually they go to the Far East and they're seeking, they're searching. So one of them once came to the Dalai Lama. It's a true story.

48:30
This person today you're here in a second. What happened to him? But he comes to the Dalai Lama and he says to him, not going to help you? He says I want a blessing. He says tell me a little bit about yourself. He says, well, I'm from Israel. He says you're Jewish? He says, yeah, I'm Jewish. He says, and you're coming to me? He says go back. He says your tradition is far greater. You guys are the real deal. Go to your own heritage, don't come to me.

48:57
The Dalai grew up completely secular in Israel, went back and went to Yashiva, today's a rabbi. He was seeking, seeking, seeking his soul's yearning for something to fulfill. It Doesn't find anything, doesn't find it until it finds the right anecdote, until it finds the right medicine that pleases it. The Talmud says Barati lo yetsahara, barati lo Torah tovim, I created for mankind a yetsahara. You know what I created as it's cure? Created the Torah. The Torah is the guide. The Torah guides us to that path of what we're seeking in this world. But we're seeking pleasure. That's what we're here for and that is what the Torah guides us to. We think about Shabbos, we think about all the Mitzvot, every single Mitzvot. We have a wonderful set of books over here in the Don't Leaven family library, the top right shelf, third to top, third to the top. It's called the Book of Mitzvot, where the author of the Chinuch gives the reasoning, the rationalization, for each Mitzvot.

50:33
God gives us 613 Mitzvahs. You might wonder why? Why so many? Why do we need so many Mitzvahs? Because we are obsessed with pleasure, and each one of these 613 Mitzvahs correspond to a different part of our body in making them holy and making them fulfill their spiritual connection to God. We have 613 commandments 365 negative or prohibitive commandments and 248 performative commandments, and each one the 248, correspond to the bones and the limbs of the body and the 365 correspond to the sinews and muscles of the body. In the performance of each one of those mid-soul, the positive and the negative, we're purifying and bringing that part of our body closer to God. It's an unbelievable tool that we have. That's the Torah. We can't get there without the study of Torah.

51:47
So we all have a rightful desire for pleasure and that desire is not from a bad place, it's from a good place. We have to know how to harness that desire for pleasure. We have to know how to channel it properly, not to push it aside, not to say, oh, it's evil, Pleasure is a terrible thing. No, pleasure is a great thing. That's what we're here for. But authentic pleasure, not counterfeit pleasure.

52:22
And we're in an entire world that is completely immersed in counterfeit pleasures, the whole world. Just look at tonight. The saints are playing, right, they're playing football, right, that whole. Look at the advertisements. Look at all the cool, everything that's going on over there. It's one big fantasy, counterfeit pleasure world. It's fake. And what's amazing is that they only played during the weekends. So you wonder there's probably they're closed down for Monday, Tuesday, wednesday, right, you know it's like what are they going to do the rest of the time? There's no more games, oh, they're busy. They're busy Kidding, they're busy with their projections, and they have. They take votes, who's going to win? And they have. You know, it's like it's a whole fantasy existence. They're busy. The pundits they're busy, you know, discussing, yeah, discussing nothing. You're not going to become a better person from it. You're not going to be more fulfilled from it. You're not going.

53:31
And you know, they say that that when you buy a product, so there's a certain stimulation in your brain, the dopamine in your brain that gets stimulated when you, when you purchase this product. And studies show that that dopamine lasts not even till you get to your car. Right, it's, it's an exhilarating thrill that you get. It doesn't even last till you get to your car. So you want to get that thrill. Against what do you have to do? Go shop again, or you can just come to Torch and learn, and then the thrill lasts at least for an hour and hopefully for longer than that, for lifetime, for eternity.

54:30
So it is really a responsibility that we have that we have this choice. Are we going to take that blue pill? We can take that red pill. Are we going to take the choice? That is going to be a rocky road It'll be, you know what. We're going to make mistakes, so we're going to have to correct them and we're going to have to do the best we can do. But ultimately we go up that that down escalator. Or do we just say, you know what, I give up, and we just stay on that escalator and end up wherever we end up and never rise, never elevate ourselves?

55:11
Ramchal is giving us here a great outlook that we are here for pleasure and the ultimate pleasure is right there for us to attain it, first step is understanding that we are going to need to put our entire life focus on that target. It doesn't mean you quit your job. That doesn't mean that now you turn all everything over into a no, no, no, no. But it's your goal. You'll get there eventually, right? You don't become a pilot overnight. You set your goal and you work hard to save up money for it. Take the courses, take the tests, do the practicing, do that Till you get there. It can take three, four, five, six years. God is patient, says. We want to build this relationship. It could take four, five, six years, but it has to be our goal to build that relationship, be in a place of ultimate pleasure.

56:21
So any questions.

56:24
Not at all Easy crowd. We're going to stop here tonight. We're going to thank you all. Next week, god willing, we'll continue from Ahadarach. Have a magnificent evening. Everybody Drive safely. Have a terrific evening.

56:41 - Intro (Announcement)
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