What God Wants You To Do Today: IT'S URGENT

is religion good for the world on the one hand [Music] religion brings morality religion brings charity religion brings all sorts of value to the world and at the other hand religion brings war and division and hatred and anti-semitism so is it good for the world or not no it's not what else you want to talk about don't you love simple answers let's take a closer look without god the world has no direction no purpose and no soul without the ten commandments the world has no instruction no right and wrong doesn't know up from down is that religion from what i'm picking up this man whose life we are celebrating jeff for zev he was not a religious man he was a godly man much better when a jew puts on philly is he being religious i don't think so he's being jewish a woman goes to a mikvah is she being fanatically religious no she's just being jewish and the proof is a guy who puts on twilight doesn't become any more jewish a woman goes to a mikvah doesn't become more jewish actually a woman once said to me i'm thinking of using the mikvah but i don't know if i do that what will i become she meant will i become like the religious kind of personality like very serious and will i become spiritual will i become i said the only thing you'll become is wet [Music] other than that nothing will change you're a jew now you'll be a jew when you come out of the mikvah as well when a jew does something jewish why does it get a title oh you're eating jewish now well yeah i'm jewish i'm at a a dinner fundraising crowded room i'm holding a cocktail and i'm talking to somebody and this woman comes up behind me and in a shrill voice she says in yiddish my son is marrying a non-jew talk to him i turn around she's about that big but a very powerful personality and her son is standing right there the whole room heard her say this the whole room turns around and i thought this poor guy he must be so embarrassed but i look at him and he's he's not so i took the cue from him and i said really you're marrying a non-jew he says yeah i said so you'll be the jew in the family he says yeah it says so when they have a question about judaism you'll you'll answer it he says yeah i said do you feel like you know enough to be able to answer the questions he said what is there to know and he was sincere what is there to know i said whoa whoa five books of moses 22 books of prophets 60 volumes of talmud and about a million customs this is you can't make up stories like this he says oh i say you know what would be a great idea before you get married you have a few months go off to israel go into a yeshiva for a couple of months catch up do a little learning cram a little bit so that when they ask you questions your non-jewish family you'll be able to answer like a mensch he says that's a great idea he went off to israel after a week in yeshiva he thought oh this is not such a good idea but do you see the degree of innocence and the degree of ignorance this was not a rebellious kid he had no idea i had another guy nice jewish boy and i knew him when he was in talmatora i i meet him as a grown-up and he says i converted to christianity i said why he says they have the greatest books now this is a true story they have great books i said like what he says psalms isaiah he never heard that as a jew so is religion necessary or is it important that a jew should know what a jew is so here's the here's the true story judaism was never a religion it's not a religion and it mustn't be a religion religions developed out of judaism but judaism is not a religion for a number of reasons firstly religion for all practical purposes means living a certain way in order to gain favor above whatever that favor is each religion according to its to its style religion means living a certain way to get spiritual benefits judaism was never you read the ten commandments you go through torah from cover to cover it doesn't say anything about going to heaven nothing in fact the torah begins in the beginning god created heaven and earth and that's the last time heaven is mentioned the rest of the torah is about earth so in judaism going to heaven is not the goal because you know to get there you have to die that's not a jewish idea don't go anywhere where are you going all right if you can't be here where you gonna go miami if you can't be here you go there but that's not a goal that's a retirement home no it really is can you imagine jeff in a retirement home for a week maybe but you know enough already let's get back to work the souls in heaven are waiting impatiently for moshiach to come so that they can come back to earth so why are you going to heaven when they're coming back here don't go to heaven just stay here there is no better place ah when you say about a person who passed away he's in a better place just from the tone you know it's not jewish he's in a better place now that doesn't sound jewish if it was a jewish idea there was is better place that sounds jewish but it's not true there is no better place there's no better place it's comfortable it's pleasant it's safe but for a guy who was a leader and a builder and a doer enough already a month two months two years he wants to come back he's got so much more to build and so much more to do so going to heaven has never been our goal and in that sense judaism is not a religion instead of wanting to go to heaven which is the goal of most religions judaism wants to bring god down to earth why because that's what god asked that's what the torah is all about god telling us how to bring him down to earth not how we can get to heaven when you're doing what god needs instead of having him do for you what you need that's not exactly a religion gotta call that something else and that's not spiritual that's godly what god needs is godly if you're doing what he needs you're being godly much better than religious because religion can become very selfish it can become very competitive it can become self-serving arrogant exclusive et cetera et cetera all the horrors that religion brings if we're here to make the world godly so that god can be comfortable and welcome and and and enjoy his creation that doesn't leave anybody out if the world is supposed to be comfortable and inviting to god it's gotta be the whole world nobody is left out of course jews do it in a jewish way non-jews do it in a non-jewish way but everyone has got to do it otherwise the world is not what god needs it to be so if you're in the service of god you are much more open-minded as open-minded as god it's a very different thing from religion so god is necessary the commandments are necessary god's morality is necessary but religion it can go either way so judaism is not a religion and jews are not religious have you noticed that not only aren't we religious we were never good at it some some nations are religious by nature we're not forty days after god spoke to us personally and said make no graven images forty days later we said i wonder what would happen if we do so we made a graven image so god said you guys are impossible i just said don't do that and moshe said moshe said in our defense yeah isn't it great there's such stiff-necked people and god said yeah you're right i like that stiff-necked people is the opposite of religious people religious people bend to god's will we don't we correct him you didn't mean do nothing on shabbos did you just waste a day like that come on you couldn't have meant that you men spend time with your family right isn't it and god says no no just don't do any work on shabbos and we say yeah spend time with your family and god says read my lips whether you have a family you don't have a family don't do work on shabbos and we say why not i make the most money on shabbos i gotta finally got a day off i can't go golf so why do i need to keep shabbos and judaism says you don't you don't need to keep shabbos for a very simple reason you didn't create the world in six days so what is shabbos god rests on shabbos and since we are his children he would like us to join him when he's keeping shabbos can you please do it with me so he needs you to keep shabbos not you need to keep shabbos and what is he needed for what are you asking me how am i supposed to understand what he needs and why he needs his god but i do know this he needs it for a godly reason that's pretty impressive this leads us to even more important and very basic and very timely distinction between judaism and religion one of the things that we are suffering from today i say we but i really mean young young people very young people i can imagine saying to my grandson you you have to be careful not to eat a non-kosher candy you have to be you have to be shomer shabbos you you have to keep kosher you have to be honest you have to honor your parents you have to get good grades you have to go to yeshiva you have to get in time to dominion and i can imagine my grandson saying i thought about it and actually i don't need any of that you keep telling me i need to and i i really don't i don't need to why do i need to and if i was religious what would i say oh yes you have to you know what happens to people who sin oh so now i'm bullying him now i'm trying to scare him into behaving this is not judaism that's religion religion says you are obligated you must you have to what's going to be with you get your act together be a mensch it used to work it's not working not only religion society every child is told gotta go to school you have to go to school you have to get good grades you have to get a job you have to get a house and then you have to pay the mortgage and the taxes and the insurance and you know what people are saying today took a long time but they finally came up with it you know there's this guy who is suing his parents for giving birth to him without his consent i think he's got a good case you didn't ask me you went ahead and gave birth to me and now i have to pay the mortgage how did that happen you gave birth to me you paid a mortgage you know that kind of makes sense as scary as it sounds it really makes sense i didn't ask for this you made me so you pay for me doesn't that make sense anyway the the uh the case was thrown out now this is real both his parents are lawyers he didn't have a chance but but they threw it out of court because the parents said we were trying to consult with you we couldn't find you but now you're hearing it even from young children 10 year olds 11 year olds you tell them to put a book away or to put their shoes away and their answer is i didn't ask to be born of course parents panic run rush the kid off to therapy and put him on medication for anxiety depression and suicidal thoughts if your child or grandchild ever says to you i didn't ask to be born don't give him medicine tell him neither did i because it's true you didn't ask to be born and you know why you didn't ask to be born because you don't need to be if you need it you would have asked you don't need to be you're not a shocking thought doesn't it sound a little suicidal you don't need to be here you don't need to be born you didn't ask to be born if you were asked you would have said no thanks i need this like a hole in the head so look at what's going on your parents tell you you have to you have to what's going to be with you get your act together get a life get a job grow up you have to then you listen to the commercials things you never heard of you have to have you have to you don't have one of those medications do you sometimes feel a little something in the back of your throat well you need this medicine order now it might kill you but it'll take away that really they go through five minutes of warnings this may make you blind it may make you dizzy it may make you may give you a stroke or and after five minutes of that they say so what are you waiting for order now order now we'll send you a month's worth for free because my my reaction is if a month's worth is not enough this is not a good medicine at any rate the commercials all tell you what you need you need so you figure okay i'll go for therapy you know what happens when you go for therapy you come in and you say i need help with my anxiety can you help me with my anxiety and the therapist says you think you're suffering from anxiety your mother never wanted you you hate your brother it's eating you up so you need much more than you think you need i said oh god can i get away from this so then you say all right that's it i'm going into religion right religion brings you peace of mind comfort no it doesn't you come and you say i've got so much anxiety i got so many worries i have so many burdens i'm looking for an answer and what do they tell you you think you have problems in this life wait till you get to oh is it you need to be saved from what happens up there you need to do this and you need and it just piles on more needs what do you do where do you go that's what judaism is you know what judaism actually says uh in the beginning god created heaven and earth did you hear that what a relief i thought i had from all these rules and regulations you must you have to it felt like i had created the world and it was all my fault it's not in the beginning god created heaven and earth relax what's your problem he's got problems he created a world and it just doesn't cooperate in the beginning means before you had any needs before there was you and before you had needs he created the world so who has needs you you didn't even ask to be born so if your child says i didn't ask to be born this is a wise mature insight into reality don't get nervous about it agree with him we don't ask to be born and if we don't ask to be born how is it that it's my responsibility i have to i must no no the creator of the world has a need we don't in fact all the needs we do have are not ours i need to eat i need to eat i need to stop eating and i can't i don't know if you have this problem but it's pretty common i need to eat it was not my idea if i designed myself i would have a more efficient i would have a more efficient existence that doesn't need to eat so why do i need to eat i don't know it's not my idea god created me with a need to eat so really he needs me to eat i don't that's judaism this is not religion this is simply a realization of where we fit in we didn't create the world and therefore we don't have needs the creator created the world and he has a valid need and amazingly the fulfillment of his need depends on us that's that's amazing so what is a mitzvah a mitzvah means god depends on you to do what he needs done so on the one hand it's such a relief it's so liberating my problem i don't have any problems my needs they're not mine makes our burdens so much lighter and on the other hand i can do for him every minute of the day there is something i can do for him and once i get to heaven i won't be able to do that well then i'm staying here leave me here so that i can do for you so the compliment the significance that that gives us you can fulfill his need and on the other hand they're not your needs isn't that amazing that's judaism the problem with religion besides starting wars it burdens you and it puts you at the center of the universe you have needs god is only here to help you with your needs he's your valet he's your butler or your savior or your healer or your lover or your protector but he's busy full-time taking care of you you are the center of the world this is not judaism and it's not healthy serve god with joy does that make sense now if you're trying to be religious there will be no joy you get the impression that a person who's religious doesn't know how to smile aside from chabad doesn't fit any of the images as a default position if you're really religious you're very serious borderline depressed doesn't it doesn't seem that way how can you be religious and happy at the same time something's wrong you see somebody happy you know they sinned because if you don't sin what are you happy about that's religious we are not religious we're not good at it we never agreed to be religious we agreed to serve him serve him means do what he needs that's a pleasure that's inspiring that's uplifting i can do for you that is much better than doing for myself if we are here to serve him that's joy that's joy and if i can make that assumption from what you're telling me about jeff white he was not religious he was here to serve his creator and you know if you're serving your creator while you're at it you kind of serve your community also a little bit and as long as you're serving your community so you serve your family a little bit you're in the serving mode is there anything you need final conclusive story i had this couple marriage counseling they were brilliant in their evil i mean i've heard people cut each other down most couples who are having trouble become brilliant but this couple wow they were so good at it they would walk in before they even sat down didn't you tell her last week that she shouldn't well she did it again no i didn't used to it was just week after week it was hard to listen to so i came up with a brilliant idea i said next week let's get together at the kosher deli in public i figured they'll tone it down we get together at the delhi there are about 20 customers sitting at their tables it made absolutely no difference they launched into their attacks and counter-attacks it was as if nobody was in the room finally they're exhausted and the husband says i think we have a serious problem here i said actually it's not that serious he says really i said look how serious can it be 20 people here heard all about it they don't care not important to them i've listened to this for months i don't care and you told me your mother doesn't want to hear about it anymore your own mother doesn't care how important can this be they were quiet for a moment and then for the first time in months the wife said so so how are you you see what just happened here they never asked me how i was because they had a serious problem they had big needs when i suggested that maybe it's not so serious and it's not such a like so what else is there to talk about oh yeah how are you all of a sudden i existed do you see what happens when we relieve ourselves of all these burdens of all these needs i must i have to i got to like stop it you don't you're not the creator but you can do amazing things for the creator so lighten up and serve god and be jewish not religious we have to spread this message because god has gotten lost in the shuffle at best god is there to serve you and that can't be that puts too much burden on me and i didn't even ask to be born right so here's your choice in life according to judaism it's very simple do you prefer to be needy or would you rather be needed no-brainer we are needed our needs didn't even ask to be born so if i don't ask to be born because i don't need to be born and yet i am born the natural question is if i don't need this who does you've answered all of life's questions i don't need this so who does i don't need somebody needs me that is so much better so don't get religious get godly don't become religious just be a jew jews have opportunities to serve god that nobody else has so what are we waiting for actually we're not waiting he's waiting so what are we keeping him waiting for so when we talk about the coming of mashiach we all know what we want we want moshiach because then we'll have um you know all the goodies that will come if you think we need mashiach we who did not create the world can you imagine how much he needs mashiach and i have a little sneaky suspicion when the rebbe said we want moshiach who's we he meant humans and god we both want mashiach who doesn't want mashiach we want mashiach god wants more than we do and we want for our own reasons so that ebb is saying if we want mashiach so where is he if everybody agrees mashiach should come so where is he that was the deba's argument the souls in heaven want mashiach more than we do the creator of the world wants to see moshiach arrive more than we do and we catch the fever from them and say okay we also want so everybody wants mashiach let him come let him come today we won't have to apologize for all our mistakes we will not be embarrassed by our failures and our by our lack of religiosity because god never wanted us to be religious he wanted us to be jewish and we are take a look around it's not john kipper oh you thought you were coming because it was young kipper no today is not yom kippur and look the room is full what are you doing here you needed to come here no you wanted to come here because it's a jewish event and you're jewish mashiach has to be impressed with that not disappointed and whatever religiosity we are missing he'll inspire us he'll fix it but we being jewish are the biggest blessing to the world to god who is absolutely thrilled with his people and if we miss a mitzvah here and there whose fault is it who gave us this incredibly miserable history this impossible life he did he knows he is very impressed despite it all we are so jewish the soul of usher of zev jeff has got to be thrilled beyond words can you imagine this happening for you two years later this is really amazing we take it for granted yeah i got an invitation i came you know it's not it's not that simple it's awesome it's awesome so let me come let him be impressed with how good we are how jewish we are and religion let other people be religious you just be jewish thanks for listening we have a sunday night program for vips that you might be interested in it's informal it's questions and answers it's conversation it's really relaxed it's really pleasant enjoyable informative and kind of community-like it's a sunday night program there's a wednesday morning program for the vips and there's a wednesday night program all of it just conversation casual laid back unscripted so join us take a look click the link below and see which of the three suits you best and join us for some enjoyable conversation

Channel: Rabbi Manis Friedman

Views: 144,071

Keywords: education, educational, training, torah, judaism, chabad, religion, which religion in china, judaism beliefs, judaism definition, manis friedman, rabbi manis friedman, life, inspiration, inspirational, rabbi, life advice, adive, advice, life changing

Id: 8-w8EZ__v_8

Length: 42min 22sec (2542 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 10 2021