Why Bad Things Happen to Good People? -Rabbi Manis Friedman

tora cafe.com okay so the first thing we need to do is rearrange our heads and change the way we think this for starters an explorer goes down to Australia the first Explorer comes back from Australia and he says there's an animal down there that hops around on its hind legs and carries its baby in a pouch in its stomach and you say I'm a little too intelligent for that hey I just believe a story like that come on not that naive I'm too intelligent to believe that would that be an intelligent response of course now we know there are kangaroos so now we know it's not no but way back then here's how the conversation would go the Explorer would say there's an animal down there I saw that hops around on its hind legs and carries its babies in a pouch and the listener says that's ridiculous I never heard of such a thing the Explorer says exactly that's what I get the big bucks for to come back and tell you something you've never heard of I'm gonna come back and tell you there's a cap there and the guy says but I never saw such a thing exactly that's what exploring means to see something you never saw before or to hear something you never heard before so what is the objection to a piece of news that is fantastical you doubt it until someone proves it to you or you accept it until it's proven false what's the more intelligent way I know the conventional wisdom is doubt everything until it's proven cuz you don't want to end up with egg on your face that's not an intelligent reaction that's fear that's protecting yourself emotionally by not accepting anything unless you're absolutely sure intelligence has a very different reaction to the intelligent mind every piece of information I never heard before is a celebration you live and learn imagine if the cavemen were skeptical there's another hill over the hill I don't believe that the bear went over the mountain I don't think so I never saw a deer go over a mountain zone so let's rearrange our thinking if I never heard it and I never saw it then I just learned something new that's great it's not necessarily true but that's not a reason to doubt it really I mean I don't know there was a woman in class once but in our program in basic honor anything I said anything I said she said but you don't know that for sure I say well yeah I do no you can't know that for sure maybe not and it was a little ridiculous so at some point I said will you stop already maybe not maybe not maybe your mother is not really your mother you were switched in the hospital she goes oh my god wait a minute I didn't mean to add another doubt to your mind doubt by the way is totally unnecessary in life you can go through life without ever having doubts let me think about it what is a doubt you think there's life out there on other planets umm doubt it you doubt it why can't you simply say I have no idea which is true most times when people say I doubt they could just as easily say I am absolutely sure that I know nothing about this there's no doubt about that can you do brain surgery I doubt it well take a chance give yourself the benefit of the doubt and perform surgery oh come on most cases when we say doubt we mean I don't know why does it hurt to say that I don't know but when I hear something new that's great maybe it's wrong maybe you're switched in the hospital these maybes don't add to your life they restrict you they limit you science has a completely different set of rules from life because the scientist is is governed by certain rules so if he can't repeat the experiment and come up with the same results consistently he doesn't have a scientific fact it doesn't mean it's wrong water runs downhill try it try it under all circumstances and see if it's consistent and if it's not water runs downhill anyway whether the scientists can prove it or not so the whole idea of proof so you can't prove that proof is appropriate in a laboratory not in life so for example you're a psychiatrist and you come home to your spouse and you say hi how was your day or the spouse says to you how was your day and you say do you really want to know are you trying to cover up on something that you your mother said to you thirty years ago if you do that to your spouse you're gonna be single for a long time you don't do that leave that at the office that's fine when you're treating patients it doesn't work in life same is true with the scientist the scientist comes home and his wife says oh I missed you where's the evidence you can't prove that yesterday you didn't miss me so something is inconsistent here yeah you do that you're gonna be divorced in a week so what belongs in the laboratory what is appropriate in your in your clinic don't bring it home that's not how you live life has a completely different set of rules life has to be enthusiastic life has to be innocent and uncomplicated life has to be trusting secure if you need proof for everything somebody has lied to you too often so where do we get this skepticism the cynicism the doubts because somebody told me there was a Santa Claus and there is not nobody ever told me that I've been called Santa Claus but nobody ever I go to South America and I try to learn a little Spanish you know I go there quite often and I can't I pick up a few words and I come back to the states and I forget the only words I remember is Papa Noel because I hear it so often all the kids point at me and say Papa Noel I thought I thought it meant there goes the rabbi doesn't mean that so so when when we want to know what's real we want to know what's true that's a completely different subject than scientific fact so here's an important distinction there is fact and there is truth and they're not the same thing they're both real but different reality fact means the reality as it is or as it happens to be truth means the reality as it is supposed to be as it must be they're very different for example most human beings are decent and good true it's true but it's not a fact fact is people are horrible that's a fact but that's not the way it's supposed to be so the truth is a human being with intelligence is is good for whatever reason this truth has not become a fact Jews don't eat pork true or false Jews don't eat pork that's true but Jews do eat pork that's a fact they're not the same every mother loves her child true mothers throw their children or babies into garbage cans that's a fact so when the fact and the truth are not the same how is it resolved the truth cannot surrender to the fact because true is true the fact is the reality as it happens to be it doesn't have to be and so the fact sooner or later must surrender to the truth there's a very funny thing when the fact surrenders to the truth we call it a miracle now what a miracle is when the fact surrenders to the truth Jews left Egypt on their way to Mount Sinai because they had an appointment God wanted to talk to them at Mount Sinai and all of a sudden there's an ocean in the way there's the sea so the Jews say what should we do God said go to Mount Sinai they said yeah but there's a sea and God said so what go to Mount Zion I said well what about the sea so they walked into the sea and what happened the sea got out of the way miracle of miracles but what actually happened the sea doesn't have to be there it's real and it's a fact that it is there but it doesn't have to be there so get out of the way because we have to get to Mount Sinai so when the fact surrenders to the truth we call it a miracle a person is in a car accident has a near-death experience but survives and recovers miracle thank God what's the miracle people shouldn't die that's true people do die from car accidents that's a fact well in this case the fact surrendered to the truth and we love when that happens because then everything sounds right things should be the way truth dictates not the way fact dictates and this is a very real experience the entire Habad movement the entire Labov ature philosophy was threatened severely under Stalin most Siddim were in Russia and Stalin made it impossible that was the fact it was impossible to raise a Jewish child with Judaism under Stalin so some people were completely naive and they said we don't recognize facts we don't believe in facts we're just gonna do our thing and they're dead some people said look at the facts I mean come on be realistic look at the facts stop teaching your kid Judaism don't practice anything until Stalin dies and then we'll pick it up where we left off well they assimilated they're gone their kids are atheists communist whatever what Habad did don't ignore the facts if you're gonna make a yeshiva make it underground don't be naive make it underground if they close down a mikvah in the city build another one outside in the suburb where they don't find you so quickly in other words deal with the fact don't ignore it Stalin is real but never start believing the fact believe the truth Stalin will die Judaism will continue and what's happening today in Russia amazing the fact surrendered to the truth the coming of Messiah means that this distinct this this split between fact and truth can't go on forever the coming of Messiah means every fact will be the truth and every truth will become a fact so people are basically good that's true it's not yet a fact it's got to become a fact people should not die that's true the fact is people die it's got to stop the facts have got to surrender to the truth so that the world will be not only what it happens to be but what it's supposed to be now who knows what the world is supposed to be it seems like we are the only ones left by default we are the only ones left who have any idea of what the world should be because we have a tolerant and that is our message to the world we're not trying to change anything we're trying to make the world what it is supposed to be and therefore will inevitably be because the truth will always win in the end the question is when when is the end and one of the things that's going to happen when fact becomes truth the suffering will of course end but more than that once we get to the truth all the suffering of the past will make a lot of sense because when it surrenders to the truth it becomes part of the truth so one of the things we're looking forward to in the coming of Messiah is the ability to truly heal from all the pain of the past not only by surviving it or tolerating it but by actually seeing the goodness of it so that there is nothing bad left so this brings us to our topic why do bad things happen to good people it's a very popular question everybody is bothered when something bad happens to good people actually it doesn't bother me that much what really bothers me is when good things happen to bad people that is disturbing if you talk about injustice why do good things happen to bad people how come nobody asked that why do bad things happen to bad people nobody cares by the way what is a bad thing well bad things rap what's a bad thing your girlfriend dumps you bad thing exactly it depends sometimes you got to really thank God for if you want to have a correct definition of bad is death bad not necessarily most people can't come up with a good reason for it no it's tragic but is it bad is pain bad yeah when I have it your pain pain is not necessarily bad like labor pain childbirth it's kind of painful I hear but is it bad actually most women kind of in the middle of their ninth month they can't wait for the pain already get on with it but false labor pain oh that's bad death is not necessarily bad but wrongful death or that's bad who needs that an operation is painful dangerous is it bad no unless it was supposed to be performed on the guy in the other bed then it's bad because there's no explanation in other words the word bad if you're using it correctly describes something that happened that shouldn't have happened it shouldn't have happened then it's bad but if it should happen well then it can be very painful it can be tragic it can be it can be frightening and dangerous but you can't call it bad exactly exactly right if the word bad means this shouldn't have happened who knows what should or shouldn't happen my daughter runs a summer camp a few years ago one of the kids was playing and fell and broke his leg the father wanted to sue the camp negligence horrible you don't watch the kids in the river a couple of months after camp he calls to apologize he says I'm sorry I was such a pain in the neck I really won't want to want to make up and and because my kid was in a cast with his broken leg and one day I had to take him into the hospital to have the cast removed and I missed a day of work it was September 11th and I work at the World Trade Center I wasn't there that day because I was taking the cast off his leg so was that the worst thing that ever happened to them when he broke his leg painful but all of a sudden can you claim that that should not have happened so what do we know what the bleep do we know about what should or shouldn't happen so here's a point do bad things happen to good people why do bad things happen to good people the answer is it never happened a bad thing never happened not to good people not to bad people not to animals not to bugs nothing bad has ever happened and it can't happen because unless you have more than one god no bad thing can happen an animal dies out in the jungle was it supposed to happen the answer is yes well how do you know because it happened what causes things to happen God his plan without the plan without God nothing would happen so what does it mean this happened but it shouldn't have that means in God's plan it's not acceptable but the other God came and made it happen anyway what other God there's only one God so when we say Sh'ma Israel Hashem Allah Cana Hashem a hug we only believe in one God what we're actually saying is nothing can go wrong nothing can go wrong because nothing can happen without it supposing to happen so that if it's not part of God's plan it cannot happen because who's going to make it happen so nothing bad has ever happened that painful things happen yes the tragedies occur yes but bad and here's another interesting thing what makes people depressed what makes people give up on life pain hardly ever tragedy hardly ever because if pain and tragedy made people give up on life we would be gone by now there would be no human race anymore we would all have given up I mean the amount of pain and tragedy that occurs in the world what makes people depressed the thought that this should not have happened that makes us crazy not only because of what happened but if something happens and it shouldn't have happened then what's next then that's it it's unpredictable there's no rhyme or reason you don't know what's gonna happen next you give up without that question without this this feeling that it shouldn't have happened we can survive anything Viktor Frankl came up with a whole school of psychology based on this idea he went through the Holocaust went to the concentration camps and he noticed people who thought there was some purpose to what was going on survived and those who thought that the world had just gone insane couldn't handle so the belief that nothing bad can ever happen because everything happens by divine plan is life-saving it literally helps you survive so why do we pray why do we complain to God which is a very Jewish activity why if we know that nothing bad is happening what are we catching about here's the important application to your life anyone with a drop of decency will complain about an injustice you don't have to be sensitive you don't have to be special if you see an injustice you're gonna complain you've been doing it since you were four it's not fair how come he gets that four years old and you're complaining about injustice it doesn't take any brilliance or any sensitivity the real trick is will you complain when something painful happens to another person that makes perfect sense to you or once it makes sense to you it doesn't bother you anymore Jews complain knowing that there is no injustice everything that happens is meant to happen and we complain anyway that's good that is sensitive God comes to Avraham and says the people of Saddam are exceedingly evil I'm going to destroy them of Rome should have said well yeah go for it I mean if they are exceedingly evil I mean what's so if I see Saddam being destroyed I know why God told me himself they're exceedingly evil so wipe them out I've run complaints that's Jewish because by nature once I understand I don't care anymore for example if you ask me for advice about an investment or about something and I say don't do it but you go ahead and do it anyway and get yourself into trouble and now you're really messed up and you come to me and say can you help me out I'm god I'm really messed up here as I know my told you not to do it you say yeah I know I should have listened to you but really now I got a real problem can you help me out I tried to help you I told you not to do it I don't care because I'm right next time you'll listen to me yeah but can you help me out now well I tried I told you not to do it no compassion because I know why it happened that's terrible so Elie Wiesel is often asked why was there a Holocaust as if it was his fault or something because he was there and he should have stopped it anyway so usually he says I don't know what are you asking me one time this guy comes over then that says so why why was there a Holocaust and he says I can't tell you the guy says him you know and you don't want to tell me he says that's right okay so why won't you tell me he says because if I tell you you'll become a Nazi the guy says I'm Jewish what are you talking about how would I become a Nazi his answer was really brilliant he said look you're asking me why there's a Holocaust because you're disturbed it bothers you you can't sleep how can six million innocent people be liquidated such a horrible word killed is better but they weren't killed they were liquidated and it bothers you it disturbs you you can't sleep well at night so you come to me and say tell me why I'll tell you why and you'll say oh so that's why okay I can sleep now now you're a Nazi you're asking me to make you feel comfortable with a Holocaust only Nazis can do that so what are you asking truth is when we ask why was there a holocaust the last thing we want is an answer don't you dare answer that question because by answering that you're saying it was okay it's not okay yeah well I'll explain it no you won't explain it and that's why people complain you know I've been asking this question of everybody I meet and nobody can answer my question you don't want an answer if you really wanted an answer you're a Nazi we don't want an answer we want a change we want the fact to surrender to the truth not a good answer so what do we complain about you know you hear this all the time a civilian was killed in Israel a civilian what are you doing and if he's a soldier then it's okay what happened here a guy puts on a uniform he deserves to die what is this distinction between a soldier and a and a civilian getting killed can ruin your day no matter how you're dressed we should object to the to the truth not to the fact the truth is there should be no suffering there should be no dying there should be no war well no certainly not for civilian what is that what is that because you know that if you put on us a uniform you might get shot so then it's okay in other words once I understand the suffering it doesn't bother me anymore that's not nice so people ask why do bad things happen to good people the sages asked why do the righteous suffer it's a very different question why do the righteous suffer means I know there's a reason I know it's all for the good I know nothing happens unless it's supposed to happen and it's meant to happen I know that still bothers me the Catholic Church used to kill midwives they called them witches but there were midwives why would they want to kill midwives because the Bible say that you should give birth in pain and these midwives come along and take away the pain they must die never hear anything so perverted the Bible says women will give birth and pain how dare you take away the pain the Bible also says that if you see a poor man feed him how dare you God made him poor who are you to meet that to change and to and to interfere that is ridiculous the whole point of morality is some people are dying save them some people are hungry feed them some people are ignorant teach them some people are in pain take it away so again once we know why there's pain we get comfortable with it why are women in labor experience Tyrion Singh so much pain while the bible's say yes the Bible says that there will be pain so that's it now you're happy that's not that's not moral that's just barely decent so even when we know why there's pain we object can't there be a painless way to the same goodness to the same so here's here's how we have to look at things the purpose of creation is to elevate that which is wrong and to make sweet that which is bitter and to bring light to the darkness now we wake up in this world and there's darkness and there's pain and there's bitterness and we say what in the world's going on let's try this again the plan is that there will be a world it will be an ugly world it will be an ungodly world it will be a painful place your job is to make it better so when you see something painful and ugly don't panic don't go into shock this is our job whatever pain you see whatever ugliness you see what can you do to fix it every now and then in history we came across an evil that really paralyzed us we never expected anything that bad and for a few years were knocked out can't function but we recover and life is good even after these horrible things are experienced let me say one beautiful little story came to Minnesota in 1970 in st. Paul there was a tiny little congregation that was still alive they had maybe 12 members who attended and the average age was 79 but those few people who came were such delightful people amazing their faith and their and their innocence and there were just beautiful people we have a Labov ature custom which I'm sure you've heard of that the Shabbos before the new month we read the entire tehilim and it's best if you can do it with a minion so there were three of us three children three Labov atures and we're thinking who can we get to join us for the tehilim Shabbos morning and there were two brothers from Poland delightful delightful people full of life full of good humor and they were a little bit more educated than the others and the american-born I go over to one of the brothers his name was Edel I said you know how would you like to come one Shabbos after for early in the morning to say the whole chillin with us he says only one Shabbos out of four I said yeah yeah just one he said why why only one I said that's art that's art that's our custom yeah if you want to do more that he says none my brother and I we say the whole to Hill in every shop this morning I I must have looked stunned he said I'll tell you I'll tell you why we were in the concentration camp for three years the Allies came in and liberated the camp this is something people don't realize they came in they opened up the gates and they said the war is over you're free to go and we were standing there by the gate totally panicked and paralyzed because we had no place to go go where the steffel is gone families gone go where and how do I get there it was almost more comfortable to stay in the camp so they're standing there completely lost they don't know what to do and as they're standing there this polish woman comes towards them with a big basket and hands them a loaf of bread he says my brother and I shook hands and we promised each other that for this kindness that God has shown us we will save the whole to heal him every Shabbos morning they don't make people like that anymore they're standing at the gates of a concentration camp and they can't get over God's kindness where do they get this enthusiasm for life how is it that the first thing they did when they came to the United States is get married and have children after what you saw the picture of life that you just experienced you want to bring kids into this world yes they couldn't wait start a family have children where do they get this from how does this work you would think people would give up in fact Elie Wiesel himself the first time he spoke to the Deborah told that ever that he has no intentions of having children not in this world and they never had to convince him whatever reason God has for putting Jews into Egypt that's just strategic part of fixing a messed up world means Jews have to go down to Egypt which is particularly messed up that's strategic but when God takes us out of Egypt that's personal when a person gets sick god forbid its strategic it's part of what has to happen in the process of fixing this world but when a person is cured that's personal on God's part when I send you down to Egypt that's a job when I take you out of Egypt that's because you're mine like bring home the troops bring them home isn't that beautiful but who should bring them home the government well the government is the one who sent them a king sends his people to war and then he is so thrilled when they come home what are you thrilled about if you don't like them at war why'd you send them again the answer is if we're talking about a decent king or a real president you send people to war because it's necessary you bring them home because they're your children it's a different thing so God gives us difficulties because that's the job that's what has to happen but when the difficulty goes away that's personal that's because he likes you not part of the strategy so how does a guy come out of a concentration camp and thank God for a loaf of bread because he knows the concentration camp was a strategy it was a strategic move how why I don't know but when God sends you a loaf of bread and you're hungry that's personal huge difference so some of them do bad things happen to good people bad things don't happen because who's gonna cause it things don't happen by themselves there isn't another God hiding somewhere that makes bad things happen we don't believe that the devil has an agenda of its own of his own only God moves and shakes the world so whatever happens was meant to happen why I don't know and I don't like it and I will not stop complaining until the fact becomes the truth that's why we have to have mushiya mushiya doesn't mean some guy is gonna come and give you candy yeah it wouldn't be bad either get candy get candy get candy but the reason we need mushiya is because we are never going to be content having fact be different from truth it doesn't sit right with us there's a certain objection built in when things are not the way they should be it can't be good enough so even though there's a reason but if it's not the way it should be not good enough so we're working towards making a world in which the truth prevails and all fact surrenders to the truth so if I stop a guy in the street and I say come put on tefillin he says I don't need that yeah that's a fact that's a fact but comfort on so on because that's the truth because that's the truth Jews don't eat pork it's true you know Jews are do eat well that's a fact and since when are we intimidated by fact the bumblebee should not be able to fly got a big body with tiny wings can't fly can't but nobody told them say flies that's Jewish we can't fly come on it's a fact we're a tiny minority we're outnumbered nobody wants us nobody likes us everybody's trying to stifle us and silence us and I just can't work yeah but that's just the fact truth is we're here forever we're here forever this is this priest I was talking to him about Jewish whatever and he says yeah but but why did so how come you suffer so much I didn't like that I love to talk about how much we suffer but for some reason when he asked it it didn't feel right Jews get together all we talk about is how much we suffer you think you had a bad week wait till you hear about what you ran your car into a tree how high up the tree you should have seen my car I will love to suffer and we love to talk about it but when the priest said so why do you suffer so much yeah there was some hint there that I didn't like so I said we suffer what gives you the impression he said oh come on throughout all of history you always suffered I said throughout all of history we were always there so if you hang around for 4,000 years yeah you had a lot of headaches we don't suffer more we live longer but the Romans didn't suffer of course not they died that people don't suffer so what makes you think we suffer and by the way I said how many holidays have you got on your calendar - and one of them celebrates his death have you seen our calendar I think we're having more fun and it's true the fact is that we can't even exist and the truth is we're having more fun we have more life we're more in touch with truth and the fact well it's gonna have to surrender because the facts always surrender to the truth I think I think that the confusing question whatever God does is meant to be I mean that's what it means but what about what people do or monkeys if we have free will can't we cause suffering that wasn't meant to happen because I have free will if I decide I want to hurt you you're in trouble and it wasn't meant to happen cuz I wasn't supposed to do it that's where it gets a little complicated free will can be very confusing - free will means I am free to choose my will doesn't mean I'm free to do what I want and that's rather obvious because so many times I wanted to do something and I couldn't do it and I can't complain hey what happened to my free choice read my lips free choice you made your choice that's all the freedom you're gonna get so you decided to rob a bank that's it that's your freedom of choice now are you gonna rob the bank no cuz your arse Allah Mazel you don't thanks Yeti you're the you're the gang that can't shoot straight so you can't complain if you make your choice and fail you can't complain to God hey what happened to my free choice you made your choice so if you decide to shoot somebody and miss your choice was made that was your fruit that was your free will but must your victim die that's not part of your choice that's his destiny and his destiny says not today he's not dying today so really what makes you a murderer the corpse no your choice to kill your choice to kill makes you a murderer will somebody die that's up to God this guy decided to commit suicide I remember was 20 years ago or something he went up to the 78th floor of the Empire State Building there's a window there now you can't open it but in those days you could open it he opened the window and jumped out nobody told him that the wind up there is very very strong the wind blew him back against the building and he fell on the ledge of the 76th floor and he was really bruised at a terrible headache but he didn't die now did he have freedom of choice yes he chose to kill himself yes he acted on it yes did he die not today sorry so the outcome the result the consequence of your choice is not part of your choice that's God's business even when you're trying to kill yourself certainly when you're trying to kill somebody else so when God gives you freedom of choice he doesn't guarantee you a victim every time you're in a bad mood this is really a significant concept if you ever feel that you are suffering from somebody else's bad choice you're wrong no one can hurt you no one can hurt you even those who desperately try even those who are devoted to hurting you you cannot get hurt because of another person the hurt can come through another person but from God not from another human being where do we see this Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery first I wanted to kill them then they threw him in a pit and then they sold him now he is the Viceroy of Egypt but all the power in the world and they're sure that he's going to take revenge so they Bank they apologize they plead with him please don't punish us what was his answer his answer was you had bad intentions but God had it all planned out for the good so why would I be angry at you I have no reason to be angry at you because what happened to me was God's plan not yours but it's interesting that he didn't let them off the hook he said you had bad intentions do something about that get some help because you're bad but that has nothing to do with me what happened to me comes from God so people can have bad intentions and really want to hurt you but if you do get hurt that's God's decision otherwise for all their bad intentions you will not get hurt how many times has somebody tried to hurt you and you're completely unaware so everything that happens is part of God's plan a human beings choice can be bad but that's where it ends you made your choice now God decides what's gonna happen that makes us much more moral because if you decide to hurt somebody and that person doesn't get the insult that doesn't make me any better I can't claim to be a nice guy cuz I never heard her all I can do is try to hurt her and I tried so I'm as bad as I can get the guy who says yeah I tried to shoot him but I missed well now you're a murderer Anna schlemazel you no less a murderer huh the only way I can become a more be a murderer is by choosing to be that's all I can do after that once I let go of the arrow I'm not in control anymore so I let go of the arrow that's it that makes me a murderer so all those Rockets that that the Hamas fire into Israel which stunningly miraculously doesn't hurt anybody have you noticed this there's something so weird you listened to the news three Rockets were fired and no injuries next well wait wait a minute say that again three Rockets were fun no injuries and this happens twice a week every week yeah well they really are bad shots by accident more people should get hurt this daily miracle is absolutely stunning so how they're so ineffective oh really those rockets blow up yeah but they're always in a garbage dump nobody's ever home when they land what what is going on here this is this is what a ten years this is for that's why Israel gets up in the UN twelve thousand rockets were fired at us yeah but nobody got hurt so who cares excuse me how do you fire twelve thousand rockets and nobody gets hurt and we're talking about Israel not Texas there isn't that much empty space anyway but the point is once they fire the rocket they are terrorists the fact that God blows the rocket into the ocean that's not to their credit see I'm not so bad yeah you're bad you're as bad as you can get so that gives us a much more a much more stringent definition of morality you're a murderer as soon as you pull that trigger how significant is it that you choose even if it doesn't turn out that way I mean imagine a daughter calls her mother and says mom I didn't mean to hurt you I really that make a difference of course our intentions to God are so significant that it it changes everything if you meant well he loves you even though you messed up and if you meant evil even though it turned out okay he's not happy with you so freedom of choice is its own significance it doesn't have to have consequence and the thing with mashiac is this we don't know which acts are the ones that god is waiting for so that he can bring mushiya it could be the very next thing i do could tip tip the scales so we have to believe that every good act everything we do to prepare the world from luscinia might be that that final straw that's going to bring mushiya and it is part of God's plan but plan is not the same as act so God has a plan but we got to go through that we got to do it so it's exciting to think that after 5000 years of really great people doing really great things all that is left for us to do is one more I need goodness that will make all the difference in the world so let's get on with if you can do a mitzvah don't think don't think petty don't think tiny think global if you can bring mushiya one minute sooner you know what that means one minute sooner if Messiah comes one minute later it means there will be one more moment of human suffering you know what that means seven billion minutes of suffering why is that acceptable so for myself you know if you tell me my fee is coming next week I'm fine next week is great in fact I can get my act together you know that's good I need a little time so for me next week is wonderful but that means another week of human suffering that's horrible that's horrible and if you're not worried about the whole world how about just the Jewish world 15 million minutes of Jewish suffering why is that acceptable or just your neighbor you can wait a week because you're not in trouble he's in trouble he can't afford a week so get excited we need mushiya now not tomorrow because tomorrow means 24 more hours of suffering does that bother you should so do a mitzvah maybe it's the one like a doctor who says you know if God wants him to live who live if not so what do I have to get up in middle of the night come on you're a doctor get up maybe you're the one who was meant to save him maybe you're the one who was meant to complete the job of correcting the world and getting it back on track so in our lives from now on before Rosh Hashanah we should all have a good sweet year a good year means all the facts should be what they are a sweet year means all the facts should match the truth that we shouldn't have to explain anything because there are no further questions the fact and the truth are the same life is good so have a good year a sweet year a really true year full of Jewish stuff which will never go away and the facts they're just facts like the bumblebee just keep on flying [Applause]

Channel: Jewish Learning Institute

Views: 179,108

Rating: 4.7377048 out of 5

Keywords: Struggles, Lecture, class

Id: eYknpj831kE

Length: 64min 22sec (3862 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 26 2020