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A $50 Mistake that Cost Too Much (Tisha B'Av)
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A desire for revenge. A decision that seemed small at the time. But sometimes the smallest actions can lead to consequences we never imagined. This powerful story reveals how a $50 mistake turned into a life-changing tragedy — and the painful lesson that one moment of anger can create consequences that last forever. As we are during Tisha B’Av, we are reminded of the devastating consequences of sinat chinam — baseless hatred and unnecessary conflict. The destruction of the Beit HaMikdash began because of division among our people, and its rebuilding begins with choosing kindness, understanding, and unity.
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Jewish Religious Education
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Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
an incredible story which I want to
mention over here on tishabove because
it is so appropriate for the day.
There's a person who works on repud
which means fab fabric inside of cars
and motorcycles to go ahead and
refurbish it to help out help people
when it gets ripped.
He was in the store without any work in
front of him. When enrolled at one of
the most expensive motorcycles that are
in Erit Israel, one that's worth a few
tens of thousands of shekel that are
required to buy it is a very highclass
motorcycle with a ripped chair. The the
moshab, the place that the person sits,
it was ripped. The fabric was ripped. So
the person asked him, "How much would it
cost to fix this?" The 18-year-old who
was who was uh rolling in his motorcycle
asked him how much would it cost to fix
this. He looked at one two over and he
said 150 shekel. 50 bucks. 150 shekels.
That's what he told him. Then and there
the person looked at the chair. He
looked at the man and he started balling
and crying. He started tearing from from
head to toe. And the person was
bewildered. Was the price too expensive?
I don't think I I'm not considered one
of the more expensive. you want me to
give you a discount? Is that what's
going on? So immediately the person told
him an unbelievable story. He said, I
was parked with me and a couple other
friends by a cafe, my motorcycle
together with them. I worked to borrow
this motorcycle for years almost six,
seven years until I was 17, 18 years
old. Seven or eight years of working, of
ca of waitering and this just to be able
to get my dream motorcycle. This is my
dream that I've been working at for my
whole life. I finally bought it and we
were parked by a cafe, me and two other
of my friends with our motorcycles over
there came by three, you know, uh,
hooligans that were passing by in the
street and they started with they took
out a Swiss Army knife and started
ripping people's chairs of all the
motorcycles that were parked there. They
were running through very quickly and
going ahead and ripping open the chairs
of the the different motorcycles that
passed by, including mine and my friends
that they passed by. We saw them cuz we
were sitting outside of the cafe. And we
got up. There were three of us and it
was three of them. And we started
chasing after them. We chased after them
and they ran like wildfire. We were
chasing and chasing. They split into two
and we also split into two. I was
chasing after one. and he was chasing
and we were going at them. Finally, I
got close enough to try to be able to
reach one of them as I was chasing them.
I took my helmet that was I was holding
in my hand and I hid it over him on the
head. I hid his head over I basically
almost tossed it on his head and threw
it on top of him in order just to be
able to damage him because I was so
upset at him doing this. This is my
prize motorcycle that I have.
Well, guess what? [snorts]
The person collapsed on the floor, was
immediately taken to the hospital. And
while he was there, they had an upgrade.
They checked him up up and down. He
almost died, but he came out alive. He
did survive. I hit him right in the mo.
I heard him in a spot in the brain,
which was very subtle, obviously. And he
survived, but he was claimed to be in a
wheelchair for life. He will never be
able to walk again. I hit him in this
place which directly went down to his
spine and his legs. He will never be
able to walk again for the rest of his
life. And I was a broken person. I was
taken to jail. I've been in jail for a
little while and I was eventually I was
able to get out. Something like this
deserves a certain amount of time. And
for whatever reason, he ended up getting
out of jail after a certain amount of
time. Especially since they knew how
broken a person I am. I'm a broken
person. I haven't been able to live
since that day of the moment. And I
suddenly realize now as I come to you
that they did that only for 150 shekele
for $50.
I'm willing to sell my whole entire
life. I destroyed someone else's life
for $50.
That's
when we talk about
how we do it for free. What are we
willing to sell for 150 shekel for $50?
What are we willing to give up for just
a little bit of money? How many
relationships have I destroyed? How many
family members am I not talking to? How
many difficulties have I have had with
my boss or my co-workers or the person
who I'm in competition with? How many
people have I spoken lashar about? How
many times have I had it in with the
rabbi or with someone else because of
for really nothing. I didn't get
anything out of it. In the end of the
day, this person is sitting Shiva for
the rest of his life because he thought
something crazy happened. Someone took
advantage of him and ripped his seat.
Someone did something and he affected
his property. It wasn't nice and he
wasn't right. The person wasn't
appropriate. But in the end of the day,
who's the one that loses? Who's the one
that gains from all of this? The sinner
has to stop. And the way that the sinner
stops is when we start realizing it
really, really is. It's for nothing.
It's for a few pennies. Everything
eventually gets blown over. It's time to
start being mo. It's time to start
acting for au. And let me tell you, this
is something I feel all the time. I'll
finish
when when we have our children. If I ask
you one thing that you think you love
most when you see in your children, I
believe most people, especially when
they're older, will say you love to see
when your children are all friends with
each other. They're calling each other,
helping each other out. They're giving
they're helping each other out for
Shabas. When they're stuck in this, it's
just not nothing more gmach. Anyone who
has married children knows exactly what
I'm talking about. Especially, but even
when they're younger, when you see them
playing and having a good time together
and they're laughing with each other or
watching together, playing a game
together, or like I said, when they have
their own houses, but each one is going
ahead and doing their best. One gives
birth, the other one's there to give
them food. It's just there's something
that brings tears to your eyes. There's
no bigger sim than when you see your
children, each one backing up. I
personally feel it. I see it with my
children. I love it. I I
it's it's something that you could just,
you know, lick your jaws with. It's just
so incredible when that happens. Think
about tishabove is one day when we stop
and we start thinking about
Tati and him up above. He's crying
because we're busy beating each other
up. Don't you realize that's also my
sister? Don't you realize that's also
your brother? Don't you realize these
are all my children? I hate seeing you
guys fight. I hate seeing the bickering.
I can't handle it. KJ Baru is having a
difficult time watching us. And you want
him to come back down and live in the
same house with us. You want us to all
hang out in the same house to us? KJ
Baru can't can can't can that's that's
not he's disinterested. That's not what
I'm interested in doing. When I see all
the siblings enjoying each other's
company, scratching each other's back,
everyone's going helping each other out,
realizing that you're
realizing that each one loves the other
one. So then automatically we have a
basd automatically a kbar who comes to
live together with us. He doesn't have
to run away up to shamim and stay away
from us. If we realize the lesson of
this motorcycle guy who [snorts] just
went ahead and see how slow are the
effects of our actions. Are we going
ahead and looking to the ramifications
of what I'm doing? A little bit spoke
about in the in the tish burst of
inspiration. Are we looking at the
extent of what I'm doing or am I selling
myself short for 150 shekel? Am I making
everything out? When we make this pact,
when we make this change
will come to live together with us in a
house together
and aba and everybody else together as
one big happy family.