The downfall of ERAZAM of Predjama | The World On Fire

Okay, so here is part two of our Slovenian friend Arzam. Now, last time I told you about Arzam of Pjama and how he survived because of the hidden caves running through the [music] mountain. But there's another part of the story. Despite all the walls, despite all the cliffs and the secret tunnels to get food from the outside world, Arzam was ultimately defeated by the army outside. [music] According to the famous story, he was betrayed by someone on the inside. [music] Now, let's refresh the story. More than 500 years ago, this castle belonged to a knight named Arzam of Pujama. Arzam had some powerful enemies and an army came to capture him and they surrounded the castle. They blocked every visible entrance and they waited and the soldiers were convinced they would win. After all, you can't survive forever. Sooner or later, the food runs out. You know, the water runs out, people eventually surrender. Except Arzim [music] didn't. Week after week they wait months yet the the castle remains supplied and they couldn't understand it. What they didn't know was that hidden behind the castle was the whole vast cave system running through the mountain. And while the army thought that Arzen was trapped, he was secretly bringing in food and supplies through hidden passages. And the siege dragged on and the soldiers became frustrated and the castle seemed unconquerable. And in many ways it was. The walls worked, the caves worked, the defense [music] worked, the mountain worked, everything worked until one day it didn't work. According to the famous story, one of Arzam's own servants betrayed him. [music] And the servants secretly communicated with the attackers. And when Arzam was sitting in the castle's outhouse virtually the only minute a day he went outside, the servants gave a signal and a cannon was fired. And that was the end of Arzam. And think about that. The army couldn't defeat the castle. The cliffs couldn't be overcome. The hidden tunnels couldn't be discovered. The walls couldn't be breached. But one bad influence on the inside accomplished what an entire army could not. And I I think the lesson here is pretty obvious. When fighting 1800, we spend so much time worrying about attacks from the outside and the outside culture and the outside internet and the headlines and the influences that we can see. And yet, of course, obviously those things matter. But sometimes the closer danger is much dangerous. [music] Sometimes it's the people we've become comfortable around, the influences we've stopped noticing, the conversations we no longer question, the attitudes that we absorb without ever realizing it. [music] Human beings are incredibly impressionable. We can become inspired by greatness and we can also become pulled down by negativity. We become like the people around us far more than we realize. And I'm not saying become suspicious of everyone around you. I'm not saying every friend is a bad influence. Quite the opposite, Hashem gave us people because we need people, but we also need awareness. We need to occasionally ask ourselves, who is shaping me? Who am I becoming because of the people around me? Who do I sound like? Who do I think like? Who is influencing my ambitions and my standards and my relationship with Tyra? Because sometimes a person spends years building walls against the Sahara, [music] but he leaves the whole front door open. the army outside of Pjama Castle. They couldn't bring it down. One influence on the inside did. And that's one of the greatest protections the Jew can have [music] is not merely strong walls. It's strong surroundings. It's friends who elevate us and neighbors who elevate us and a sh that elevates us, a community that pushes us upward. The people around us are never neutral. They're either helping us become better or they're quietly helping us become less than what [music] we could be to put it mildly. So, every now and then ask yourself this question. Who's inside your castle?