Is your Faith under Fire?

Hey, what's up everybody? Thank you so much for joining the Nitty Gritty podcast. I'm so happy to have all of you listening. Today I want to discuss something that all of us need to hear. If you believe in God, if you have any type of faith and you believe in the one true God and you are trying to grow and have a relationship with him, you absolutely have to hear today's podcast. And the reason why is because you are under attack. I don't know if anybody has told you, but you need to be very very aware that you are under attack. Now, the problem is that when it comes to a spiritual battle, it's so easy for a person to be thrown off because it's it's 90% of the battle is just being cognizant that you're actually in a war. That there is something a principality that's fighting against you. There's some spiritual something fighting against you. I mean, obviously, you know, this is something from within. A lot of it is our own urges, our own bodily desires and and different things like that. It may be triggered by things that we see or surround ourselves with. But the truth is is that we are most definitely under attack and we need to talk about it. So, I wanted to discuss today 10 things. I've separated this out. So, I want to talk about 10 ways that you are under attack. That faith is under attack. Faith is under attack. Your your belief in God, your your allegiance to him is under attack right now and we need to talk about it. So, I'm going to split these things up. Some of these things go inside, but I think they are divided in the right way. Wrote a few things. Let's talk about it. Hey guys, what's going on? I want to tell you really quickly about an organization here in Ramat Beit Shemesh named Colel Chabad. Colel Chabad is an organization that provides essential support to kids with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. They do everything from making sure that they have personalized lesson plans all the way to advocacy, which is very important. A lot of these kids have fallen through the cracks in the regular system and a lot of them are misdiagnosed. But Colel Chabad through their assessment has found that most of the time it's just learning disabilities. Unfortunately, because of the war, people have reallocated their funds to different war efforts and misplaced families, rightfully so. But unfortunately, what has led to is a lot of these kids falling through the cracks. And now this wonderful organization is at the brink of turning kids away. I would never advocate for something unless I was able to personally tell you how amazing the organization is. I want everybody that can, please go to kolkorae.org and make a donation. We must keep this organization open and running and being able to service all the families that they service. For a long time, when it comes to organizations, many people have asked me, but unless I know personally that I'm dealing with real people, I would never ask my audience. So, again, please make a donation today to Kol Koreh, that's k o l k o r e h dot org. And I can honestly say that you will be changing lives. Okay, back to the show. So, number one is secularism and the decline of religion. So, the rise of all the secular ideologies usually is going to marginalize our faith. It's going to marginalize our religious values in several ways. Often, it's going to promote worldviews and put human reasoning and materialism and personal ambitions over religiosity, over your religion. Now, I know for a lot of people, the word religion is not their favorite word. Even for me, as a person who would consider myself somewhat of a religious fanatic, I do not I don't like the word religion. It connotes and it gives the idea of being involved in practices that don't necessarily always have to do anything with your relationship with God. Like you could be doing something and not have in your mind and not have the proper intention of of building your relationship with God. So, unfortunately, over the years, religion is sort of the word religion has taken on that. But I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to discuss it from that standpoint. I'm going to use the word religion as the way that it actually should be used, meaning and talking about our personal relationship with God. So, I don't I always prefer it, but that's it. So, what we have with the secularism and the decline of religion is that, you know, when one king rises, the other one falls. So, the more and more that we have this increase of secularism, what happens is is that our faith and our religion with God begins to decline. It starts to go down. And the reason that it starts to go down is because more than any more than anything, we've been bombarded from every single side a person is fighting this war and from everything that you see, the the the materialism and the everybody's personal ambitions and and some of the things that would seem to be that these things will actually help us in the end become our biggest enemy and becomes the one thing that deters us from actually uh finding that place and that home with God, with Hashem, the way that we actually want to. So, we have to be cognizant, like I said, of this war. That if secularism is is rising in your life, and you know what this is. And what do I mean by secularism? Let's I'm going to give you a very easy way to determine um the things that you take on in your life. I I saw once uh long ago, I think it was somewhere uh in one of the books uh that I've gotten from the Breslov Research Institute um from Rabbi Nachman, very very very very special thing that he says. And this is something that I live with. I think it's something that I I'll give over to you right now and I think everybody's going to be able to identify. He said like this, and I was facing something that I had to do in my life and I was in a in a dis- split decision, you know, uh place of in my life where I needed to make a decision fast. And I saw this and it changed my life. I said that if what you are going to do is going to glorify God, is going to honor God, then do it. If it's not going to glorify God and it's not going to to to give him the honor, then don't do it. Very simple. And this was given as a as advice for a way to live your life. When you are going to approach something in your life, we have to honestly think about it. Is what I'm going to do going to bring honor to God, or is it not? And that will help me decide of whether or not I want to do that. Helps me to know of whether or not this is a secular ambition, or if this is a religious ambition. Because the evil inclination, the the other side, the sudden the Satan, the the opposition, whatever you want to call it, however you you call it, is always, you know, two steps ahead of you. Knows more than you. Knows the Torah. Knows Bible very very well. And can be able to convince a person. And you don't always know if it's actually for you to do, or it's the right thing for you to do, whether it's a religious thing or not. But especially when it comes to secularism and being involved in the world, how we interact with this world, it can be very very hard for us to distinguish what the actual truth is. So, we have to be on guard, and we have to be vigilant. So, number two, subjectivity of morality. So, the rejection of absolute truth challenges the foundations of faith-based morality. It should be no surprise to anybody. So, it's no longer about what's okay. It's now about what I've okay, right? So, there's no objective morality. There's no objective truth. There's no one truth. There's many different truths. I'm sure everybody's heard that now, right? It's it's going along with the phrase of, "Oh, I I'm not religious. I'm spiritual," right? So, what happens is is that people develop a lot of their own spiritual beliefs. And what happens with this, and this is the the major morph, is that it it goes from being that we are people who are created in God's image to creating a God in our image. And that's when it gets very, very dangerous. What person no longer is going in the way and in the path that God has created for them, they're trying to create paths and fit God inside of their paths, which ultimately they become the driver and and God goes in the in the in the passenger seat. If that that's even being a nice way of saying it. So, when there's no objective truth and there's no you know, we believe in this and it becomes I believe and I make up whatever I want. Everybody could tell you I'm going to tell you another very interesting thing. So, I saw also too from one of the Hasidic masters that wrote that once it goes beyond one, that's what makes a lie possible. Meaning that if we believe in the divine unity of God, right? We believe that there's one God. As long as we are at one, you can have an objective truth. But the moment that there's two, then you already can have a lie. Where do we see this play out biblically? We see that at the beginning of creation God creates Adam, right? And as Adam is alive and he's he's there and he's walking going about, obviously, you know, we understand he was lonely. So, God therefore took from his rib and created Eve, right? There was no trouble in the world. Now, women, don't take this the wrong way because I'm not talking about you and I'm not even talking about Eve, but I'm just trying to paint the picture of what actually happens. From the moment that Eve is created, which everything obviously begins very beautiful, now that one truth that Adam actually knew becomes obsolete in the face of another truth that's being presented to him, which was not the truth at all. So, we have an understanding that the more that there is say there's a then there's another person, then there's Cain and Abel. And then then now there's their truth versus their truth and that leads to the death of one of the brothers. So what I'm telling you is is that once there's no objectivity and everything becomes subjective the way that I believe, the way that I feel, and my personal truth and everything like that. When a person ends up there, they end up into the danger zone because a person will stray further and further and further away from God. And what happens to a lot of people is that they're walking in the journey and with God they forget ultimately they forget and and they're not cognizant so they're not even aware of the fact that you can hold beliefs that are coming from, you know, the book of second opinions which is nowhere in the Bible. Meaning that you have a belief that is outside the Bible. And I've seen this many times. A person wants to take on a career move, they want to do something and if we're not going like what we said in number one where I'm making a decision based upon whether or not it's going to glorify God, once it becomes my personal ambition I can be doing things and I'll start reading God into what I'm actually doing but I'm not actually not following his path. I'm creating my own thing. And then when I begin to talk to someone else I ask asking advice from someone else that person will then give me advice that's also against against God. It's against the Torah, against the Bible. So then I find myself in this place of following my truth and I'm not following God's truth. So that's a big very very very big danger. As my father would say, you know, every good idea ain't a God idea, right? Number three. Hyper individualism. Society's focus on self-reliance and personal achievement achievement often leaves little room for trusting in God or collective spirituality. So we've entered into the world where everybody has become obsessed with self-help, self-help books, uh self self-help motivational speakers. Everything's about self, you know, you know, for years people have been saying iPhone, iPad, I, you know, you know, it used to be iPod, whatever it is, my this, me this. Um when we enter into this world of this this hyper individualism, what happens is a person begins to rely on the created and not the creator. So, that means that trusting in God and basic principles, biblical principles, causes me now to focus more on myself and to believe and trust in myself more than I trust in God. And guess what? I will tell you that if you put God on the back burner and you start to believe in yourself more than you actually believe in God, I'm going to tell you you will fail 100% of the time. I guarantee you. Bar none. Person relies on themself only, you will fail 100% of the time. Even in a case where you believe and it looks as to you that you've actually succeeded, you'll see later on in life that you actually failed because we were created and the way that we were wired was in order for us to have that connection with God. I seen a quote many, many years ago. That quote said that, you know, if you take a fish and you take that fish out of the water, you will see a fish flapping, not being able to breathe, very, you know, out of its element to so degree and ultimately it dies because it's outside of its element. But once you take that same fish and you, you know, hurry up and release them back into the water, you will see the genius of that fish fish. Because it's in its place and in its natural element. We were created with a void and we were created with the with the with the need for God's help. That's the way that God created us. So, from the moment that we disconnect ourself from that and we're no longer plugged into him and we think that we're the one that we're focused on ourselves, then a person absolutely is going to fail and ultimately will reach a place of either death or spiritual death because they're not connected with the source. No hyper individuals. No such thing as self-help. There's no such thing as God help. That's it. Hey, what's going on? I had to stop before a second because I want to tell you if you like what you're hearing and if you're getting value from what you're hearing, please like and subscribe to the channel. It helps us get this out there and ultimately, you know what we're trying to do, spread the name of God all throughout the world. So, like and subscribe, hit the notification bell so that anytime I put out a video, you are going to be informed first. Number four. And this one is very, very big and I know it's going to be hard for some of you, but um it's very, very important for us to discuss. This is technology and distractions. So, the constant connection to technology makes it harder to curve out time for prayer, for a reflection, uh for studying the Torah, right? So, it's a game of momentum. I I have to tell you this, it's a game of momentum. My football coach used to say something important to us. And it's important for you. He used to tell us before the game that you got six plays. These first six plays of this game, you need to go out and hit them so hard in the mouth. Now, obviously, I'm talking about American football. I'm sorry for anybody else who misses uses the label football. So, but my football coach used to tell us, "You got six plays. You need to make your presence felt in those first six plays. You need to dominate on whatever side of the ball you're on for those first six plays because that is going to be the momentum that keeps you going. So, a person is living in this world today, it's a game of momentum. Football, basketball, whatever sport it is, it's all about the momentum. So, I'm saying that to say because a person wakes up in the morning. Now, the first thing that we need to do and it's built in for us as as Orthodox Jews, the first things we say is modeh ani, thank you God for waking us up, restoring my soul. First thing that a person has to do is to connect themselves to God. From the beginning of the day, we're prioritizing as we said in the first first first thing here is that we're prioritizing God first. So, if the person wakes up and immediately you're on your Facebook, you're on your Instagram, you're on your YouTube, you're on whatever it is that ultimately is going to distract you from connecting with God. It just is what it is. You will be distracted from your ultimate purpose in life which is building and forging that relationship with Hashem because you have given momentum to the other side. A lot of times that's what happens throughout the day. If a person even say let's say we start up we start out very strong. We start the day with with God with with with our prayer and with everything that we need to do in order to build that relationship. And then as the day goes on, you know, obviously we got to go to work. We have to do this or whatever a person, you know, doesn't doesn't dive in there or pray in the morning on time. Whatever the case is, the person has to go out to enter into the world. What happens is is that several times throughout the day a person is going to going to enter into world where they're going to have momentum shifts, right? A person's desire is is at one point to pray and connect to God and then the next point he wants to person wants to do something else that has nothing to do with that that pulls him back into like what we were talking about the secularism, the the mundane of what's going on in the world. We are created and we were put here in a way that we are supposed to be constantly connected with God. So, it's a momentum thing. Technology is one of the biggest things that distracts a person. I met a guy and I know a guy who was involved with creating I don't know if it was a algorithm or something at this, you know, something some some type of I don't think it was an actual technical device, but more of a an ideology or whatever it is that, you know, helps social platforms, places like Google they help them came up with the idea that helps it more from just being a a thing where we're collecting data where we we start to understand the way a customer shops online, the way that a person would shop or or buy things um to becoming a a entity, a thing, I don't even know what to call this thing that controls and manipulates the person on what they should be looking for. And this is the algorithm today. A lot of people have entered into crazy places and crazy addictions online that completely take up all of the day. The biggest thing is not only just the the illicit things that you may see on social media because that's one category, but the other thing is how much time it robs a person that a person can go into a feed and and and be fed. And that's why, you know, it's a very appropriately named, that it's a feed that you are fed things that constantly distract you and take you away from your devotion to God. And it's it's it's a it's mind-blowing what these guys have been able to accomplish in the the mind control that they're able to accomplish from, you know, being able to get a person onto these platforms. It's and it's and it's dangerous for a person who wants to serve God. It's very dangerous for a person that wants to forge a real relationship with Hashem and to be close to him and to build your emunah and to be a person that that lives by prayer. It says the righteous person lives by their faith, not lives by their their Instagram, not lives by their their Google. These things have come to distract us. I saw from one of the very very righteous people here in in Jerusalem who wrote that and I think this was many years ago that they actually wrote at the beginning of seeing that technology was increasing the way it was with the new phones, the new gadgets, the new everything. He says that, you know, it appears to him that God was going to send in to the world a awesome and holy light, this very very bright light. And what happens is is the the other side, meaning that the side of the sudden, the evil incarnation was able to grab and to take from this light and bring down an artificial light which comes down in the form of technologies and different things like that. And when a person, if you notice this, this is this is amazing. I was just talking to someone else about this. If you go outside and you take your phone, your iPhone, right? And and you went from outside into inside, it does a very innocent thing it seems. The screen gets brighter because now you've entered into the sun. The sun is the natural light. But the screen gets brighter to keep your face there. And the more and more you're looking into that screen, it distracts you from the natural light. You know, there's a story of Rabbi Nachman, one of the Chassidic masters, that he was going out, I think maybe from, you know, some synagogue or something and he's seen as he was going past in the charity, he sees this a person who was very busy, actively working, doing as much as he possibly could. And he stopped and he said to him, "Hey, have you ever looked up to the sky? You looked up to the sky today? You ever saw the sky?" So the person was so busy. Now, this is way before there was anything like a smartphone or anything like that, but it it stands to tell us that whenever we stop and we reflect it and spend time, quality time with God, real true devotion to him, like really giving over our our whole entire selves to to to Hashem in the way that we need to. And how much of that, if a person calculates it and I I think they have these type of this type of data now where a person could actually look and see how much time that you've devoted to social media, especially for record. I'm not talking about people that work on social media. I'm talking about the average person. It is a complete time waster and it distracts a person from the relationship with God. Okay, number five. The fearing of society. It's very interesting that the the the society people can express whatever they want. You can identify as whatever you want. You can be whatever you want. You can love whoever you want to love, all right? But the moment that faith is brought up, then all of a sudden a person could be attacked or a person feels that because of all these things that are going out, you know, in society today, that you know, you begin to look like you're the crazy one, right? So, expressing religious beliefs can lead to backlash or a person being ostracized or making people hesitant to share their faith publicly, right? Because of that. And I'm going to tell you something right now. It comes from a book called Orchos Tzaddikim, which is one of the Jewish books on ethics, the path of the righteous, and it says something very, very important in the first section when it talks about humility. Says over there that a person should not humble themselves before the wicked. You do not do that. When we see that the rest of the world is going that way, our job is to be like Abraham our father. He was called Abraham Haivri, the the the Hebrew. And the reason why is because the word Ivri Ivri means to pass on to the other side, to be on the other side. And and what the sages come to tell us is about Abraham is that he was on one side and the rest of the world was on the other. Meaning that he believed in the one true God and the rest of the world was drowning in idolatry. Meaning that once we see that the world is going in a certain way, we don't humble ourselves to that way. We're not looking for ways to try to make uh homosexuality kosher. We're not looking for ways to try to make this also Oh, yeah, well, God also No, no, no, no, no, no. God is first, God's values, and we don't humble ourselves in front of the wicked. People that are doing things that are anti-Hashem, that anti-our faith, that anti- We do not bow down before them. Rather, we stand up to them. We be strong. We we share our faith. We talk about God publicly. We're not allowed to run away from them. We're not allowed to run away from them. And what happens is usually precisely a person that tucks and hides Hashem away from the rest of the world, ultimately, Hashem starts to tuck and hide himself away from you. And this leads to what we're talking about here in the first place, this spiritual decline that a person feels in their life where they feel very estranged and and and and distant from God. And this is how we get there, is that if we if we're not willing to stand up against the rest of the world and proclaim our our allegiance to God and how much we love him and our faith and everything like that, then ultimately, how do we expect for God to stand up for us, right? Do not humble yourself before the wicked. Do not allow society and its ways to sway you or to or to switch and change your faith in any type of way. Okay. Moving on to number six. Materialism. The emphasis on wealth and possessions and instant gratification can erode spiritual values. Everybody knows this. So, I want to tell you something very, very famous you need to hear from the Hasidic masters. I want to tell you from the Hasidic masters something you really, really need to hear. Either they take away the money from the man or they take away the man from the money. And the reason you need to hear this is that you cannot take it with you. No matter how much you put in all the effort and no matter how much sacrifice that you put in to amassing a wealth, you can't take it with you. But one thing you can take with you is all of the good that you've done in this world in order to glorify and increase God's name. This you take with you. The amount of commandments that you have done to to to you know, further God's agenda in the world, these things stay with you forever. But the things that you cannot take with you are the material things. And unfortunately, we find ourselves all the time chasing after the the the most mundane things in this world and this has the one of the biggest hindrances on a person growing and elevating themselves and and and and connecting God in the way that they want to. Because the materialism, the chase for wealth, and the main goal in this world is for us to be close to God. King David says, "What is good for me? What is my good?" It's closeness to Hashem. It's kirvas Hashem. Closeness to God. This is my good. This is the real good in the world. It's not to have the biggest house. It's not to have the biggest And I'm not saying that a person shouldn't try to provide for themselves to the best that they best of their ability or their family or different things like that. However, a person needs real time and reflection and prayer, self-introspection to be able to decipher of whether or not they're chasing something because they they believe that they're in order for they believe that by gaining that thing, they're going to be able to increase godliness in the world or if they're chasing after that thing because they're just, you know, trying to keep up with the Joneses. Trying to be like everybody else. But the chase for materialism can destroy a person. And ultimately is going to destroy your relationship with Hashem. After all, everything is his. The whole entire world is his. You know, a lot of times in order to to come close to God I think about this. I'm going to give this is, you know, say God's in one place, right? And a person is is growing spiritually and they're coming closer and closer and closer and closer towards God, right? And as they get there, you know, somewhere along the way as they go going closer to him, they start to see that they have this major major desire for success and wealth and everything like that. And at the beginning it feels like it's a God thing. Yeah, God's with me whatever. And then they start chasing the success and everything else. So then they start to going in the opposite direction in order to get everything. But they don't know that everything that they just turned their back on God for to go and get is all artificial because through God, behind God, and with God, you know, for the for lack of a better term, is all everything that they could possibly be could be. He is the possessor of all wealth, all riches, all everything good is behind God. It's it's through him and through their relationship with God is how we actually get things that that if I do if I am, you know, for whatever case if if there is a lot of for me and is is a part of God's divine plan to give me, then having that with him is is the the greatest success that a person can have. Having wealth and riches but being a nasty person, not having uh um um moral uh ethics, not being a a a a good person, that's that's not called wealth. That's not called wealth. That's called living a joke. Living in you know, living a life apart from God with money uh is is not living It's it's is really not living. And any person that's ever been to the top and has found God afterwards understands this and knows this, but this can definitely go without being said. Materialism can completely disrupt and interrupt your relationship with God and ultimately put you in a place where you feel very very distant from him. You can have everything in the world if you don't have Hashem, you don't have nothing. But if you have Hashem, you have everything. Okay, number seven. Now this is a big one. The erosion of family values. Because traditional family structures and roles are rooted in faith, it's rooted in emunah. They're being increasingly criticized and redefined. And this is something big on where we are in society today. The push to sexualize children, uh to put push homosexuality to the children, and and to prop this up as this is the right way and uh a the opposite of male and female. Listen, the Bible is very clear, the Torah is very very clear. God created them male and female. Male and female. The ideal structure for family that is given from God is male and female, father and mother, abba and imma. Right? When we start to distort these things and allow, you know, our involvement in the secular world and wanting to please and appease other people, right? Once we enter into this, then we find ourselves in a very very scary situation. We find ourselves in a situation to where things become murky. And and I want you to understand this. If you want to ascend and you want to become become close to Hashem, you are going to have to make major major sacrifices in our life. And you can see that already from the list that we discussed. You are going to have to make major sacrifices in your life in order to become close as God, just like you would to be successful in anything that you do. You're going to have to make a sacrifice. So, the truth is is that this really shouldn't be a sacrifice because there's very clear verses and and inside the Bible that are opposed to homosexuality and for sure transgender and all of its offshoots. But once family values and the the erosion of of ideas that people are having today, once these become set in a place a person's mind and heart as that this is the proper way, a person doesn't understand the the the damage that this does to a person spiritually. I mean, this is almost the very very foundation of spirituality is the proper separation, right? God created them male and female. He created Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve. And a person has to understand that conflating this type of thing, which we don't understand, right? You know, a person after time and this is where you can measure where a person is in the relationship with God. And I'm not trying to pick on people. I just want to be honest because we all have to do the self-work of finding out where we stand on things. is that a person if you and this is a test for everyone every one of us. If a person finds themself, I'm not talking about a religious person who's already accepted. That's That's a different category. But if you find yourself in a place where it bothers you, okay? I want you to listen to me. Where it bothers you that the Torah says that a relationship, a marriage relationship should be between a man and a woman. And it may be bothering you because you have gay friends, gay relatives, whatever it is. But you find yourself in a situation where you are questioning the Torah or trying to deeply understand why God said that it can't be between male and male, why it can't be between female and female. I'm telling you already you're in the danger zone and you have to realign yourself with God. Because not only is this something that's not natural understand to to the human species, but it's also something that God said very, very clear. So, the what happens is in the relationship between us and God is that the more and more time that we spend with God and the more and more we're devoted to to God, we develop godly desires. Meaning that we start to want what God wants. This is like it says on on King David. Says that King David was a person who was after God's heart. All right? Meaning that he wanted to feel what God felt. He wanted to to be excited about what God was excited. He wanted to reward what God rewarded and punish whatever God punished. That's where King David was because of his awesome and tight and close relationship with God. Now, he wasn't a perfect person, obviously. But this is where King David was coming from. So, when a person develops that loving relationship with God, what happens is is that you start to desire what he desires. So, once we start asking questions on oh, well, why did God say this? Why did he Why does he not allow this? How come it's not okay to do that? I'm just telling you right now you're already in the danger zone. That means that the outside influences of what's going on in the world has entered you already and it's unlocked rooms that should be closed already. It should be closed already. It should be very, very clear for a person to decipher what's okay and what's not okay. And really, even in addition to this, the erosion of family values, when you think about it, today the society of the hookup, you know? Everybody's busy with hooking up with this one. Nobody wants to commit to a real relationship anymore. And you see this is not only in relationships, relationships to work, relationships to business. Uh you look at the, you know, the NBA. I grew up watching Michael Jordan play for the Chicago Bulls. Now, I know at the end of, you know, his career, he ended up as a as a Wizard. But the truth is is that like a- anybody who thinks about Michael Jordan, they think of the Chicago Bulls. They think of the six championships that he won with the with the Chicago Bulls. There was a certain level of commitment. And when he was going after, you know, the crowns, so to speak, the crowns were Magic Johnson, Larry Bird. You think of Larry Bird, you think of the Celtics, right? You think of the Celtics. When you think of Magic uh Magic Johnson, you think of the Lakers, right? So, there was a certain level of commitment there, um during those times in terms of entertainment, sports, uh professional, uh business, all the way to relationships as well. But what you see today is all about the hookup. Nobody's really committed. Yeah, I have a girlfriend, but yeah, we we we swing, we it it the the world today has become sick. And uh you know, the amount of young people that are not even interested. They don't even think about marriage. Like, get married? Like, they don't think about it. Even if they are are in a actual relationship, they're not even thinking about marriage. It's not even a thing for them anymore. So, what we're seeing today is this erosion of family values takes a hit because the the family, the nuclear family, is the foundation of building a strong and successful relationship with God. You understand? Because Adam needed to have Eve there in order for him to actually grow. She's a helpmate against him in order for him to push and to be able to have all the that to accomplish whatever ambitions that he had, he needs that person on his side to constantly push him and to elevate him. And this is the role of a wife and a husband together. And when you don't have both, you know, masculine and female energy and you have, you know, only two of the same, this is a disruption and and society, it's a disruption in a person's uh faith and it's ultimately going to be a disruption in between you and your relationship with God. That says what it says. Number eight. Science verse faith debates. This is a big major issue, especially for a lot of people who consider themselves rationalists, they consider themselves to be um uh to be, you know, uh I don't know what you call it, skeptics, whatever the case is. Um And and you could be all of that and also still call yourself to be a religious individual also, but you're you're more on the rational side and you're always looking and we find this now that modern society, it often pits the science against religion, creating the perception that faith is outdated and anti-intellectual. So, we look like the cavemen, you believe in a shiv today, you're caveman. And if you believe in, you know, Darwin or uh any of these other clowns, Dawkins, whatever the case, if you believe in in their way or whatever scientists out there, then you are intellectual, you you now risen. A while ago I was in a taxi with my brother-in-law and we were being driven to uh coming home from some long trip or whatever and the guy who was driving, he wanted to tell us a story and he, you know, gave us this joke, a beautiful joke. So, he said, you know, there was two guys who were on the plane, yeah, this older, you know, Orthodox Jewish guy and then you had also to this other guy was very secular but they sit next to each other on the plane. So, and both of them happen to be on the plane at the same time with their grandchildren. So, for the guy who was a religious guy, his uh grandchildren kept coming up to him every few minutes asking him, you know, "I want to make sure Zayde you okay? Do you have everything that you need? Do you whatever?" They always checking up on him making sure that he had something to drink, something to eat, he's being taken care of over there. And the other guy after a while turns to say, "You know, his his grandkids didn't come up to him one time, not one time to check on him. You know, he goes back to check on them." So, what happens he after a while he says over to the other guy, he says, "You know, I want to ask you, my children, my grandchildren, they're not coming up to check on me, but your grandchildren are coming up to you a lot to check on you to see if you're okay." So, he says, "I want to understand what what's going on? What's Why my grandkids are not coming up to me?" So, the religious man looks at him and tells him, he says, "Listen, we believe, especially in Judaism, we believe that the further back we go, the closer we are to Moses, the closer we are to what happened on Mount Sinai, the closer we are to Adam and Eve where Adam was in a in a complete and there's no way to describe the relationship between Adam and and God, right? That it was just the closest that any human being could ever be. And so, we believe that the further back that you go, you actually getting closer to the ultimate human. The ultimate human was that person that was connected to God with no, you know, no distractions, none of the things that we're talking about today. We're talking about the actual close So, the further back the more intelligent we actually got. And there's scientific uh things that that ever shows even today that the further person goes back, the the more of the brain that we actually use. Instead of today where we think we're so smart that all the technology we're actually not functioning as well as human beings did uh before. So, he tells him this that the further back, he says, "But you you're a secular guy. You believe in science. So, you believe the further back your great great great great great great ancestor was a monkey. So, this is how your grandchildren look at you. My grand My grandchildren look at me as I'm one step closer to greatness. I was I was one I'm one rung up higher in greatness than they are. And for you, you're closer to being a monkey. So, they treat you more like a monkey, you know? So, this is And unfortunately, like I said, in society today it's the opposite. So, this debate between science and and religion And there's some places where it correlates, but we have to understand this. There are many people who now are are call themselves rationalists and whatever and they and they spend their life's work of trying to find ways to make the Torah, to make the Bible fit into what science says. Right? Which is the wrong approach. We could as people of faith truly be looking for ways that science may fit into what the Bible says. But once a person's foundation becomes science, then ultimately it's only a matter of time before the person rejects the faith. And that's the main way that a person could be a a religious person, call themselves a person of faith, and ultimately be rejecting God more than what they know on a daily basis with the ideologies and the beliefs that they have. And that will ultimately spill over into other places of your life, right? Person will start to believe in deism. They'll start to believe in other things where God's not actually actively involved in the world. There is no such thing as divine providence. It's really just, you know, us all living here and he set us here and we we move move ourselves further and further and further away from a connection and closeness to God because of this debate between science and faith, and all of a sudden now faith is the caveman, and now science takes precedence, and if only if you believe in the science you're a real intellectual. Miss me with all of that. The Bible rules. The Bible is king. And this ultimately will lead a person to atheism. You will see this. And more than anything else, the the danger, one of the most dangerous things is the Rebbe Nachman says, one of the Hasidic masters says, is that a person who is an intellectual, even as a religious intellectual, a person that's brilliant, their brain is moving at, you know, person is is a mind, the way that they look at Torah, the way that they look at the world, whatever the case is, they could be a very, very brilliant person, but the person's dangerous if that same person is weak in prayer. If that person, you see that person go up to pray, you know, we have uh, you know, what we call a minyan, it's a quorum of 10 men. If a person goes in at one of the appointed times to pray, and you see the person, he's just rushing, he wants to get it over with. He doesn't have a good relationship. He may talk in between the prayers. And when it comes to something of actual devotion to God that will connote one to have a relationship and a childlike relationship with God, then you see the person doesn't take it serious. He only takes it serious when it comes to when it comes to the intellect, right? Says, "Run." He says, "Run from a person like that because it's one of the most dangerous things that there could be to to in society, one of the most dangerous things that there could be in the world as a person that has intellect, but they have no heart. That usually, in most cases, ultimately, if it doesn't lead the person, it will lead other people to atheism, no doubt about it. And and this is a huge thing. And I want to read you this because I think that this is very, very important. So, I'm There's a book called Essential Rebbe Nachman. It was written or put and compiled, I should say, by Avraham Greenbaum. Um, many years ago he actually compiled this with different places where there were certain topics that Rabbi Nachman had discussed. And it's it's it's mind-blowing the way that he talked about what was going to be in the future. And I think it's important for us to discuss it specifically here on this podcast today. It's amazing. So, this is one section of this essential Rabbi Nachman that you should read. The specifically talking about the coming of the Messiah and the test that a person is going to have to face in that time. So, this is titled The Coming Test. So, he says, "Great atheism is coming into the world as a test from on high. The world's many sins are causing a terrible lack of faith. Happy is the person who stays firm in his faith in these times. The fact that I'm predicting this will not prevent the increase of godlessness and confusion. It's coming either way, he's saying. It's a long ago Daniel and and many others made known that this would happen in the days before the Messiah. He quotes, "Many will purify themselves and be refined and make themselves shining white, but the wicked will do evil. And only the wise shall understand." This comes from Daniel chapter 12 verse 10. And he goes back in and says, "Knowing this has already been foreseen, it would seem that it should not be such a great trial for people, right? After all, somebody's saying it. It shouldn't be a trial for them to remain strong in their faith. But the truth is that even though the prophets made this known long ago, it will still be a great trial. Many will fall by the way, and why it is written, 'The wicked will do evil.'" He says, "I am revealing this I am revealing this for the sake of the few souls, the few pure souls who remain firm in their faith. They will certainly face great battles even in their own minds. The mind will be will will come up against the person he's saying. This is This is crazy. Next word Next level. He said, "But when they see that this has already been predicted, it will give them greater strength and encouragement." I mean, we're seeing this We're already living in these times. We are seeing that atheism has taken on its its uh you know, its its way and it's having its We have seen that atheism is having its way with, you know, the best of us. And the battles that a person has to And the more that AI and everything else is increasing, it's making it much harder for us to be able to distinguish what's the truth and what's not the truth. So, we see ourselves in this. Number nine, misinformation about religion. Media and public discourse frequently misrepresents or stereotypes religious beliefs, and they create a lot of misunderstandings. Now, everybody takes religion out of context in these days, and they do it for their own personal gain. It happens religion to religion. I mean, this There always will be a place for apologetics. I'm an Orthodox Jew. Uh there's There are Christians in the world. There are Muslims in the world. There are Hindus. Whatever the case is, everybody will always have apologetics, a reason for why they believe that their religion is right. But what happens is a lot of time is that even people who are involved in it can be very dishonest sometimes, you know. You watch a debate between two people. I want you to think about this. Just talk about a debate. Let's say religious uh versus religious, or you can even go a religious person versus uh versus, you know, an atheist. Whatever the case is. And you watch it. Now, what a person has to be mindful of is is that the goal of the debate is to win the debate. And in most cases, I'm being honest and it and I love there's a lot of debates I love to watch is that truth takes a a a backseat to winning the debate usually when a person has a debate. And and and sometimes when we want to uh further you know, apologize or or use apologetics in order to state our side whether it's in a debate or not whether it's in a public forum whatever the case is sometimes we will take a little bit of the opposition use it and and misuse it and take it out of context in order to be able for you know, for our own personal gain to be able to get a point across and to be able to tell why we are telling the truth, right? We'll start with that other thing. The secular world does this to religion all the time. Religion does it to religion and what it does is that it creates a lot of uh misinformation about faith and religion and closeness to God and ultimately leads to more and more people having a lack of faith in God. It leads to more and more people going astray and moving further and further away from God. This is what this does. So, this is the danger of of the misinformation about religion that's going on in the world today that ultimately will distract a person from their faith in God is ultimately going to lead to more and more people not being interested in in in faith and not having a moon anymore in the sham because they they seeing that oh, they said this they took this and this person took it out of context. So, it's very very important that even if a person is involved in apologetics and we want to defend that Judaism. We want to defend our faith and different things like that the context in which we display things in public forum, you know, I know Rabbi Tovia Singer from Institute who does a lot of these different debates. I'm actually I'm friends with him. Um but one of the things that he's expressed to me and I've seen him express it also to uh online he talked about it even though he debates a lot of of Christians and different things like that he said that the worst thing that could possibly come out of any of his debates or any of his lectures that a Christian will become an atheist. For much as strong and as positive he is he is about his own personal conviction and belief in Judaism, I guess I would share the sentiment also, is that the worst thing that you can create is more atheists in the world. Nobody wants that, right? No matter what you believe, no matter So, we should really look at the way that the secular world I'm really want to focus on really the secular world more than anything else, more than apologetics. It's a different conversation, but the way that the secular world takes religion and and portrays it and makes movies and make us look a certain way, this usually causes other people to fall away from their faith. Okay, here's the final way that we know that we're under fire and this is the the the the weapon of the other side. This is very very much so going to hit home for a lot of us. Number 10, moral compromises in entertainment. I I share this. I raise my hand. A lot of times and this goes back, you know, to humbling ourself before the wicked, but ultimately the media itself often times will glorify lifestyles uh or or choices that conflict with our principles of emunah, our faith in in in God. And there are many celebrities and well-known so-called religious leaders that profess to be strong believers in God. This is where you really get it and are constantly doing things that are against the ABCs of emunah, of faith and in God and His Torah. We see this over and over again. How many people are falling to the other side? How many people are slipping? And it's not even falling slipping. You can see by a lot of these guys it's deliberate. How many entertainers proclaim their their belief and their faith in God and then you go off and see what they do with the rest of their career, which they're doing the the things that are anti-God. They're not for God, they're anti-God. Ultimately, and and and they And they get so many followers and people that follow after them and and all these things and we see that all of these compromises and then the next person you see this as a person of faith and believe that in order for you to succeed, you have to compromise yourself morally. And this is not the way. We're talking about a God that was able to take Gideon to go against the army of I don't know hundreds of thousands. I think it was something somewhere near a hundred something thousand soldiers or something. And Gideon had three hundred soldiers. Three hundred soldiers. The real three hundred was in the book of Gideon, right? Gideon goes out to face an army that's much more massive than him. We are talking about that God that would take Jonathan. Would take Jonathan and his and his his arms carrier and they're going to run run off an army of of three thousand people. This is the God we're talking about. You mean to tell me you believe that you have to to morally compromise to the rest of the world in order for you to have the success that you want? It's a complete lie. It's a complete lie. Don't change yourself. Don't give up on your morals. Don't give up on your beliefs. Don't give up on your values. We have to go into a place and be willing to stand up for God and his honor in every single place that we are and not to give over to any compromisingness. I'm telling you this only because I've been there. Many times I've been offered either to compromise. Many times that I have started to compromise and I've caught myself, right? And this is why ultimately a person has to be plugged in all the time with prayer and with devotion to God and studying Torah, studying God's word, constantly being engrossed in it. And the reason why you have to be engrossed with it because if a person is not plugged in and you're not standing up for God, then you will for sure fall for everything else that's going on in the world. Thank you so much for tuning in. Hey, what's going on? I had to stop before a second because I want to tell you if you like what you're hearing and if you're getting value from what you're hearing, please like and subscribe to the channel. It helps us get this out there and ultimately, you know what we're trying to do, spread the name of God all throughout the world. So, like and subscribe, hit the notification bell so that anytime I put out a video, you are going to be informed first.