Part 20: When it Comes to Taking Credit, We Have it Upside Down and Backwards

okay good morning thank you again ese for hosting us we appreciate it and uh help yourself to coffee and what kind of muffin is that um crumb a crumb muffin please help yourself make okay um we're going to study today a piece from m m is from Rio desler REO desler was Mash in panovich was originally uh in not originally but was in England um I'll give you the exact dates of his life to give you a sense of context of desla was born in 1892 and died in 1953 he um as I say was uh was in picha and before that was born in Lita was in England was in London was in Gates head and then in P in panovich so there's six volumes I think it's up to six volumes of his SAS of the lessons that he taught um it's been translated some of them have been translated into a three volume called strive for truth you may have seen it and was the of pich so he has a chapter here called very appropriate for our study and if you look at the footnote you'll see this was the this was the last talk Public public talk that his students said they merited to hear from him was on this subject our subject of so he begins the following one of the strongest Powers the inherent strengths within a person buried within a person one of the innate one of the intuitive characteristics of the human being is that we naturally see ourselves as independent we tend to want to see ourselves as autonomous we see ourselves as responsible for our own achievements and accomplishments that we are the Catalyst who brings something into fruition who creates and that we in fact derive benefit we derive joy we derive pleasure from our accomplishments and achievements right few things feel better than getting something done you know the to-do list that you've had forever and it might have on it the most mundane things clean the closet go through the playroom do the what it has the most mundane nobody would say they're sacred test they're intellectual test they're not rocket science and yet when you finally set aside that time on the Sunday and you've cleaned out the closet you feel Gish you got to you got to bounce in your stepdad even because what I got something done I had a thought about something I wanted to do and I got it done and that feels great soes is describing that there's a innate human quality of a certain pleasure or Joy or happiness that we derive simply from a sense of accomplishment and if we're honest with ourselves we'll recognize that the joy that deres from the clean closet is not necessarily the cleanliness of the closet certainly is a greater functionality and it's good always feels good to be organized but the real Joy of that day that you spent cleaning the closet and I'm intentionally giving such a insignificant example but the real joy that you've derived is that you had a goal and that you have finished it and you feel good about yourself looking at it you've accomplished you've achieved whatever it is that we were pursuing whatever it is we were seeking to achieve very often is much less significant than the process of having achieved it meaning the clean closet when all is said and done is really not that big a deal you went shopping you got done what you need to get done in the greater scheme of things is really insignificant what feels significant is the feeling of accomplishment and achievement that you had an idea you had a thought you had a goal you had a plan and you followed it through to fruition the feeling that you said you were going to do something you had the thought to do it and you actually did it that process the intent to the plan to the execution is a source of great joy I think we can all ident if Y and relate to the feeling of accomplishment and achievement good so that's all setting it up desla as the premise he has yet to give a judgment is that good is that bad is that accurate is it unaccurate the way you were presented initially I wasn't sure if it was like a selfish thing or not but okay wait so so he's about to he's about to head to the punch line and he gives an example here in this next paragraph about about a person who does a person who does kindness who's selfless and help to others what is the what is the the [Music] value if a person does something for thems so the person who does is also doing something for thems in the sense that they get the kickback of feeling really good about themselves from doing so one person feels really good getting a manicure and the next person feels really good by making a meal for the neighbor who's sitting shiva we tend to honor at the sh dinner the person who cooked thead meal the person who got the manicure we say okay there's nothing wrong with getting a manicure but there's nothing particularly impressive about it either so asker but what really fundamentally is the difference even the person who does why do they do because it feels really good to do feels really good to see yourself as the person who does to know that you're doing the right thing you get the emotional spiritual Kickback of feeling good about it so both the person getting the manicure and the person doing are both feeling good so what fundamentally is the difference between the two that's his question elsewhere say of desler we explored the the mistake in the premise of the question but now addressing it from a different perspective the answer is simple he says there is a fundamental difference and that is that true the person who got the manicure and the person who did the both get the kickback of feeling that they've accomplished they achieved they did something they set out to do they did something that gave them a sense of Joy but the motive or the intent or the quality of the action they're pursuing is fundamentally different person who's doing is motivated to get a positive Kickback by doing something that helps others whereas the person who deres the pleasure of the manicure and again I'm not there's nothing wrong with getting a manicure as long as it's not in Le of the pleasure of doing fad um but the person who does the who goes to get the manicure it's an example the motive um is not equivalent to the motive the pure the as he describes it the the pure aim or goal of But ultimately what he's pointing out is that in every area of our life from to the manicure to life to business to shopping to cleaning the closet we have this innate inherent natural feeling of pleasure of having had a thought of wanting to accomplish something of setting a goal and of fulfilling it yes so it's a beautiful thing that Hashem created and when we do a Mitzvah we have this wonderful feeling we did something really nice but why is it only it doesn't last so long like the feeling like if it was such a wonderful thing I wish the pleasure of doing the mitzvah would last longer you know it's a short yeah here I think it does last longer than other Pleasures I think that more inauthentic Pleasures like you know eating some delicious food is really gone you know an hour after you left the restaurant or the meal whereas the Mitzvah does transform you to a certain sense that it's always part of your repertoire it's always part of the that you did nobody could take that away from you the food you ate is gone literally and figuratively within a certain amount of time but the that you achieved or accomplished the impact or impression that you left remains so the high of it may wear off cuz that's just the nature of life that things wear off but the accomplishment remains and I feel just one I feel like when you start going in that mode of looking for the next Mitzvah it puts you in a good pattern because you are so you have you like that feeling mitvah you're looking for your next one so it creates a pattern that helps you I'll tell you one of the most impressive people to me who who will remain nameless is somebody who is not predisposed to you know you have people who came out of their mother's womb doing they were like taking care of the other nurs babies in the nursery when they were still like you know newborns they just they just love to give and that's who they are and they get something app and then sometimes you meet somebody who says I hate hassad I get no pleasure from it and but I do it because I know it's the right thing to do and that person is so impressive because they're not getting that Kickback they're not getting that innate Joy it's not what they're predisposed or how they're pre-programmed to be they're doing it because they know it's the right thing to host others to leave the comfort zone to make other people feel good to initiate friendship and conversation that to me is something which is is is really uh impressive and I think is also a model for us to follow in the areas that we don't feel in other words people naturally go to what they're predisposed to do this one's an extrovert and comes easy this one is loves to D with cavana this one love amuna comes easy this one we have predisposed towards different positive qualities but the real test and the real Arena of personal growth is whether we can leave our comfort zone in the areas that don't come naturally and that we're not predisposed to do so I think it's very impressive but anyway coming back to so so far of desler has just laid the groundwork to say it's an observation that we innately are pre-programmed that we get pleasure out of accomplishment however that is a fundamental flaw now now we well now we come to the Judgment there's a fundamental flaw in that feeling that we get and what's the fundamental flaw is that we ourselves we and only we are responsible for having achieved whatever we achieved whether it's a great idea that we had or thought whether it's a great action we took whether it's cleaning our closet to think that it's purely autonomous we on our own with no influence with no impact with no contribution from anywhere else we alone did it that's a fundamental flaw now it's expressed most poignantly in the context of achievement in the area of gsh in the area of the physical material world as we say in be careful lest you forget God and you're going to say in your heart you will say in your heart it's my it's my strength it's my work it's my effort and toil which is responsible for this accomplishment why should you not say that because because where did you get the strength from the ran in hisan says about this P the antidote or the response right what's the Torah warning us Torah actually is describing mosha is talking to the Jewish people here and he says you're about to enter the land right now you have been an entirely dependent people God has taken you through the desert and he's given you the food to eat and he's given you the protection he's giving you the water and he's giving you and you've been just totally totally nurtured in this cocoon you're about to go into Israel and you're going to create an agrarian society Agricultural Society you're going to plant and you're going to have to nurture and you're going to harvest you're going to set up a Judicial System you're going to set up a police force and an army and you know what the result of all this is you are very much at risk because you my beloved Jewish people who have gone from being passive recipients to now being active participants in your destiny you run the risk and what's the risk that you run you're going to say ah we don't need God to protect us from our enemies we've got a great Army I don't need God's help to have access to food I work really hard in the field I don't need get you're going to be tempted to say it's it's my it's my strength that is responsible for accomplishing these things and what's the answer no who God's the one that gave you that strength so the ran points out the answer is not to deny our role in having accomplished our goals it's not to say yeah I don't really protect us it's all God I didn't really work hard the food fell from heaven of course work card that's a disservice to those serving in the Army today zikaron who's lost their lives and sacrific paid the ultimate price to found the state of Israel to defend the state of Israel to say it's all God and they had nothing to do with it is a terrible disservice to their memory and to the people currently serving in the Army one of whom lives and came from this house who currently serve in the Army it's a disservice to say they're not really doing anything they're just pawns it's really all God says the no they are what what humility asks us to do is not to deny our strengths it's not to deny who we are and what we accomplish it's to recognize that those strengths are un loan from God they're never part of our permanent collection they're never owned by us they're borrowed Borrowed by us from God so whatever your strength is whether it's you have a certain level IQ or intellectual cognitive capacity or great memory whether it's your artistic or whether it's You're athletic or whether it's your creative or whether it's you're social and you have a great personality whoever you're predisposed to be it can disappear in a moment it can disappear because there could be a Health Challenge it can disappear cu the skill leaves you overnight the skill I mentioned this in sure recently in aussa and some famous singer who woke up with a throat PRO voice problem the next day and had to cancel all their concerts and their career is over just out of nowhere so it can disappear so the Ron says the answer to Is Not to say well I had nothing to do with it the answer is to say I had a lot to do with it I had to work hard I had to exert myself I had to sacrifice but where I had the skills and the energy and the wisdom and the drive to accomplish it that's from Hashem and that could disappear any moment you'll say we're in the middle of the third paragraph well you know what you might say to yourself is yes the the successful outcome of the idea that was up to God we have ideas all the time you might have an idea about a great business effort you might have an idea about a great program for the Sho for the sister for the PTA you might have an idea about something anything and you'll say okay so whether the idea was successful that was Hashem that was God but the idea is mine I had the idea that came from me I take credit for the idea right it's very tempting to say that so listen to what he writes that's that also is a mistake because these words that God's the one who gives us the convert um translated into Aramaic it means when we say that God gave me the it doesn't just mean God gave me the physical strength or the physical capacity to have accomplished means god even give me the idea I didn't find or discover or think about or create that idea without his input so everything is from hasem everything Hashem has a role in I have to tell you this resonates deeply with me why every week I have to write a message prepare classes figure out the drasa come up with a topic for a class and you know once you have the idea that's like 90% of the work writing it or putting together the class the source sheet that's 10% of it 90% of it 90% of it you 90% ignore 90% of it is is the idea and I can tell you there are times when where I'm sitting and the clock is ticking and my wife is calling or texting and I've looked I've spent 3 hours looking through sarum and ideas I can't find something to speak about I'm desperate and there are moments like that came across an article you heard Itor you happen to open the safer to that page it's unbelievable I see I feel Hashem in every speech I give in every article I write I'm not going to tell you I don't have to put work into it it takes time takes energy takes effort takes time away from my family I take credit I feel I feel proud but I see I see hashem's hand in every idea thought what I found what I came across what every single one of them every single one of them so this phenomenon the danger of feeling a sense of autonomy and independent and it's all me is not just in the realm of strength and talent and action it's even in the realm of thought it's even in the realm of ideas that it too who said you were going to open that safer it fell off the shelf or caught your eye or the person happened to send you the email at that moment that tipped you off about the thing that became the idea to do the all of that nothing's random nothing's by chance it's orchestrated there's a plan and we have to feel grateful in fact to me feeling grateful is the greatest thing we can do to make sure that it's like you know God's your idea dealer you know you got to pay the dealer if you want the idea is to keep flowing so how do we pay the dealer is gratitude and a recognition of his role I'm the junior partner in the Dres I give K is the senior partner so I get the glory I get to stand in front and be the mouthpiece and give the Dr but I wouldn't have found that idea and I wouldn't have had that the Divine help in in formulating it in that way without him and I feel I M I'm telling you just by way of personal illustration not because I'm trying to toot my horn in any way I have a lot of work to do in this area too but when I come across that idea I will be alone in my office and I will be talking and thanking Hashem I literally will talk to him thank you so much I'll talk to him before giving a I'll talk to him after the I'll talk to him because he's a partner I don't think that it's m it takes and if I ever start to forget that there comes a week where I dry up the the ink is dry there writers block and I'm sitting there desperate desperate it takes so that's just an illustration where it's not only true in the realm of action even in the of ideas God gave you the you think you came up with that idea to start that business or to make that relationship or to network in that way where do you think that idea itself came from it's seeing Hashem in every area even in the area of the ideas that we have where did you find that draw all of a sudden you woke up this morning and you had this unsatiable appetite to speak to that person or to post that thing or to where do you think that came from that came all of this is to design a sense of free will now what you do with the idea that is entirely up to you Hashem has no control that's where we come to Free Will Free Will and choice is what do we do with that idea do we put in the work it will take to bring it to fruition or was it fleeting and temporal did it pass and dissipate and disappear do we put in the effort that is where we come in as that's our area of the partnership that we put in our time right so you could be sitting on the couch with no income you have this unbelievable idea for a business so part of the idea is yours but part of it is you have to feel grateful God gave you the idea but now if you sit on the couch that idea is not going to create income if you don't actually work and when you work you take credit for the effort you put in the time you spent But ultimately whether it met success or not with God again all of the strength and all this effort we need see it's on the other side of the page because without it there's no way we could accomplish in the war with theer what does he mean here so on the one hand we have to maintain this incredible tension in our lives on the one hand we are conceding we are deferring to aem's senior role in everything that happens in our life on the other hand we're supposed to feel a sense of drive that our choices matter that we have to do effort because you might like a Scientologist say h what do I need to really do any effort for if I'm sick it's cuz God wanted me to be sick I'm not going to go to the doctor if he wants me to get better I'll be better ah you know I don't earn a livelihood if God wants me to earn a livelihood it'll show up on my doorstep if he doesn't want me to um even if I work hard I'll be poor why bother working at all the danger of too much amuna so to say it's really a false or counterfeit amuna is that to become passive to your own destiny you're not going to work hard on the other hand the danger of working so hard that you cut God out of the equation is that you're denying the senior partner who's really responsible for the accomplishment so life is about that tension that balance between inviting and seeing his role in our lives but never being never lacking drive or motivation to do what you need to do and why did God need to help us realize that our choices matter in the realm of defeating the Yahara because if we were passive spectators if we were if we felt life was predetermined we would never think that we could overcome whatever it is we need to work on we all have challenges we all have areas that we need work we would never think that we have the capacity to work cuz you'd say if God wants me to not have those challenges he would take away my uh desire for lashara he would take away my desire for chocolate cake he would take away my desire for if God wants me to have that desire so no so we have to realize that our choices matter in the realm of being able to overcome and being able to defeat theer I told that story in the par right so I could tell it in the Amun and do chuva cuz I said the wrong age I got in trouble and think iy told it in the Amun but my our tamima who's 6 years old got this little journal for kids you f my favorite color my favorite friend my favorite memory my favorite vacation you know a fun little thing and so one of the questions which is a bizarre question for a kids journal was who's your arch nemesis kind of a bizarre question right was who's your best friend who who's your arch nemesis teacher who's your arch nemesis so came to and said what's an arch nemesis it says to you don't have any enemies but mean it's like who's your enemy who do you not get along with she okay she takes her color her pen then she goes and FES a book and later you looks in the book and 6 years old what did she fill out who's her arch nemesis that a great answer yes may Sahara six-year-old got it right that's right it's more impressive than a Nye yeah I got it upside down last time so why do we have the ability for free will it's a reminder that we have the capacity to overcome so he's about to get into I think this is a a phenomenal observation our capacity we have this ability to influence but we misdirect it we think we're should we direct it exclusively in the realm of the material world so in the material world we try hard at work and we try hard in our health and we try hard in all these areas in the material world and then when it comes to our spiritual life we're very passive and fatalistic I am I am this is how I'm created this is things are what they are if God wants them to be different they'll be different and it's totally upside down and backwards the whole the whole capacity to make choices and to influence our destiny is given to us specifically for the spiritual realm never to be complacent never to be apathetic never to be satisfied with who we think we are but to work on it to improve and to be better listen to what he writes in reality everything is in the hands of hem there's only one area that we really choose and that is whether to live our lives with an awareness and a mindfulness of Hashem what does he mean everything really is in the hands of whenever I share this gamar everybody always resists when everything's in the hands of Hashem I chose what to wear today I chose to live here I chose this job I work hard at this job I chose X Y and Z I chose everything what do you mean everything's in the hands of hem other than whether I choose to see hasem and everything what you talking about but the answer is so much of our life is predetermined by our DNA are you how what what kind of IQ intelligence artistic ability athleticism the socioeconomic status that we're born into to what kind of family were you raised in were you impoverished were you um did you lack privilege were you born into a privileged situation were you born in the 20th century or were you born in the 15th century did you have laundry machines or did you have to go down to the river and Scrub by hand so much of who we are I had a somebody uh I had a gift card to a uh expensive store at the mall so I needed new sunglasses with my daughter last night because I chose and I was told they were all wrong so I went back with her to replace them with sunglasses that would meet her satisfaction so she's having me try on all these sunglasses and I said to her yeah that's what's in this year but what these sunglasses cost I hope they'll last more than that and in two years I'll look like an idiot because no one will be wearing this style anymore so you know you think you're choosing the style you're wearing right now because you chose it objectively in a vacuum as if in the 16th century you would have chosen the same thing or in the 23rd Century you'll choose the same thing you're wearing it cuz it's what's in it's what's being sold at the storees it's what everyone's wearing so so much of who we are whether it's our ability to dunk a basketball or your memory or IQ or artistic ability or whether it was your capacity to enjoy the fine things in life or to be satisfied with very little so much is due to our background our DNA what we've been exposed to and so on so much of our lives have been even if we're in denial of it has been predetermined what's left for us to determine whether we see God in those L whether we invite God into the equation whether we invite God into our life for a life of meaning and purpose so this is what he says in the realm of spirit of spirituality where in fact we are the soul determiners do we see God that's the choice that's the ultimately it's almost the only choice we make is whether we see and invite God in who also so we have things totally upside down when it comes to the realm of spirituality which is really the only place that we can have influence we tend to be fatalistic look it's my nature I like to gossip it's my nature I like to eat chocolate cake it's my nature you know I can't really control myself in this area that area the other area it's my nature it's the way God created me it is what it is it's who I am it's who I am so that's what we tend to do in the realm where we can't have influence we totally forfeit the influence and say that's who I am and in the realm where ultimately we really don't have influence and in the area of the material world where ultimately our success relies on God we act as if it's all in our domain we have it totally upside down so when it comes to work in the material world it's all me I take full responsibility and pride and accomplishment God has nothing to do with it and in the role where we really should be working we say oh it's all God we have it totally upside down and we have to work harder on getting to the opposite conclusion that when it comes to our work in the material world we have to say I'm going to do my part I'm going to work hard I'm going to take pride but really it's all to God whether I get the job earn the income make the living close the deal whether I whether the chocolate whether the cougo comes out good whether the whatever the material thing that you're working on we make our effort but we have to realize we have to submit and forfeit and concede that it's all to God and in the realm of Rus spirituality we have to recognize leave God out of it God handed the keys to you stop blaming God that you can't stop gossiping or stop eating the chocolate cake or start ding with kavana or make the BR before and after you eat or live life with amuna or be honest in your business dealing stop blaming God that that's how he designed you that's how you're pre-programmed that that's your nature stop blaming God because that's the area of life that God handed you the keys and said drive the car you choose which lane to go which direction it's up to you so we have it the opposite and to work on amuna means to set things straight that to apply the right attitude in the right realm to ultimately switch them exactly and if you think this is a modern phenomenon he died in the 1950s he says if you think this is a imagine what he would say today this is a function of the techn the technological world where we have advanced and therefore we think we have it all back WS look what was written A Thousand Years Ago by and he essentially quotes who essentially writes the exact same thing we have it upside down in the realm where we have control we blame God and in the realm where we need to turn to God and recognize his hand we take full full responsibility we have it backwards and to work on amuna is to work on improving things in both Realms to work on auna is to see God more where he deserves credit and to work on amuna is to say stop blaming God in the area where we need to take responsibility and we need to work yes so I understand what you're saying I'm totally I get it but this keeps popping into my head you were saying that your genetic disposition where you were born who you were born to and all of that affects your material physical being but that also affects your spiritual and mental being so that is my question to you because let's say I was born to Holocaust Survivor I was born in a very positive very uplifting very spiritual very bashem very so that helps to design who I am today there's no question you were saying about a person with who was born into versus person that's not doing so yes you can be a stubborn person and say I'm going to do this this and that because you were born into a family that chooses to make those stubborn positive decisions 100% how do you separate that a great question that's a great question I'm glad that you brought it up because someone who has OCD and has amazing cavana anding because you know they're like so intense on getting it right in it you know right and of course you can turn it around there's no question but I still think that there is a level of predisposition to all of that there definitely is that's the DNA well if you were raised by Holocaust Survivors who showed incredible amuna despite what they went through and your neighbor was raised by Holocaust Survivors who threw it all away and were positive there was no God and hated God so you're right your attitude towards amuna is going to be influenced by the background in which you were raised and that's undeniable what I think he's trying to say is that despite that you can overcome your predispositions in the area ofas whereas in the area of gmas in the area of the material world like even before I tore my achilles if I daved from morning till night I still would never dunk a basketball I just don't have that ability right and even Tak in the area of work you could you could work from day till night but if you cut God out of the equation God's the one who's going to decide whether we know people who work 16 hours a day and they make 30,000 a year and you know people who have down to working six hours a day and they make a million dollars a year so it's not a direct correlation to the amount of effort and work and time and and sacrifice and toil that you put in so in the area of gashi the material world ultimately whether you can overcome whatever the predispositions that are there it's God whereas in the area of the spiritual world yes we can turn to God for help and there's a whole other because this is one extreme articulation of this because there's a whole other area which says that we ask for you ask for's help even with you know you could D to hasem for help to DAV with kavana you can D to hem for help even in the area of R so there definite element of that but what I think what he's trying to say what we're trying to get out of today is that um yes our background influences us even in the spiritual realm but it is in the spiritual realm where ultimately it's on us ultimately it's on us when you get upstairs and and there's a dispute God why didn't I make a million dollars a year the answer is it's on you God you held back the storehouse you closed the doors you you limited what what was able to come through but the question is why wasn't I a bigger why didn't why didn't I have more amuna why didn't I do more why didn't I see have more God says look I gave you a background and everything but ultimately that's on you you had the final say I think that's what he's trying to say is we can overcome that we can we can create that we can mold and shape that despite whatever background we're com you're saying that hashem's limiting it or not that's from Hashem and then the spiritual is really up to you at the end of the day ex we can choose in the end of the day we can we can despite I mean look at every Holocaust Survivor is there a greater predisposition to not have faith than having lived through the Holocaust and every Holocaust Survivor who nonetheless chooses amuna is is is a fulfillment of this statement because they have transcended what any normal human being how they would react to react to experiencing that and keep amuna and stay observant is super human it's heroic it's they've made the choice to overcome whatever background predisposition anyone could have thrown their way there's no you know one of the challenge of second generation Holocaust Survivors is that for they say growing up is they never get sympathy from their parents right a kid breaks their arm in 17 places on the swing in school and the parent says yeah that must have hurt but let me tell you what one day in the Barrack was like in aitz you want me to feel bad for you you know what it was like in aitz for one day I feel bad for you and there's a lot of pathology in second generation H correct even if the parent never said it the kid might feel it how could I complain right so there's a lot of there's a lot of pathology there right so the point is that whatever hardship anyone is ever going through in life that makes them feel like they're struggling with amuna it pales in comparison it doesn't scratch the surface of what a holocaust Survivor went through and nevertheless the Holocaust survivor shows the capacity for amuna it means we have the capacity too doesn't mean that you should have amuna because they have it but it means that we have the ability we have the ability so that that that's what he's saying in gmas you could work from morning till night your whole life whatever if God decided you're never going to earn more than x you're just not going to earn more than x but in Ras nothing's holding you back nothing nothing stands in in the way of will in the area of also right right God know I I have a question you were saying that people are born in a certain manner in a certain way that's their DNA yeah and they have to work to overcome that now what about people today who say they were born with this Affinity to being homosexual should they just accept that that's how they were born or is it something that they should work on it's a very important question it's a little bit of a topic for another time just a little bit um the answer is I think Judaism knowes it's possible you know there's a whole debate whether homosexuality is genetic is it nature is it nurture and so on without weighing in on the debate I think that Judaism has a response either way and it's not a simple response and it has to be a very sympathetic response a sensitive response but we have all kinds of predispositions there are people who have genetically been predisposed to rage there are people who are genetically predisposed to addiction there are people who are genetically predisposed to all kinds of behaviors and yet we say that we have the inner capacity to overcome that predisposition and to regulate our behavior in our lives nonetheless and Judaism asks of somebody who may have a genetic predisposition to that identity that as difficult and as painful and as hard and as complicated as it is they also have the ability to regulate it and again it's a whole other area and and not a simple one but whatever our predisposition free will means that from a spiritual standpoint we have the capacity to regulate it all right we're going to stop here we will not continue next week I'm away next week