Ten Minutes of Meaning (Part 93): Ambassador of Hashem - Mesillas Yesharim

technical challenges this morning seems like the cell towers and the internet are both struggling here in muncie due to the big storm yesterday but hopefully that won't stop us from learning torah this morning i want to thank our dear friends hani and lenny grunstein wish them a big muzzle tub on their uh granddaughters it's a wedding the other night she have a lot of simcha lara nachas who sponsored this year's uh 10 minutes of meaning series in memory of khani's father mr aaron tambour are on ben yatzhak we are in paraguay alef that i'm proud of moshe has been taking us through music the path to perfection the formula to how to realize our best selves and how to live our best selves and we have been going through in this park of nichias the chapter that deals with how to purge the negative qualities the negative behaviors the negative actions the negative lifestyle from ourselves we talked about how to perfect our speech our thought our actions now we've been talking about the horrific horrifically devastating behavior we mentioned last week that there is no power there is no neutral all of our actions can fit into one of two categories we are either sanctifying hashem's name we're either advancing his agenda to repair his world or we're creating we're setting it back we are undermining the realization of the fulfillment of his vision for this world there are many aspects to the desecration of hashem's name a person has to be very very careful person has to be very very vigilant on the honor of hashem the way we behave if we're kind if we're courteous if we're honest if we follow through the impression that we leave on others will either draw them closer to hashem impress them or show them the opposite. so with everything we do with every interaction with every behavior with every word that we utter we have to ask ourselves is this going to draw people closer is this going to push them further away that's an awesome responsibility we are all agents we're all ambassadors of hashem and like it or not whether we signed up for it or not the impression we leave on others can determine their entire religious attitude and outlook their entire view of how they see and how they appreciate hashem the ribonus shalom in this world being total personalities is supposed to mean is supposed to mean shaping us learning torah living torah should shape us into torah personalities and when it doesn't when we fail when we show up short in uh fulfilling our promise and pledge and acting with midos with good kind qualities then as we said we set back the agenda but the opposite's also true we have an enormous opportunity when we act with honesty when we follow through with integrity we're kind and we're courteous and we are respectful people say look at that yamaka look at that religious woman that's what godliness means that's what judaism means we just read in last week's passage of we have a mitzvah to love hashem and all the commentators are bothered how can we be commanded how can we be commanded an emotion you could regulate your behavior your action but your emotion emotion is emotion if you love god you love god if you don't love god you don't love god how could you be demanded how could you be told love god on demand many answers perspective many answers are given but the government of tells us that how do you fulfill the myth of loving god to make other people love god through you you know lahavda when you love a new song you send the link to that song to everybody you gotta listen to this song it's amazing when you love a new book that you've read an article that you've read or come across a new rav a rebbe or shir that you listen to when you love something you want to share it wide you want other people to be able to adopt it you want other people to be exposed to it so similarly the way that we evidence that we love hashem is to live a lifestyle that will draw others to hashem that's how we show our love of him and the opposite the inverse is also true if we live lives that push people further from hashem then it's not love that we have but disdain our rabbis navas teaches that whether it was intentionally or unintentionally either way we are accountable when it comes to hashem see when it comes to other aveiros there is an exemption a person is off the hook if it was accidental if it was unintentional you couldn't have known but hashem the devastation the khalal of the hill the vacuum the whole that you created in this world and which hashem is not obvious is so great it's so destructive that it doesn't matter the intent is what's an example of this standard that's so high the responsibility of a jew to walk around we have to make a kid of hashem amarav ki gong anna rav says like me the shaquille nabis sometimes when i buy meat i don't pay immediately i buy on credit now let me ask you is there something so terrible about buying a credit there are stores and store keepers who are grateful and glad to sell on credit they're just eager to sell so is it so bad to buy on credit and not pay immediately so ram says yeah for me for being a rob for the position of prominence i have to not pay immediately if anyone would then say well look at this rabbi he buys on credit he expects the world to wait doesn't pay immediately what does he expect me the proprietor to do rabbi okay it says you know it's like me if i ever walked for alma six feet if i ever walk six feet without wearing to fill in or without speaking or learning torah what hashem meaning the higher the expectations of you the greater the thresh or the lower the threshold of the responsibility to we're supposed to live righteous lives elevated life spiritual lives the more we look like religious personalities on the outside but we're not molded and shaped into living religious lifestyles on the inside the further back we set the agenda the further back we damage hashem the righteousness it's important to have righteousness on the outside it's important to be righteous in the minutiae details of jewish law of allah critically important not negotiably important but it has to be matched it has to be matched by our behavior we say in the morning elud these are the things the life that we're supposed to lead and it talks about all of the righteous behavior of honoring our parents and hosting guests and visiting the sikh and enabling women of the brides of the impoverished to be able to get married the talmud torah kinneget kulam and the learning of torah is equal and opposite to all of them and the simple understanding of this rabbinic teaching normally is talmud means that total learning is equal opposite to it all all that added up doesn't equal torah total learning is the highest and it is it's what we're doing right now so we dedicate our lives to learning torah is critically important says rip zusha the reber of zusha of annapolis says the following you know what it means commentary can negate coulomb it means tomato is connected the foundation the beginning of life is connected coulomb first you have to be a mensch you have to visit the sick you have to honor your parents you have to hold the door you have to be honest with your words you have to follow through with your promises first you have to be a mensch and then talmutora is kinetic coulomb then torah stands equal and opposite to the rest of it but to skip the menschlach behavior to be living a khil hashem in the world and then think you're going to stand for torah that ravshakti would say that's like wearing thai a tie with pajamas you don't wear a tie with pajamas you look like a fool so you carry yourself as a torah personality but you're not living a total life the righteousness is only skin deep it's superficial it's like wearing a tie with pajamas if we're not mindful and we're not cautious and we're not conscientious and we're not careful with the impression that we leave then god forbid we leave we leave this vacuum this opening is because the formula is the more torah you learn the more torah you know the more of a torah person you should be and the more that should reflect itself in your in your behavior anyone who excels in torah but is deficient and you denigrate the torah then god forbid you are creating so the more you look like a religious personality the more responsibility you have to act like a religious person not only on the outside but on the internal behaviors between people as well we should all be zoha to make a kid of hashem to fulfill that which we daven for every day nika daysha shem hashem you know what my mission is you know why i'm here nakadesh i just want to sanctify your name in this world i just want to leave that positive impression the other night the other night right before my daughter's wedding we went to the vision at cemetery it was right near where we're staying went to the rib that's midnight it's unbelievable how many people are there in the cemetery in the middle of the night the label gel dollar is buried there as well is a was a tremendous mechanic an amazing jew there's a story of video about him and there was um there was a dwarf a short man who worked in a gas station and the love that he showed the kiddush hashem that he made one of the rabbi yo gold videos about him to visit his camera to dave and what a person that he left such an impression years later on this person who everyone else thought was invisible and saw right through at the gas station a non-jew and this gave him love gave him attention and left the kid of hashem that lasted well beyond his lifetime that's our mission we should be zoho we should merit to fulfill the kadesh we continue with living with ammuna in 15 minutes hopefully if technology will cooperate see you back here very soon you