Me & The Almighty Are Like This - R. Pinchas Landis - TorahAnytime.com

Revnack Weinberg, the great founder of Asia Torah, tells a beautiful story. He says he was once speaking in a certain community and there was a guy sitting there listening throughout his speech, very attentive, nodding in agreement to everything that the great rabbi said. And this man was not your typical attendee of a Jewish Torah lecture. He had tattoos going up both arms. He had a mohawk haircut. He was wearing a leather jacket. But he's nodding in agreement to everything that Riv Noah Weineberg is saying. Riv Noak goes up to the man afterwards and says there's got to be a story here. He says, "Did you like the lecture?" He says, "Yeah, Rabbi, I agree with everything you said. In fact, me and the Almighty, we are like this." You you were like this, says Ribno Weinberg. said, "I live in the city of Jerusalem, and there are many, many, many holy Jews in the city of Jerusalem, but I don't know if any of them would describe their relationship with the Almighty as being like this. What's so special about your relationship?" He said, "Rabbi, let me tell you a story. One day, um I don't know if you can tell by looking at me, but I'm a biker." Oh, really? I I didn't know that. One day I'm riding my motorcycle down a mountain road and it's late at night and this is a small mountain road and there's maybe two lanes but not really enough room for two cars. And all of a sudden, I see coming in the other direction an 18-wheeler coming up this road. And the 18-wheeler barely sees me and he's taking up the whole entire road. And he's getting closer. And I'm realizing that that this is a very complicated situation. And I realize that I have a choice now. I can either stay on this road and be impounded by this 18-wheeler truck or I can go off the mountain and whatever happens will happen. Rabbi, I choose to go off the mountain. All of the sudden, a tree catches me as I go off the mountain. My bike falls below, breaks into a million pieces, and I survive the situation. So, Rabbi, that's why I tell you that me and the Almighty, we're like this. At which point, Rivinoak shakes his head and looks at the man and he says, "Who do you think it was who pushed you off the mountain in the first place?" My friends, when difficult things happen to us, they happen for a reason. They're there quite often to wake us up, to get us to realize that we're doing something wrong. Have you ever taken