Rabbi Mendel Kessin: Teshuva: The True Meaning of Repentance

So, tonight's Shiur is in loving memory of Katie Pressman, known as Kayla Freila but Hindel and Yaakov. Also in loving memory of Yael bat Mordechai as well as in memory of Elias ben ben Yaakov ben Eliezer Cohen. Also, somebody dedicated this Shiur in the merit of true love for all of Am Yisrael. All the all the perils of life should come out of tonight's Shiur. Should affect the many. Also, somebody dedicated a um that Harvey Kasden, known as Chaim Aryeh ben Rivka, should have a complete recovery. He had a double bypass and he's well on his way to a full recovery. And also someone wanted to express their gratitude, especially to Rabbi Kasden, for all the clarity that he gives over in his messages and for the use in our personal lives. So, without further ado, Rabbi Kasden. Tonight's year in many ways not only is it appropriate in terms of the time but say it is it was actually by now it was which is called the sale and we know that Elo traditionally is a time that all Jewish people hopefully really think about who they are, where they've come from where they're going. It's sort of like a re-examination of one's entire journey. That's really what you're supposed to think about. Uh it's a time of real reflection and it really evaluation and hopefully hopefully you reach an ultimate conclusion in terms of really where you want where you're going. And that's what in many ways Elo was about, but what Elo is the entry of course into the real time. It's not working. Oh. There are many things to think about and analyze in terms of tonight's discussion, which you And obviously it's about chuva. And what I want what I want to do is really have a good understanding of what it is, why it works, uh what are you supposed to think about, what do you do chuva on this weekend? And uh many people have their own idea what they think should be uh done, what sins they should address, and so on. But what I want to point out tonight is something in a certain sense much more, I think, essential that if a person wants to really do chuva, there's something much more essential that he should think about. First of all, what is the what's the origin of chuva of uh chuva really, the origin of Yom Kippur actually? We know that uh when Moshe Rabbeinu took the Jews out of Egypt, when the Rebbe took the Jews out of Egypt, of course, that they came to Har Sinai. And at that Har Sinai, this was the end basically, really, uh when Moshe Rabbeinu was now going to give them the Torah, the Torah of the Mashiach, cuz Moshe Rabbeinu was really the Mashiach ben Yosef. That's really who he was. And uh what the Jews were supposed to do, of course, is accept that Torah. And had they done that, then Moshe Rabbeinu would have been appointed Mashiach. Uh as it was, he's only a candidate. And that would have ushered in a time Messianic era. And the world as we know it would have been very different. However, what the Jews did is that they sinned at the golden calf, we know. And that reintroduced a uh a terrible series of events in in the Jewish lives. So the event really of the chet ha'egel really required an enormous amount of tshuva or repentance. And this is really what should have been. Moshe Rabbeinu then, after the chet ha'egel, Moshe Rabbeinu went up for 40 days to receive the Torah. And then after 40 days, he came down with the Luchos Rishonos, the first tablets in his hand, and he realized that the Jews sinned the golden calf, and he threw them down at the bottom of the mountain, and of course he broke them. But the ordeal wasn't over. What he did is because in many ways God held the Jewish people as a totality responsible. Even though it wasn't all the Jews that sinned, and it was really the Erev Rav, but since they allowed the Erev Rav to do what they did, and to continue their sin, therefore all the Jews actually were blamed, and at whatever level of blame was appropriate, and as a result of that, the Bas Sham was you know, obviously Moshe Rabbeinu could not be Mashiach, and the Jewish people would have been in many ways uh sentenced to death, actually. Cuz what they had done in many ways is avodah zarah. But in any case, Moshe Rabbeinu then, after 40 days when he came down, broke the Luchos, and then he went back up. Why? He went back up to obviously uh supplicate for the Jews, because they were now under a death sentence. And Moshe Rabbeinu of course knew that. So, he went up for 40 went up again, and he stayed there for another 40 days. And in those 40 days, he prayed to God that and we have the whole discussion in the Torah itself. He prayed to God that God forgive the Jews. He should certainly not to them, but he should forgive the Jews. And then Moshe Rabbeinu came down again on Rosh Chodesh Elul. And then after that, he went back up again on the same day. And why did he go back if he already had the forgiveness? Because he argued with God not to give the ability of what the Jews can do to another nation. Because if he was afraid that the world would say, "Listen, if I put all my eggs in one basket, and that basket breaks, I got problems. So, what I'll do is I will now allow another nation to also do what's called the tikkun, which is to bring me back. I'll just assign another nation besides the Jews. And Moshe Rabbeinu didn't want that. So, he went up for the last 40 days, and he prayed to the world that he should maintain his status, his relationship with the Jewish people, Klal Yisrael, permanently, and not give it to anybody else, any other nation. That doesn't mean if somebody in another nation wants to become Jewish, that of course is still allowed. But he didn't want another nation to enjoy the same status as the Jewish people. But I'll get to why, but that that's what happened. And finally, uh Moshe Rabbeinu came down on Yom Kippur. The 10th day of Tishrei is when he came down. And he had succeeded in getting a complete atonement, at least for that time, an atonement uh for the Jewish people. So, therefore, Yom Kippur becomes the day of atonement. Traditionally, that's exactly when Moshe Rabbeinu was able to secure a complete teshuvah, not totally actually, but uh basically a teshuvah where God would not destroy the Jews, he would not give the mission of the Jews to anybody else. Uh and as a result of that, on Sukkot, what's called the Ananei Kavod, the clouds of glory, came back. That indicated that the Jews were now under the protection of God. And that's it. While getting into more of that cuz the previous the understanding of the cloud is really the beginning of the understanding of Sukkot. But in any case, so we have Yom Kippur is a day when Moshe Rabbeinu finally came down, the Jews were forgiven, and as a result of that, the Jews, of course, had this incredible celebration because of that. But I want to mention that even though they were forgiven and the status quo the Jew remained, however, God said, but the punishment was not really forgiven in that sense. Cuz what they had done is a massive hillul Hashem. It's incredible cuz basically the whole nation was guilty of this infraction of in some way allowing this avodah zarah to be to be worshipped. So that was not forgiven. So what the Vershon does is the Vershon said, every time I will punish the Jews for other a sin that they do, I'll just add a little more as an expiation for the sin of the golden calf. So that continues. Every time there's a punishment to the Jews, part of the chet, part of the sin is does have a kaparah because God adds a certain amount of punishment to the punishment that he's already given. It's an important idea. It's not that the Jews all of a sudden walked away free. In any case, but the main idea is that the Jews were now able to survive and function as Jews. And that itself was a cause of tremendous celebration. So therefore, that's basically what happened on Yom Kippur. That's why we have a day of atonement historically. And the spiritually cuz God did forgive the Jews to the extent where they, like I said, status quo remains. The Jews are the Jews, they do the tikkun, you see, and then they're the only ones that do the tikkun, and that continues. So, this is basically an understanding of the history. What is interesting that we which which which should we can contemplate is, you know, every day is a day of teshuvah. Think about that. There's a mitzvah of teshuvah every day. So, the question then is, why is Yom Kippur a special mitzvah of doing teshuvah? You basically every day is a day that you're supposed to do teshuvah. It's a mitzvah s'aseh, it's a positive commandment to do teshuvah, repentance, right? Every day. So, why should there be one day dedicated to teshuvah when in effect it goes on for, you know, 364 days besides Yom Kippur? It's an interesting question. What's the difference between uh teshuvah on Yom Kippur and teshuvah the rest of the year? Well, a lot of it is answerable when you begin to realize to what extent does God go out of his way for Jews to do teshuvah. You know, sometimes we think the Bashe doesn't really want teshuvah. You got to go through all the hoops, you know, all the hoops in order to do teshuvah. But when you take a look at really the month of Elul, you realize that's not the case. You think about that. The Bashe wants the Jews to do teshuvah. There's no personal gain. He doesn't get anything out of it. It's purely for the sake that the Jews should get Olam Haba, and also, in a certain sense, God is the father of the Jewish people, and a father wants his son to succeed and to have the best type of life. Of course, the best type of life by the Bashe is of course Olam Haba preceded by Gan Eden, and he wants the Jews to have gotten eaten, far more than we can imagine. Uh far more than we can imagine that that we would want to do chuvah. You see, he wants us to do chuvah many ways, much more than we want to do chuvah. That's how, if it could be said, that's how anxious God is for the Jews to do chuvah. So, as such, here's what he did. First, he gives us the month of Elul. And the month of Elul really is an entire month where you contemplate. You begin to think about your life, what it was, what it is, and hopefully what it will be. You see? So, therefore, Elul is a month dedicated, devoted to think about repenting. Besides that, then God says, "Okay, after Elul, you have Rosh Hashanah, and I'm going to judge. But as you'll see from the next year that I give about Rosh Hashanah, even that is filled with enormous amount of uh different strategies and devices to make it easier for the Jews to do chuvah. That's Rosh Hashanah. Then the third idea, besides Rosh Hashanah, God then gives us a series of mid-chuvah, the 10 days of repentance. So, that's a third strategy. It's a third attempt for the Jews to do chuvah. And look how Look how much God is extending that desire of his for the Jews to do chuvah. You see? So, what do we have? We have Elul, we have Rosh Hashanah, then we have the series of mid-chuvah. Then, finally, we have Yom Kippur. You see? Where God again extends a day where a Jew can devote himself to thinking about his life. One of the advantages of Yom Kippur, okay, is that we minimize physical interaction with the world. We don't eat, we don't drink, we don't do other things in which a person is very heavily involved, you know, in the heart set. So, therefore, that takes away the distractions of this world. So, a person can then focus much greater on his self devoid of physical connection. And that's ruchniyus, that's spirituality. So, those mitzvahs, or I should say surum, uh the uh prohibitions in inuyim, which are the concept of uh inuyim are the sufferings, so to speak, is not to make you suffer. You can't eat or drink. Why not? You know, can't take a bath or whatever and so on, you know. What what is is what the Moshiach does is he tries to minimize your interaction, as I said, with the physical world. And hopefully, because you won't be so distracted, you know, with eating and drinking and so on, that you're going to sink in much more in terms of the spiritual aspect of yourself. And that's why really why you have the what's called the chamishah inuyim, the five different uh inuyim is uh uh the deprivations, if you want to use that word and so on, you know. In any case, but there's something else that the Moshiach does which is absolutely outstanding. And in many ways, that's the essential concept of what we should reflect on Yom Kippur. What's the problem with teshuvah? You know what the problem is? Either we don't do it, we do it half-heartedly, or I should say as an afterthought, or we do it half-heartedly, you see? Or we do it and in the back of my mind we're saying, "Well, when Yom Kippur is over, shh, go right back to doing what I was." In other words, teshuvah really, in many ways, it's very difficult to to do teshuvah with a complete uh confidence and desire to really change. Most people don't do that. You know, like they say in New Year's resolutions, you know. New Year's resolution lasts exactly till January 7th. And then that's it. It's over with. I mean, there's statistics on this, you know, how quick does a guy break his New Year's resolutions. And about the closest thing to I hate to say to you, I'll give his New Year's resolutions, you know, cuz people think for some reason that on January 1st, you actually can turn over a new leaf. They actually want to do that. But of course it's it's it's of course it's it's false, you know. Um so therefore, this is the problem with chuva. That in many ways it's very hard to do. And most people don't do it adequately. So then what's the problem? Here's the problem. That there's an angel called the Satan. His job is McCauley. His job is Kidron. His job is to prosecute. Dina. Judgements. That's his job. Like he has three jobs. One job is to tempt. In that role he's known as the eight Sahara. The second role he has is called the Satan, which is an adversary, prosecutor. And the third job that the Satan has is the Malachi Motis, the angel of death. Not that he kills, but he's also responsible to execute the judgement of the court. You see. And the problem is when somebody does chuva, and there's a little fool on the chuva. There he is. He's up there in front of the court saying, "Come on, give me a break. You call this a chuva?" The guy himself is laughing. Right? He himself is thinking, "Wait. Wait a minute. You ever see a Mariv after Yom Kippur?" It's called the bullet Mariv. You know, wait a minute. Just finished this little lofty, you know, lofty heights, right? So you figure the Mariv after Yom Kippur would be really slow, you know, but it's like, wow, you know, before it starts, right? It's over. You see? So, you begin to wonder, oh, oh, what's happening here, you know? And of course, then everything goes back. You ever notice the exact same thing as the next day, maybe less for another day or two, and then shh, it's all back to square one. So, the suddenness of the going crazy, he laughs. He says, "Give me a break. This is what you call this a chuva?" The problem is that his prosecutions, right? Isn't a comedy routine, right? It's a judgment. You know, he's a prosecutor. He's not in He's not interested in a comedy show, you know, to show how what everybody's doing is so foolish, you know? He's a prosecuting attorney. He's the heavenly D.A., you see? And he wants to get the president the court on top, on high, to dis to deny the even the entry of that chuva in heaven. That's what he wants. He's a serious guy. This guy never takes a break, never. You see? So, that's the problem with chuva, that it's never really sincere, hardly ever. You know, it's funny. You know, you think about this, you know? For those people who are serious about chuva, like the real the the the tzaddikim, the rebbe's, they don't even need chuva. Yet, they're the most serious about chuva. It's everybody else that needs the chuva that that the chuva's flawed. It's quite of a I it's it's it's called a real uh you know, um uh ironic situation. It's what it is. Think about that. The guy who's crying the most, he's probably the guy who needs the chuva least. You see? In any case, uh so, what does the Bon Olam do? Cuz he loves the Jews, you see? So, what he does is an is an unbelievable thing. He says to the Satan, "You can keep your job for that day, Yom Kippur, right? You can keep that job uh to um tempt. That's the eight Sahara. You can even keep your job not to tempt to to tempt, but even to Mahamad to execute. But as a Makatre, your second job as a adversary, a prosecutor, you have an imposed vacation. The Satan cannot Makatre on Yom Kippur. It's incredible. For 364 days, the man is active. I should say the angel is active. For one day, he is forced into a a uh a um suspension of his job. Therefore, there's no Kitro. You have to see what that means. That means if there's no prosecution at all, because the prosecuting attorney is the prosecutor, okay? That means any Chuva that you do, even if it's a fleeting thought, mm, wouldn't it be interesting to change in this way? That's enough. That is a Chuva, which means, you know, it's it's good as it says, but at least it won't be rejected in heaven. That's the key. You got to get past the door. You see, the problem is that during the rest of the year you do Chuva, if it's not really sincere, or there's all kinds of holes in it, doesn't get past the door. Because there's Kitro. There's a prosecution. But on Yom Kippur, any thought that where a person says that I want to do Chuva, or has some change of behavior, that is allowed to enter the heavenly domain, and it is considered in terms of whatever it is. But at least it gets in there. At least the petition goes in front of the king. You see, most of the stuff never gets through. That's why Yom Kippur is incredible. That's why if you add up the gematria of ha satan ha satan the satan it adds up to 364 because one day he is dismissed. Thank god for us or else we'd never be able to get in. But the satan is dismissed for that one day and he cannot prosecute against anybody doing teshuvah. Now, that's an unbelievable gift that the world has told him this day you're off. You know, we don't we don't know how powerful that is. So therefore, when you think about that what are you going to say? They can say, "Listen, you can't let Yom Kippur go by without something. Come on." The guy the the greatest most dangerous person to Klal Yisrael is the satan. He's off. You see? So if you think about that, you can't waste the day. Don't let Yom Kippur go by without a anything of teshuvah. You see? Because it will be accepted in terms of whatever it is, but it will be accepted. Think about that. That's why it's imperative that you think about what this day means. That the satan is off and therefore any thought about repentance will be allowed to enter and considered. You see? And if it's legitimate, which most thoughts are legitimate in that sense, they may not be complete and and so on. But most people who think about changing think about changing. Very important to take advantage of that day. So that's the fundamental difference between teshuvah on Yom Kippur and teshuvah during the rest of the year. That's what you have to think about, which is a very important concept. You see? Now, how does teshuvah work? Why does it work? What's its operating mechanism? That's the question. In fact, how does anything work? That's a tikkun device. What is a tikkun device? A tikkun device is a instrument that allows you to bring God closer. That's really what the tikkun is. To bring God closer to this world. That's tikkun. And God will finally come back to this world in which he absent absent himself on the messianic era. That's what he will do. So, we have a number of devices that we use to bring God back. You see. What are those devices? There are three of them. There's mitzvahs, commandments, tshuva, repentance, and yissurin or suffering. Those are the three devices that we use. Question is, why do they work? Because remember, the essential idea is to bring God back. The way to do that is you have to in some way do an action which indicates that you believe in God. That he exists, that his will is supreme. If you do that, then it's middah k'neged middah, measure for measure. To the extent that you believe in God, to that extent you will experience God, measure for measure. That's called true justice. See. What is a mitzvah? Think about this, you know. Imagine you're walking by, you know, um I don't know. Usually use Manhattan as an example, but but I'm in Manhattan. Uh you know, you're walking by and there's a you smell a there's an eatery, that steak eatery, right? And you didn't eat the whole day cuz you hadn't eaten. And all of a sudden you smell the steak the steakhouse. And all of a sudden you begin salivating cuz it's incredible smell, right? So, right there in that endless stream of steakhouse is not kosher, you have tremendous struggle. What is that struggle? Well, should I go and eat the treif steak, or I should not eat the treif steak, right? That's the conflict. Should I eat or not eat? So, that's a conflict. Should I do the act or not do the act of eating treif? But, is that the real conflict, though? There's a much greater conflict. Should I eat in the steakhouse? And why? Because I want to do what I want to do, my will, right? Hey, I'm entitled to a will. I want to eat. Or no, I shouldn't eat the treif steak. Why? Because it is God's will not to eat that steak, cuz it's treif. Okay? So, what is it? It's not a battle of acts, eat or not eat. It's a battle of will. Whose will dominates? Your will or God's will? You see? So, we're really now at a different level of conflict. But, there's really a greater level of conflict. Should I eat the steak because I want to do what I want to do, my will? Why? Because I also exist. I'm independent of God. I can do whatever I want. If I exist independently of God, then I can do what I want. Or no, can't eat the steak because God doesn't want you to eat the steak. Because in reality, it is only God that exists. Ain od milvado. Besides God, there is nothing else. The fact that you think you can eat is an illusion of self. You see? Really, we we are and we're actually a delusion of self, you know? We are under a false belief that we actually exist independent of God, and that's false. As it says, ain nobody bother. Besides God, there is nothing else. So, therefore, it becomes a contest in your belief of God. Do you believe that you exist independent of God? Therefore, you're entitled to your will. Therefore, you can go eat the steak. Or not. You don't believe that. Really, ain't nobody bother. Besides God, there is nothing else. Therefore, there is no other will, really. And the next thing is therefore, I will not eat the steak. You see? So, every mitzvah forces you into that conflict. What is your belief of God? Therefore, that's the meter connected meter. That's the mechanism, you see. Because you expressed that you believe God is really the only thing that exists. Therefore, you will experience God. That's your reward. It's measure for measure. That's the mechanism, you see, of of the mitzvah. That's how a mitzvah do the works, you see. Now, we know that when you say Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Shema Yisrael, the Shema, the the letter at the end of the Shema is ayin, large. And the letter at the end of the Echad is dalet, right? They spell eight, ayin dalet. Why? Because eight, that's what you you have to do. You need to testify through your acts. Ain't nobody bother. Besides God, there's nothing else. And if you do, then read it backwards. Dalet from Echad, ayin from Shema. Da, you'll know that. You'll know what you testify to, you see? It's an exact reversal. What I'm saying isn't the drasha. It's the mechanism of why a mitzvah works. Because a mitzvah allows you, because you struggled, to take make that testimony that you believe God is really the only thing that really is, and only his will really exists. And that's your struggle. That's your test. So therefore, that's really the mechanism of a mitzvah. It boils down to everything but do you believe what is your belief of the nature of God? And to the extent of whatever you believe is the nature of God, that's exactly what you will experience, measure for measure. You see? That's how it works. Now, let's take the next device, which also does tikkun. Teshuvah. How does teshuvah work? So I said I'm sorry. You know, what are you saying in teshuvah? We do it. I acknowledge that I sinned, correct? So that's one. Right? Then regret, charatah. You know, not only I acknowledge I was wrong, but I have charatah, which means I regret what I did. And the third thing is I accept upon myself not to sin anymore. It's called kabbalah al al haba. Okay. What's the mechanism in teshuvah that brings God closer? Remember, you know, every tikkun device, mitzvah, teshuvah, or yissurim, has to have the component of belief in God. That's its mechanism. That's its principle. And therefore, you have middah k'neged middah, measure for measure. To the extent you testify that you believe God is, to that extent you get God in the future world. You see? So the principle of testimony of emunah u'bitachon must be present in every device that will cause God to come closer. It's an important concept. Okay. I I I I say this statement in a very fancy way. I want to coin the very interesting phraseology. Okay? Behavioral conformity toward an assumed reality. If you behave toward an reality that you are assuming, you create that reality. When you do a mitzvah, you see, you are doing what? You are behaving in a way as if God is the only thing that is. Therefore, you create that reality. That's the statement in more scientific way. Behavioral conformity to assumed reality creates that reality. That's the whole concept, the mechanism of a mitzvah. With teshuvah, it's the same thing. Why? Because what are you doing in teshuvah? You're saying, you know, I made a mistake. I acknowledge I made a mistake. That's number one. Number two, not only I made a mistake, but I'm sorry. I regret and I won't do it again. So, what you really doing is what? You are you are what's called recant. You are recanting the testimony that you offered, that you also exist independent of God. And you are reversing the testimony. But isn't that the same thing? If you reverse your testimony, that what teshuvah is. I'm sorry. I acknowledge I sinned. Right? Which means I acknowledge that I thought I was somebody and I exist independent. I regret that I did that. I won't do it again. What won't you do again? I won't again do a statement or a deed which indicates that I'm somebody independent of you. So, therefore, what are you doing? You are having regrets. You see? You are reversing your testimony. You see? But isn't that the exact same thing? So, the the exact amount that you reverse, that's the amount you will again experience God. It's the same thing. Because it has the same mechanism. That's what it has to have that mechanism. It has to declare your belief in God. And then it works. What about Yissurim? How's that work? Remember, that's not the same mechanism. Measure for measure meter. You say something about God, then God says, "Okay, you're going to experience You are going to experience the amount of me that you believed in." Measure for measure. It's It's It's an exact mathematical formula, really. You see? But then the question of Yissurim, suffering. Why does that also bring God closer? That's a little hard to follow to figure out because when you suffer, okay, you suffer. What's that got to do with God? You see? However, there's an answer. A very important answer. Who or what is the greatest denier of God? If you think about that, the answer is the human. What is the real battle a person has? A person is always battling who's the boss. Is it me or is it God? Think about that. The first man, Adam Harishon, what was his battle? Right? God created this from the tree. Why can't he? You see? And finally he was led to believe that he could eat because God also ate from the tree and became God. So, why don't you try it? You could also become God. You see? The battle is always between man and God. That's the essence of Olam Hazeh. Whose will dominates? You see? So, therefore there are two ways of going about it. Either I can break a man, break his delusions of omnipotence, right? So, what that does is at least removes half the equation. At least he doesn't think he's somebody. Then maybe he'll come around to think that God is everything. You see, it's like half the do half the battle. Because you remember, the battle is am I the boss or is God the boss? Think about that. So, what happens if I can break your delusion that you're the boss? That that's half the battle. Because at least you're not standing in the way of seeing that God is the boss. You see what I mean? Think about that. You know, you ever go to a hospital, right? You're going to a room, and in that room is a guy who has 500 million dollars. And there are people like that in in the ICU, believe it or not. You know, guys with an incredible amount of money. You walk in, you know, you say hello. You say, "Well, you know, hello. I just want to visit you. How you doing? How you feeling?" "I'm feeling terrible." You know, you go, "What do you mean you feel terrible? You have 500 million dollars. Why can't you just unplug yourself and walk out?" Right? That's what you tell the guy. "It's what? You crazy? You know, I'm you I'm only I may be worth a lot of money, right? But I'm only human. I can't unplug myself, right? That's the end of my 500 million dollars. I can't enjoy it anymore, right?" So, what are you really hearing? This guy's basically telling you, "I'm a nobody." You know, I'm dependent on all these different tubes, you know, entering my body in every which way. Now, so so you say to the guy, "Wait a minute. If you if you really thought you were somebody, you know, then just unplug yourself and walk out." If we're suffering, it's the greatest demonstration of person that you're nobody. Think about that. You know, remember the last time you were really sick, right? Was it hard to cope with your arrogance? Not really. Cuz you realize I'm a nobody. You see, you realize that just a one little passenger, one little virus can knock you for a loop. You know? So, who are you? What are you? Nothing. You know, we when we confront illness, you know, and the illness is usually something ridiculous. A little virus or bacteria, you know? Or whatever it is, you realize, you know, it is so easy for the human body to go awry. So easy. As any doctor can testify. Right? We have some doctors now that can testify. You don't need them. You know yourself, you know? So, the greatest breaker, destroyer of your delusions of omnipotence is suffering. So, therefore, that also does the tikkun because it least removes one half of the equation that you are nobody. Then hopefully you work your way to feeling who is somebody that, you know? But that's why that's also a tikkun device. But since it's only half the half the mechanism, you know, and so on, so it's not as powerful as Mitzvah Tikkun. Nowhere near as powerful. But at least it has it works at a certain level. You see? So, that's that's very important concept of of Yesurin. The second concept of Yesurin is that Yesurin undoes the pleasure. When you did an Aveira, you got a certain pleasure. You see? So, in certain sense, that has to be undone. That's justice. So, Yesurin undoes the pleasure you did when you did the Aveira. You see? So, that's true. But real the real concept is that disease, suffering, agony, anguish, you name it, is an incredible indicator to a person of their real worth. No. Not after Okay? Anyway, so that's how these things work, which is very important. And actually what's interesting is this. So we begin to realize that what you suffer really is is really a blessing. Because it's trying to correct your delusions of grandeur, your delusions of omnipotence. It's really It's doing you a tremendous favor in that sense, you know. Whether a person wakes up from that delusion, it's a different story. But in the end, you know, it's doing you a great favor. It's like it says in Ecclesiastes, you know, "It is better to go to a funeral than to a party." Why? Because the funeral is reality. Guess where we're all headed. You see, the party who thinks about, you know, everybody's having a great time, having a great time is wow, I can't believe the incredible time, you know, people are talking to me and all that. You know, it's It's very important to face reality. You see, and even Ecclesiastes says that in so same idea. So in many ways your suffering suffering is a great teacher. There's an interesting story, very interesting story. It concerns Napoleon. I'm sure everybody heard of Napoleon, okay? But it's a very fascinating story. Uh and it illustrates what our attitude should be towards suffering. What happened once is Napoleon had uh he had many wars actually. Guy was always busy with wars. But anyway, what happened was he was fighting a country and he wanted to find out what the strategy of that country was. Okay? Because he was going to The next day was supposed to be some or the next couple of days was supposed to be tremendous battle. They want to find out what the other side is thinking. Now in those days they didn't have the what do you call it? The IDF. You know, the secret service, you know, all these you know, spy agencies and all that, right? CIA and so on, you know. Um So what he did is he dressed up as in enemy clothes and he went with his one of his generals and who also dressed up in the enemy clothes. And they both crossed the river into the enemy territory. And why would they do that? So that they went into a bar. Now, you ever see a bar? You know, you ever see soldiers going to a bar? They get drunk and they get loose. They loosen up. You know what I'm saying? So they were hoping that they're going to a bar, you know, all the alcohol and all that kind of stuff, right? Into the bar and they would hear what the enemy was saying. And once it because most of the guys go in, you know, they have to wind down. They all get drunk. Once they're drunk, "Yeah, we're going to kill these guys tomorrow, you know? And and we're going to do it by going You know, they they reveal, you know, you know, so not yet to make shine that's a site, right?" So So they did that. They went to a bar, right? And they sat down in a corner so they wouldn't be noticed, you know? And they were just listening to what the what the different soldiers were saying, you know, the majors, the generals, and whatever. And they were gathering information. I mean, it's a great idea when you think about that, you know? You know. All of a sudden there was a guy sitting at a bar. He's drinking. Right? He puts down his drink and he just looks around the bar, you know? And all of a sudden he sees Napoleon and the general. And he he also was just "What?" He says, "Hey guys, that's Napoleon." That's what he said. "That's Napoleon." You believe this? In the middle of the enemy territory with all the guys, you know, whatever they have guns, swords, you name it, right? These are all the soldiers. He said, "Hey guys, that's Napoleon." So the the the soldiers around him said, "You're crazy. Napoleon? You think he's going to come into a bar in the enemy territory? What, are you out of your mind?" So the guy and they start laughing at him. You know, I mean, you you think about it, you know, they're right. He says, "No, no, I'm telling you, that's Napoleon. How do I know? Because I was once captured by Napoleon's army. I was put in prison, right? And my my prison cell had a window. And Napoleon once arrived, right, to review the guard, you know, they go by and everybody stands at attention. And I got an incredibly clear look at the guy. That's Napoleon. You see? He was adamant. All of a sudden, everybody stops. You don't hear a pin drop, right? Stops. And this you know, because this guy was so certain. So they all turn to Napoleon and the general. And they begin to walk over to him. And it's like bad news. You know, I mean it's you you think about you know, and so on, you know. So all of a sudden, I mean this was this was curtains for Napoleon, right? It's over. Imagine capturing the head of the whole French army, you know. Napoleon, the emperor. All of a sudden, the general who was with Napoleon stands up, grabs the short guy, he's famous short guy, you know. He grabs Napoleon, right? And he takes his fist and he punches him in the mouth. What? You're not going to pay me what you owe me? And he begins begins to beat Napoleon. Imagine. That's what the general is doing and they're all looking. And they say to themselves, ah, it's Captain Napoleon. Who would ever do that to Napoleon, you know? It's a ridiculous. And would Napoleon ever allow that? It's impossible. You see? So they all turned around, resumed their drinks, you know. What did Napoleon and the and the general do? They slunk out of that place so fast, right? Back over the lines. But this general was frightened because he just beat up Napoleon. Think about that, you know. He just beat up the emperor. But you know what that means. Death, you know. So this general is thinking he's finished, you know? So, they go back over the lines, you know, to Napoleon's side, you know? And the general goes home. Napoleon goes where he goes, power, whatever he's got, the the the palace tent, whatever, you know? And he knows. 2 hours later knocks on the door, whatever, Napoleon demands to see him. And there's like 50 soldiers outside. Well, as they say, c'est la vie in French. Anyway, so he goes. So, this guy goes and he's like, let's go back 50 guys and he's, you know, you know? And he's standing in in front of Napoleon, you know? And Napoleon says, "Before I pronounce sentence on you, you know?" And he's all black and blue and it's like, you know, it's ridiculous, you know? Uh I want to ask you one question. And so, the general said he's he's he's trembling cuz he knows. So, Napoleon says, "I want to ask you one question before I pronounce sentence. When you were beating me, and you really did a great job, right? What do you think I was thinking when you were beating me?" So, the general said, "Well, you were thinking, you know, obviously, you know, if I ever get out of this place, I'm going to wash the floor of this guy, right? If I ever get out, you know?" That's what the general says. So, Napoleon says this, "See, you're wrong. I realized what your ploy was because you were hoping that you're going to beat me to such a pulp, nobody would ever believe that I'm Napoleon cuz nobody would ever do this to Napoleon. Your strategies would save me. You see, if it wasn't for what you did, we'd both be hanging in the in the enemy camp." That's what Napoleon told him. And he said, "Instead of punishing you, I want to reward you." And he rewarded him, whatever the reward was, you know, and so on. What did Napoleon mean to say? The beating that I got from you is what saved my life. So, what I owe you is immeasurable thanks, cuz otherwise he'd be dead by now. That's what the poem said. That's how I do the teshuvah. If the teshuvah didn't do the teshuvah, then what would happen to us? We would need We need some form of understanding of who the teshuvah is, or some undoing of pleasure or whatever, you see. That's the concept of teshuvah. It advances the tikkun process. But, what we see also is why. All three must work on the idea that the uh in some way it has to recognize that God is supreme, and that you are far below what the teshuvah is. What is teshuvah? People make a mistake. When you do teshuvah, what happens? You see, people don't realize what a sin does. A sin does many things, but the greatest thing that a sin does is rikhok. It distances you from God. That's the problem. It's not only that you did a khet, a sin. What happens is you become distant from God. Meedah k'neged meedah. If you think you're somebody, well, guess what? I'm going to allow you to think you're somebody. I'm going to move away from you. It's measure for measure, you know? If you want to take pride and glory in who you think you are, then I'm going to allow that. But, that means I have to remove, you see, my presence, my influence. Again, measure for measure. You see? So, therefore, the concept of a sin really is that you and God grow more and more distant. Therefore, the real concept of teshuvah is to get back to God. Is to reinstate the relationship that you have with the Ribbono shel Olam. That's why teshuvah, if you look at the word, it's toshuv Hashem, return to God. Because that was the consequence of what you did, you see. And that's really in the end what you want to restore. Yeah, of course you want to restore, you want to, you know, have a a teshuvah, you want to think of doing repentance on a specific sin. But in the end, it's not the sin that you want to repair. It is the relationship that you have with God that you want to repair, you see. Because in the end that's foremost. You know, if you have a relationship with God, right, you'll be incredibly rewarded, you know, in the Mahapala. You see, it's not That's the main thing you want to restore. I want to get back with the relationship to the Ribono shel Olam. Or Avinu Malkeinu. And therefore, I will be in Mahapala and so on and so on and so on, and so on, you know. Of course, the way to do that, basically, is now, is to repent on what you did wrong. But do not make a make a mistake, it's not the specific chet that is the focus. What you have to think about is what is my relationship with the Ribono shel Olam. How far is it, really? And that's what you want to do teshuvah on, you know. Of course, the way to do that, as I said, is the concept of doing teshuvah on a to having a charatah on an aveirah. Yes, that's true. But that's not the main idea. The main idea is to reconnect. You see, to re re to again exercise the relationship that you have with the Ribono shel Olam. That's an important uh concept in terms of focus. You see. Now, when you do teshuvah, what are you doing teshuvah on? You know, what are you doing teshuvah on? Huh? What is the teshuvah? Well, I will tell you something surprising, you know. What is of serious concern isn't so much the chuva on an aveira. You know, I did it I did a sin and X Y and Z and I got to do haratah X Y and Z. Yeah, that's part of it. Right? Because in the end you want to restore your relationship with God. But what's very important to understand is what is the motion that you need to do which is really chuva. And the truth of that is this. You need to recommit to search for the MS. We don't search for the truth. We're all bought off. Shachat. We are bought off because we want Olam Hazeh. We want the pleasure, the security, the power, right? The fame. Everything that this world has to offer. But is that the truth? Is this a search for truth? You see? We But we we buy into this because we're bribed by the fact that we're physical. So we don't want to see this truth. Don't talk to me about God. You know, give me a steak sandwich, you know? Or let me have enjoy, you know, whatever wha- whatever people do. Let's go to a great show or something like that, right? We We We do not seek the MS. You don't realize how detrimental that is because we're bought off by Olam Hazeh. This is the problem. But really you have to put aside Olam Hazeh and say, "Listen, forget about what I like, right? What is the truth? What is the really the reality that I need to go after?" If we would decide that, if we would desire the MS, we would be different types of people. We wouldn't accept the shachat. The bribery, you see, that this this world gives us. So that's a very important component of chuva. Remember, I'm taking away the focus of doing chuva on an aveira. You see? I'm taking away. I said, "Your main focus has to be what? That you want to return to God. You want to reconnect. You want to reestablish a relationship with the Ribono shel Olam." That's the first thing. But in order to do that, you have to search for truth. Forget about what you want. What's the emes? The truth. What is reality, really? What is my purpose? Why am I here? Is just to have a great time? And there are people that believe that. You see? So that's what you really want to think about. And then the second thing that which is very hard is after you search for the truth, you want to commit to change. You want to commit to change. It's very hard to change. Very hard. It's like when you saw the Sulanter used to say, you know, it is easier to learn through the whole Shas or Shisha, the all 37 chapters, whatever, than it is to change one middah, to change one character trait. Change is very hard for us because we are creatures of habit. You see? And when the habit that we've developed benefits us, then we get hardwired in the brain to do that again and again. It's even harder to change, you see? But real chuvah is not so much on a sin. It's on your entire attitude about life. Truth. Commit to search for truth, and then whatever the truth be, commit to change. Even though it's difficult. You see? So that in the end is really what you really want to aspire to. You see? What is the truth? The truth is called be more God conscious. That's a funny word. How if If ask yourself other than the times of davening, how often do you think of God, really? It's an interesting question. You know? Everybody knows their answer. How often is God in your mind? In whatever capacity. Well, I want to get close to him. I'd love to know who he is. I'd love to know how he runs the world, you know? I'd love to know why he's always on the side of my wife. You know, all kinds of things. You see? But how often do you think of God? You see? It's an interesting question. But in the end, you have to realize that it's all about God. It's all about him, because he is the essence of all reality. You see? So, somebody who's really what's called oisgearbeitet in Yiddish, you know, he really works on himself, he thinks about God all the time. You know? Not only when he prays, and even then, how many people think about God? You know? It's like a guy who's down in shul industry, and he was like, they're all over the place. A rabbi comes to Rabbi comes over to him and says, "Welcome back." So, the guy says, "What do you mean, welcome back? I was just davening." "Yeah, I know. But I saw the way you were davening, you probably think of this trip, how I went on that trip. I just took a trip to Europe. I wonder, you know, you probably think about everything else but God." Even though you're really standing in his presence, you know? We have focused very poorly about the relationship. See? But a measure of greatness of your spirituality, a measure of how great you really are connected to God, is how often you think about God. It's interesting. Yeah, when we ask ourselves, "How often do I think about God?" Most of us say, "You know, I could go through a whole week without thinking of God once." It's interesting. A lot of people are like that, you know? And I only think about God because I owe my sitter. Thank God for the sitter. If I didn't done it three times a day, I would never think about God. You see? But when you think about it, teshuvah really is restoring the relationship, which means to think more about Right? That's what you do when you really want to get close to somebody. So, that's a very important idea. In fact, I will come up coin a term for you. It's called the NG ratio. It's called the NG ratio, right? The shama guf ratio. Which one is more on your mind? Guf drives, bodily drives, okay? Or the shama, soul drives. What's the ratio here? Is it 1% God, 99% body? Or is it much higher? 70% God. The drives for spirituality is 70% of what occupies you. And 30% is guf. It's an interesting concept. Yeah. Go home in your own house and ask yourself, "What's my NG ratio?" By the shama guf ratio. Which one occupies my time more? Where are my drives more? You see? It's an interesting exercise. And that tells you where you're at. You know, before you can do chuva, you have to know where you're at. You know, it's called a baseline. You know? And that type of thinking, NG ratio, gives you a baseline. You see? And then, if you want to change, you can change within that baseline. Just increase the ratio of the N of the neshama as opposed to the guf. It's an interesting It's a very interesting concept. Where do we see this? Here's a very interesting There was once a very great rebbe called the Zvhil rebbe. Actually, there's a Zvhiler's son uh not a son, his grandson, actually, took over, and so on. But the Zvhiler rebbe was a tremendous person. He's a big baal nefesh, by the way. He's a miracle worker, you know? And the There's once a miracle, they say, which is, you know, he was in some Russia. Uh he comes from Russia, you know. And uh so so one of a Jew who who doubt doubt by him whatever, he went home and he sees this dead Russian in his kitchen floor. He's shocked. Probably what happened is the guy broke into his house to steal. And for some reason the guy dropped out of a heart attack. A Muslim. But the problem was if that gets caught in this guy's house, there goes the pogrom. You see? Cuz the Russians are just waiting for this. So he didn't know what to do. I mean, there's a dead in his house. You know what I'm saying? And God forbid the Russians find out, you know, they go they go there the whole you know, blood libel for baking the matzos, God knows what these guy, you know, and so on, you know. He didn't know what to do. So he runs to the Rebbe, this Vizhnitz Rebbe of Chaim Mizrahi, you know? He runs to him and he says, "Rebbe, I got this dead Russian, that some thief. He's he's he's he's dead. He's in my kitchen. You know? What do I do?" So the Vizhnitz Vizhnitz Rebbe says, "Okay, here's what you do, okay? I have a pot of cholent cooking on my stove. I want you to take some of the cholent of my from the pot. I want you to put it in one of the kingdom vessels, you know? I want you to take it to your house, you know, do it in the Shabbat carrying, whatever, you know. I want you to put some of the cholent in the mouth of the goy." So he tells him, you know. So he like, you know, "Wow, what kind of remedy is that, you know? I mean, I know you told me this is good, but come on, man. It's not going to wake the dead, you know?" So the Rebbe is the Rebbe, right? So what do you do? He goes, he takes some cholent that's some cholent from this Vizhnitz Rebbe's cholent, you know? You know? The Rebbe's a miracle cholent, right? Take the cholent, goes to his house. The is dead there, right? Opens up the mouth of the he pours in some cholent, right? And he stands back and he waits, right? All of a sudden, the gets up and he dead. It's like beyond belief, you know? You know? The guy gets up. You know, he's dead, but he gets up. You know? And he goes to the outside, goes into the forest, and the crops that knock them all. Again. Crops that, you know? This This is This is not just I mean, this is like This is amazing. We're not talking about a a little miracle here. We're not something that defies Imagine waiting to the dead. You know, is is beyond measure. And everybody recognized that the greatest miracle of all, you know? And so on, you know? And of course, word got out. Of course, what the guy did he have to the guy he said, "I have to get your wife's recipe for challah." I mean, it's incredible, right? So, his fame got out. Obviously. You know? Uh I know whose fame more it is wife's challah got out. His fame or the challah or the miracle, you know? So, he ran away from Russia. Yeah, he had to run away. He ran to Eretz Yisrael. You see? Nobody knew who he was. He just sat in the back. Very very great honors, you know? And eventually, a little time later, some guy Some guy from the Russian village where he was known, he where he went to the shul and takes a look at this "Hey, do you You have any idea who's sitting back there?" And that was it. His cover was blown, and he He was like He was above Moishe's. I mean, it's obvious. It's incredible, you know? You know? So, he said once He was an interesting individual, this speed rebel. He used to work for a living. He was a rebel. He used to work for a living. It's highly uncommon for a rebel. You know what I'm saying? So, a chossid once walked over to him. And he says, "Rebel" one of his chossidim. He Rebbe, I don't understand. Maybe can me a question." "Yes." "What's the difference between you and me?" Right? "You work and I work. Right? You say kiddush and I say kiddush. How come you're the Rebbe and I'm the Hasid?" Before this field Rebbe killed him now. You know, but I mean you know, forget about the chutzpah, whatever it is, you know, but in the end it's a good question. You know, why you the Rebbe and why am I the Hasid? So, the Rebbe said without batting an eyelash, "I will tell you the difference. Okay? When I'm in the store, which he did, used to have a store. When I'm in the store, I'm thinking about kiddush. When you're saying kiddush, you're thinking about your store." You have to hear the wisdom of that answer. It could get so profound. You see, what was he really saying? He says, "You're making a big mistake. That's what I mean to tell you who you are. You know, you're right. We both got a store, you know, both saying kiddush. So, what are you thinking about? Where's your consciousness? You see, where is your center? Where you think is where your center is. So, what he was saying is this, it's true I work in the store, but the store is an interruption in my doing the mitzvahs, in my thinking about God. Okay, that I have to work, right? But the store is the deviation, the distraction of my avodah, to serve God. You see? Because that's really who I am. I'm the kiddush, not the store. By you, right? The kiddush is an interruption in your store. You see? You don't want to be in your kiddush. You don't want to You don't want to say kiddush. You're thinking what? Well, how much did I sell today? My inventory, do I have too much inventory? Am I marketing it well? Right? All this kind of stuff, right? So, comes out that the kid is is a distraction of your store. That's the difference. Doesn't make a difference what you do, where you are. The critical thing is what are you conscious of? Where do you want to be? That's who you are. You see? Look at the NG ratio to use that term again, you know, the Goof ratio of this video Rebbe was astounding, you know? 99% maybe 100% who knows? Whatever a human can do, obviously. All he thought about was the Rebbe how to serve him, how to love him, how to do his will. You see? How to learn Torah and so on. That's really who he was. Except he also had to work for his store, you see? Which is fine. Because you can make a kiddush Hashem, you can sanctify the name of God through work. In fact, that's why they're most mitzvahs are physical cuz God wants you to interact with the physical world, and that's what a mitzvah is. It's physical. So, you can channel, elevate the physicality of the world, you see? But this video Rebbe said, "I just think about God, basically. You, 99% of your thinking is in this world, money, you know, wealth, material pleasures, and so on. That's why I'm the Rebbe, and that's why you're the chassid. Don't look at the outer trappings." So, a very profound concept that he said. And that's why people make a mistake. You know, people say, "Well, I got to go to work. So, what's the point? You know, I got to go to work. I got to interact with people. What's the point? Right? I can't be a tzaddik." Wrong. It doesn't make a difference. The concept, the reality is the emphasis is what? He said, "Where do you want to be? What do you think about? And so on." In other words, where is your center? That's what this video Rebbe was saying. Very profound understanding of what a Jew really is and what greatness of a Jew is. It has nothing to do with what they do. It's where they want to be, you see, and what they're conscious of all day long. And of course, the greater the consciousness of God, the greater is the spirituality. Obviously, this video Rebbe had reached a level where he could bring the dead back, which is incredible when you think about that. You don't see that. I mean, maybe you saw that in the times of the Tanoim or the you know, the case of Hillel and Shammai and so on, you know, but he was obviously incredible kinds of things and so on, you know. In any case, this is basically the chuva that a person really should do. Focus. Remember, it's not only the aveiros, which is important. I'm not minimizing it. But it's the whole attitude. Now, I'm going to answer a question, which many people you think about that is very hard to answer. Why is it that when a guy Yom Kippur goes by, you see, and the guy thinks of chuva, but why is it in three days he's back to his old self? What's wrong? Think about that. What is wrong? There's got to be something wrong here. Is it really because the guy's insincere? Not necessarily, you see. So, what's the problem? Why is it that so many Jews do chuva on Yom Kippur, and they do, there are many people they do, they daven, they really mean it, you know, yet yet in a couple of days they're back to the old self. Why? I'll tell you why. And here's the flaw that people do not understand. There's an old theory in psychology called cognitive dissonance. What is cognitive dissonance? To be dissonant means to be different. Cognitive in terms of what you think about. Okay. If you believe in something and you attempt to do something different, it'll fail. Because the person cannot go against that which he truly wants, his true goal. Because most of the time those goals are unconscious. They're beyond consciousness. So therefore, if a guy want to do something, you see, and and it's against what he believes in deep down, he'll fail. Cuz that's the flaw in a human. So that's the problem. Of course you want to do teshuvah. But the problem is this. You have never changed your goals. You can't just change an attitude, a step, without changing the goal. If your goal is not to be spiritual, right? I don't care how many times you do teshuvah. It ain't going to work. Why? Because deep down you want to be physical. That's your belief. That's your desire. Now, your keeper comes along and says what? Excuse me, right? You got to do teshuvah. You know, you got to daven, you got to believe in God, right? Mitvahs and so on. And meanwhile, your desire, right? Is to buy a new house in the Bahamas. You see? It's an example, right? Or, you know, hey, I got to take a vacation in Switzerland for at least a half a year. You see? Or I really got to get I got to get with the with the singing, as they say. Or I got to buy the newest gadgets, you know? What's the newest smart What's the newest smartphone that came out? I got to have it. You see? Whatever. I There's so many things, you know? So the question is, this is clearly what you want. Don't expect your teshuvah's going to last because the chuva, which is a different goal in a certain sense, a different direction, is completely dissonant from what you really want. And guess who wins? What you really want. And the problem is what you really want most of the time is unconscious. You understand? That's why you know, don't expect a change in a real way, you know, I'm not talking about well, I smoke 16 cigarettes, so I'm really going to do chuva I'll smoke 14, I'll smoke 14. That can't change, you know, but let's say what guys says, you know, you know, I I I I you know, I just want to sleep late, you know, but you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to get up to midnight every morning. Come on, you're not going to get up to midnight every morning. You're lucky if you get up midnight once every month. Why? Because you don't want midnight. You're not interested in talking to God, you're much more interested in sleeping late. You see? Because you watched the last night's TV show until 1:00 a.m. or whatever, you know, or whatever you did on the internet, you know, uh you wrote in Wikipedia, whatever the guys do on the internet so on, you know? And then you get you get You don't want to get up for for what point? You know, it's much more enjoyable to do what you did last night. So, of course it's not going to last. It doesn't mean your motive is wrong, doesn't mean you're a bad guy, not at all. But don't think you're going to win over your unconscious goals. Ain't going to work. Cuz those goals are hardwired to your brain. This is the problem, cuz we are creatures of habit. That's why people don't change. Because they don't do the prerequisite work, which is the reorder or change your goals. So, if you really change your goals and say, you know, forget about my sins or mitzvahs or whatever, I want to become more spiritual. That's a real goal. So, then the desire to do mitzvahs is what's called consonant with your cognition. It agrees or conforms, you see, to what you really want to do, then it works. But if it's not, if there's a dissonance between what you really want and what you would like to do for the moment, it's not going to work. It's certainly going to not have lasting impression. Something has to change far more than a statement on Yom Kippur. You see? Or Karot or whatever. It has to be far more than that. I'm not saying it can't be a minor change, don't get me wrong. But it's not the change that you seek. You need to change your goals, and that requires serious thinking. It's not simple, very hard, which is true. But that's the reason why most guys, when they want to do something, never really amount to doing it. Because it's always up against the real thoughts that they have, you see? And that's And that that principle is really a universal. For instance, you know, many people want to do something and they fail. Why? Because they're afraid of failure. You see, there's a lot of unconscious stuff milling around the unconscious mind that oppose what you want to do consciously. You see? That's why it's so important to understand who you really are, you know? And to try to deal with the reality. And once you deal with the reality, you can actually change because then it's consonant. It agrees with your belief system. Okay. So, I've discussed now many things about teshuvah. Many different ideas what the teshuvah should be about, what is teshuvah, what the beauty of Yom Kippur, the real teshuvah is is going back to God, and the the Ketz Kol Zrikhuk, you know, I gave examples of this Rebbe how anybody Everybody in this room be a mighty tzaddik. Cuz you can go and do whatever you have to do, but the question is what's your engi, what's your neshama kuf ratio? That's the critical thing that you want to change, you see? But what I want to talk about now is a very important concept. How come the Satan always wins? You ever notice? Why is Satan so powerful? Especially in today's time. He's got it's incredible, the Satan, you know? He's got everybody eating out of his hand. You see? He's got You have to You have to understand what the Satan is doing. He laughs at humanity. He really laughs at that. You see? Because he's got everybody eating out of his hand. You see? The question is, how does he do it? You know? How What does he What does he know that we don't know? See? So, it's a very important discussion. Because now we have to understand, what is the strategy of the Satan? You know? Many, many years ago, I was once watching a video. It was the IMAX. You know the IMAX? 5-ft screen 5-ft 50-ft screen, right? So, it was about I don't know, secret whatever. It was interesting, a documentary, you know? But they had an advertisement. You know, on the IMAX, remember the 50-ft screen, you know? It was a concert a rock concert with Mick Jagger. I don't know anything about Mick Jagger. But he's I I just know the name and I know that he's a rock star, you know? I think he was in the Monkeys or something like that. Is it the Monkeys or the Gorillas? Whatever. Anyway, but it was something to watch. I was stunned. He was there the way he always is, he's half naked and with his astounding, you know, with his guitar and he's got his whole band and they're like momish into it. It's a zaman has mother I could have I I'll buy I'll buy a Russia Shiva should give a sheer like these guys were banging away. Such unbelievable intensity. It's something to admire. Not about what they were doing, but the passion and intensity was really something to watch, you know? But it wasn't them that was so incredible, you know? They were in the stadium. There must have been 50,000 people, and they were going absolutely meshuga. It was unbelievable. I You you've never seen like the whole place was wild with pandemonium. The everybody was jumping up. The girls were screaming at the top of their lungs, you know? And the guys I was just It was a starling It's astonishing to watch. And I'm there looking at this, right? Now, what's a guy like me going to do? Think about this, you know? It's an interruption in the doc- in the documentary, right? But being the guy who I am, I ask myself, "What has he got that I don't?" What's he doing? What's his magic? That's what I think about, you know? What does he do that drives everybody wild? You see, there's some kind of magic here. Magic if you used that for Torah, it'd be unbelievable. So, I thought about it, you know? Just watching this guy. I mean, he it it's really fascinating to watch. But I say, it was just the the the uh I didn't know the word. It's just a wildness of the whole place, screaming and jumping up and down while he's hacking away at his guitar, you know? And as I'm thinking about this, I realize what it is. Yeah. I realize what what his magic is. The problem is that what his magic is is very hard to replicate in Judaism or Torah. That's the problem. Now, I'll tell you what his magic was, you know? Here's what he was doing. In the end, what does everybody really want deep down? You know? If you walk over a guy sleeping, right? What 2:00 in the morning, right? Assuming he's not on the internet, right? You walk over the guy 2:00 in the morning, you shake him, you wake him up and say, "Excuse me, what do you want?" Right? And he doesn't have a minute to think. What is he going to answer you? You know? He's going to say, "I want to I want to overthrow all yoke, all responsibility, all accountability. I want to just do what I want and get out of my way." That's really what everybody wants. Remember I told you the old idea of the boss? Who's We live in a world of restrictions. You got laws, you can't do this. And then you have, you know, then there's religion, you can't do this. You're sued left and right. We're like in a straightjacket. You know what I'm saying? But really deep down, really human nature, you want to break all of this and get out of prison. What Mick Jagger was doing was giving them the emotional ability to break all bonds. In Hebrew it's called prik atzil oil, to overthrow the yoke of restriction. To overthrow the yoke of restriction, limitations, demands, laws. You just get rid of it and go out and do whatever you want. And if you don't like it, too bad. That's what he was doing. But he was doing it through his wild character, you know, and his hip naked there, you know? And he's just drumming away his stuff. And the music was incredibly wild, you know, and and it just it carries you away. But he didn't invent this. He enabled the music enabled you to come out with what you really want. You see? And he was selling goods. The goods he was selling was "Break it. Rebel." You see? And that's what everybody wants. It's what he did is tapped into ultimate human nature. And that's how he realized, that's why everybody went wild. Because you could be whatever you want. He didn't care about morality, dignity, decency. That went right out the window. You see? It's whatever you felt, do it. You see? And he had 50,000 people jumping like that. Can you believe this? You know? And that's what they do. That's their magic. They cater to the uncivilized aspect of man. What's called the the behema in a person. The nefesh bahamas, if you want to use more religious terms. You know? Uh that's what they catered to. And they have tremendous amount of customers. In the end, he said. And boy, you know, it's just incredible. Like Uh but anyway, now how you going to work with that to Torah? What do you do? Torah is the opposite. Torah says that you have to do the mitzvahs. You have to listen to the will of God. Right? And there's no such thing as freedom except in the mitzvahs. It's the exact opposite. So clearly we cannot offer care off that, just throw off the yoke, porik oil, can't offer that. It's the exact opposite. Because the essence of Judaism is to be an ever Hashem. Not to be a more Hashem. To be a servant of God, not to rebel God. It's the It's the exact opposite. You see? Uh but you realize deep down what it really is. You see? And I bring this out because I want to tell you what the greatest strategy of the Satan is. Because he realizes that. You see? And that's how he plays us. Because you know deep down what people really want. What is the greatest strategy? I'll tell you. And he's incredible how he has succeeded. The last thing the Satan wants you to do is to examine the truth. God forbid. Strange thing to say about the Satan. But the Satan does not I to know the truth. Because if you think about your life, all right, who am I? Where am I going? What is my purpose? What have I done? You know, is my behavior correct? Can it use improvement? I mean, this this stuff kind of thinking is incredibly dangerous to the sudden. As long as you do with this, you see? So therefore, the sudden realize he must keep you in darkness. Because if you ever start thinking about your life, it's over for him. So he must keep you in darkness. He must keep you ignorant. You see? That's the only way he can have a shalom. One of the reasons why it says, you know, if you want a tablet, an antidote against the sudden, you know, shut to the basement or learn Torah. Because Torah is the exact opposite, you know, which demands that you learn the truth, that the world is spiritual, there's all kinds of and so on. So he must keep you ignorant. You see? How do you keep Jews ignorant? How do you keep going ignorant? Because that's just a Jew. He wants it going to be a behavior. You see? Going to have to be famous. You certainly should not be famous. So how does the sudden do it? How does he keep you in the dark? Ignorant. You see? Cuz that's his objective. God forbid they start thinking about their lives. It's the worst thing that can happen to the sudden. You see? Cuz then obviously, that's the beginning of the road to shalom. So how does he do it? The way he does it, make sure that they will never think about truth, change, spirituality. You know how he does it? Keep them distracted. Never let them think. Distract Never let them think. So, the Sultan is always throwing stuff at you. Whatever it is. Some of it is legitimate, a lot of it is not. You know, and people are always distracted. One of the things that we encountered today, which is unbelievable, right? Is nobody thinks anymore. It's all about smartphones. It's about Facebook. You see, people are so distracted with their lives about everything. That nobody ever thinks about themself. You know, it used to be a guy was in the car, right? And he had to He's in the car, right? And if he wasn't turning on the radio, right? He maybe could think about, you know, what's happening today. Maybe I did this wrong. Maybe I did that wrong. Did you or whatever. Forget about today. It's all about what? It's all about smartphones, cars. People are talking all the time. It's a constant distraction. I mean, I'll never forget I once went into the bathroom, right? And I hear a voice coming from one of the stalls. That's funny. And I said, "What in the world is going on? What's What is guys in the stall doing whatever he has to do? Why Why am I here talking, right? The guy was on his smartphone, right? You know, I said to myself, "This is incredible. I mean, you want privacy at least in the bathroom, right? And then you're in the stall also, right? Doing whatever's whatever's necessary. Won't you get off the phone and just do the job?" You see what I'm saying? So, it just pointed out to me, "Look at what's going on. The guy doesn't have a minute to himself, right? Even when he should have a minute to himself." It's unbelievable. We do not realize that we have become slaves to distracting devices. Whether that device be internet or the social media, right? The smartphones. There's no longer anybody thinking about themselves. It's all about technology. It's all about talking to people on the internet, showing who you are, you know, your profile. It just incredible goes on, you know? So, if that's case, how would a guy How in the world can a guy ever think about holiness? How? It doesn't happen. You see, that's why in many ways the internet is the one of the greatest destructive devices to a human being ever known. Because it will completely consume all your time and leave you with nothing in the end. What do you have in the end? Nothing, you see? That's the greatest strategy of the Satan. Keep them ignorant. How? By distracting them constantly, so they never get a chance to examine their lives. Especially what is wrong with their life, how they can improve, how they can become more spiritual. Forget about learning Torah. I mean, that's over with, you know? And today, the phones today, they're all connected to the internet. You do whatever you want on that phone. It's beyond belief what is available to you on a little device. It's one of the greatest, most destructive devices. You know that many people I I I hear that many people who are make the programs for all these devices do not not allow their kids to have smartphones. They do because they realize it will destroy them. Yes. They don't mind making it for others. You see, cuz there's money to be made. But they will not allow This is a This is already statistics already. You know, guys in Silicon Valley, guys who really make this stuff, do not allow their kids to have smartphones. Cuz they realize it destroy everybody. It will destroy your ability to think. Forget about improving. You don't even think. You're so busy. And then you know today, today you walk around anywhere, right? And what's everybody doing? Looking at their smartphone. It's like it's just unbelievable. You know, it's like nobody has anything to think about anything, just what the latest technology is. That's it. The greatest strategy of all, okay? The objective of the Satan is make sure they're ignorant. Keep them in the dark. Never allow them to think. The way he does it is the whole concept of all these devices that are constantly distracting you. You see. Well, now that you know that, you know the strategy of the Satan. You see? And that's how he does it. And today in 21st century, he's unbelievably successful. And that's why he's taking on the whole human race. It's really what's happening. Nobody thinks anymore. And because you're always passive, right? They see now, you get a kid in a class, he can't think more than 10 minutes. He cannot focus anymore for more than 5 10 minutes at a time because he's so passive in his activities. He's always listening. They don't think anymore. Just ask teachers and rabbis. The whole generation has changed because the activity of most people is to do what? Is to be passive. No room to exercise thinking. It's a lost art and so on. In any case, we have reached a lot of ideas about what the Satan does. You see? We have a a whole different understanding of what chuva is. To restore the relationship that you have with God. That's the critical key. You see? It's not just the cut part of the mitzvahs, although that's obviously very important. The critical thing is, what's your relationship with your creator? What is it really? Because most people have are enormous distance. How often do you think of God? Are your drives more spiritual than physical? Or are they more physical than spiritual? Do you seek Torah lectures? Do you seek that? Do you seek or in whatever way to get closer to the Torah, to you know, religious truths? Is that what you seek? What are you doing with your lives, you know, on a daily basis? Is it going anywhere? Or most of it is just dead from one day to the next, you know? The problem is that many people are dead, they just refuse to acknowledge it. You see, they're dead spiritually, you see? They just walk around, you know, wondering, until finally they finally wake up when they're 80 years old. What are you going to do at 80 years old? You know? Not much. What can you say? Although what's also very important to know is I don't care if you do chuvah on one mitzvah. Do something. See, it's not an all or nothing thing. God will welcome anything. Anything. Even a passing thought that maybe I should repent at some level. That's what he's waiting for. So, chuvah is not an all or nothing thing. It could be anything, a hero, a thought about chuvah, or could be a real commitment. It could be about adding another hour to the seder. You know, you have a seder in learning, you want to add an hour, it could be anything. The key is you need to reverse direction. If you're heading in the direction of oilam hazzeh, which is physicality, you need to reverse. That's the greatest single thing that you can do for your own life. Reverse directions in some level, you see? Before it's too late. We are very close to the Moshiach, very close. And the last thing you want to say to yourself, you know, I should have done chuvah before he came, because once he comes, it's over. There's no more chuva because there's no more bechira. There's no free will anymore because now it's obvious what the truth is. You see? So, there's not that much time left really, you know? And now is the time to grab it. As they say, grab the bull by the horns, you know? This is what the concept of chuva is. What it is, what the focus is, who the enemy is, and how the enemy destroys. You now have a lot of ideas, you know? It's something really worthwhile to think about, you know? Um to really think about, to absorb, and hopefully you will reach that conclusion and say, you know, that rabbi is right, you know? What am I doing? I'm getting older, I'm not getting younger, you know? And there will come a time when I can't do chuva for whatever reason, you know? It's time to think about now. What do I want to do with my life in a spiritual sense? How do I increase the consciousness of God? Very important idea. And everybody knows their lives, everybody knows that in some way, everybody can improve their lives spiritually in some way, you see? And remember, Yom Kippur is a great time. There's no kitrug. There's no prosecutions, you see? That means every chuva that happens will get through. It'll petition the king. At the level of the chuva, but at least it gets through, you see? So, Yom Kippur is an incredible time to do chuva. So, think about that. Go home, spend a couple hours, and say, "Okay, how can I improve my life?" That's all. And you'll be surprised, you know? One of the best ways of discovering how you can improve your life uh your life, just ask your spouse. Oh, you know, he or she has plenty to tell you. Plenty, right? They know, right? And then of course you could retaliate and tell them how they can improve their lives, right? You know, and so on, right? But it's an interesting way, it's an original thought, right? And and so on, you see? And so, therefore, that's the message that I want to leave. Think about your life, reverse at some level, you know, take advantage of your kippah cuz it's a great day to do teshuvah at any level, and you'll see. It may be a little hard in the beginning, but it'll get easy, easier. You'll get siyata d'Shmaya, and God will help you, and you'll be richly rewarded for the best choice you've ever made. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.