The Trust Factor
A daily lesson that focuses on achieving unparalleled success in life using ancient wisdom in modern times.
We will be discussing critical concepts as they are laid out in the book Sha'ar Habitachon - The Gate of Trust. Written 1000 years ago, the author reminds us of the values and wisdom that have allowed humanity to thrive throughout history.
The concept of trusting in a higher power that exists purely for our benefit, puts us in the drivers seat with absolute confidence to achieve greatness.
Eliminate: Fear, Hatred, Anxiety, Depression, Jealousy, Greed...forever!
* Note that some terminology will be in the original Hebrew or Aramaic which I will always follow with the English translation.
The Trust Factor
Episode 102 - Every life has potential until its natural end
Death comes for us all, but who decides when? That's the question we're tackling as we continue our exploration of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada.
While acknowledging the immense suffering many face with terminal illness, this episode examines end-of-life ethics through a profound theological lens. Drawing from Rabbi Wallerstein's teachings, we explore the biblical distinction between "earth" and "dust" - revealing that potential is what separates them. This reframing challenges our modern assumptions about when life loses its value and purpose.
Through a thought-provoking scenario involving a 90-year-old comatose patient versus a young accident victim needing an organ transplant, we examine why traditional religious teachings maintain that all life has equal potential until its natural conclusion. Even unconscious, terminally ill individuals continue creating ripples of impact - healing fractured family relationships, bringing estranged relatives together, and creating spaces where previously unknown stories emerge.
The episode traces how these ancient principles formed the foundation for modern Western legal frameworks, particularly regarding self-defense - the single exception to the prohibition against taking life. This connection between religious tradition and contemporary law demonstrates how deeply these ethical principles are embedded in our societal structures.
Whether you're facing difficult end-of-life decisions or simply contemplating the ethical frameworks that guide our society, this episode offers a perspective that values every moment of human existence. Listen now and join the conversation about life's value beyond physical capacity or conscious experience.
Good morning everybody. Welcome to the Trust Factor, the podcast that guarantees your success when you implement its divine teachings. We are continuing where we left off on a little bit of some controversial information and I want to clarify something. We talked about MAID yesterday. We talked about medical assistance in dying. It's a new trend in Canada. It was introduced by governments, not coincidentally, and the medical system is actively promoting it.
Speaker 1:I know intimately individual situations One I shared yesterday. There are other there are plenty online that you can look at that will show you that this is clearly something that is being promoted as a viable alternative to living with illness. I want to explain. I have never personally had to make this decision, thank God, and hopefully I will never have to or have to have a very close loved one have to make this type of decision. I'm not judging. I can't judge. I've never been in that situation.
Speaker 1:We are facing so many difficult, challenging illnesses in this world, one more difficult than the other, and I can't even begin to imagine the prospects of looking down that barrel and having to know what you have to deal with and that you are slowly going to pass away a painful death. I don't want to imagine that, my friends, but that does not give us license to change the word of he who created the illness, he who created you and gave you this life and gave you all of the opportunities that led up to that and all the wonderful experiences that lead up to that. That lead up to that More than that, my friends. I want to explain this in a way that maybe helps us better understand it. Why is it that we're not allowed to take away a life prematurely? And I'm going to give you an example that I took from Rabbi Wallerstein, that his memory should be a blessing. He said very clearly that in the beginning of creation, we know the story of Adam and Eve. Everybody knows it. What happens over there? Adam and Eve sin, they go against God and they do something that they should have never done by eating from the tree of knowledge and as a result of that, they have to suffer a consequence. But Hashem gets mad. God gets angry at them and in his anger he says to Adam that you came from the earth and you will return to the dust. To dust, you shall return. There is a change in verbiage. We understand that his name is Adam. Why is his name Adam? Because God tells us he was brought forward from the earth and we're supposed to go back to the earth when we die. That's why it's very important for Jews, by the way, for everybody really, but specifically for Jews, it's critically important for us to bury as soon as practically possible.
Speaker 1:I had an employee recently who had an ant pass away and the funeral, the burial, only took place well over a month after the death had occurred. I don't know what happens in between and I don't want to know. All I know is that by us, we have an obligation to get that body back into the earth from where it came, as quickly as practically possible, and that every moment that that body is outside of the earth is painful to the soul. To the n neshama, who is aware of what's happening. Now we get back to the story.
Speaker 1:So god brings his anger. In his anger he says to adam you shall return to dust, but he didn't come from dust, he came from earth. So what's this dust thing? All of a sudden, where's this coming from? And the answer is the following I heard this again from my, by wallerstein. Is that's all he says.
Speaker 1:The following he says what is the difference between earth and dust? The answer is potential. Potential is the difference between earth and dust. You can take a seedling and you can put it into the earth, into the soil of earth, and give it its water and its care, and eventually what will happen is that seed will turn into whatever it's determined, whatever it's designed to turn into. It will reach its full potential if it's cared for properly. That is the potential to reach it its highest level. That can only happen when you plant it in the soil, in the earth, where Adam, where we come from Dust I don't care how much dust you collect, I don't care where it comes from Dust has zero potential. You can plant as many seeds as you like in the dust, they will not sprout, they will not grow, they will wither away and die. That's what happened when God said you've now corrupted yourself, you've now sinned, and because of that, in his anger, he says you shall return to dust. You've lost your potential. You understand that's what happened. Now, how does that apply? How does that help us in this conversation? Let me give you the example. The example is like this You're in a hospital and you happen to see that there is an individual lying next to your loved one, who's in there for whatever it may be.
Speaker 1:And that individual is in a coma. He's well into his 90s and he is in a coma that you know and everybody knows he's not coming out of. He is on life support, he's on breathing tubes, he's on feeding tubes. This individual has one or both legs. Already in the next world he's out. And at the same time in comes a 20-year-old, young, healthy individual who just had an accident, a car accident and that individual needs a liver transplant in order to survive or whatever other organ of your choosing. That individual needs an organ in order to survive. He has children, he has a wife, he's just getting started in his life, he hasn't even begun to experience life, and this individual is on his deathbed. If he does not get that life-saving transplant, it's over for him.
Speaker 1:Yet we are not allowed to take that 90-plus-year-old individual off of life support to give that 20-year-old a liver. We're just not allowed. It's against the Torah. Hashem says you cannot take that life in order to save another. Why? It doesn't make sense. We just finished saying that we're here because of our potential. This 20-year-old kid has all of the potential in the world to do spectacular things. He's just getting started. The 90-plus year old who's in a coma has zero potential, he can't do a thing, he's not even conscious. So what are we talking about over here? Clearly there should be an exception to be able to save this young person's life.
Speaker 1:And the answer is wrong. The individual who was into his 90s and on life support has equal potential, has just as much potential to impact change in this world as that 20-plus-year-old. How, how is that possible? Let me tell you how. Because when somebody falls ill, when somebody is laid up in the hospital, oftentimes that person has family members and those family members come out to visit and people come out of the woodworking who you haven't seen in decades or haven't had a relationship with in the longest time or maybe weren't even speaking to forever. But it is precisely the fact that the family and loved ones and friends and community and all kinds of people come out to pay respects and to visit and to and to spend time by the bed and whatever it is to give support to the family that my friends will rekindle relationships, that my friends will see old relationships that are decrepit and falling apart and not healthy relationships start to refashion. I can tell you this and I'm sure you've had this experience when it comes to a shiva house, a house of mourning.
Speaker 1:Even into death, my friends, far beyond life, even into death, a person has potential to be able to bring people together, to be able to show people the frailty of life, to learn lessons from that individual's life. We reflect on them and who they were and what they did, and we start to hear stories about these individuals that we never knew before. Suddenly you're hearing about your parents or your grandparents from individuals stories that you never knew and suddenly you have a newfound appreciation for things that you had no idea your loved one was involved in. My friends, it happens all the time. We have potential. We have no right to end that individual's life one minute before their time has come, it does not matter what.
Speaker 1:Now, for every rule, as we know, there is an exception. What is the exception to the rule of thou shalt not murder, and that's one? We should all know that if somebody is coming to kill you, you have a right to self-defense. It says the one who comes to kill you, you should get up first and kill them. That should make all the sense in the world to you, my friends. If it doesn't, your head is in the wrong place, and there are many people in this world who are so progressive in their thought processes that, in their minds, it's better for them to just lay down and be slaughtered instead of stepping up and killing the person who's coming to kill you. That is the most ridiculous approach to life ever. My friends, you have an obligation, not a. If you feel like saving yourself and your family, you have an obligation to get up and kill the individual who is coming to kill you. Why? Because you are preserving your life. You are saving a life that is coming to be snuffed out prematurely.
Speaker 1:My friends, that's the only exception in self-defense. We see that in the court systems today. Yeah, it's no coincidence. The law of the land today originates from the Torah right. We can point to a chapter and verse where the law that runs the Western societies today can be found rooted in Jewish values, in our Torah and here it says today that if you are involved in a situation where you've killed somebody in self-defense, you are exonerated, you are released free. You have a valid argument, a valid reason. They came to kill you. You killed first. That's the only exception, my friends, to every rule there is an exception. That ends it for today, my friends, tomorrow is another day. We shall continue. Have a wonderful day.
