Episode 124 - The Ten Thousand Dollars Was In The Bag

The world can feel like it’s speeding up while our minds fall behind. When the news is relentless, social media looks fake, and people seem sharper and harsher, we can start disengaging just to get through the day. We want something better than avoidance, so we talk about the Trust Factor: the kind of trust in the Creator that makes life calmer, clearer, and more meaningful even when the outside world stays noisy. 

We unpack a powerful idea from Pirkei Avot: Torah learning doesn’t just add information, it changes your angle on reality. One interpretation says the world is worthwhile because learning gives the world purpose; another says the world becomes worthwhile because you finally understand it. When you begin to see that nothing is random and that every person and moment has a role, your reactions change. Anger softens, humility grows, and you start living with more patience, more steadiness, and more gratitude over time. 

Then we get practical with Garden of Emuna and real-life pressure points like debt and the cost-of-living crisis. If you’re buried in debt, we suggest an honest spiritual audit: add focused prayer, ask what needs to change, and build a “vessel” of trust that can receive blessing. We also challenge the myth that being “brutally honest” is the same as being truthful, and we argue for balance, tact, and gentleness. The closing story about $10,000 sitting in a tefillin bag the whole time drives home the point: the breakthrough may be closer than you think, but it takes commitment. 

Subscribe to The Trust Factor Podcast, share this with someone who needs a steadier lens, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations. What line from the episode stayed with you?

Transcript

You Never Lose You Always Win

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You never lose. You always win. Every time you up your game in your relationship with your creator, it always gets better. Just think. If you're somebody who's learning, you know that your life is improved as a result of it. So why? All of a sudden you're gonna reach a critical point where it's gonna reverse and suddenly it's gonna go backwards and it's gonna play against you. It doesn't make sense. More of a good thing. The more you do, the more you benefit. It's simple. I don't understand why people get to a point in life where they say, okay, now I'm content. Wait. You started at zero, you got to fifty. And in the intern, you've benefited all the way through. Your life's gotten better and better. Your relationships are improving. Your understanding of the way the world is run is improving. Everything is getting better every day, and every step that you take in the right direction. Why stop? Why stop? Just keep going. That will come with additional benefits, my friends. It's a simple calculation. The trust factor is a ticket to a better life. The trust factor shows you how to get through the life. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Trust Factor Podcast. I'm really glad that you could join us today. I'd love it if you shared, if you liked, and commented on this episode or any episode. Get it out there. The idea is that we're living in a crazy world and you don't have to be a genius to recognize it. Just turn on the news. Everybody I speak to, they all say the same thing. I don't watch the news anymore. I don't turn on the news. I don't turn on the internet. Whatever they say is an indication that they don't want to engage in society because the news is terrible. Whether it's active shootings that are happening everywhere or politicians making crazy decisions on behalf of humanity, every single day that we tune back in to see what's happening in the world, it seems like it's getting crazier and crazier. People need this, guys. This is the stuff that calms the mind. This is the stuff that teaches you what's really important. Not the facade, not the phoniness that you see online, not everybody's social media posts that they only want you to see what they want you to see. It's all a facade, guys. It's a world of lies. Almada Shikra, an olam shekir, which means a world of lies. That's God's words. It's not mine. He created the world that way. But people don't know this unless they tune in to podcasts like this one, unless they have somebody who cares about them enough to be able to share real information with them, the reason that this world was created in the first place, and allows them to be able to improve their life exponentially and to block out all of the noise or to at least make sense of it. Let me give you an example from what we're talking about over here in Pirkeavot. I just finished giving you this wonderful quote, this amazing, life-changing quote by Rabbi Mayer that says that somebody who learns God's Torah is entitled to so many amazing things. And then it went and it gave us an entire list of what these amazing attributes are that this individual comes to gain. But specifically, it says that the entire world is worthwhile just for his sake alone. Now, I interpreted that to you, and other people have heard this interpreted. The common interpretation is that it was worthwhile for Hashem to have created all of this and to continually renew it every second of every day, just for the individual who sits and studies the Torah alone, which makes sense. God created the world for us to be able to learn from the Torah and to apply it. So obviously it's now worthwhile. He sees people are doing it, so he continues to renew. And the idea is that if somebody doesn't do it, if there's ever, God forbid, a moment that passes by where somebody's not actively engaged in Torah, then the whole world reverts back to what it was before: emptiness and nothingness. Because there's no point. You're not utilizing it. So why should I leave it here? That was the general understanding. But there's a different one over here, which I like and I want to share with you. It says Rabbi Shumel Alter understands it differently. He says, the entire world becomes comprehensible to him. He starts to understand things in ways that he didn't understand before he learned. And therefore it becomes worthwhile in his eyes. What does he mean? One who learns Torah for its own sake begins to view everything from a godly perspective. Now that I'm learning, I get access to the secrets, which we've said also was one of the benefits here, that now the secrets of the world, of all of creation, are opened up to you. The reason that he created the world, how he created it, what the purpose is, what are we supposed to do, all these things are now made obvious to us. Whereas before we're walking around blindfolded. Now suddenly we have access to high-level purposeful information. Suddenly our perspective changes. Just as God's plan includes a function for everything and everyone, so too one who studies godly wisdom of Torah begins to view people in a positive light. The entire world becomes worthwhile. When I understand why somebody is behaving the way that they are, because they have an evil inclination. Oh, I didn't know that before. I thought it was random. I thought this person was just having a bad day. If somebody comes at me and starts to berate me or does something to me that's seemingly bad in my eyes, because I don't understand that there's other things working in the background, that there is a master of the world pulling the strings. If I don't know that, it's completely random. And therefore I'm miserable. I'm infuriated. In fact, I want to kill the person who's coming at me. What right does he have? Right? Who does he think he is? That's the approach when you don't understand the purpose behind this world, when you don't know that God created absolutely everything and everyone with a distinct purpose. And that furthermore, he signs off on everything that happens in this world. And even more than that, everything that happens in this world is perfect, and it happens for our best. When I suddenly understand that, because I'm sitting and learning Torah, it is now possible for me to understand this person differently. The guy who's coming at me. The person who's coming at me, a second ago, I hated him because I didn't understand, and I thought it was in his own mind and of his own will. And now I understand it's got nothing to do with his own will, and that my father who loves me signed off on it. There's a message in there for me to be able to learn from and to grow from. What a different take on life. Suddenly I went from being miserable to being at least content. I don't have to be thrilled, but content. And the more I learn, eventually I come to be thrilled. I say thank you to that individual. Can you imagine? Thank you for berating me. Thank you for stealing from me. Thank you for doing something that I interpreted as negative, but now I know that there is no such thing, and that what you did was signed off on by the creator. Now, you're gonna have an accounting. You're gonna have to answer for that. There's a reason why he chose you to impact me in that way, in that negative way. So you'll deal with that when the time is right. But in the meantime, I understand that everything was worthwhile. I understand that there is beauty and perfection in this world and that nothing is random. And so it's all worthwhile. The losses, the gains, the ups, the downs, the going sideways, all the different things that happen to us in this life, this roller coaster of life, it is all worthwhile and it is all perfect. That's the way that it's understood over here. It's a completely different take on the one that we said before. The entire world becomes worthwhile, i.e., that it's meaningful and fulfilling to him. Furthermore, it says his exposure to the endless depths of Torah teach him of his own insignificance so that he becomes overawed by how little he knows compared to the infinity of God's intelligence. In addition to what I just told you, the other benefit, the other quote-unquote interpretation of the world is worthwhile for him, is that suddenly you're gaining all this knowledge, and suddenly you have an actualization that you're really not who you think you are. You're really not all that you think you're cracked up to be. And that's an eye-opener for a lot of people to say, wait a second, I need to be a little bit more modest. I need to have a little bit more humility over here because look, there's so much that I don't know, and that is so true. Every time that I sit and learn Torah, I'm blown away. I'm talking 20 years later, my friends, okay? And I don't learn like a scholar learns. There are people who learn every day, all day and all night. I learn when I can. I try to do my best, but every time I sit and learn, I'm blown away by a new understanding, a different understanding. Look, we just got one today. My whole life, I'm thinking that the whole idea that it's worthwhile that Hashem created the world was because now he's satisfied that somebody is using his Torah. But look, we just gave a completely different perspective on this, a whole new way of appreciating a simple sentence. If you walk through life with that sensitivity of trying to understand what the words of Torah mean, you can learn for a thousand lifetimes, and it still wouldn't be enough. You'd continue to learn and to grow every day of your life. That, my friends, is Torah. It's not like any other subject in the world. It is unique to divine wisdom. Okay, guys, back into the Garden of Imuna. We're about halfway through the book, and we're gonna make a lot more progress next week when we're done with Pirkeavot. In the meantime, we're kind of splitting up our time between the both, so it's taking us a little bit longer, which is fine. We're not going anywhere. Nobody's in a rush, and we're working on ourselves for the rest of our life. So let's take our time and enjoy this unbelievable wisdom. It says, those who are buried in debt. A lot of people know about that. A lot of people are walking around with all kinds of debt. Ever since COVID, ever since the fall of the economies, all kinds of businesses have gone bankrupt. A lot of people have taken out all kinds of loans and debt to be able to try and get by. The cost of food in the G7 countries, especially in Canada, is through the roof. People can't afford basic groceries anymore. I know it's crazy. I know specifically with regards to food banks. I donate often to the food banks through my corporation. We just did a whole run for them to feed kids in school. And there are record numbers. And before they were very careful with how much they're spending. And today they're not as careful because they know it that there's a crisis. People need food, especially kids in school. This is Canada, my friends, in the 21st century. So a lot of people understand about this concept of debt. He says if you find yourself in a position where you're buried in debt, then you need to take that hour, or maybe even an extra hour. You've got your own hour of hitbo de dut, of your conversation with your creator in your own words. Maybe take another hour, if it's that important to you, which it should be, and ask Hashem to help you to get out of this debt, to figure out why you were put there in the first place. What are the deeds? What are the actions that I'm doing, or the actions that I'm not doing? What do I need to do more of and what do I need to do less of to be able to help me get out of the jam that I'm in? This person needs to pray to Hashem for a munan trust, creating a strong spiritual vessel of trust that's a worthy recipient of divine blessing and abundance. You have to work on yourself, guys. So many people roll through this life thinking that they're fine. Not only are they fine, they think that they are the epitome of what humanity needs to look like. That if everybody just operated like they do, the world would be a utopia. And they are the most corrupt, they are the most broken, they are the most crass, they are the most rude, they are the people who will get in your face. They think that by being blunt and straightforward and direct and cutthroat, that if the whole world was more like them, then the world would be a better place. And they throw all of their pleasantries out the window. Just be real, just say the way it is. What they're really trying to say is just be honest, be up front, don't sugarcoat something, don't lie enough with the lies. I get that. But the opposite extreme is equally not good. Extremes, we've said many times, are terrible places to be. You're supposed to be far enough away from the right and far enough away from the left that you land dead centered. That means you need to have a balanced approach to life. You can't run around telling everybody all these truths that you claim to see because that's how it resonates with you. And somehow you have the authority to go and tell everybody what you feel because that's going to combat the lies in the world. That's not how it works. You have to have tact. You have to understand that you're dealing with people who have emotions, who have feelings, who can be hurt, who have their own history, and you have to be gentle with people. That's the reality. Doesn't mean you have to tap dance all the time and you always got to walk on eggshells. No. There's a time to be a little bit more direct and there's a time to be a little bit less direct. But generally speaking, you have to have a gentle, balanced approach to dealing with individuals. Aside from the fact that we're talking, we're not talking about rebuke here. Not talking about you see somebody doing something bad and you go after them. That's a different story. We talked about that in the previous class about how important it is to be careful with how you rebuke somebody. I'm just talking about how you interact with somebody on the day-to-day. So many people run around thinking that they've got it right because they're so direct and they're so crass. And if you don't like it, then there's something wrong with you. Guys, get out of the extremes and recognize that you need to lead a balanced life. This idea over here that he's sharing with regards to making yourself a vessel means that you need to make an active approach, a proactive approach to getting closer to your creator. And I'll end with a quick story that I heard. I think it was my rabbi Rabbi Mizrahi that gave this story over a long time ago about a kid with a wealthy father. The father wants the kid to live a godly life. He wants the kid to work on his relationship with his creator, to pray a little bit more, to just be a little bit more godly, you know, be a little bit more aware. And this kid, he's not a kid anymore, he's probably well into his 20s, has no interest, doesn't want to connect, wants to do his own thing. He's a free soul, leave me alone. Then he wants to go on vacation with his friends. And he says to his father, Dad, I want to go on vacation. I'm going to Europe with my friends. I need$10,000. And the father says, That's very nice. I need you to start living a godly life. What are you going to do about it? And the kid says, Leave me alone from that stuff. And back and forth. And the kid finally agrees and he says, Okay, all right, you know what? I'll find. I'll start to pray. I'll start to connect back to the creator. So his father says, Okay, well, we'll see. When you do, I'll give you the money. And he gives him over a peratrillin and he says, make your way on your own diamond. And he says, when you start to pray and you start to connect back to your creator, you let me know and I'll send you the money. And the kid goes to Europe and he calls back home and he tells his father that it's going great. And his father says, Yeah, okay, wonderful. How's the spiritual growth coming? Are you connecting back? Are you looking for a higher purpose? Are you looking for meaning, or is it still just about your stomach? And the kid says, No, no, dad, it's great. It's fantastic. Yeah, I know, I'm all in. Yeah, I put it on filling and I'm praying. And the father's like, Wow, that's fantastic. And so, right before the conversation comes to an end, the kid says, Okay, dad, listen, don't forget, if you can send me that all that money, the 10,000, it would be great. It would really help me elevate the trip. And the father says, No problem, no problem. Just keep doing what you're doing, and the money will come. And then a few days later, the kid calls to check in again, but you could sense a little bit of urgency in his voice. Dad, did you send the money? Yeah, yeah, it's all good. How's the spiritual growth coming, son? Oh, it's fantastic, Dad. You know, I really wish I would have started this earlier. I mean, it's amazing. Putting on fill-in every day, talking to my creator, telling him what I need. I really feel that it's helping me. Wonderful, son. Okay, Dad, don't forget, please send that$10,000. Whatever you can, just send money, please. And this happens three, four times throughout the trip. The father never sends the money until the son comes home and the son's miserable and he won't talk to his father. And the father says to him, What's wrong? And he says, You promised me I held up my end of the bargain and you promised me your end of the bargain. I told you that I was going to pray and connect back to my creator, and you said you were going to send me money, and you never sent me money. And the father said, You're wrong. I sent you money from day one. And he opened up the trill and bank, and in the trilling bag was$10,000 in cash. And this kid was lying to his father the whole time. That's a story that gives us a little bit of insight into who we are. We walk around this whole world lying to ourselves, thinking that we're actually doing what we need to be doing, that we're actually trying to improve ourselves. We think that it's enough, that our efforts are enough, and oftentimes we're simply lying to ourselves. We all know that we're capable of so much more. It doesn't take much, but it takes a commitment, and you need to do it. And the only way to start is by getting perspective, by sitting and learning and doing what you're doing right now, by taking in this unbelievable information, my friends. Start to work on yourself. And if you're working on yourself, amp it up, take it to another level. You never lose, you always win. I'm talking to you from experience. Every time you up your game in Torah and Judaism and your relationship with your creator, it always gets better. Just think. If you're a Torah Jew, if you're somebody who's done the mitzvah, if you're somebody who's learning, you know that your life is improved as a result of it. So why? All of a sudden you're going to reach a critical point where it's going to reverse, suddenly it's going to go backwards and it's going to play against you. It doesn't make sense. More of a good thing. You're continuing to grow, you're continuing to learn, you're continuing to benefit. The more you do, the more you benefit. It's simple. I don't understand why people get to a point in life where they say, okay, now I'm content. Wait. You started at zero, you got to 50. And in the interim, you've benefited all the way through. Your life's gotten better and better. Your relationships are improving. Your understanding of the way the world is run is improving. Everything is getting better every day, and every step that you take in the right direction. Why stop? Why stop? Just keep going. That will come with additional benefits, my friends. It's a simple calculation. I hope you all do it. I try to do it every day. A lot easier said than done, but very much doable. Have an amazing day, my friends, until tomorrow. Thank you for spending time with us on the Trust Factor Podcast. If you've heard something today that moved you, save this episode and share it with someone who might need to hear it. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss upcoming conversations that challenge, empower, and uplift. And if you're on social media, connect with us. Leave your thoughts. Drop a quote that resonated with you. Hashtag the TrustFactor Podcast. Until next time, keep growing in your trust and keep living with purpose. I'm Jesse Revivo, and this has been the Trust Factor Podcast. Thanks for listening.