Episode 176 - Why We Resist The Commandments!

Why We Resist The Commandments!  #thetrustfactorpodcast  #jewishpodcasts

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're not happy. You're only doing it because you've been told to do it. It's like a child who's told to clean their room. You should know that your first response, a natural human response, is to not want to do what you're told. Right? It's like when somebody says to you, Whatever you do, don't think about a purple elephant eating green bananas. The first thing you're doing as he's saying that is thinking about a purple elephant eating green bananas. That's the first thing you're doing. Why? Because you were told not to. So when a parent tells a child, get upstairs and clean your room, the first reaction that child has is no, I don't want to do it. Why? Because you told me to do it. It's our evil inclination that comes up. I'm going to do what I want to do. That's why so many people have a problem with the mitzvah. The trust factor is to take it to a better life. The trust factor shows you how to get through the night. It's the beginning of a new month, and not just any month, the month of Elul. My rabbi, Rabbi Mizrachi, used to say, and I'm sure he still does, that Rosh Khodesh Elul, the month of Elul, which is the month of Rosh Hoshana and Yom Kippur, Yomad Din, the highest of all the days, the day where we're judged our entire upcoming year depends on this Rosh Khodesh, on this month that we're in right now. In the old days, when people had real perspective, good perspective. The person at the bhima at the front of the synagogue announcing would smack on the bimah and say, Rosh Khodish Elul, when he announced it the week before. And people would collapse. People would faint in the shoe because of the awesomeness of the month. This is your opportunity, and we say that it all goes after the start. So make it a good start. Do your best to get this month started on the right foot so that the rest of the month should follow the beginning. We talked about Robin Hood. We talked about stealing from the rich to give to the poor and how that is a corrupt ideology. God wants all of his children to succeed just like we do. He does not want one child to succeed at the expense of another. What he would much rather see is one child assist the other so that they can both climb together. They can both be successful together. One can assist the other. That's what he wants to see. That one child makes it to the top of the ladder and he reaches down to pull his brother up to be right there beside him, as opposed to reaching the top of the ladder by climbing on his brother's shoulder and pushing his brother down. That's not what he wants to see. He wants peace between people. So this idea that I'm going to do a mitzvah, I'm going to do something good here, what Hashem wants me to do, but I'm going to do it at the expense of my brother or my sister just does not work. We know he wants peace, he prefers peace. Aaron, Moses' brother, it says he was Oheb Shalom or Odev Shalom. He loved peace and he chased after peace. That's what that was his life's mission. And that's why it says when he passed away that everybody in the nation cried for him. It doesn't say that by anybody else, any of the other giants, only when it comes to Aaron. Why? Specifically because he chased after peace. He wanted to bring people together as opposed to driving wedgers in between people. And because of that, everybody mourned him when he passed away. So that's what he's saying in the book. It says people aren't aware of the seriousness of harming and bringing sorrow to other people. These self-righteous people think that their duty to fulfill a commandment takes precedence over another human being's feelings. We just discussed that. How is it possible? You really think that your father wants you to put your brother down so that you can look better? That you need to make your brother suffer so that you can win? On the contrary, whatever winnings you get, he is not happy for. He is not happy for you that you achieved that. He will put a stumbling block in your way and stop you from doing the mitzvah if it comes at your brother's expense. Listen to this. People don't regard anger and depression as transgressions. They just think it's a natural emotional response. I'm okay to be angry because I was put in a situation that made me angry, that I don't agree with, that worked against me, that held me back. I didn't, I couldn't do this mitzvah. And so now I should be angry about it. It's perfectly legitimate. It's not. Or depression, sadness. I really wanted to do it. Some people will get angry when they don't get their way, and other people will get sad. Both of those emotional responses are not only the wrong response, they are actually transgressions. You're not allowed to be sad. You're not allowed to be angry. Why? Because we said it's like idol worship. What are you doing? You're saying, Hashem, you're not doing a good job. I wanted to do your will and you stopped me. Why would you stop me? It doesn't make any sense. Anger and sadness are not only transgressions, they negate the truth and are therefore heresy. In many respects, they are worse than many outright sins. You hear? Sometimes it might be worse than actually eating non kosher. This idea of an emotional response. The message here is what we know to be true already: that a Jew has an obligation to live in a constant state of happiness and contentment. That's the opposite. What's the opposite of anger? Somebody who's content. I'm not angry, I'm content with what I have, with the situation. I'm okay with the outcome. What's the opposite of sadness? Joy, happiness. So think about it. You could choose to walk around in a world where people are angry and depressed, or you can choose to walk around in a world where people are content and full of joy and happiness. Just imagine a world where people were doing what they were supposed to be doing, and as a result of that, their response to every situation, even the ones that go against them, is pure contentment and joy. That's what he created. That's what his intention was when he built this planet, when he gave us life, he said, be happy constantly. We know there are certain times of the year, certain months, like of the month of, where we say, we lessen our joy. And then there are other times where we have to increase our joy, like in the month of Adar, Mishan Ichmas Adar, Marddin Basincha, we increase our joy in the month of Adar. So what does that tell you? It tells you that the baseline, the status quo, is always happy. Sometimes you lower it, sometimes you increase it, depending on what's going on in the world, depending on whether you're mourning something or you're excited for something. But the status quo for every other month of the year is happiness. That's a person's baseline. Now it says people are confronted with situations where the desire to do the creator's will, but they encounter resistance. What happens here? Why is it that God is stopping me from doing his will? What is Hashem really asking of you? We just said this. There was a Pasuka in the Torah, I believe it was last week or the week before, where it says, Ma Hashem elokeh, what is God asking of you? Moses is talking to the nation and he's saying, guys, at the end of the day, what is God asking of you? Why is he putting you through these difficulties? It says, La anotcha, to make your life difficult, to torture you. Why? I'm trying to do good and you're putting a block in my way. I'm trying to do your will and you're not letting me, Hashem. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't compute. So we get frustrated, we get angry, or we get sad. Why? Because he wants to know if you're going to do his commandments and to what extent do you really want to do them? Are you doing them because you were commanded to do them? Are you doing them because Hashem said, do this, do that, do this, don't do that? Is that why you're doing them? Or are you doing them because you love Hashem? What's in your heart? Are you doing it because you love Hashem and because you love the Torah and because you love that way of life and you understand that he gave you life, that he gave you an instruction manual, and that you should be living by it because it's for your benefit and the whole everything that surrounds it, the whole concept of Torah and Hashem is a beautiful concept that you want to connect to every day of your life? Or are you doing it because you're fearing punishment or because you're looking for reward? What's the reason? Because if it's fearing punishment and looking for reward, there is a limit to which you are willing to go, anybody, to be able to do the commandments. So Hashem tests you. He puts a stumbling block in front of you, he puts a roadblock, he makes it difficult to do the good, to see, are you going to do it despite the hurdles that are in front of you? Are you going to do everything you can to get over, under, and around that hurdle? And he gives examples over here which are amazing. Let's read. He should know, it says, that it's because the creator wants something completely different from him. What is that thing? To see what's in your heart. It says the significance of an action, meaning the mitzvah that you're going to do, that God's putting a stumbling block in front of you, depends on the amount of desire that is invested in that action. How badly do you want it? And it gives a beautiful example. When a husband helps his wife, the wife's gratification is mostly from her husband's willingness to help her, his desire to help her. His desire means more to her than the actual act of help. Even if the husband doesn't do the best job in the world, but he does it with a smile on his face and he does it with joy, then the wife will be far happier than if her husband did it begrudgingly. He did it miserably. He didn't want to do it, but he came and he did it and he did a perfect job. Which does she prefer? The husband who comes with a sour face and is miserable because she pulled him away from doing the thing that he wanted to do instead of helping her. But he did an amazing job. He's great at doing it. That's why she wanted his help. Or he doesn't do a great job. He does an okay job, not bad. You know, maybe she has to clean up a little bit after him. But he does it with will and with happiness and with and with a spring in his step and a positive attitude. What does she prefer? Obviously, it's the positive attitude. That's what he's looking for, it says. The same principle holds for the serving of the creator. The more he desires to serve Hushem, the more his deeds will gratify the creator. The creator does not derive joy from people who do it begrudgingly to fulfill their obligations, but doing it with a sour face, but with no heart in what they're doing. It's like giving charity. You've heard this before, giving stuff. Somebody comes to your door. Listen to this so you understand how important your relationship is with your brothers and sisters. Let's say somebody comes to your door asking for charity. What's better that you should go and give this guy $1,000? A thousand is a lot of money. Somebody's knocking on your door randomly. You're going to give them $1,000. You don't know this guy. Do a little bit of homework, you ask some questions, you figure out, okay, this guy's kosher. I'm going to give him some money, right? Do you give him a thousand dollars but do it with a miserable face and make him regret ever coming to your door? Do you make him reduce him to somebody who's insignificant, that he should think a million times before coming the next time? But hey, you walked away with a thousand owned. What's better, that? Or you give him nothing, zero, but instead you invite him in. Because you don't have. If you have to give, you give. But if you don't have what to give, you invite him in and you welcome him and you inquire, who is he? Where is he coming from? How was his trip? You just sit him down at your dinner table, you give him a glass of water, something small to eat, take a break, rest your feet, right? Talk to him, some words of encouragement. I don't have what to give you. You know, you give him a few bucks, three, four, five bucks just to send him under what's better? It's not even a question. If you're contemplating which is better, then you have to do more research. You have to learn more. The answer should come quickly and easily. It does not matter the amount of money that you have to give, because if you don't give it to him, then your neighbor will. It doesn't come from you. You're not doing him a favor. He's doing you a favor. He was sent to knock on your door. Hashem has a million other people that can give him a lot more than the thousand dollars that he needs. And it's going to happen with or without you. Hashem is sending him to your house to say, you have to cough up a little bit. You've got to reach down deep and give this individual. Now let's see how much you're going to give, but more importantly, how you're going to give it. Are you going to give it with a smile on your face? Because that would be the ideal. Give him $1,000 after you've sat him down at your table, gave him to eat, gave him to dream, talk to him about himself and his family and his travels and all the challenges that he's going through. Let him get some of his challenges off of his chest. Give him words of encouragement, lift them up and send him out with a thousand dollars. You're a hero. You're a hero, not in his eyes, in his eyes, in the big boss upstairs who looks down and says, ah, that is exactly what I was looking for. Then he sends you the opportunities to continue to do more of the good things that you're doing. But when you're trying to do the good things, but you're doing them with a miserable face, you're doing them, but you're upset that you're doing them. You're not happy because you're only doing it because you've been told to do it. It's like a child who's told to clean their room, right? You should know that your first response, a natural human response, is to not want to do what you're told, right? It's the it's like when somebody says to you, whatever you do, don't think about a purple elephant eating green bananas. First thing you're doing as he's saying that is thinking about a purple elephant eating green bananas. That's the first thing you're doing. Why? Because you were told not to. So when a parent tells a child, get upstairs and clean your room, the first reaction that child has is, no, I don't want to do it. Why? Because you told me to do it. Whether it's good or bad, right or wrong, is completely out of the question. It's our evil inclination that comes up that says, I was told I need to do it. So my natural response should be negative to say, no, I'm going to do what I want to do. That's why so many people have a problem with the mitzvahs. That's why so many people have a problem with Judaism and religion in general, that some force, especially one that I can't see, touch, hear, feel, all these things, I can't sense them. But this book, this, or even worse, some people think it's a group of rabbis that got together and came up with a bunch of random laws to be able to feel important. I mean, a whole other conversation. But there are people who believe that. They think some random rabbi from thousands of years ago is going to tell me what to do today. So their natural response is no, I'm not doing it, to the point where they're not even going to investigate. But we know better. You and I, we know better. We know who gave us the mitzvahs, and we know that they're not self-serving because Hashem has everything. He's complete. The only reason he gave us these mitzvahs is for our benefit. We benefit from them when we do them. So when we grow up beyond the stage where our knee-jerk response, like a child, is to say no, because I was told it's the opposite response. It's, wait a second, Hashem is commanding me here. This is not some person of flesh and blood with a self-serving motive. This is the creator of the world. This is the one who gave me life. This is the one who has everything to give me. This is the one who gave me the instruction manual. If I should be listening to anyone, to anything, it's to my creator. And so you do it with will. You run after it. You say, tell me more. What else do I need to do? It's like you're in a maze. You're in this complicated labyrinth and you're trying to get out, but you're stuck. Everywhere you're going, you're banging into walls and mirrors, and you're about to throw in the towel, and then all of a sudden somebody pops up from above the maze who now has a 30,000-foot perspective and can start giving you instruction. Turn left, turn right, don't go that way, stop. That's dangerous. You're going to end up in a pitfall over there. That's the right way to go. It's much easier. There you'll get through, but it's going to be so much harder. He's giving you step-by-step instructions. Which fool in the world is not going to listen to him? Which fool is going to say, you go away, I got this after I've been breaking my head for years trying to get out of there. Please tell me what to do next. Where do I go? What's the right move? What's the wrong move? Think about it. It's exactly the analogy that we live through in life. When the creator places an obstacle of the way of doing his will, he is testing whether the individual's desire is genuine or not. The shim says, I want to know what's in your heart. Are you doing this for the right reason? Or are you doing it because you were told to do it and you're doing it begrudgingly? We should all do it as though it's the individual watching over us on top of that maze of life, giving us step-by-step directions because they want our success. That is the way to live and to succeed. Have an amazing day, my friends. Tomorrow we'll chat again. 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.