Thinking Talmudist Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:00 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH in Houston, Texas. This is the Thinking Talmudist Podcast.

00:14 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
All right, welcome back everybody. Welcome to the Thinking Talmudist. I want to welcome back our dear doctor, our in-house psychiatrist. Thank you so much for being here. We are deeply grateful to see you back here in the beautiful confines of the brand new Torch Center in Meyerland.

00:32
All right, so last week we talked about arrogance, arrogance, the dangers of arrogance, that someone who is Atama told us that, someone who is arrogant, it's like they're an idol worshiper. Who are they idolizing Themselves? Why does someone get angry? Because you bothered me, you stopped your car in front of me. What's wrong with you? Don't you understand that I need to go? Don't you understand that I need to?

01:01
And people try to justify that arrogance or that anger that gets associated with it. So he's not a mensch, he doesn't care about anybody else's time and it's all about because we have a self-centered nature. That comes to the fore when things don't go our way, when people don't have the opinion like we do, which is a very important trait. We talked about this several times in the past couple of weeks the importance of tolerating another person's opinion. They don't have to think like we think, they don't have to vote like we vote. They don't have to act like we act, but we have to learn how to be tolerant, accepting, loving of every other person, regardless of their understanding of how things work. If everybody thought like you thought this world would be a very boring place. But everyone has different ways of thinking.

01:59
Think a great example of this is Congress right, where you have 100 senators and 530, 435 members of the House. And what happens? They all have different opinions and sometimes they have different motives, and they have. You're on the same side of the aisle. Just because we're on the same side of the aisle, just because we're on the same side of the aisle, doesn't mean that we all think alike. We all have different priorities, we all have different constituencies, we all have different motives and everybody is looking out for their own best interest. Okay, but we have to understand that in order to get along as a human being with anyone else, we have to understand that in order to get along as a human being with anyone else, including a spouse and or a child and or a parent, it's going to require for us to be able to tolerate that there are differences, because not everyone's child is living their lives exactly the way we imagine they live their lives. So we have to tolerate that things are not going to go our way. When a person has arrogance, arrogance means I'm at the top of the pyramid and everybody else needs to bow down to me not necessarily physically bow down to you, but figuratively. They have to bow down to my wills, to my wishes, to my ideas, and when they don't, it triggers an anger.

03:38
It's very interesting that if you think of who the arrogant people were in Tanakh, you look at Haman. Haman was very, very, very arrogant. And what bothered him the most? He had the entire empire at his fingertips. He had the king's ink and quill, the signet ring. He can demand anything he wanted, get anything he wanted, get anything he wanted. And what bothered him? It was that one Jew, that one Jew that didn't round that corner for him, right, it was just like he wasn't good. He had 99.9 obedience. But that one Jew is what did everything for him, and that's what really is what did everything for him, and that's what really arrogance makes us crazy.

04:33
The Talmud now is going to talk about more of the evils of arrogance. Azhara, legasi, haruach, minayim. From where in scripture do we derive a warning to the haughty of spirit that one should not exhibit such behavior. Talmud here says there is a general principle that every punishable act must have a scriptural warning that accompanies the basic prohibition. Now let's understand what this is here, what Rashi brings here.

05:03
We know there's a fundamental principle in the Torah you cannot punish someone who isn't warned by law if there isn't a speed limit sign every so often. For example, every time there is a merge into the highway, there has to be a sign notifying the cars that are joining the highway traffic of the speed limit. Then, every few miles I don't know exactly the laws, I think in every state it's different but there has to be a sign reminding you of the speed limit. What is that? That serves as a warning, because if there is no sign, you can rightfully go to that judge and say listen, I wasn't warned. There were not the signs that there were supposed to be by law and therefore if you weren't warned, you cannot be punished. We know this as parents. We can't punish our children for eating the cookie from the cookie jar if we don't warn them and tell them this is not to be eaten. Warn them and tell them this is not to be eaten. You can't expect someone to know without warning them. So you're all going to ask me a very fundamental question what is the warning that the Torah gives? The Torah? When was the Torah given? 2,448 years after Adam and Eve were created. So what happened for those 2,448 years? Was nobody punished? We see that Adam and Eve, they were punished. Okay, but they were actually. They were warned. But Cain and Abel, noah and the flood, sodom and Gomorrah I mean, you see one after another instances where people were punished and yet the Torah was not given to mankind, people were not warned and they were punished. Where's the justification for that punishment?

07:03
An incredible, incredible insight written by my great-grandfather, that's my grandmother's father. He was the leading scholar in Slobotka, in the yeshiva Slobotka, and he was the primary student of the altar of Slobotka, the great sage of Slobotka. And after the great sage passed away, my great-grandfather took over his role as leading the yeshiva and he was murdered brutally by the Nazis during the Holocaust. They said, oh, he was handicapped, he wasn't able to walk on his own. He was thrown off a moving train when he was a teenager by some Lithuanian thugs and they said oh, you're injured, you shouldn't be here in the ghetto, you have to go to the hospital. They took him to the hospital and then burnt down the hospital. So this is how he died. We have no burial place for him. We have no idea where he, but he was an unbelievable sage and an unbelievable scholar, and one of the things that he writes in his book his manuscripts were saved and his children produced it and it's magnificent.

08:16
One of the this is one of the one of the fundamental questions that he addresses in that book is how can you have punishment without warning? We know you can't do that. You can't punish someone without warning. So where's the punishment of the generation of the flood? Where's the punishment of the generation of the Tower of Babel, says my great-grandfather. He says there's a fundamental principle that we need to understand when we learn Torah, that we need to understand when we learn Torah, and that is the Torah doesn't teach you common sense.

08:54
Common sense. Hashem gave you a brain. Hashem gave you a brain. Everybody, every reasonable person, knows you. Don't walk over to a stranger and just slap him across the face. Everybody understands that. You don't need a Torah. A stranger and just slap him across the face. Everybody understands that. You don't need a Torah to tell you not to. You don't need a law to tell you not to. It's common sense, common sense. The Torah does not tell you that Hashem gifted every person with a brain. So what does the Torah teach us? Things that are not common sense.

09:26
And if you look, the Torah doesn't say thou shalt not murder. The Torah doesn't say thou shalt not steal. Oh Rabbi, I don't know what Torah you're looking at, but in my Torah, in Exodus, in the Ten Commandments, it says thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not steal, and it says thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not steal. And you look at the commentaries and what do the commentaries say? Oh, thou shalt not murder doesn't mean don't take a knife and stab someone to death. That's not what the commentaries say, because that's common sense. We all know that. When it says thou shalt not murder, you know what it's talking about.

09:59
Not embarrassing someone in public, not embarrassing someone in public, that's a form of murder that not to steal is kidnapping. That intellect may not, you may have found a way to justify kidnapping. That the Torah needs to tell you. But not to steal someone's Rolex off their hand, that's common sense. You don't need the Torah to tell you that. Therefore, the generation of Noach, where everyone was stealing, being dishonest, the Torah could punish them, because common sense dictates that you don't do things like that. The Torah doesn't need to tell you not to steal. Common sense dictates that the Torah doesn't need to tell you not to murder. Common sense dictates that the Torah doesn't need to tell you not to murder. Common sense dictates that. And therefore, when we say here in our Talmud that the terrible things of arrogance and the punishment for arrogance, now the Talmud is asking what is the warning? You can't give a punishment without a warning.

11:19
So Reb Nachman Bar Yitzchak said that the warning can be derived from here. The Torah states and your heart will become haughty and you will forget Hashem. And it is also written take care lest you forget Hashem, your God. And this derivation follows the exegetical rule of Rab'Avin in the name of Rab'Ila, the Amar Rab'Avin, amar Rab'Ila. Rab'avin said, in the name of Rab'Ila, kol makom shenemer hi shomer pen ve'al anytime.

12:04
The Torah says take caution, take care lest or do not. Anytime. It says that in the Torah eino elo belosa se take care lest or do not anytime. It says that in the Torah Eino elo belosase, it's nothing other than a negative commandment, meaning a prohibition. Where it's a warning in the Torah do not do that.

12:27
It's not just saying you know, we say midvar, sheker, tirchak, distance yourself from falsehood. So why doesn't the Torah just tell us straight out don't lie. The Torah doesn't say that. The Torah says distance yourself from falsehood. The Torah knows how to be very clear. We look at the Torah. There are many things that are black letter law. The Torah says it explicitly Do not do this, do not do that. And yet when it comes to falsehood, it's kind of like gray letter law. It's like grayish. The Torah doesn't say don't lie. The Torah says distance yourself from falsehood. Why? Talmud tells us. Talmud tells us maybe we'll do this, the next segment of the thinking Talmudist. Maybe we'll talk about this.

13:27
Because the Talmud says there are certain things you're allowed to lie about, for example, for the sake of peace, for the sake of peace. Things you're allowed to lie about, for example, for the sake of peace, for the sake of peace, you're allowed to lie, but you're not allowed to lie. Or it doesn't say you're not allowed. So it says distance yourself, don't get into the habit of it. There are certain times that you need to, or what we call a white lie, meaning that there's no real impact because of the lie. It's still a lie. You know, people once went to their Rebbe and they asked they said, rebbe, what do you call someone who exaggerates? He says you mean someone who lies. If it's not true, it's a lie. But there are certain times where the Torah says that it is necessary to for the sake of peace. I'll give you just a quick example.

14:24
I got a call from a student several years ago and he's now happily married, I hope. But he called me at the time and he said you know, my wife really, really gets irritated when anything having to do with my college life gets brought up. Now he's today religious, shomer, shabbos observant, keeps kosher, but when he was in college he wasn't. He became religious later in his life and his wife, who grew up religious her whole life, you know, would get very, very uncomfortable, sometimes angry, that he, if, if, any type of mention would come up, even in passing, about any previous relationships or things like that. So he called me, says rab, he says Rabbi, what do I do?

15:12
So I said there's a known principle that our sages teach us is that once you get married, all of your previous sins get erased. They all get erased. Finished done. I said you know who they get erased from. First is we know that the day someone gets married is like Yom Kippur, and on Yom Kippur, all of our days, all of our sins are atoned. They're all forgiven the day of forgiveness. Which is why a bride and groom, on the day of their wedding, they fast. It's like Yom Kippur. They don't eat until after the Chuppah, so after they walk down the canopy. Because that day is Yom Kippur, their sins are forgiven. Very special day Our sins are forgiven the day we get married.

16:06
Why? Because you need to also forget your sins. You need to also erase it from your memory, erase it from its existence. It doesn't exist anymore. So he says to me so if it ever comes up, I should make believe I never had a previous girlfriend.

16:26
I said for what purpose? What good does it bring you for your wife to know anything about your previous relationships? There's no purpose. No woman wants to hear about your previous love, about your previous relationships, about your previous deeds. None of it. Does that mean you lie about it? Well, it's definitely not going to bring you any good.

16:57
I'm not condoning being dishonest and lying, but I definitely do not recommend that you be an open book and just share everything that happened and all of your sins and mistakes that you've already atoned for and asked forgiveness for from the Almighty. For what benefit? For what good? It's going to cause heartache. You know what I'll tell you, what you can say. You can say my life began when I met you. Everything that happened before is like in my womb. It was like I don't remember anything. You are my life and that should be the truth. A man who gets married, his wife is his life and finished. There's nothing else that exists. Anything that happened prior bygones should be bygones and it's over. Does that mean you lie? No, it's not necessary to bring it up.

17:53
You don't have to be Mr Truth and Honesty when it's going to affect pain. I guarantee you it's going to cause pain to your current spouse hearing about your past relationships. It will cause them pain and possibly irreparable damage. Yeah, so not bearing false witness and possibly irreparable damage? Yeah, so not bearing false witness, of course, is a very, very important fundamental principle in Judaism. Yes, you cannot give false witness, but a person should not either give false witness about himself. Okay, so it's very, very a person is not trusted about himself. Meaning, if I go in front of a court and I say I did this, you're not necessarily trusted. They have to be witnesses, because the same mouth that says I did this can say well, just kidding, I didn't do this, okay, so you need to always.

18:45
That's why it's important to have testimony needs to be by two witnesses who are cross-examined separately one from the other so that they can't coordinate their statements and they're asked about every detail the Talmud goes into, which is now the new Dafyomi, the new tractate that started yesterday, sanhedrin. It can still jump on board. The tractate talks about how a Bet Din, how a Jewish court, operates. What are the qualifications to be on the court? What are the qualifications of all testimony that's given by witnesses? What's the cross-examination that's asked?

19:27
They will ask, for example, both witnesses have to be visible to one another. So if one witness is here and the other witness is on the other side of the street, but they cannot see one another and they both give a testimony about an accident or something that happened in between them, but each one saw it from a different angle and each one cannot see the other, that's already disqualifying. We both saw the same accident from different sides, but we couldn't see each other. So already it's shaky. Then they can ask about where are you standing exactly? Where was the sun coming from? Where was the position of the sun at that moment? Right, was there a tree next to you? Was there not a tree? He says yes, there was a tree. It happened right under the tree. He says, no, there's no tree there. Okay, so already you start getting all of these factual problems with the case.

20:29
Now I understand that American court is different, but I will tell you that a Torah court would have the exact same result as the American court system regarding OJ. In fact, the Torah court would have been done without all the hundreds of millions of dollars of news, media and hours that were spent on all of the lawyers. They would have saved them all that time. They would have come into a Jewish court and they would have said okay, so where are your witnesses? Like, we have no witnesses. We have circumstantial evidence, we have a glove, we have a this, we have a that. They'll say have a great day. That's what the Jewish court would say because you don't have witnesses. You must have concrete proof. You don't have witnesses, goodbye.

21:18
Now we all know, or at least in our mind. We know or we have an opinion about what happened. Was he guilty? Was he not guilty? Everyone has an opinion. That's very firm. Everyone's very passionate about it. I remember then when that case was being heard and when the verdict was made, when the acquittal was made. If the glove don't fit, you must acquit we all remember and everyone was very passionate. But he's guilty. Where's justice? No one said that he's not guilty. He's just. We don't have the ability to give him a punishment based on the lack of evidence. He actually lost in the civil cases, had to pay millions and millions of dollars, but in the criminal case they didn't have right. Certain, again in a Jewish court, that case wouldn't have been heard, even it wouldn't have even gotten to the docket. Why no witnesses? Again in a Jewish court, that case wouldn't have been heard, even it wouldn't have even gotten to the docket. Why no witnesses? Goodbye, leave Understand. So, just so you understand that there's a system here.

22:26
Tractate Sanhedrin began yesterday. My dear friends, jump on Folio 3, which starts with 2. You know that the Torah begins with the letter Bez. It doesn't begin with the letter Aleph. Every tractate in the Talmud begins with page 2. It doesn't start with page 1. 1 is reserved for Hashem. Aleph reserved for Hashem. Where do we find the Aleph? At the beginning by the Ten Commandments, where it starts with Anokhi, hashem, elokecha, with the letter Aleph reserved for Hashem. So every page of every book of Talmud, every tractate of Talmud, begins with the letter Bet Not the actual tractate, but the page always begins with Bet. Aleph is reserved for Hashem. The first letter, the number one One, is Hashem. The first letter, the number one One, is Hashem. All right, so now the Talmud now continues and says more about the consequences of arrogance.

23:19
Dorosh Rab Avira. Rab Avira expounded a teaching Zimnin Amar La Mishmei Durab Asi, and sometimes he quoted this in the name of Rab Asi. V'zimnin Amar La Mishmei Durab Ami, and sometimes he quoted it in the name of Rav Asi, and sometimes he quoted it in the name of Rav Ami. Again, why the details of who said it? Who cares? Just tell me what you say. Why do I need to know the source? Because this isn't the Washington Post.

23:50
We don't write unverified stories. We don't write anonymous sources. When you're invested in the truth, there's no such thing as anonymous sources. You want to know exactly who. You know who Rabavir quoted this. Well, sometimes he said Ravasi, sometimes he said Ravami. Why don't you figure it out and let me know? Well, this was written after the fact, after he passed. We quote it exactly by who he quoted.

24:18
Rabbi Vera quoted it, sometimes Baravasi, sometimes Baravami. We have no idea. We're going to write them both. You have to know your source for everything. There's nothing that's brought in the Talmud. That's just like. This is our feeling about it, and now you have to accept it. There's no such thing. Anybody tells you that rabbi made up laws. Not learn Talmud. Rabbis don't make up anything. Okay, kol Odom, sheyesh, bo'gas, asuroch, and this is what he used to quote in the name of either of Ahmi or of Asi.

24:52
Any person who possesses a haughtiness of spirit, lusof Mismayit, will ultimately be diminished in stature. In Nehmer, romu Me'at, as it is stated and this is in Job 24, 24, chapter 24, verse 24, it says they are exalted, decrease. Those who are exalted will be taken down. But perhaps you will say he still exists in the world. The verse therefore states and then they are gone. The verse therefore states and then they are gone. And if he repents and humbles himself, he will die at his predestined time, as did our patriarch Abraham, as well as other patriarchs. They are crushed. They will be like all that leap away. The word all in the phrase suggests like Abraham, isaac and Jacob, because it says by them, by each of our patriarchs. They use the term Kol, meaning they live their full potential. They live their full days. No time was taken off their clock. Just as our patriarchs joyfully leapt from this world to the world to come, so will this penitent joyfully leap away, the Imlav. And if he does not repent, the verse states about him.

26:37
Let me just give you a little bit of my perspective on what happened on July 13th 2024 in Butler, pennsylvania. I believe firmly that Hashem was Hashem was cleansing the candidate for president by the humiliation that was on that stage in front of the eyes of the world. You're talking about someone who is the most famous person in the world, in the world Known by everyone, not only because he was a president and now is a president-elect, but also because of his personality, the bravado, the wealth, the women, the grandeur, you know it, the plane, the everything. Perhaps, again, some would say that he might be arrogant or haughty. Some say that he isn't. That's not our business. That's Hashem. That's between that individual and Hashem.

28:04
But when I heard the story and followed that story, I said look at how Hashem humbles people From his feet to his knees, in a millisecond, in front of the world, and we hope that every person who needs to be awakened gets a message that's not that painful, that's not that embarrassing, but that's one of the. It says that someone who's embarrassed publicly is forgiven of all their sins. Forgiven of all their sins. Now, again, I'm not. I don't know what goes on in the heavens. I don't know what's going on, what Hashem has in mind and what he plans and what not. I don't know what goes on in the heavens. I don't know what's going on, what Hashem has in mind and what he plans and what he. I don't know and I don't suggest in any way that this is to me. That's what spoke out to me.

29:03
Look at how Hashem is humbling this person. Well, I don't know that that was. I think that that was more of an impulse reaction. I don't know that that was. I think that was more of an impulse reaction. I don't know that that was arrogance per se, that he was saying that. But again, he didn't even know what was going on. For all he knew he was going to be dying. I mean, he had no idea that it was just that little nick, right? Either way, I'm not here to psychoanalyze the whole event and I'm not here to endorse any candidate. I'm just telling you what my personal perspective was Like. Wow, look at how Hashem humbles those who are you know, at least in the eyes of the world perceived as arrogant. Okay, hashem humbles them. Right, and this was a very we all saw how he came into that convention very, very humble. He came in very, you know, I heard that he had come prepared with a very fiery speech. He changed the whole thing. The entire speech Threw it out has to be much more peaceful, much more pleasant, much more, you know, bipartisan-like Either way. So and again, I'm not here to say that those who like him or those who don't like him, I'm not getting in that mix now, my uberoshibola.

30:23
So what is meant when it says and like the top of a stock? What does it mean? It's snapped off like the top of a stock. The Gemara answers. Rav Hunna and Rav Chizda offer different opinions. Chad Amar Ki Sasa B'Shibolta. It means like a beard of a stalk. V'chad Amar Ki Shibolas Atzma. It means that the stalk itself, which is snapped off when it is harvested. I don't have a clue of what this means, but Talmud will explain, okay.

31:00
So the Gemara challenges the second view. Let's see if we look at the commentary here. The commentary says the beard is the stiff bristle that grows on top of the stalk of grain. It eventually breaks off and falls from the stalk by itself. There's some parts that will fall off by themselves. There's some that are chopped off. Eventually a person will fall off, meaning old age comes and a person suddenly becomes fra, you know, frailer. A person becomes more mellow. They soften up from all of that strong stand of arrogance that they may have had.

31:42
The Gemara challenges the second view. Now, it is well, according to the one who said, the verse means that the haughty person is snapped off like the beard of a stalk, which, like, cracks off. That is understood because of what is written like the top of a stalk which cracks right off. Okay, that we understand. Which cracks right off. Okay, that we understand. Elamanda Amar Ki Shibal Toh Atzma. But according to the one who said that, it means like he is snapped off like the stalk itself. Mayu Baro Shibolas. What is the meaning? Like the top of a stalk. The Gemara says Amar Rav Asi, rav Asi said Dechentan Adbe. Rabbi Shmuel as well was taught in the academy of Rabbi Yishmael.

32:38
It's analogous to a person who goes to the field to harvest his crop. He harvests the stalks in order of their height, takes the ones that are taller first and then the ones that are shorter. Meaning what does that mean? God goes after those who are more arrogant, chops them down, and then the ones who are less arrogant. So, if I understand this thus, when the verse speaks of the top of the stalk, it means the stalk whose top reaches above the others. The farmer cuts the tallest stalk first, then the next tallest, and so on. So, too, a haughty person will be cut down. Meaning let's understand what the commentary is saying here. You know what arrogance really is. What is true arrogance? Arrogance is really that a person feels elevated above others. Let me give you an example Sports.

33:52
Sports is a very, very easy place to fall into arrogance, because you see real talent, raw talent, on display. You see there are players who are just better than others. But it's also a place to demonstrate fabulous humility. Why? Because you can have players who will recognize and this is, by the way, in every sport. Who will recognize that their talents and their gifts are a gift from God? And they take no credit and they attribute none of their success to their own doing. They realize everything is from Hashem. Why are you praising me? Everything is a gift from God. I'm not better than any other player. God gave me a gift and I'm here to utilize that gift. I'm here to entertain people. If they're really self-conscious and recognize, right, if they realize that they're really there as entertainers, they realize within themselves that it's not about them. They're there to enhance other people's Sunday afternoons with football and other people's Wednesday nights with baseball and basketball and soccer and whatever else it means.

35:06
What really is happening is that when someone feels that I am better than someone else, what do you mean? You're better than someone else? You're not better than anyone else, because the expectation that's going to be held against you is matching your capabilities, meaning, let's say let's give an example If the average person you know I love, when you take the children to the doctor, they'll say they are 20% above the what do they call it? The percentile? Right, that means you're 20% taller than the average, or 20% shorter, et cetera, et cetera. And that's the way they measure things. They measure things by the percentile. This is what the average is at. In our traits, we accustom ourselves that there's a percentile. You know, I'm not producing more than I mean. I'm producing 10% more than the percentile. So a guy who's capable to produce more is comforting himself Look, I'm so much better than everybody else Because, look, but you don't have 10% more talent than everybody else. You have 150,000% more talent. Why aren't you producing 150,000% more results? You understand, the fact that you're producing the average is a terrible thing.

36:45
I'm fascinated by Elon Musk, because here's a single individual who has done more, arguably more than NASA has done. When NASA has a $5 to $10 billion budget annually by the federal government, and now they're using his rockets to go to space, he's producing things. This is one guy who dreamt up this SpaceX and is producing. It's the most remarkable thing. Oh, but that's not it. He has now the biggest United States American car company in the entire country, bigger than Ford with their subsidies. Bigger than Ford with their subsidies. Bigger than Chevy with their subsidies, with all of their government assistance and the government bailing them out because they're too big to fail. And he says you know we're going to take away the $7,500 electric car, electric vehicle subsidy. He says I don't need it, you didn't give it to me, you gave it for them. Oh, but that's not either it. He has several other companies that are producing at the absolute top of the industry. That they're in Every single one.

38:12
I'll tell you what I think is his secret. His secret is he doesn't care what the percentile is. He doesn't look at other people and say, well, I'm doing better than them, so that's good enough for me. Am I maximizing my potential? If I'm not maximizing my potential, I don't care what other people do, because arrogance comes when we're too comfortable with who we are. This is me. I'm comfortable because I'm just like everybody else. I'm just like the rest of the community. I'm just like everybody else in my class. Why are you expecting me? Why are you? Nobody else got over an 80 score on the test. Why do you want me to get 100? Because you're smarter than everybody else. You're more capable than anybody else.

39:04
I just use that as an example, because my father would dance if I got a 52. So you know, to me it's just the humorous. If my parents are listening to this or watching this, they'll laugh. They're like, yeah, kind of yeah. So you know, my sister came on with a 98. They're like what's wrong with you? Is everything okay? Right, if I came with a 52, bring out the music, let's dance, right? I'm not exaggerating. You think I'm kidding. You think I'm kidding.

39:32
Every person needs to maximize them themselves, their capabilities. Bring that out to fruition and don't suffice with like, well, I'm doing, I'm above average, above average, not above average. Are you maximizing your potential? Your potential, because God didn't give you above average abilities for you to just be average. He gave you your skills and your talents and your abilities so that you maximize and bring out those potential to their fullest, and it's not to me. The question that parents need to ask their children is did you try your very best? Well, I got like everybody else. I don't care what everyone else got, I care about you. You have special talents. You have special talents, you have special abilities. Did you maximize your talents and your abilities? And I think that this is what we need to ask ourselves every single day, because if we do, then we'll realize we have no place to be pounding our chest saying look at me, I'm better than average. No such thing as better than average. Anymore there's no such thing as better than average. Am I fulfilling my potential?

40:59
I just want to end off with my favorite pitcher in all of baseball history. My favorite pitcher was Mariano Rivera, number 42 for the New York Yankees, the best closer in history. And when he finished his career, they were running over to him with the microphones and the cameras and he was crying, you know, with emotion. And he said I first want to thank God for giving me the opportunity, for giving me the talent, for giving me the skills. They said can you teach us about that pitch, about the cutter? He had a pitch that would crack the bat of every hitter. It didn't make a difference how talented they were, how great of a hitter. They would try to swing, they would hit that ball and the bat would crack in half. Amazing, one after another. They said where did you learn this? He said God gave it to me. I have no idea. He said I can show you what to do. If it helps, great. But God gave it to me to entertain people. God gave it to me so that you can enjoy. I'll show you exactly what to do, but if God doesn't bless it, it won't work.

42:10
Talking about the guy who leaves, it's a Hall of Famer. The guy who leaves the Hall of Famer, the guy who has the best record, the guy and what does he say? Paul, attributing everything to God. That's someone who has really incredible. I think we can learn. You don't have to be a rabbi to be a lesson for people. Every ordinary person can be an extraordinary teacher. God is not going to ask us why weren't you like so-and-so? Why weren't you like so-and-so? But God is going to ask us why weren't you you? Why didn't you bring out your greatest potential? I gave you 300 bits of talent. Why did you only utilize 100 of them, just so that you can be average? Arrogance is when we lose sight of that, when we don't realize that our responsibilities are so much greater, because we are going to be held to account for the talents and the skills and the abilities that God has given us. My dear friends, have an amazing Shabbos.

43:20 - Intro (Announcement)
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