מי נקרא אדם באמת? הגאון הינוקא ביאור על פרקי אבות פרק ד' משניות א - ד

2:52 I will be more." Don't you know that this doesn't work with Hashem, blessed be He? Because Hashem, blessed be He, is a merciful G-d, full of mercy and truth and humility. That is the way of Hashem; it is not their way. So that is the meaning of the mishnah: serve the Holy One, blessed be He, without His giving you anything. And then — a person would presumably understand that from this — but because you don't know how to serve Hashem, they told it to you from this side and also from that side, so that you truly try to serve the Holy One, blessed be He, cleanly, not aiming at side interests.

3:24 That's how I understood it. Nedarim, page 62 — the Gemara says it. No, but attachment to tzaddikim — there is such a thing. If I asked what it is — what is it, in any case? What does it mean? As he said. Yes. When you attach yourself to a sage — it's as I explained. They say it about our holy Rebbe, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov: many say, as it were, "Rabbi Nachman, only Rabbi Nachman," as it were. Now you ask: do they say it because they truly hold by it and believe, in self-nullification, or do they say "I…" — or does it stem from an inner pride, that he doesn't want to accept anyone's authority over himself, and "it befits me to be…" As it were — again, it stems from… it's something hidden, that a person can't really know what it is.

4:03 It may be that it stems from that. So we say: come — serve the Master not in order to receive a reward. Try to put aside what you can get out of all this, and try to be clean with the Holy One, blessed be He — clean, clean, clean — to truly cleave to the Holy King, which is the purpose.

4:28 [question unclear] … Can you bring an offering in the Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, without a Kohen? What does the Kohen do? But he stands within bounds and safeguards that you do not stand within.

4:55 His ability is to bring the offering to be accepted before Hashem. The tzaddik is meant to bring you to knowledge, and to the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He. That is the meaning. A tzaddik is not — as I have already explained here several times — a tzaddik doesn't mean someone who doesn't eat, doesn't drink, doesn't sleep and sits on the floor. Those are levels. A tzaddik — He is the Tzaddik. The Creator is the Tzaddik.

5:20 He is meant to give you the knowledge of how to draw close to the Holy One, blessed be He. In practice, how do you draw close to the King? The King is the Tzaddik. Do you understand? I gave a very beautiful shiur on this, during the tefillah here. We were here this week, if you remember. It's very important — yes, it was very important. And this is also the reason we end the blessing with "the Holy King," "the King of Judgment," and we don't end with "the King, the Tzaddik." Why don't we end with "the King, the Tzaddik"?

5:46 A question, right? Why did flesh and blood receive the name "tzaddik" — as a title? What is that? Why did flesh and blood nevertheless receive the title "tzaddik"? Because this one is a tzaddik and that One is the Tzaddik. The tzaddik reveals the Tzaddik — reveals the Holy One, blessed be He. "Tzaddik" is a name that explains that the mind found in the essence of this man leans more toward justifying the Holy One, blessed be He.

6:15 And you want to explain what a tzaddik is? What is a tzaddik? Within him there is an abundance of knowledge that justifies the deeds of Hashem in the world. What is a rasha, a wicked person? A person who is full of a mindset that speaks and puts out evil, negatively, about the Holy One, blessed be He. Meaning, he can spew out a great deal of venom, a great deal of poison, a great deal of evil about the Torah, about Hashem, about the mitzvos.

6:40 That is a wicked person. He will both act against, and reveal a whole mindset against. A tzaddik? That is someone who has in him a great deal of knowledge of how righteous Hashem is. Do you understand? The tzaddik is not the figure; the tzaddik is his mind. That is the meaning of "tzaddik." That is what it means. That is how I have understood, to this day, the things I learned. I don't know. People have taken it to places, it seems to me, that are a bit like worshipping a person. Rabbi, this world is truly so, so confusing — you don't know what is truth, what is falsehood, what… Now, how do you know what is right and good, what Hashem truly wants?

7:13 [unclear] … to trust your father. In your case I would say: listen to your father. And in our case, to listen to your father's rav.

7:43 Let's continue. His father is a tzaddik — his father is a very great tzaddik, a true Torah scholar. Rav Yechezkel — that is my father. So shall we go back over it? Let's go back over it. All right, I'm going back. Let's go back to the first mishnah. "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and handed it on to Yehoshua; Yehoshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets; and the Prophets handed it on to the Men of the Great Assembly," who were 120 sages.

8:21 The Great Assembly numbered 120. Now, I asked a question: why did it begin with a place, and move from there to people? After all, it should have been a handing-on between people only: "Moshe received the Torah from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, handed it on to Yehoshua, Yehoshua to the Elders, the Elders…" And the other way round too: if you are already saying that Moshe received the Torah from Sinai, then say "he handed it on to Yehoshua" — say where; say "Yehoshua to the Elders" — say where; say "the Elders handed it on to the Prophets" — say where.

8:56 Start naming places, locations. After all, you named a place — so why didn't you continue with a place? And also, it should have been written "Moshe received the Torah at Sinai." That implies it is not a place. Because if he received the Torah "from Sinai" — if he had received the Torah "at Sinai," that would be receiving the Torah in a place, and then you would stress places. Meaning, the fact that Moshe received the Torah "from Sinai" — there is a very great depth here: why it is "from Sinai" and not "at Sinai," and why this one is a place and the rest are not, and the rest doesn't continue with places. It's a fine question that came up yesterday.

9:28 What do you say? So the question, of course, is a question that I asked you, and I'm waiting for you to give us the answer. — I only have one on "at Sinai" and "from Sinai," not on the places. — So what is it, "at Sinai" and "from Sinai"? Good. But the places and so on — that is already for the Rav. So come and see. There is a verse in the Torah — after all, seemingly, the Holy One, blessed be He — what is the greatest thing He did for us in the Torah?

10:02 That we see the wonders and the miracles, the plagues of the Exodus from Egypt, right? And the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, right? And there is no verse in which the Holy One, blessed be He, asks of us the remembrance of them, in those words. Rather, the complete opposite: "I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt." What is this like?

10:28 "From Sinai," right? The same "from" — the "from" that the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai," and "I brought you out from the land of Egypt." Meaning, the Holy One, blessed be He, chooses in the Torah to stress for us the going out of Egypt, when He could have said: "I am Hashem your G-d, Who split the sea for you and made plagues for you in Egypt — I am Hashem your G-d." That, seemingly, is the verse there should have been, right? Seemingly, that is the verse. Why does the Holy One, blessed be He, shrink it all down and give us, as it were, a verse that says only that we left Egypt? He should have come and given us a verse that would remind us of everything He did: "I am Hashem, Who split the Sea of Reeds for your sake and struck Pharaoh and all his army — I am Hashem your G-d."

11:11 That is more the verse we should have had to remember every day, and we would sit and remember it. A person comes along who is far from Torah and mitzvos, and reads this: "I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt"? What is that to you? What is "Egypt"? Which land? What happened there? He doesn't understand what you want from him. Why didn't He choose a verse that would mention everything at once? So I said: it is the opposite. For the Holy One, blessed be He, to split the sea, to make plagues, to make wonders, to make miracles — that is nothing for the Holy One, blessed be He.

11:40 "As in the days of your going out of the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders." For Hashem to come and do the Sea of Reeds, the plagues on Pharaoh, on all his army, all that — He says: that is not it. That is nothing for Me. That is not the thing for Me to remember. But I want to remember the going out of Egypt — what your purpose was in the going out of Egypt. Meaning, the purpose of the Jewish people's Exodus from Egypt — the Holy One, blessed be He, remembered the Jewish people in Egypt. When He reminds us of the Exodus from Egypt, He is recalling us in Egypt.

12:09 Meaning, He remembers that we gave our very lives for Him. He remembers the righteous women — all the work they did for their husbands; even though they did hard labor, they still made themselves beautiful — the mirrors of the women who gathered — everything there was in Egypt, all the self-sacrifice of the Jewish people: their names, their dress, their language — they did not change them. "The love of your bridal days, your going after Me in the wilderness." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I brought you out of Egypt; I remember your love and your affection for Me.

12:39 That is, what He has in mind altogether — the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt is our bond in His love. That is the true meaning of remembering the Exodus from Egypt in the Torah. He is not impressed by the miracles at all. He does not come to put that at the head of the remembrance. That is not what interests Him. It is not even among the Ten Remembrances. The remembrance is, as it were, the true essence — the going out of Egypt. That is what He stresses.

13:06 Meaning, His love and His affection for us. And what happened? How did the Exodus from Egypt begin? What did the Exodus from Egypt begin from? From Moshe shepherding the flock of Yisro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He went and wandered through the wildernesses, secluding himself for Hashem. And suddenly he comes to Mount Sinai — it was Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai — why is the burning bush, the "sneh," from the same word as "Sinai"?

13:31 Right? The sneh, the bush. It's the same thing as Sinai. But still — why, why, why is it also called Sinai? Sinai — Sinai and the sneh — because it is the same event. The bush was at Mount Sinai. Already then, as we said: "When you bring the people out of Egypt, you will serve G-d" — it was fulfilled on this mountain, right? But back then He told him: "You will serve G-d on this mountain." "Ta'avdun" — add fifty days as well: the letter nun at the end, "ta'avdun."

13:58 So specifically on this mountain — that is Mount Sinai. So He said to him — see how beautiful this is. This is what the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe Rabbeinu: I remember that day when I revealed Myself to you on the mountain, and the bush was burning with fire and was not consumed. And here was the whole event, where Moshe Rabbeinu could have said to himself: "Good, Hashem revealed Himself to me — I'll say: come on, let's carry on from here, Hashem.

14:23 What, You want me to go back?" You already have a dialogue with the Creator; the Creator revealed Himself to you — go on, try to lead the Holy One, blessed be He, to your own view. I mean, Hashem is speaking with you — you can ask Him for whatever you want, in the greatest closeness. Moshe Rabbeinu said: "Hashem — good, come." He remembers the suffering of the Jewish people in Egypt, and he is now going to go back, against everything he had been through, to a place where he is hunted, a place where he is under sentence of death, where they want to kill him. "For all the men who seek your life have died."

14:55 "They are all gone already — that's it, go there, everything is fine." He was afraid to return to a place where death had been decreed on him; he thinks that if he arrives at that place, they will slaughter him. Even so, he returns to that place in order to save his people. "And he saw their burdens" — he remembers the pain of the Jewish people, he understood the pain of the Jewish people, he grew up with them, he was with them in their suffering. Now — to have fled from there, where he was sentenced to death, and to go back to that same place — only once the Holy One, blessed be He, told him "for all the men who seek your life have died" did he understand that this is, as it were: "That's it — now I am going out to freedom,

15:30 now I am going to redeem the Jewish people. Come, let's give them hope." He began to strengthen them. And then, the Holy One, blessed be He, remembers that it all began from gratitude — that Moshe Rabbeinu recognized the Jewish people and did not forget them, did not abandon them, and wanted the whole time to help them. He remembers everything the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed to him at the bush, and the purpose of the revelation. Meaning, he could have tied the revelation to: "Hashem revealed Himself to me — how great I am."

16:02 He took the revelation to mean how great the Jewish people are — "that I must toil for them, wear out my feet, give my life and risk death, and go back after them to bring them out." So he saw the greatness of the Jewish people, not his own greatness. So the Holy One, blessed be He — so the mishnah began: Moshe received the Torah from what? From Sinai. To recall his gratitude, and his greatness — directed toward them, not toward himself.

16:30 Because if it had been his own greatness, He would not have recalled it. Do you understand? Meaning, this greatness — that "from Sinai" is mentioned — is to say that Moshe took it… he could have said: "Do you realize? Hashem revealed Himself to me in this place!" Someone to whom Hashem now reveals Himself in some place — he will go somewhere and say: "Who are you anyway?" He will look down on people. Today, a person who is a friend of some President of the United States says: "Do you know who I am?

16:55 A friend of this president and that one." He walks around with pride that he is connected to him. What sense is there in taking pride in flesh and blood? Who are you? What are you glorying in? Moshe Rabbeinu — Hashem revealed Himself to him at the bush. Would he go back to the Jewish people? "I should go back now to this people? I should go back to…? Hashem revealed Himself to me, you know!" He could have gone off altogether — in one light moment he could have erred and fallen into a place of pride, gone to another place. And Moshe Rabbeinu understands: "It is not I who am great, not I who am great — the Jewish people are great. I now have a mission to carry out."

17:28 He does not see his own greatness at all; he sees the greatness of the Jewish people. And that is why "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai." That is why we stress: "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai." Did you like that? Did you like that? "Please send…" — the last of the prisoners in Midian is more worthy than I am. Am I worthy?

17:54 Why would I be worthy? Right or not? Look, we'll continue in chapter four. We have really been learning the tractate since last year, and I want, with Hashem's help, that the whole commentary — we are making it a plain-meaning commentary, accompanied by all kinds of halachos and matters, whatever that topic needs — explanations, interpretations — we'll expand as much as possible, bli neder.

18:19 As you know, we are learning it slowly, and with Hashem's help it will be brought to print, bli neder. So Rav [name unclear] suggested that we continue from the same place as last year, so that we can continue it, and then we will already have a complete commentary on all of it. So let's see where we are. We are in chapter four, in mishnah 1.

18:45 We'll read a bit each time, some mishnah; bli neder we'll explain it, and that way we'll be able to make progress, because that is the goal. Let's see. So we are in chapter four, mishnah 1.

19:10 "Ben Zoma says: Who is wise? One who learns from every person." So the Bartenura writes: why was he called Ben Zoma? Because he did not live long, he was not ordained so as to be called "Rabbi." He passed away, so that is how they called him — by his father's name. In fact he was Shimon, so both of them were Shimon. So: "Ben Zoma says." He says: "Who is wise?" — who is a wise person, whom can one call a wise person?

19:39 One who learns from every person. When this person learns from anyone who comes to teach him — he learns from him. As it says: "From all my teachers I have gained understanding." The holy Baal Shem Tov says about this, about this mishnah, a very beautiful thing. I was just reminded that he says: "Who is wise? One who learns from every person" — he even learns from the yetzer hara, the evil inclination. Learn even from the yetzer hara. Now you will ask: what can be learned from the yetzer hara?

20:07 Its stratagems, its alertness, its self-sacrifice. You surely know the story of the Chofetz Chaim: he got up before dawn, he wanted to rise for tefillah, and the yetzer hara told him, "You are already old — sleep." So he said to him: "Wait — what are you doing up at such an hour? What, you already…? You got here ahead of me!" So — he looks at it in a completely different way: "I'm old? You are older than I am. So everything is fine — I can get up for tefillah."

20:45 "From all my teachers I have gained understanding, for Your testimonies are my conversation." The whole aim of my learning, the purpose, is to learn as much Torah as possible for the sake of Heaven. That is my goal in life: to learn as much Torah as possible, and for it to be of quality — for it to be for its own sake. I want to explain something important here. Well, it really is connected to this mishnah — and to what we spoke about yesterday, about human beings.

21:16 It can be explained on this mishnah too. About the varieties. As you know, we have varieties of esrogim. Right? There are all kinds of esrogim. With every possible distinction between the two — but there are also mindsets among human beings. The mindsets of human beings can reach up to sixty myriads. How much is that? "Chacham HaRazim" — the Knower of secrets. "Chacham HaRazim." "Chacham HaRazim."

21:41 Meaning, if we want to know how many people there are in the world today — close to 9 billion people, close to 9 billion, 10 billion people who are in the world today — we do not have 9 billion mindsets. There is no such thing. The mindsets can be up to sixty myriads, which means 600,000. Meaning, take the human beings — there will be mindsets that multiplied up to that number. There won't be more mindsets.

22:11 People will always lean toward one of these mindsets; it will be possible to group them up to that total of sixty myriads. You won't find more than that. How so? It isn't: say, a billion people, so a billion mindsets. It doesn't work that way. The mindset will always tend toward that number. What do we mean by "mindsets"? Mindsets — that people lean toward a mindset, a certain mindset, an outlook, a mindset, a pull toward a certain mindset. There are people who are quick to take offense; there are people who lean toward a way of thinking — you can explain to them why it is crooked — you can't understand them.

22:45 There are types of human beings, types, varieties of people — certain types of people. There are people who turn truth into darkness, into… They take a trouble and make it a good thing; there are those who take a good thing and make it a bad thing. There are people who have very dangerous mindsets. There are people — certain varieties of human beings.

23:12 There are — the most dangerous, the most dangerous people, are people whose way is not to judge others favorably. That is the most dangerous variety of human beings among all created beings, one that can destroy the entire world. Not for nothing: "Because of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, Jerusalem was destroyed." There are people who judge unfavorably. One who does not judge favorably — apart from the prohibition he commits — the judging unfavorably, the judgment in which he does not judge favorably, in which he does not fulfill "Hear out your brothers" — he does not do righteous judgment, he does not hear both sides, he judges at once — that is a dangerous variety.

23:53 A second dangerous variety is people without gratitude. They have no gratitude for anything. Heaven forbid — people who have no gratitude, who place no value on their parents, on people, on relatives; they have no gratitude, and on top of that they do not judge favorably either — these are very, very dangerous people. People who tend to think up and imagine all kinds of fantasies, and on the basis of their fantasies they judge reality.

24:21 There are people who imagine: "He is persecuting me, he is my enemy, he did this to me, I'll do such-and-such against him, this and that." They get into all kinds of thoughts, all kinds of fantasies. These are the types of people who in fact destroyed the Temple. "Because of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, Jerusalem was destroyed." The people who can bring the geulah are people — the cleaner they are… A clean and pure person is not a person who is in the mikveh; it is a person whose heart is clean, who holds nothing against anyone.

24:50 He is not hurt by this one and does not see bad in that one; he does not look for evil that does not exist. There are people who look for evil that does not exist, who try to magnify it, to turn it into something. Why? Only in return for an offense done to their own honor. Meaning, their honor matters more to them than the honor of Heaven. As if: "I am more than the Creator." "They offended my honor — do you know who I am?"

25:16 In return for that, they don't mind stirring up disputes, baseless hatred, strife and evils without measure, and transgressing the whole Torah scroll, right and left. These mindsets — these people are the most dangerous people, and they are in fact the disciples of the wicked Bilaam: "an evil eye," and so on — which in fact remove a person from the world. Certainly there is free choice. He can choose: either he listens to the view of the Torah, or he listens to a view of understanding, to sages and clean reflection, or he goes after his own emptiness and becomes empty.

25:52 These are people… Whatever comes along — why the Torah? Why "all its ways are ways of pleasantness"? The moment you come to the Torah — the Torah is the cleanest thing, the purest, the best. Imagine that you are now showering in lukewarm water, in warm, pleasant water. A person can immerse in warm water — it is good for him.

26:17 But can a person immerse in boiling water, heat that the hand recoils from? Right? Never in his life, right? He gets burned; he cannot enjoy it. People who are boiling, people who take offense, people who do such things — that is not from the side of good; it is from the side of evil. When a person comes to the Torah he needs to feel "its ways are ways of pleasantness." He needs to enjoy the Torah, he needs to enjoy its sweetness, he needs to see the good there is in everything — in the Torah, in creation; he needs to feel the pleasantness of creation.

26:49 One must show a shining face — not make remarks to people, not shame the other person, not speak lashon hara about anyone, not "le-ha'ir" with an ayin — to rebuke people — but "le-ha'ir" with an alef — to shine on people: to give people a shining face, to strengthen them. You don't know where a person is coming from — this one came from here, that one came from there, that one is broken, this one was almost on the verge of suicide. And sometimes something small, a small shining of the face, or a small word of encouragement to someone, truly saves a life — literally, especially in our generation.

27:19 And sometimes the opposite too: people who lean too much toward anger and bad things like that cause many, many bad things to multiply, and all kinds of bad things there are in the world. So pay attention: "Who is wise? One who learns from every adam." They did not say "one who learns from every ish, every man," they did not say "one who learns from every young man" — but "one who learns from every adam." When you see a person who behaves like an adam, like the image — he has the image of G-d upon him, he is a settled person, settled — from such a person you can learn.

27:51 Not "learns from just anyone" — not every human being is called "adam." Rather: "You are called adam, and the nations of the world are not." But you must be one who is an adam, who is whole in his mind, with a settled mind, a settled person, a person with understanding, a person who has read and studied and learned — such a person, that is called an adam. Not a person who goes around saying all kinds of things — disputes, lashon hara and all sorts. There are those who, in order to belittle others, try to speak lashon hara all the time, and to imagine things.

28:21 Occupy yourselves with Torah! Sit, learn Torah. People who learn Torah do not try, with bad character traits, to come and teach people how to hate, and to multiply hatred in the world. Torah scholars love peace. True Torah learning — the more it increases in the world, the more the measure of peace will increase in the world; there will be unity in the world, there will be good in the world, there will be abundance in the world and there will be blessing in the world.

28:47 That is the meaning of learning. For the more the Torah learning goes in this direction, the more peace will increase, and unity and love in the world. But what, to our sorrow, do people do today? They multiply disputes and hatred. And so that is proof that a person is not a Torah scholar. Because "Torah scholars increase peace in the world." There is the proof of who is called a Torah scholar: one who increases the measure of peace. That's it.

29:11 Rabbi, [source unclear] says that a person is born with a leaning toward good traits or a leaning toward bad traits? Correct. Our master the holy Arizal, in Sha'ar HaGilgulim. — What is that? If we could keep the questions fewer… [unclear]. — I didn't understand. Once more, what else? The Brisker Rav says it is a forgery — what the Tiferes Yisrael brought in the introduction to Kiddushin. And Rav Chaim of Brisk too, and many others, said it is not true. — What, the one with the drawing?

29:43 Yes, with the portrait. He said it is not… He said — But Rav Lipschitz too, in any case, who brought it — he too brought this midrash. Whether it happened or not, in any case people take it; it was written by many early authorities, even 200 years back — as far as I know, with the holy Baal Shem Tov they brought it. But in any case there is a depth here that is truly right to make use of. Because every person is born not perfect. If a person were born perfect… The real war is the struggle to change one's nature.

30:24 As the Rebbe [name unclear] says: do not break a desire — break it, and there will be two. The desire must be nullified. Break — break the stick, and you have two sticks. Break? One should not break; one should nullify, subdue. That is deeper, and more important to reflect on. Meaning: to take the force that is against me and use it for good, for kedushah — to take the things that are not good and turn them into kedushah.

30:55 Ah — with every person, there is the root of Kayin and the root of Hevel. Like, for example, the root of Kayin: shochtim, mohalim, those who deal with the laws of purifying the dead — [unclear]. You say: how are such people able to do it? You say: he is able to be an undertaker? The man sits, walks about, as usual. These are people who deal with and see very, very hard things. How can he see a dead person, wash him, clean him, prepare him, put shrouds on him?

31:26 All of them — the ZAKA people. ZAKA people, mohalim, who see blood, shochtim. ZAKA stands for "I am the seed of Kayin." "I am the seed of Kayin." The seed of Kayin. Ah. ZAKA — the initials: "I am the seed of Kayin." So truly, those who are more able to come into contact with blood, or with the gevuros, the harsh judgments — what is decreed on a person, to see such hard sights — those are people who are more from the root of Kayin. — What?

32:00 — Doctors too? — Yes, a doctor too, a doctor too. To come and see the… It is a very, very hard thing. I — I was, on Friday, after the Rosh Chodesh tefillah, we went to Beit Balev, to visit the sick there a little. Very special. To see people — truly, truly, truly to see the Jewish people, to see tzaddikim there. People sit there beside their relatives. One was sitting beside his wife, poor man, while she was in her last throes; one sits beside his mother, and one beside his brother.

32:39 These people sit there on Erev Shabbos, sit there alone, praying, hoping for some good. So I passed through there; on this floor someone says to me, "Come here" — [unclear] — before I've left that floor, one says: "My brother is on the third floor." I said, "One second." "Come to the fourth floor." On the fourth: "Come to this room." From here to there — we made the rounds there, all over the place. — What?

33:03 [unclear] … It was nice; we talked there in between. I gladdened people; it did me a great deal of good. From time to time I like to go… — But it revived them. Yes. [unclear] … there has to be a rav there. One has to come. One has to come. So truly, truly, it gives a good feeling to come and give people encouragement.

33:30 It is good — a person whom you truly help. How important it is to support and strengthen people in situations like these. There are broken people, people barely holding on. Life is not easy as it is, this world is not easy as it is, as it is… When you see a person, see the people — suddenly one looks, sees the machines, sees all that — people understand what the purpose of this whole world is. They understand that people don't see it; they live in some fantasy that everything is a free-for-all, everything… A person looks at the purpose — what is the purpose of life, how important it is to do good, to visit the sick, to go and be beside — beside people who have no one to be at their side.

34:11 I like to go specifically to those who are alone. I also went — I went to this one — say there was someone — I say, also to a few more who are alone, who has no one to stand by him. I prayed beside him. I said: this person is alone, poor man. How important this is. You know, Rav Fish — I learned this from a certain tzaddik I used to go to, that he would go from time to time — Rav Avraham Yechiel Fish — he would go and stand at the reception desk, many years ago, go to hospitals, ask there at reception who is childless and alone, who has no children, who is a widow, who is all, all alone. He would go, sit with them, say Tehillim.

34:47 I heard this more than 20 years ago, and I merited to do it too, several times. To go there, to be beside them — from time to time I go, without people knowing, alone. I go to strengthen the people — but at night; I don't want it by day, when it is full of people. At night. At night — at Balev we had to go there to strengthen a few people, so that was Erev Shabbos. But at night, people are asleep, no one notices. It is a great mitzvah to go, I think, this way. Three months ago I was in Jerusalem, at night, at two in the morning.

35:19 We went there — Shmuel Chaim was with me — we went and passed through a few rooms there; for half an hour I prayed. I went in to several there — there were children, there were all kinds of poor people. It is quite a thing for a person who wakes up in the middle of the night and suddenly sees the Yanuka in front of him. He will say: "The Rav came to me in a dream." You see people who tell that I came to them in a dream — and they say it is still a dream, and all that… [unclear] — The Rav becomes reality. All those who said they dreamed of the Rav at night in the hospital — it was… Maybe he will find some rav, maybe he will find some rav — could be, I don't know.

36:00 But truly, it does good. Look, in a hospital you feel that harsh judgment, and all that, and suddenly you come and you see someone for whom it did a bit of good. You know, I had such a good feeling — Michael was with us — how happy that man was! Unbelievable how happy he was. He was in shock, he was happy, he had such a good feeling. What happiness it is to gladden people, to do good for the Jewish people. What is the purpose, what is the purpose — tell me?

36:33 It is important to do good. Honored Rav, the sick… don't you do this all the time? Honored Rav. It's not only the hospital — it's here too. They come here — that's right, they come to this area too. This place too is a hospital; this place is a big hospital.

36:59 [unclear] an ambulance … when you went out to the ambulance. Yes. We went here to the hospital, to the rehabilitation… A certain sick man arrived here, who was truly in his very last moments. He asked to come here, like that, before he… They brought him — a dying man, when he was here. That was his request. He had heard the niggunim, he loved the music, he wanted us to meet.

37:29 It is very hard for me to suddenly see a person like that, and that's it — a person without children, without… yes, without children, without family, without anything. — What happened? Someone for whom that was it — the doctors told him: you have a few hours. And that's it. So he asked to come by. Then we got a message from the municipality that this is receiving the public — that this is called "receiving the public," and it is forbidden to do it. So I said: what do you expect — that if another ambulance comes, you won't go out, that the Rav won't go out to him?

38:02 That is "receiving the public"? [unclear] Things that are not… We will pray that the Holy One, blessed be He, grant right understanding, and that things here be as they should be, and that the municipality behave the way a municipality should behave. This is how a municipality should behave: care for the welfare of the residents who are in its city and outside it. It must care for them. That is the purpose of a mayor's job — not to care about all the other things.

38:31 He should sit from morning until evening: how do I care for the rest of my residents? Where are there residents I can do good for, where can I help them? That is the job of mayors. Today mayors deal only with construction. Mayors today busy themselves with building other things, busy themselves with other things. That is the job today — mayors busy themselves with that instead of building up the citizens and the city's residents, and caring for the residents. They don't care for their welfare.

39:00 They don't care for their welfare, right? And we need to pray for this — that always… to pray for the welfare of the government. But to pray that there be a true kingship — the Kingship of Heaven. — Are the nations of the world also considered within the definition of "adam"? — No, no, they are not. — But there are people with good, refined character traits, who teach things that are truly… [unclear] — Correct, you can learn from an adam. "Adam" means one who does not come to harm the Divine image. Not one who comes to teach you hatred, not one who comes to teach you incitement to murder, and harsh things, and baseless hatred — because that is not called an adam.

39:42 "You are called adam, and the nations of the world are not called adam" — because they transgress with bloodshed. But not us: "From all my teachers I have gained understanding," and "one who learns from every adam" — from every adam. That is the meaning: to learn from people who have, in what they know, in what they want to give you, a path and a heritage — how to do good in the world and draw close to Hashem. Yes, from any person — even from a small child who teaches you some beautiful thing, and to draw close to Hashem.

40:12 That is called learning from an adam. Now: "Who is mighty? One who conquers his inclination." After all, every person, in any case, has a yetzer hara that tries to take control of him and tries to subdue him. So the great wisdom is the true might: to conquer the urges.

40:39 Why? The urges a person has are what want to kill him. Everything that… If a person wants to know — the Vilna Gaon writes in his commentary on Mishlei, in chapter 4, I think, he writes this, for so it emerges from his words — the commentary on Mishlei too — that also needs to be published. I made the commentary on Mishlei, on… I got in it as far as chapter 17 or chapter 18; I made an explanation of it, of the Vilna Gaon's commentary — very beautiful; I explained it word by word, the words of Mishlei and the Vilna Gaon, the Vilna Gaon on Mishlei — I made an explanation of it. That exists too; that too will be published, with Hashem's help.

41:20 He explains that… if a person wants to know what he will die of, what he will depart from — a person wants to know what he will die of: from his desire. From whatever he does the most — in that very thing that most… Look, for example, even now, at the world. How many cases of death we hear of, stories that you hear — and how much of what led to it was desire.

41:47 A person quarreled with someone, got angry at him, couldn't bear the anger any more, fought, brawled with him — and he stabbed him. "Rabbi…" — someone comes and says — it's a story — "What happened?" "I…" "That man fell," and so on. "Where is he?" He wanted to go on some trip, climbed up a cliff, and fell there, at the cliff. Sometimes a person's desire, his pull toward some desire — and he does not reflect on whether to do it or not to do it; whatever he wants, he does at once — that is desire.

42:16 He does not settle himself as to what is right to do, whether it is fitting to do, whether it is good to do. Whatever he thinks — bam! He does not settle his mind. That is called desire: that a person does not think it through. Not everything that comes up the throat do you let out. Not straight off, the moment a person thinks it — snap. No: he settles his mind. He thinks: what is the purpose of this, is it good for me? He checks, he settles himself, and then he acts — "last in deed, first in thought."

42:46 Today many people do "last in thought, first in deed": first they do it, and afterwards they say: ahhh... that wasn't right. He hangs the lamp on the wall, and only afterwards he understands. Again. That is the mighty one: "he who conquers his inclination." As it says — Shlomo HaMelech says: "Better is one who is slow to anger" — a person who has patience, who doesn't jump at every thing and shout.

43:13 It says: there is one who is slow to anger — settled, calm. Everything calmly, with as much patience as possible — that is the most fitting. "Better is one who is slow to anger than a mighty man" — more than a person who thinks of himself as a war hero, straight off to fight. Sometimes the greatest war against the enemy is silence.

43:39 "Hashem will fight for you, and you shall keep silent." Silence, sometimes, is also a kind of war. Faced with that, the evil inclination already makes every possible mistake. When it sees that you are settled and steady — you can defeat it. You are silent and still before it? What can it bring against you? What claim? You have questions against the Holy One, blessed be He? What — because you don't look at the questions?

44:04 How? You don't look at the questions. "Shema Hashem koli ekra" — "Hear, Hashem, my voice when I call" — that is kushya, a question, says Rabbi Nachman. Honored Rav, yesterday you spoke about Canaan as coming from the word hachna'ah, submission, and now you spoke about Yisrael as well, which is called submission, like... [unclear] A tzaddik who has an evil inclination, and he overcomes it.

44:28 Like, he has already subdued the inclination, and he strengthened that — like, maybe because of that, in his merit we are able, like, to come to the Land of Israel — this submission, that he subdued himself within himself, and, you know... Very nice. But I spoke about that today — about Canaan. Canaan — in the morning. Very nice. Ah, wait — so why does it say "he who conquers"? The moment you conquered it, you subdued it.

44:57 You raised up its root, you raised its power up to the root. You don't — I'll give you an example. It's like a person who is now in his full strength, okay? And if you nullify him, then it's as if he will have no life-force, nothing. Conquering means taking that power and drawing it to holiness. You didn't nullify it — you raised the power. You took it and raised it to the root.

45:23 That kind of nullifying is what is called conquering. "One who rules his spirit" — I understand. "One who rules his spirit" — I understand. Is this true for educating children as well? Certainly. The way to educate children is only slowness to anger, with patience. "He who spares his rod hates his son" — that has no connection to today. There was someone with a stick — he showed me a stick with "He who spares his rod hates his son" written on it. I said to him: what do you do with that?

45:48 He tells me — I said to him: oy! He says: what? Today, the way to teach children is only with patience, with love, a shining face and drawing them close, and no harshness at all, and no anger at all, and no — Heaven forbid — raising a hand. A person who does that transgresses the whole Torah.

46:15 It is forbidden. Forbidden. It can cause emotional damage to children today, in this generation? Forbidden. One never raises a hand, not even a little — not on any boy, not on any girl, not on the children, Heaven forbid. Not on one's wife — that is certain. This is the one thing where Maran, the Shulchan Aruch, writes that a man who raises a hand against his wife — his hand is to be cut off.

46:48 To cut off his hand, for his raising a hand against his wife. Hands, violence, things like that — never the way. Never, never. In play — children who are playing among themselves? In play there is no problem. But when they play a game among themselves, one needs to be careful about that too, that he not give him some bruise or blow.

47:14 One needs to be careful about that. And even a doctor who is an expert, who needs to treat his own father — to give him an injection, to do something for him — it is better that it be done by another doctor, and that he not do it himself. Better — so it's not an obligation? No, not an obligation. Because if he is an expert doctor, and the son will see to treating his father at the most professional and best level, unlike anyone else, then it is better that the son do it. But if there is another way, and there is someone else — it's not such a...

47:42 I don't know — if he is a heart doctor, a heart surgeon, a great expert, then certainly he should do it and not someone else, because he will treat his father with the greatest devotion. But, like, this comes to show you that even in this it is not so simple. The laws of honoring parents — one must be careful with them to the utmost degree. Are there exceptional cases, of... [unclear] There is no such case. That is not the way.

48:15 There is no way. Today, in our generation — I have said this several times — there is no permission, none. It is forbidden to raise a hand against any child, no matter what. No matter the age — nothing, nothing. There is no such thing. Only talking. Only talking. The Rav says "in our generation" — meaning that once it was all right? I don't know if once it was all right. There were those who did write that the way was "he who spares his rod hates his son" — in which ways, like — how?

48:45 Yes, but that is not the meaning. What does it mean? What does it mean? It means one has to steer — like an animal that strays from the track, that you give a tap so that it settles and walks properly in the furrow. Once they used to do it that way. The teachers, the teachers of young children. They would teach with rulers, with this and that — there are plenty of stories from back then.

49:11 It was a routine thing. Today, in our days, only by talking, talking, talking. You speak nicely, you speak from the heart, you speak with the child attentively, you talk with him: what is hard for you, why are you like this? You can tell him: if you behave such and such, I'll show you. You don't come home today at such-and-such an hour — then I will withhold that game from you.

49:39 I will keep you from playing with your friends at that hour. You can speak to him in terms like these, of things you would give him: I won't give you any more toys, I won't buy you a certain present I wanted to. You withhold something like that from him — but never, ever resort to raising hands. It defiles the soul, and it is forbidden to strike any Jew. Every blow that is struck, Heaven forbid — the Name Havayah is engraved upon all the Jewish people.

50:03 The moment you strike a Jew, you erase the Name of Hashem. It is like striking a Torah scroll. Now, when a person, Heaven forbid, strikes his son — Heaven forbid, strikes his own offspring — that is not good; it can arouse accusations in Heaven. So many people have no children, want children, want... how can you strike what Hashem — one weeps for this, you pray for this, you... Forbidden, forbidden, under no circumstances. In our generation it does not belong — and a generation that is hard, and people who are in pain, and people for whom, as it is, everything is so hard, and as it is, it is not easy today.

50:37 A child growing up today needs a great, great deal of love, a great deal of attention, a great, great deal, in order to overcome all the difficulties and stumbling blocks there are. So many stumbling blocks. And if you do not give these, one cannot overcome what life brings. There is nowhere to take it from. You see how many tragedies, illnesses, tragedies. True, there is progress in technology, but as much as there is progress, there is also a tremendous decline in life expectancy.

51:08 People die from so many hard cases. Suddenly a person goes — suddenly. Here, I met last week a man who is disabled, his whole body paralyzed — he fell off a bicycle at a speed of six kilometers an hour. Wow, terrible. Six kilometers an hour. The doctors said that if he had fallen a million times the way he fell, he would have gone like this and carried on riding the bicycle.

51:36 He simply fell in such a way, in such a small way, that it did him damage — it paralyzed his whole body. With Hashem's help, may Hashem set him on his feet. Amen, amen. May he yet give thanks to Hashem, for He is good. Amen. With Hashem's help, may there be miracles and wonders with him. Amen. But one can learn from David and Adoniyah that "sparing the rod" is about speech — "he never grieved him" — a rod of rebuke.

52:01 Right. But look, in the time of a king — look, Adoniyah receives it from the mouth of David. Also, when a word is spoken — who it is spoken by gives it more influence. When a child sees that his father is someone great, someone of stature, then the father only looks at the child — and he understands, as it were, the mistake; he doesn't... I'll tell you the truth: my children, blessed be Hashem, are good, well-raised children.

52:28 I did not busy myself with child-raising with them. Something seems a little off — I look at them at the table, look at this one, look at that one — only look. But sometimes one needs to know — fine, because they see their father teaching this, they have a little more shame about it, and so on. But now, say I were a garage mechanic. He looks at the child — the child would not be afraid.

52:54 It would not frighten him. You be a mechanic, look at the child — right? it doesn't frighten him. You make him laugh. So one has to know exactly how to come, in what manner. Sometimes you can give the child a look, as if to say: that is not fitting. No need to go on at length in words. You give him a different kind of look and say to him: not nice.

53:20 Why do that? Immediately the child backs off; right away he stops — instead of starting to explain to him and starting to shout. Sometimes that is the way: "Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace." When you want to convey a certain message, that is the way. So one must remember this and be very careful with it. And this is called "slow to anger." And more than that: in the Sifra DiTzniusa it is written: "From the opening of the nostril is drawn the spirit of life for Mashiach" — that through "slow to anger" the Holy One, blessed be He, will redeem us.

53:51 Arich Anpin — may we merit it — this is the secret of the soul of Mashiach, which is "slow to anger": that he will teach patience to the whole world — to be slow to anger, long-suffering in one's spirit, over everything one goes through. Do you understand? This is the strength and the hope that all the Jewish people have. What is the trait most connected to educating children? Is there a trait that is most connected? If I want to pray — a particular trait worth strengthening, in order to draw Heaven's help in this area, on this subject. Yes?

54:19 Slow to anger. Slow to anger. In every thing, slow to anger. To conquer anger with compassion. To reveal G-dliness, to reveal Hashem's compassion, His attribute of mercy. The more one reveals Hashem's mercy in this world, the better — and not to reveal the attribute of judgment. "For anger rests in the bosom of fools." So is that the reason fragrant spices help so much, because of... what? The reason spices help so much — spices help very much, yes.

54:44 Because of the nose, the af — yes: erech apayim, slowness to anger. Very nice. "...than a mighty man, and one who rules his spirit than one who captures a city." Better to be calm. Don't conquer mountains — conquer yourself and be calm; you will reach much higher. "Who is rich?" Who is truly rich? "He who is happy with his portion." As it says: "When you eat the labor of your hands, happy are you, and it is good for you."

55:13 "Happy are you" in this world, "and it is good for you" in the World to Come. It is good for you that you, blessed be Hashem, do not need — that you did not come to robbery, and did not get involved, Heaven forbid, in robberies and thefts and forbidden things. Happy are you, that your hands are clean. You are happy with your portion. When a person is not happy with his portion, from there he can come to robbery, from there he can come to cheating, from there he can come to such things. And why is the Holy One, blessed be He, so angry about this — about robbery and the like? Why? Because it is as if the person does not believe that the Holy One, blessed be He, can give to him, right to him. The Holy One, blessed be He, has an exact count.

55:54 Say what should reach you is one million, six hundred thousand, two hundred ninety-two, and sixty agorot. If those sixty agorot are not meant to arrive, the person will be walking along with his bags, suddenly he will trip on a small curb, the sixty agorot will fall out of his pocket and drop into the depths below. What is meant to reach you will reach you — down to the last penny that is meant to reach a person.

56:22 The Rav said last year in Jerusalem that there is no such thing here as a rich man. It is already written explicitly who is rich. [unclear] Who said — who was talking about money? Rich in mind. Rich — the meaning — rich, rich — the meaning is an abundance of awareness. Yes, rich: one whose mind and awareness, whose abundance, is settled.

56:50 He does not need other people. He does not come to — he has no lack. His portion brings him joy; at the level of his abundance, his is an abundance so great that it settles his mind. That is called rich. It is Rabbi Yose, Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Meir who say: who is rich? One who has a privy — fields, orchards — a privy close to his table. Fine, that is "rich." Of course that is not the intent; fine, it's not...

57:18 The meaning is more about someone who has joy in his portion; he has no lack. He will not come, out of that, to any kind of rupture. Did you understand the intent? Rav, one can also interpret "Who is rich? He who is happy with his portion" — with the other person's portion. Beautiful, well done. Very nice, a very nice interpretation.

57:43 That I am happy with the other person's portion — that it is so good for him, that he is getting married, that he has children, that he has abundance — I am happy for him. Then I am truly rich, because that shows I lack nothing, that I can rejoice in his great portion. Very nice, a nice interpretation. At this pace you'll bring us out a work on the whole Shas already. Very nice, well done.

58:07 What does the Rav say about a punishment for a child — putting him in a room for a minute or two? Is that also not... A punishment — to put a small child in a room? — Not in the dark. Is it all right, or what? Not in the dark, though. Is it all right for me to do that? All right. Half a minute, like, to put him there because of... He says: today it's the child who puts the parents in the room. I haven't reached that age with my son. One can, if a person really wants to — one can tell him: listen, you won't get a treat, you won't get...

58:38 No, he said... [unclear] But it is dangerous to put him in a room, because he could suddenly climb up on a window or something. Dangerous. It is dangerous to put children in a room, as a punishment and so on. You know what — they make a mess; one has to watch over children. Children — there's nothing to be done. [unclear] in the room, I understand. What? No problem, no problem, no problem, it's possible. — It doesn't hurt her emotionally? — No, no, no, no problem.

59:14 Only no violence. "He who spares his rod"... That is what "his rod" is. Character — he likes it, he likes it. Without getting into raising a hand, he says, yes. — Rav, to take a child who is disruptive out of the classroom in order to educate him — in school. — In school. Say a child is acting up now and disturbing the whole lesson.

59:41 Really disturbing — no one can learn, because right now he truly is lacking some composure. So they take him out — there is no choice. One can take him out, certainly one can take him out, but of course to give him... meaning, not, Heaven forbid, to humiliate him, but to ask him to step out in a nice way. Yes, in a nice way — not to hurt, not to hurt. Great care is needed; one must treat them like glassware.

1:00:10 Today the souls are very delicate; they really need to know how to be careful. But today the caution is that we don't get hurt, at school. I touched a boy — a tap — I said to him: come... "Take your hand off." So that he doesn't call the police on me next. There is no permission to touch a person. Don't touch. This way will bring only love and peace to the world. "Happy are you" in this world, "and it is good for you" in the World to Come.

1:00:38 So of course — ah — "Who is rich? He who is happy with his portion." "Who is rich?" And wealth is holy. Amen. Amen. Happy with one's portion. A rich man is one who can bring others, too, to reach the level of wealth. Meaning that the abundance is so great that he can give another person as well a level of wealth. And today — I've said about this — there is no wealth. Why?

1:01:03 Because no one is able to let someone else reach the same level. It can reach someone else, the other can have something — but he wants him to have less than himself. Like the example I gave you. If you now see a person who takes a big table and fills it with loads of ice creams and chocolates, loads and loads and loads, an amount that could be enough for a whole city — someone will say: listen, you know what a rich man he is? He took a table full of ice creams and chocolates and sat down to eat alone.

1:01:36 What will you tell me? He isn't rich — he is a man of cravings, right? You'll say he has a lust for eating; he isn't called rich, right? Would you call him rich? Why not? A madman! That is exactly the explanation. Rich — is that one who has a craving? Rich is abundance — that a person can reach such a level that he can bring about change in the world, that he pours abundance into the world. That is rich: one who can give of his wealth to another, and the other can pass it on to the next, and the third onward, and so on. That is rich. Rich is a level altogether, it is a level. Today there are no rich people; they are people with a lust for money. It's like — there is lust for money, and there is wealth. Wealth is giving.

1:02:26 Just as a person gives of his knowledge, gives in Torah, gives in wisdom, gives by giving, gives in kindness — to do good, so that there is abundance. That is called rich. All right? "Who is honored?" Who is an honored person, one who wants people to honor him? "He who honors the creatures." That is how one must honor the creatures. As it says: "For those who honor Me, I will honor." This is said about the Holy One, blessed be He — that the Holy One, blessed be He: "those who honor Me, I will honor, and those who scorn Me will be disgraced." Heaven forbid — one who scorns, Heaven forbid, the Holy One, blessed be He — Heaven forbid — one doesn't even need to curse them, because in the end, in the end, the punishment —

1:03:12 the greatest punishment is that a person does not merit to be in truth, does not merit to draw close to Hashem. That is already the greatest punishment: that he reached the level of "those who scorn Me," as it were. That is a "level" for him — like, he arrived here. Look where you have reached: with everything you learned in the world, in the end you reached a state where you blaspheme, Heaven forbid. That is already your curse; there is nothing more we can give you than that — like the serpent, whose bread is dust.

1:03:39 So a person must always rejoice that he merited a portion, an inheritance — to be joined to the way of Hashem. May we merit it, with Hashem's help. That is the end of Mishnah 1 of chapter 4. We are at Mishnah 2 — slowly, slowly, bli neder. Why does one need to rush? Why does one need to rush? Let us focus on each thing. Until now we have lingered over each mishnah.

1:04:08 Slowly, slowly. This is said about the Holy One, blessed be He, in Shmuel. This is said about the Holy One, blessed be He. After all, the point is: do you want to be an honored person? First of all, give honor — you will be honored. The meaning of honor is that a person always wants honor.

1:04:35 A person wants honor, wants to be loved. The Sages say the truest thing: you want it? Give it. When a person wants — whatever it is you want to be, give honor. A person cannot win honor by trampling all the creatures. One must honor all the creatures. One must always honor people, not make remarks to people.

1:05:03 One must always be careful not to remark to a person either — not to remark; to refrain as much as possible from being a "Rabbi Me'ir" — one who remarks. Be Rabbi Meir, who gives light — not Rabbi Me'ir, who gives remarks. There is Rabbi Meir with an alef, and there is Rabbi Me'ir with an ayin. Be Rabbi Meir — the one who gives light. There is a man who remarks to everyone. His job is to make remarks all the time. To his own children he never remarks. In shul he remarks to this one, remarks to that one, to this one, to that one. His grandson comes, his son comes, does the very same thing — he doesn't remark to him.

1:05:31 He never remarks to him. Which means he doesn't really want to correct people. It simply bothers him. So one must be a person who does not remark. Always to give light — only with an alef. Well done — you came to shul at all! Well done to you. Happy are you! To light up in people their own light — that is the way, instead of coming to remark to people, with an ayin: what, you're not all right, what did you do, why are you like this. This is the way that will bring about "loving the creatures and drawing them close to the Torah."

1:05:58 Draw them close to the Torah. Let them feel that this is the pleasantness: I don't want to leave this pleasantness. It is so sweet to me, I want more, more, more. I don't want to stop; don't take this from me. The moment a person hurts someone, makes him odious, pains him, rebukes him, tramples him — that is the thing that is not good. One must reveal the good that is hidden in each one. That is the goal, and that is the... — But why does it say "the creatures" here, and not "every person," as with the wise man?

1:06:27 All the creatures — honoring them means animals too? All the creatures. All the creatures. All the creatures, all the creatures — it makes no difference, all the creatures. One must honor all the creatures in the world: all human beings, all creatures, everything Hashem created in the world. Also to be careful not to cut down a tree before its time. All the creatures — to honor all of Hashem's creation. Not to speak lashon hara about any creature; not to speak lashon hara about the nations either, and not to speak lashon hara about trees and stones either, nor about inanimate things.

1:06:59 Except for people of strife — as we explained — in Klal 8, paragraph 8, where the Chofetz Chaim writes that lashon hara may be said about a habitual sinner, a man of strife — someone who holds on to a quarrel and causes divisions among the Jewish people, and multiplies lashon hara, and transgresses [unclear], "do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge," "one who strikes his fellow in secret," and "do not go as a talebearer among your people," and transgresses all these severe prohibitions — about him it is permitted to speak.

1:07:25 And to check, as well, according to the rules of the Chofetz Chaim, what he writes in his rules — one must listen to daas Torah and know which permission is being spoken of, and when. There is even, as it were, a mitzvah there to disgrace him. But one must know according to the Chofetz Chaim, according to the rules, and not be so quick to speak. Another klal, what he writes. Klal 4, Klal 6 and Klal 8. One could say: it says "he who honors the creatures," specifically, and not "he who honors man," because really he honors the creatures on account of the Holy One, blessed be He — because they are the creation of the Holy One, blessed be He. And so we learn "those who honor Me, I will honor" — regarding the honor of Heaven.

1:07:59 And also what the Rav said — that honor comes only to one who knows to give it to the Holy One, blessed be He — that too is learned from here, because really he knows... what? — Yes: to return the honor to its root. To return the honor to its root, and not attribute it to himself. Well, so we are in fact at Mishnah 2. We will leave it, with Hashem's help, for another time. Let us hope that another time we will move along, we will learn more. But it was important to explain this introduction, about "human beings" and what it means — that was important. I had wanted to speak only about that, on its own, so we went on at length in the mishnah about this, with Hashem's help. It needed an introduction.

1:08:47 The matter, Rav, with Moshe Rabbeinu, who was there — it comes out that it is "a good heart." Right. All right, let's finish the next mishnah quickly. Nu, let's just see the mishnah: "Ben Azzai says: Run to a light mitzvah as to a weighty one" — all the mitzvos, go and fulfill them.

1:09:15 Do everything quickly, with joy; run to fulfill the mitzvah. Run as well — "and flee from sin." Notice: from sin one must truly flee. No matter which sin it is. Notice: "Run to a mitzvah, a light one as a weighty one" — but about sin they did not say "flee from sin, a light one as a weighty one."

1:09:40 Every sin. Notice the precision; see how the Sages are precise. "Run to a mitzvah, a light one as a weighty one" — but with sin they did not say "a light sin as a weighty one," or that it is a sin that is only tiny. They said: every sin, no matter what. "And flee," too — the wording is "and flee." "For a mitzvah draws a mitzvah" — because you then have more mitzvos, more reward — "and a sin draws a sin." Aveirah, sin — the Alter Rebbe explains it as avar Y-H: that a person erases the Name of Hashem from the world.

1:10:10 One must be careful not to commit sins — that a person not remove the Name of Hashem. "For the reward of a mitzvah" — the greatest reward a person can have. For "there is no reward for a mitzvah in this world." There is no reward that one can truly receive in this world. But what do the Sages say? That the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah. As if to say, that is more precious than everything. And they did not say this for nothing, for there is no reward in the world by which one could measure what you can receive in this world.

1:10:36 So the Sages say: the reward of a mitzvah is another mitzvah. "And the reward of a sin is a sin." For the punishment a person receives for a sin, in the end, when he sins further — for "one who comes to defile himself, they open the way for him": go ahead, forward, go all the way to the end. "Feed it to the wicked man and let him die." That's it. That is also with a sin that is... [unclear]? Every sin. They did not say "a light sin" — period. Any sin possible, where a person can recognize something that is not good — flee.

1:11:07 But the Rambam also says, about sin... It can be rolled onto him from Heaven, yes? "Guilt is brought about through one who is guilty." Who knows where it rolls to — may Hashem protect us. One should be careful with this. All right, just Mishnah 3 — Rav, what you said — the Rambam — "the reward of a sin is a sin": there is someone, today — a man came to shul, and came by car.

1:11:37 Say he came from far away and wanted to get to the shul to pray. I didn't tell him — I said — he came, I said to him: sir, go to a shul near your home. "The reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah; the reward of a sin is a sin." It's as if: I did it for that, but — I, like, want to enjoy the prayer here, and so I come by car. So the person who enjoyed, going by car — he wanted this shul to pray in, and he wanted to enjoy; he saw the prayer there one Shabbos, he enjoyed it, and he doesn't keep Shabbos, so he wanted to come again to pray there at the shul — so he came with the car.

1:12:06 There are such people in Jerusalem, from Ramat Gan, who come every Shabbos by car to Mount Zion, to David's Tomb — they do Pirkei Avos there — and go back by car, yes. They come by car for the prayer and [unclear], and go back by car. There are things — I told you — there are kinds of people you cannot understand with reason. How they interpret the... how they tend to take something true and pure and right, and distort it and understand it the way they want.

1:12:36 That is the hardest sickness there is. To distort the truth, to turn it into falsehood — it is a madness that cannot be explained. I don't even relate to it; there is nothing I can do. A person can know: this is the truth, this is how it is — may Hashem have mercy on me, that I walk in it. One cannot take the truth, distort it, twist it, and say: this is how it is fitting and right to be.

1:13:02 One cannot. One must guard the Torah. One must always keep the Torah in its place, and come and try to cling to it — that is what I always love. My whole way until today, everything I have taught, everything I teach, is always to cling as closely as possible, and to remain with, and keep to, the language of the Sages, to the book — not to stray; truly to be precise even in the letters. To be precise in the letters — that is how closely to cling.

1:13:28 This is important; this is daas Torah. When you want to learn daas Torah, don't try to look for something to invent. Cling — they have already written everything here, everything. Let us try to be precise in their words: what did the Sages say? How precise will you be in their words? Let us guard the ember — what remains to us in the Torah; it is the last ember. It would be a pity. Truly, see what treasures we find here, just on the mem and on the beis. How much one can learn from it.

1:13:53 That — that is what matters. "He used to say: Do not scorn any person." Never. This is such an important thing — how important it is. Who was that? It is Ben Azzai. He goes on to say another saying. "He used to say" — Ben Azzai says — "Do not scorn any person." Be careful not to disgrace people. How severe it is to disgrace a person. Do not belittle people. "Do not scorn" this person — you do not know how you will need him. Perhaps Mashiach will even come because of him, and perhaps he is the Mashiach.

1:14:23 "And do not dismiss any thing." What is "do not dismiss any thing"? Do not think that the Holy One, blessed be He, created things, made things in the world, that there is no need for, that are, like... A person comes along now, he thinks he already understands — he understands the Holy One, blessed be He. Like — "do not dismiss any thing" — he says, as it were: what is this for? What does one need this for at all? What is each thing for? He asks: why did Hashem create this?

1:14:51 Bees, for example — if there were no bees in the world, the world could not exist. With all the toxins found in the flowers, and the winds that would blow them around the world — they do an air filtering for you, altogether. And the honey that the bees bring. So many things in the world — even a tiny mosquito, which came before man. Every thing in the world — do not ask why the Holy One, blessed be He, created it. Know that everything the Holy One, blessed be He, created in the world, everything Hashem made in the world — it is all — the Holy One, blessed be He, knows what He is doing.

1:15:23 There is nothing in this world that has no need — and know that every thing has a need. "For there is no person who does not have his hour." What does that mean? That every person has his time and his moment when he will reach his greatness. He will reach it. And it seems hard to you now, and the livelihood, and all the hiding of the Face — but the hour will come, and "they rushed him out of the pit."

1:15:51 Your time will come to rise and go out of the darkness you are in, and out of the gloom you are in. True, right now you see a very hard hiding of the Face, a hiding within a hiding, and it seems to you that Hashem is hiding His face from you, and the livelihood and everything is stuck and nothing is moving, and it is truly dark, all darkness — but the hour will come when the hour will smile on you, and it will open. For "there is no" — see what beautiful wording this is: "There is no person who does not have his hour."

1:16:17 Meaning: for every person there is hope. "There is no person who does not have his hour." Even a prisoner can have his hour, when he goes out, and he too will reach such a level of greatness that they will need him — everyone. Is it possible to hasten the hour? Read Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas Noach. Noach. Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas Noach.

1:16:43 Parshas Noach. And then check whether it is possible to hasten the hour, and come back to me. What is it? Noach. Ah. Oh, see what he says. Nice. "There is no person who does not have an hour" — there is no person who does not have an hour of hisbodedus every day. How can a person be an upright man without that? Truly, I tell you.

1:17:10 Likutei Moharan, Torah 25 — Part II, Torah 25, Part I, Torah 15 — all the hisbodedus, the contemplation a person has, the conversation, the talk between him and his Maker — that a person goes out alone and prays and secludes himself with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the field, and goes and speaks with Hashem, conversing like a man to his friend, like a son to his father — even twenty minutes, as in siman 69 in Yoreh De'ah, in the law of the measure of salting.

1:17:40 Rabbi Yitzchak Breiter writes — the author of the She'eris Yitzchak — he writes that just as that time of salting is twenty minutes — eighteen minutes — which is the minimum for the meat to stay in the salt, in order to expel the blood, so, at the least, a person should have that much time. Or a person should have an hour — like, "an hour" means that a person should have a moment with the Holy One, blessed be He. "There is no person who does not have an hour." A person must — in order truly to be a complete person, truly the image of G-d — he must have some kind of connection to Hashem.

1:18:08 I'll tell you a beautiful story. There was once a chassid in Uman, among the chassidim of Uman — I saw this in the stories about the chassidim of Uman — who would pray there. And once there was a story: they found there, in the cemetery, someone whole. They came upon him there — they were digging something there, and saw a person, whole.

1:18:33 They went and checked his name; they reached his wife. They came to her. She said to them: what? He passed away twenty years ago already. An old woman. They said to her: what did he do? What were his deeds? This is a hidden tzaddik — how is he whole like that? They said: we saw him whole. There was nothing — not a single worm on him. Whole, entirely whole. She said to them: listen, he was a simple man; all day he would work. I don't remember him doing anything.

1:19:01 You don't remember anything? She said: no, nothing. They came back to speak with her again, and again — there is nothing, nothing. All right. They said: listen, this has to be a very great tzaddik, this man — holy of holies, whole. In the end they went back to her and said: listen, maybe there is something — give us his way of life. She told them again that he would come back from work, everything — he would pray the regular way, learn a little, and so on. They said: fine, what else was he careful about? She said: ah, I just remembered.

1:19:27 No matter when it was — even when he would come back after the army — the army would work him hard and abuse him and everything — no matter what he went through, when the time of midnight came, he would walk from side to side, to fulfill the advice of Rabbi Nachman to seclude himself with Hashem. And he would walk, holding himself up, to do hisbodedus there, from side to side. For this he gave his very soul. And then they said: that is the reason he merited to be whole like this — because "there is no person who does not have his hour."

1:19:58 I have given you an interpretation according to Breslov as well. The tzaddikim love you. So may we have good tidings. Wait, wait, wait, one second, wait. We haven't finished the mishnah. We haven't finished the mishnah. "For there is no person who does not have his hour, and there is no thing that does not have its place." Meaning: there is nothing that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world that does not have a place of need — in the end you will know why He created it.

1:20:31 In the end you will know that there is some purpose here, and there is a reason for it. It is not for nothing. Right now you do not understand the picture, but know that this thing, too, has a place. One must always know — you know, sometimes many things happen as well, things one does not understand in this world, cannot understand. Sometimes the greatest friends become the greatest enemies. Sometimes a person's greatest friend becomes his greatest enemy, and sometimes the greatest enemy becomes the greatest friend.

1:21:00 Everything is opposites. An upside-down world. But "there is no thing that does not have its place." Know that one day — a time can come, a time will suddenly come, and you will understand why the Holy One, blessed be He, did this, and why there was this place, and what the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged in this place. For every single detail in this creation there is a place, and a revelation of G-dliness.

1:21:27 May we merit, with Hashem's help, good things, salvations. And we are at Mishnah 4, on Rabbi Levitas of Yavneh — in the next session.