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This Jewish Inspiration Podcast is dedicated to learning, understanding and enhancing our relationship with Hashem by working on improving our G-d given soul traits and aspiring to reflect His holy name each and every day. The goal is for each listener to hear something inspirational with each episode that will enhance their life.
00:00 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Welcome back everybody to day number 44. In our quest to acquire and learn the beautiful words of the ways of the righteous. We are using the Treasure for Life edition published by Feldheim, and we're beginning a new chapter, the chapter of hatred. Hasina the hatred, b'mida hazos, yesh bolav. It is a prohibition in the Torah for one to have hatred. In Leviticus 19.17,. It teaches us. The Torah says and we have been warned to be very, very careful to remove all hatred from our heart.
00:51
This terrible, destructive trait causes many, many other sins, like speaking slanderously about other people. But just by the way, very interesting is that hatred is not a Jewish trait. Hatred is not a Jewish trait. Wherever you see a Jewish person being represented with hatred, it is not the way of the Torah, it's not the way of the Jewish people. This is not the way we conduct ourselves. We don't operate with hatred. That's not who we are.
01:27
Ki hasonez, chaveru misaper, le'olam b'gnuso, mikabal olavashon hara. Someone who has hatred in his heart will easily accept slander about another person and will easily speak about others negatively V'tamid do'rish, ro'olav isameach le'edo and he will also always wish hardship and rejoice in their misfortune and will cause damage, and he will even cause damage. Wherever possible, he will inflict damage on them and he seeks revenge on his fellow whom he hates, and he won't have any proper mercy when it is necessary and when it's being called for. Once you have this hatred, you're not going to be able to recognize their good deeds and their good actions and he will hate them in his eyes and cause others to find hatred towards them. And he will withhold good from him and not admit truth to him. And if another person owes him money, he presses him for payment because he hates him so severely, which is one of the commandments in the Torah not to do so.
03:03
There are multiple different types of hatred Yeish sones chavera avur shehizik lo b'mamono. One types of hatred. One form of hatred is that I hate him because he caused me monetary damage. We had a business agreement and he neglected the contract. Or he stole from me, he cheated me.
03:26
Or shehiko, or someone who hits you physically, o avur shebi shohu. Or he embarrassed you, o shehotzi olav shema, or he said slander about you that was inappropriate, o kayotze bezer, or something of the like. I'll call Elu v'kayotze behem lo yisna es chavero v'yishtok. He should not, in all of these cases, do not hate the person. He should not. In all of these cases, do not hate the person, just take it. Take it in the chin, like it says with regarding the evil, and did not speak with neither good nor evil. L'meira ve'atov kisonei afsholom es amnon. Because he hated Amnon so much, he just didn't talk, didn't say anything, because he didn't want to arouse his hatred.
04:21
Elo mitzvah, olav lohodiyo ve'lo marlo loma asiso li kach ve'kach. But rather, if you hate someone in your heart, there is a mitzvah in the Torah to go and inform them of your hatred. The verse tells us in the Torah that you shall surely reprimand your fellow and if he came and asked for forgiveness, you have to forgive, and the one who forgives should not be cruel. We see that Abraham prayed to Hashem on behalf of Avi Melech and even if the offender does not ask to be forgiven, he should not be hated but handled with love. V'afim lo yivakesh mimeno limcholo lo yisneyo el yis'anegimo ba'avo Ul basof. Yavo l'dei kach she yitaken lo ma she ives. At the end, the offender will come to correct his ways and correct what he did wrong. Yesh sinah ra'ah me'od.
05:33
There is a very bad form of hatred, v'hi sinah schinah, and that is hatred for the sake of hatred, for no reason. V'hi she'ihriva ba'isheni. And this hatred is the one that destroyed the second temple of the Jewish people. And even worse is a hatred out of envy. It's even worse. A person should do everything he can to remove from his heart any type of hatred like this V'yeish sones chaveira avur she'eno gomelo chesed.
06:08
Some people hate because the person didn't do proper kindness with them. O she'eno nosen lo matona kefi chefz. Or he didn't give me the gift that I wanted. O she'eno malvelo b'shastacho. Or he didn't loan me money when I needed it. Ra'u ila adam lehissrachik, mikol zem u me money when I needed it.
06:29
Be very, very careful to distance yourself from such hatred. A person should therefore accept with love everything that the Almighty has decreed, because we all know that the Almighty has decreed, because we all know that someone who has proper amunah, someone who has proper belief and knowledge of Hashem, such a person knows that nothing happens to us unless Hashem decrees it. So if we lost that money, we were supposed to lose it. This person happens to be the messenger to cause it. If we were supposed to be embarrassed, we were supposed to be embarrassed anyway. This person happened to be the messenger that caused it. If we were supposed to be embarrassed, we were supposed to be embarrassed anyway. This person happened to be the messenger that caused it. But if a person sees the big picture, he sees that everything is from Hashem and therefore I have nothing to hate that person. I have to understand that it's a message from Hashem.
07:19
Ahi kabel me'avo. He should accept it with love. Kom ha-shi yigzor ha-lav ha-bore. He should accept it with love. Whatever the Almighty has sent his way, has decreed on him, he should accept and not trust in people. Don't put your trust in people. And he should think who? If I had merited from the Almighty, then he would have given me that money, he would have given me that loan, but Hashem didn't want it.
08:03
And if he is poor, impoverished and is needy, or if he's sick and he's in terrible affliction and pain, we should think that the Almighty created this illness for this person so that he grow, purify himself, connect to the Almighty in a meaningful way that the Almighty desires. And there's no doubt, be'asoso zeh, that by doing so, oz tistalik milibo kol asinu, that all hatred will be removed from him. You accept it with love from Hashem and you'll remove the hatred from your heart, ve'zeh yisod gadol. And this is a big fundamental pillar and principle in Judaism and a very strong pillar in Torah and mitzvot. One who conducts himself with this and one who says for everything that comes with love, gam Zulotova, this too is for the good. The Talmud teaches us that a person should always say the words Gam Zulotova. This is also for the good. This is also for the good, even things that seem painful, even things that seem intentional. If a person has proper intention in his heart and he feels this joy that this is the judgment from Hashem, this is what Hashem decreed and this is what it is, and I accept it with love such a person has reached a point, a very, very close connection with God. Such a person will remove all hatred, the very, very close connection with God. V'inot zim'al, kol sin'o, v'evo v'kinon. And such a person will remove all hatred and all enmity and all envy from his heart. Derech haolam, the way it works in life, the way it works in this world. Kol umon sone bnei umnoso.
10:01
Everybody hates their tradesmen. So if you ask a restaurateur, you ask someone who owns a restaurant, what do you say about that restaurant? They'll never have something nice to say, and this is a rule, which is why the Chavetz Chaim tells us in the laws of Lashon Hara that one is not permitted to talk even positive words about a competitor. Yes, because that will lead to him saying slanderous things about that person. Doing so is vain and extremely evil. A person will think a person. One must bear in mind that no one can earn more than what the Creator has already decreed. We know on Rosh Hashanah, the Almighty decrees what everyone will earn, so you can give the best advice to your competitor. They're not going to take away a dime from your business, it's not a problem.
11:00
I wanted to share with you, before we end, a very quick story. There was a man in Jerusalem who had a bakery. Actually, the bakery is around today. It's been around for decades and decades. And one of his main workers decided look, I have all the recipes, I know the tricks, I'm going to go and open up a competing bakery right across the street. So he opens up the bakery across the street and the family is livid. They're so upset. How can he do this? How can he be such a traitor to their father, who employed him for years, and now he's opening up a competition across the street One day they see their father and he has his hand over the competitor's shoulder and the children ask him after what did you tell him?
11:42
He says what do you mean? I told him where he can buy the best machines and where he can get the best flour, and I was giving him all the advice of how to run a good bakery. I said how can you do that? What do you mean? He's such a traitor, he's trying to hurt your business. He says what do you mean? He says the almighty decreed already on rosh hashanah exactly how much income I'm going to make. He's not going to take away one single penny from my income by me helping him. Hashem already decreed it. What I'm going to get, I'm going to get. What I'm not going to get, I'm not going to get, and it only is a mitzvah to assist every jew who's in need. So I think having that perspective really changes us to understand that this world is conducted by Hashem and we have no reason to have any hatred in our heart for any human being. That concludes day number 44,. My dear friends, I look forward to continuing tomorrow with day number 45.