Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.

00:12 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
We now continue. Day number 90, on page 535 of the Treasure for Life edition of the Orch HaSiddikim, the Ways of the Righteous Klolo Shodover. Here is a fundamental principle Yivdok odam be'atzmo eiza avero hu ragil bo. Here is a fundamental principle. A person should always inquire within themselves what sin, what sin do I have a habit of performing? And he should make fences and barriers to protect himself from falling to those sins. So if a person has a sin, any sin, you can imagine.

00:58
A person, let's say, has a sin of eating something that's prohibited. Torah says not to eat it. Can't help myself. Can't help myself if it be you know something which God forbid. The Torah tells us that we should not eat milk and meat together. Oh, I see that cheeseburger advertisement on the Super Bowl ads and I'm like I can't resist.

01:16
There's a number of ways for a person to protect themselves. Number one don't go there. Don't go there. A person who can't protect themselves from looking at things that are inappropriate don't go there. Don't go there. A person who can't protect themselves from looking at things that are inappropriate. You have to create a barrier, like your magnificent phone. It has no internet. It's an amazing invention. Amazing invention. V'yimar lasus gedorim, make a fence, a barrier, to protect yourself from falling into that trap again, into that sin.

01:49
Person should see not only what mitzvah, what sin he is regular with, what sin he has a habit of transgressing, but also what mitzvah am I weak at, but also what mitzvah am I weak at. What caused me to be weak and lax in this mitzvah? A person wastes a lot of time. So then things happen. A person wastes time, they lose track of responsibilities, they lose track of priorities. He should realize that an idle man must understand at the outset that idleness comes from idle activities and that one who habituates himself to idle activities neglects Torah, neglects prayer and all that's good. Therefore, you know the best thing not to waste time and become someone who's lax at life.

03:01
Don't hang around other people who are lax at life, the people who sit around and talk idle chatter all the time. That's probably not the right gang for you. It's probably not the right friendships for you. Don't connect with them, don't get together with them. I remember a woman here in this class. She said to me but Rabbi, my girlfriends? This lady was saying we all get together and we sit at Starbucks and we talk about everybody. That's what we do and we love doing it. We've been doing it for years.

03:41
And now you're telling me we're not allowed to talk about other people, we're not allowed to say negative things about other people. You're going to take away all the fun. This is what we do. We spend time every single day at Starbucks not every day once a week and we talk Lashon Hara, that's what we do. And now you're telling me I can't say that. What am I going to do?

03:59
So if someone wants to work on that sin of not speaking negatively about others, the best thing is to probably not hang out with those friends. U'b'zeh yesh l'rafu' l'chol y'hazeh. And the minute you stop connecting with those people who influence you in that way, you will heal and cure yourself from that illness. V'chein yaseh l'kolamida sagru'as. And this is what a person should do with all of his negative traits. A person has to know what is causing this downfall in my life. When I understand what is bringing that to me, now I know what to stay away from. So if a person knows and I know somebody who's asked me to do this he says you know, there's an app on my phone that I am addicted to. Person called me up. I want you to lock it. I want you to put a password, parental control on my phone and lock it so that I don't have access to it.

05:05
He said he was spending too much time on YouTube. He says sometimes I can find myself three hours later scrolling short after short, video after video. He says can you do me a favor? Can you lock it up for me? If I need it for emergency, I'll come to you and have it unlocked. He says I have no choice. It's like this temptation that he has on his hand. It's not necessarily just watching something inappropriate, it's just wasting time. He says my time is so valuable, but it's so amazing that someone had that thought. The only way to protect myself is to take it away from myself.

05:46
Now for those who are going to say and I heard this argument way too many times People say well, why can't you just be mature and keep it away? Right, just don't turn it on, just have self-control. Yeah, 98% of the world is people who are claiming they have self-control and have. None of the world is people who are claiming they have self-control and have none, because Facebook and YouTube and TikTok wouldn't be in business with billions and billions of daily users if everyone had self-control. Because I guarantee you that if you asked someone how much is the right amount of time to spend on those apps, on those social media apps, they'll say probably 10 minutes a day. And how much do you spend a day on it? Probably two hours. Most people, on average, are spending two hours a day. And how much do you spend a day on it? Probably two hours. Most people, on average, are spending two hours a day on social media. That's crazy.

06:32
I will tell you a secret, though. I'll tell you a secret. They did a study on the Fortune 50 CEOs Top 50 companies in the world and they spoke to the CEOs and you know what? They all had a common habit they didn't look at their phones until 11 o'clock in the morning. In the morning, they felt that their mind was fresh, they got their productivity, they got their work done, their bulk of their work, and then, okay, let's catch up with what's going on in the world.

07:11
Understand that you need to have self-control to be productive. If you're going to be sold to something like that, you're going to lose opportunity. A person has to know his weaknesses. You have to destroy what is your weakness. That is your weakness, this darkness that it brings in your life. Remove that darkness and bring light to your weakness, this darkness that it brings in your life. Remove that darkness and bring light to your soul. You need to do this ASAP. Don't wait around, don't push it off till later. You got to do it immediately. If a person is lazy in detecting his traits, his negative traits, it's going to become so solidified in your way of life that you just can't change it.

08:10
How many times have you seen people? Well, it's just the way I am. That's the way God made me. That's not the the way I am. That's the way God made me. That's not the way God made you. That's the way you made you. You made yourself have a habit Best example habits of eating.

08:28
Had someone who told me just today. Today, this individual told me he says this person that I know is hundreds of pounds overweight and they're diabetic and they keep on saying what can I do? What can I do? That's just the way I am. And this person who told me the story said that he said to that person who was a family member of his. He said you can change the way you eat. You can eat healthier foods you can eat in a limited amount, but all day eating, eating, eating it's not healthy. Who doesn't know that there's a right way to eat and there's a wrong way to eat? Everybody knows that Today, in a world that's so conscientious about diet, healthy foods, healthy habits, my watch if I sit for more than 20 minutes, it starts beeping. Well, it's time to start doing some exercise. Time to stretch, time to get moving. All the watchers do that. Everybody knows that. Don't be sedentary, don't be sitting around. Everybody knows that, but we're lazy and we don't push ourselves to do it right now.

09:46
Get up and walk around the block. Jog around the block like this young man did. He walked what? 25 miles to get here. He wants to get into shape. He walked all the way from the Galleria to class to get here because he wants to be in shape. He wants to live a long life, a long, happy, beautiful life. Good for you. Good for you Because if you don't uproot it, it's going to become a root that is embedded into your life that's going to be very hard to uproot at a later time.

10:22
V'yeh zoriz levakeh shalom v'lirdov acharav. Also, to seek out peace, you got to pursue it. Run after it. V'nemer bakeh, shalom v'rotfeu. Be like Aaron. Aaron didn't just say you know what I really love? Peace, it's a nice thing. No, no, no, he was a road Dave Sholem. He ran, he pursued peace.

10:43
Most people will say, listen, it's not my fight, I'm staying out of it. Not Aaron Aaron said this is my fight. I want peace and I'm not going to let up till there's peace. And a person should be eager. You know what it means to be eager in the will of Hashem, in learning Torah, in asking knowledge of Hashem. You don't let up. You don't let up. You ask and you ask, and you ask, and you ask and you don't let up. You don't let up. You ask and you ask, and you ask, and you ask and you don't stop.

11:21
You know there's a famous story in the Talmud of one of the great sages who taught his student what they were learning 400 times and he didn't understand it. So he taught it to him another 400 times. So we're all impressed because we see such a story. That's a great teacher. You never stop giving up. But imagine how impressed we need to be of the student that he wanted to learn it, even after 400 times of not understanding it. Explain it to me again. I don't get it, I don't understand it. All right now explain it to me again. That takes a desire too, and he didn't stop having a desire. That's the way we all need to be, as the verse states, and you will know, and we will know, and we will run to know Hashem Bechein omruz chachamim Hevigol l'mokam Torah.

12:24
As it says in Ethics of Our Fathers exile yourself to a place of Torah, meaning, remove yourself from the distractions. You're like in an exile. You're locked down to a place of Torah study. It means you have no distractions. Be yezaris levakesh tzedakah and be eager to seek out righteousness. Yechsiv tzedek, tzedek t'yefo. It says righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue. Yechsiv shimu eilai rotve tzedek mevak sheh Hashem. As the verse states in our Torah, in Yeshaya, it's important that for the books that you must study from, write those books, print those books, purchase those books.

13:16
I've seen so many magnificent people here in this room where we talk about a certain book that we should learn or we should own, and they immediately come after class. They're like, okay, they take a picture, they immediately go on Amazon buy it, rabbi, it's coming to my house tomorrow. There you go. There you go, right there the book, right there. No wasting time. Tomorrow it's in my house. Right there, the book, right there. No wasting time. Tomorrow it's in my house.

13:36
That eagerness is the eagerness the Torah is talking about. That's a high level. That's a very high level, because it's not just, oh, an idea in my mind. One day I'll get to it. No, no, no, right now, because right now is the only moment. This is your moment. O kishy yira, o kishy yishmat, dvar chidu shi y. This is your moment when you hear an idea, a concept wow, brilliant idea. Don't say you know what, later I'll have time, I'll write it down, I'll remember it. No, no, no, you're not going to remember it later. Now. Now is the only moment you exist in Now. Amar Reb Yudah Ben T. Now.

14:16
The Mishnah tells us in ethics of our fathers, teaches us be bold like a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer and strong as a lion For what To do the will of your Father in heaven. Look how our sages instructed us to be light and strong to do the mitzvahs. King David tells us in Psalms I was quick and I did not delay to keep your mitzvahs Meaning. Time is of essence. Now is the only moment you have and you shall do not read it matzos, but rather mitzvos. You shall watch the matzos.

15:27
It says the matzos were done very quickly, 18 minutes. They didn't even have time for it to rise. Our sages say don't read it matzos, but rather ad avov, it's mitzvos, mitzvos. If a mitzvah presents itself, do not allow it to go stale, but do it immediately. Im tavah mitzvah, liyadcha altach mitzenah Ela asei o samiyah, do it immediately. V'tzorech me'od halos u'zurizos u'g. So what we're saying here is, in order to fulfill the Torah, the mitzvot, the closeness to Hashem, to get to the levels that we want to attain in life, we need to do them immediately. And, my dear friends, this concludes day number 90.

16:10 - Intro (Announcement)
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