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Esav & Western Civilization's Big Mistake
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Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
We grew up with the idea of a criminal
and a villain and there's always a hero
and a savior on the other side zone one
against the other. And in these par that
are in front of us discuss the paradigm
of the villain in direct contrast to the
successor the one who is the hero of
course Yakov and Asv. And the question
that needs to be asked is yeah as we
know was not exactly a great guy. The
Gomorrah actually lists a bunch of that
he did he didn't believe in to he sold
the bakor he actually had relations with
a narasa a woman who was betrothed and
he killed a person on the day that he
went off the der as as we say and still
the funny way that the Torah decides to
describe him is that as was an is
he was a hunter big deal so he was a
hunter so the man went fishing what
bothers us about the fact that he's an
if he was such an avarian he was such a
person who was over him all the time and
did things that are incorrect
so what the Torah did not describe that
as the problem instead it describes him
in terms of the fact that he was a
hunter so the ter of this question is
based on an idea which I saw once from
revansky and that is that when we
discuss
we usually think of something
chronological that now is later and
that's how it is and that's why it's
called Z this and later as next but
that's incorrect
in a much deeper understanding has to do
with the word Z this right now the here
and now the immediate need for
everything that has to do in the world
that stands in front of me immediate
gratifi uh gratification I need it for
the here and now I'm not looking for
things that are happening afterwards as
opposed to when we're talking about is
also actions that take place in this
world but it comes with what we call a
calculation knowing that there's a
purpose or something behind it if
someone has to as we say
go through chemotherapy he was diagnosed
with some type of horrible sickness and
he has to go through chemotherapy if it
happens to a child so that child is
uncomfortable upset about the fact that
he's going through these treatments not
regarding presently. We're not
discussing whether he's upset at Hashem
or not upset at Hashem. That's not the
idea. But presently, he thinks about
what's going on. He's like, "Wow, I
can't wait till it's over." He's looking
just and it's over today. Well, next
week there's another treatment. Ah,
shucks. Okay, at least at least the
person has a week break off. That's the
way he thinks. He thinks in the here and
now about the pain and pleasure. What is
going on? as opposed to an adult who is
going through the same therapy and is
going through the same pain has meaning
to the pain. At least he sees it
objective where it's getting to. He
understands that next week he has to go
through the process again. But the whole
thing is seen in one global picture.
He's able to see it in a bigger picture
to know he's getting to somewhere.
Hopefully, he's being cured from a
deadly sickness. He's being removed from
a place that he doesn't want to be. And
therefore even though he is going
through the same pain as that child
there's a lot more meaning behind the
pain that is being expressed presently.
That is the difference between people
who have a drive of who their focus is
in the immediate gratification as
opposed to
segmented is day and day and day. The
world was created one day after the
next. you see it in an individual place
as opposed to alaba is seen as one big
scene without without being segmented.
It's much more pronounced everything
that happens and therefore you can see
this piece in the as a piece of a big
puzzle and it's a greater way to be able
to be calm and at ease about your whole
entire situation. That was really the
difference between as and yes as an is
the [snorts] idea of being a hunter is
the person who's looking for the here
and now for the immediate for what I can
do handto mouth that's the idea of an is
the word as means as done finished he
was done that's it there's no future
whatever is is there's nothing that is
more beyond than what exists that's the
idea behind asov he says says
he's looking for the red. He describes
food as what he sees in his vision. He
doesn't look beyond the external
externalities. This whole country is
called edom red. I see red. That's what
I'm looking for. I'm not looking beyond
than what I see. What more than meets
the eye. What seeing is believing and
more than that I'm not interested in.
He's willing to give up his whole rights
to the because it's all spiritual. It's
all about the future. It's all about
something that's happening later. And
therefore, he has no interest in that
type of concept.
And another idea which I one time heard
is that's why he was an isir. He was one
made of hair because our whole bodies
always change and they grow until a
certain age when it stops. Of course at
certain ages it starts shrinking maybe
but more or less we stop except for one
part of our body and that is the hair
the sar keeps growing and that is really
what represents as always needing more
tavot always chasing more he's never
saturated with the tavot whatever food
whatever women he's chasing after
whatever money he's looking for he's
always looking for more and more and
more yeseshav
but he doesn't have coal but it's not
yes co he doesn't have everything he has
a But he's always looking for more.
That's the epitome of Asov. The man who
looks to the here and now that looks to
the immediate gratification to be able
to satisfy as soon as possible. And
that's why these five aot the five sins
that are mentioned in that gamarra are
exactly similar. The common denominator
between all of them is the now without
making any calculations for the future.
No bonus killing someone without
thinking about the future generations.
It says not an as not a woman who was
married but one who was betrothed. Why?
Because he's not thinking about the fact
that she's going to get married right
now. She's not married. Leave me alone.
He doesn't think twice about that. He
doesn't believe in the resurrection of
the dead. He doesn't care about the
because it's all just ephil. It's all
just above my head. I'm not interested.
Give me the here and now. Just serve me
another cup of beer. Just give me
another cigarette. I'm not interested.
That's the assort of the difference
between a Yakov and an Asov. And this of
course is very prevalent for us as we
can all understand because as the
epitome of the western world. He
describes the contrast between what
Judaism chases,
the [snorts] one who thinks about the
future, the one who thinks about what
can change and what can happen as
opposed to the man who is busy chasing
over the here and now. And that's really
what we were raised with. If I could say
the western world teaches, if I could
say a certain focus on the me, myself
and I. A certain hedonistic idea about
just taking care of myself. I need this
now and give it to me. This is the
source with no question about the amount
of protests that we see what we call on
a constant basis cuz nobody seems to be
satisfied ever. And also as we can
understand and uh it spills over very
simply to the fact that the divorce rate
is out of proportions. I was speaking to
an old friend of mine and he was
mentioning I remember when we were
younger already that makes me old
already cuz I'm already talking about
when I was younger when we were younger
how many people did you know that were
divorced it was it was barely around now
it's a dime a dozen. How many people is
happening? Because people go into
marriages already focusing on the ani
and what I'm going to get out of it. And
that
way of thinking that as we say is what's
causing so much havoc in the world.
One time someone sent a letter to the
Labavorebi
and he and it was all complaining about
his wife and his marriage and everything
about it that she's doing this and I'm
upset and I can't handle this and I got
to be out. The laborebi folded up that
letter and returned it right back to him
and he made one amendment in the whole
letter. He circled every every place
that he wrote me, I I can't me me that.
All those stop focusing on the self and
start focusing on someone else and then
you will see success. The biggest of
course Elzar the we met in
he made the biggest between Rifka and he
got a lot of for that marriage. which
was a big one and he was so successful
the first hit he was able to make it
wouldn't be so happy if all our children
on the first child on the first date and
they were able to come out and succeed
how is he so successful because if you
go through the whole para you know how
many times his name is mentioned ephis
zero all it says is eid of it only talks
about being an evid of rum and then
later it talks about being an ish but it
never mentions the fact that he is
Elazar he took himself out of the
picture and that is the key to success
because the word ani is a very powerful
word. The word I or my needs is
something we use every day over and over
again. What I feel, what I need, what I
love, what I hate, what I wish, what I
can't, what I think, we're always
focusing on which is normal and it's
totally fine. But that word expresses
all our desires, all our emotions and
everything about us. It is so powerful
that is the capabilities of building a
person but at the same time it is the
power to destroy a whole entire world.
The eye of a person can make it from one
extreme to the next. You know the atom
is what makes up the whole entire
universe. The whole entire world is only
here because of the atoms that are
within us. In our body alone, we have 1
to the 10 to the 25th power atoms. That
means 25 zeros. That's how many atoms
are contained inside of your body. The
atom is fantastic and it keeps us alive.
But you know what? The most destructive
material in this world is the atom. If
you make an atomic bomb, which we've
been dealing with over here in this
country, it can actually go ahead and
destroy everything. That tells me one
thing. The me, the I, who I am, who I
feel, who I want can be extremely
productive, but it can also be extremely
destructive. And it's all a decision of
the person who is capable of doing it.
Who is capable of making those decisions
and deciding what I want to do with my
life. This is what we learn from the
contrast between Yakov and Asov. You
know the difference between an animal
and a person sounds the same. Animal and
no, they all eat. They all drink. They
all sleep. They all reproduce. They're
all doing the same things. What's the
difference? The answer is a behemoth is
always a behemoth. From day one till the
day he die, he doesn't change. He is not
affected. The word behemma means bah. He
is what? He is a beah. And guess what?
Asov was the man of behemoth. He was an
ish, a man that was hunting for animals.
He was connected to animals because it's
the same concept. No change. busy
changing and getting interested in my
own physical desires. Eating, drinking,
chasing, looking for this, looking for
that. BM what it is is what it is.
There's no building of the process of
the person. Just trying to satiate and
satisfy all my desires. BM I am what I
am and that's it. It stops over there. B
is it to what it is is ma. You will not
find more than what meets the eye. When
you see an ox, you see an ox. There's
nothing hiding behind them. You see 10
lions, you see 10 lions. You can know
when they migrate. You can know what
they eat. You can know exactly what
they're all going to do when they're
when they see a bunch of zebras
together. They are all predictable.
That's what it's all about. As opposed
to
anom is from
because he grows, he changes, he's
influenced, he makes decisions, he has
free choice. So that kak that power free
choice can make him to what he is for
the good or for the bad to destroy
worlds like that Russia 80 years ago was
able to cause the death of 56 million
people in World War II because of the
craziness of one person's head who was
so into the ani to himself to everything
that he presented everything was the
whole idea of the Aryan race is one
selfish idea that is all about myself.
That's the power of a person and that's
what he can do to destroy. And on the
contrast million of Dulith in 1933 when
that person came to power to make a
distinction there was a great man that
passed away because he could not speak
on the planet simultaneously with him.
His name was the
[clears throat] of Mayor Kagan. Theim
who was a person who was exactly the
polar opposite. The one who loved Claw
Israel. The one who was always looking
to help. Every book he wrote, every
speech he made, every aspect of his
life, every bone in his body was
dedicated to helping Clal Israel. That's
all he cared about. And that was the
same person. They both grew up as
children as little babies in diapers.
They grew up and each one took his own
polar opposite direction. Not to make
any comparison between them because
they're complete opposites. But the idea
is clear that we see from here how a
person has the capabilities to mold
himself. Adam is from he builds himself
and therefore a person has to make those
decisions and know that it is within my
reach to know that sometimes is my
dining on par. Am I learning where I'm
supposed to be? Am I really giving it
duck that I can be doing? And to know
sometimes yes to say no. What's really
human is to be able to resist something.
Not only to do something, but to resist.
That really shows humanity. To know what
comes through my door. What devices do I
let in here? What type of internet
access is coming through here? What kind
of channels do I let inside of my house?
Do I filter or do I not filter? That is
a very human decision. Yes, I know how
to resist, how to say no to show that
not everything. And that shows true
freedom. The one who is in charge of
himself. That shows the beauty of the
ani, the power of I to be able to make a
decision and to be able to resist and to
know when to do something and when not.
Before I spit out a comment to my spouse
or to my children, I think for two
seconds, for two minutes maybe, and I
make a decision if this is prevalent for
me to say, is it worth it or am I only
causing destruction or am I being
helpful? A person has to know to make
such then that it's human. That's me.
That's a person who's constructive.
Those are the person who thinks of the
ramifications before he does something.
It's an incredibly powerful tool to
realize our powerful free choice who we
are and what we have. You know the
writes in one of his letters that one of
the biggest tum that we have the worst
thing that we have in this world
presently before Msiah comes is the fact
that they've decided we don't have free
choice. They've taken away our free
choice. The psychologist and says well
the poor guy this the poor guy that. And
he says that's because we're right
before Mashia's time. When Mashiah comes
there is no more free choice. That's it.
It's game's over. There's no more free
choice. But we're spilling into an age
where people are denying free choice and
there was and uh and that's what causes
this issue. There was a person by the
name of Ethan Couch in 2013 in England
that has is a 16-year-old crazy drunk
driver. He was going incredible speeds.
He went off the side of the road. He
killed four people and injured seven
very seriously when he was driving
horrifically. He got pulled in.
Eventually they found him. They pulled
him into court and his psychologist that
was there testified that he was
suffering from affluenza. You know what
affluenza mean? It's the same word as
affluence. He grew up so wealthy, so
spoiled. He doesn't even realize the
consequences of his actions. The poor
guy. He was overdone. He doesn't have
any boundaries. You have to have pity on
him. He didn't know what he was doing.
Guess what? He got acquitted. His whole
punishment was he had to go to rehab for
the next 6 months. Poor guy. Can you
imagine that? No jail for him. And as a
PS, a year later, he was caught again
drunk driving. But his mother quickly
scured him out of the country and flew
him to Mexico to make sure he wouldn't
be caught. What a fantastic mother
taking care of her beautiful child. She
really cares about him. As you can
understand,
we see that this is really the agenda of
what we are being taught. The idea of
not being responsible or held for my
actions and this is a point of or
construction or destruction. You decide.
Rapina says a story unless I finish of
the grand granddaughter of the that she
was influenced like many many in that
time period of course by the by the
enlightenment movement and she went to
university she kind of went off she one
time went to visit her incredible
grandfather the and she told him sabo to
zade till when are you going to be in
this primitive light in the darkness of
this world get out into the real world
and start realizing what's going around.
When I hear that story, I get a stomach
ache also. Trust me.
And you know what he said to her? He
said to he took her outside to the
window. It was in the middle of World
War I. And he showed her those biplanes
flying up and top with the propellers in
the front. There was a man in the front
driving. And there was the man in the
back dropping bombs on top of the
cities. He said, "You see those planes?
One day they're going to get to the
moon. You see those bombs? One day
they're going to destroy be able to
destroy the world. The man had prophecy.
Novoa. One day he's going to the moon.
One day those bombs will be able to
reach everywhere. He said that's what
they make. Those are the things that
they just they try to make. We make
people. We make mention. We're busy
constructing people. This is what I'm
doing in the opaces of my room. I'm
interested in building a mench, building
a person, seeing who I am and make
myself great. the ani, the great ani
that is behind us. And this is the
greatness of our capabilities. What we
can do when we come to a proper
realization of this contrast between an
asov and a yakov. The power to say no as
opposed to the power to give in to
everyone of our desires.