Strength of Character
Now, it’s one thing to identify a problem and to understand that we’re facing a difficult test being the יםƒהָﬠַמּ ָלּכƒמ ﬠַט¿מ. That’s already something, to recognize the problem. But we have to do something about it too. יםƒּרַ ב ַחֲ ר≈ י‡ י∆ה¿הƒ ̇ ‡ֹל is a mitzvah, a mitzvah to be on guard always, to constantly strengthen ourselves in overcoming this nisayon.
And that’s why number one is strength of character. This mitzvah needs a certain amount of strength, a boldness, to resist the environment. And that’s why at the beginning of the Shulchan Aruch, at the beginning of the Tur, he quotes the Mishna in Avos, ׂ̇וֹ ̆לַﬠֲ ... ַנָּמ≈רּכ ﬠַז ו≈י¡ה וֹמ≈ר‡ ‡ָ≈ ימּ ̇ ן∆ּב ָ ה„ּהו¿י םƒָׁ מַיּ ַּׁ̆∆ ב ָ̆יךƒָ ב‡ וֹןˆ ¿ר, – Yehuda ben Teima used to say always the following: “Be strong as a leopard to do the will of your Father in Heaven,” That’s the introduction to the Shulchan Aruch, to being a Jew.
Now a leopard is not the strongest animal. There are other strong animals; an ox, let’s say. So why talk about a leopard?
And the answer is, the meforshim say, because a leopard is bold. An ox is stronger than a leopard, yes, but a leopard has a certain azus to him, a boldness. All the other animals are afraid—they generally back out when they see a human being. But a leopard won’t back down, no. And so why does the Shulchan Aruch begin with this selection? Because the most important quality that a Jew needs in order to survive in this world is the quality of boldness, to be able to survive the pressure of the multitude against him.
The ABC of Judaism
That’s the foundation of the Shulchan Aruch and it’s a foundation of the entire history of the Jewish people. We have to be bold against the world! We have to ridicule the world. Now, not to their faces; we should treat everyone with respect, absolutely. But we have to know that as many as they are, they are nothing.
We have to be mevatel all the colleges, all the chachmei haumos. Evolution? The whole story is so stupid. Anybody who has a little common sense knows that you can’t make life from nonlife. The whole thing is built on millions of lies, one on top of the other. The professors are actually bigoted, blind fanatics. They’re not using inductive reasoning or objective proofs. It's only tradition. Which tradition? Is it a ַיינƒסּƒמ ׁ∆ ה ̆מֹ¿ל הֲלָכָה that Adam was created as a monkey? So what tradition are they following? The answer is they're following an invented tradition of Darwin that is contradicted by all the facts. Just the basic facts of geology contradict them.
So therefore it ought to be easy for us to ridicule them. But because there are so many, wherever you turn, that's where they are, the newspapers and the magazines are all on their sides. The government is on their side. All the high schools! Big universities! Actually, we should be laughing our sides off at the whole idea — only that it's not easy to laugh at a great majority.
And that's why it says “be bold as a leopard to do the will of your Father in Heaven.” You have to learn how to despise the outside world. We have to say the evolutionists are scoundrels! They’re liars! They’re criminals! That’s what they are!
Ridiculous Religions
And what about the Christians and the Mohammadens? You can’t say much better about them either. I know among a certain group of Jews — I don’t want to say who they are — in America, whenever they’re talking about oso ha’ish, they call him, “The mamzer.” Among themselves, they always call him, “The mamzer.” They’re bold — they’re trying to strengthen themselves against the majority.
And Islam? So what if there are a billion Muslims in the world? It’s all a big joke. A Koran came down from heaven to this desert fellow, Muhammad, this wild fellow. The Rambam calls him a lunatic.
Mohammed wasn’t a prophet – he was a ventriloquist; he was just throwing his voice through Allah’s mouth. Mohammed swore that every word came from Allah, but what it really meant is that he was holding a big puppet named Allah on his arm and he’s talking into his mouth: “Mohammed! There’s no prophet like Mohammed.”
Patriotism and Pressure
And therefore inwardly we should have the full opposition, of disgust for the rabbim, for lost people, degenerates. America? America is the most powerful country in the world and you see what’s doing today. I’m a patriot for this country, but today it’s a filthy place — all the taavos, the worst ideas are normalized in America. Materialism and entertainment and sports and so many things. And it’s a pressure on our heads; no question that it’s a pressure on many Jews.
And so when you walk on Broadway at five o’clock and the tall office buildings pour out; hundreds of thousands of people in the street. Thousands of people dressed in suits — some undressed in suits — so you should know, it’s nothing but water and waves. It’s a good thing to practice that thought: “ׁ ̆מַמָּ ָה∆םּב ≈ ין‡. I’m not impressed in the least bit by the numbers all around me.” He should think he is walking in the country among trees. There is grass all around him. Not people. ירƒˆחָ ָׂ ר ָּ̆בהַ ָלּכ. It’s all like grass all around me; not people (Yeshaya 40:6).
Of course, if they bump into you, act nice. Say, “I’m sorry.” You have to be polite always. But you have to know that all around you, all the masses of humanity blundering in the darkness of their beliefs are nothing compared to you, who is walking with the truth.
Motto Of The Lunatics
That’s important. If you are not a baal gaavah, then you cannot be a frum Jew. You have be bold — “I won’t bend. I won’t weaken in my ideals in front of the rabbim l’raos.”
So here is a frum Jew with a beard and peyos and a black hat, and he’s walking in the street, on all sides are chofshim, people without hats, so he has to feel proud of himself. They think he’s a lunatic, an ultra-orthodox — that’s what ultra-orthodox means to them; a lunatic — but he doesn't cringe.
He’s bold like a leopard. He’s not impressed by the rabbim. He’s willing to be a lunatic in their eyes.
It’s like a certain Tanna in the days of the second Beis Hamikdash who had certain principles and they told him he should yield these principles because otherwise he’s losing out, he’s losing the favor of the other people. And he said a statement then that really is the motto of the Jewish people. “יָמַי ָלּכ ׁ וֹט∆ה ̆ ‡ָר≈ּ ̃ ƒה¿ל יƒל טָ בּמו – It’s better for me to be called by people all my days a lunatic, ָׁ ﬠָה ̆ ׂ̇וֹ ̆לﬠ≈ָ ‡ֹל¿ו וֹם ̃הַמָּ נ≈י¿פƒל ָׁ ע ̆רָ ַ̇חַ‡ – I shouldn’t be a rasha even one moment in the eyes of Hashem” (Ediyos 5:6).
Who’s The Sane One?
Now that’s easy to say but it’s not so easy to do. Because when it’s a rabbim, even if you’re the sane one, you begin to feel like you’re the lunatic. I once went into an insane asylum, to Downstate, to visit a yeshiva bochur who was sick. I went in after hours; it wasn’t the visiting hours so they gave me a big guard as high as the ceiling to protect me. They make him big so that patients shouldn't use any violence on him. I came into a hall and there were three hundred lunatics sitting and looking at me and they were all grinning. For a moment I felt abashed. Three hundred meshugaim are sitting and looking at me, and they are laughing at me. I had a beard. In those days nobody had beards and they were pointing and laughing.
For a moment, I was taken aback. Three hundred people laughing! It was a rabbim and I was only one. I wasn’t afraid; the big security guard was there, but for a moment I felt weak.
But then I thought, “They’re all meshugaim though.” I caught myself. “They’re all lunatics,” I said. “I can walk out soon; they can’t walk out.
And therefore that’s an important attitude. They’re all meshugaim. What does it matter how many there are? A thousand meshugaim, ten thousand meshugaim, they’re still only meshugaim.
Personal Pressures
But I want to say something now that expands the subject a little more. Because to be bold against the rabbim doesn’t mean only the rabbim of the evolutionists and the false religions and all the false philosophies. There’s also a rabbim among ourselves, among the frum Jews, where we have to apply this admonition. It’s a sensitive subject and maybe I’ll step on people’s toes, so please forgive me, but it’s important.
Here’s a man who is in dire straits financially; he’s on the verge of bankruptcy. But he has to marry off a child. And it costs him $50,000. He can’t help himself because his wife is pressing him, “How can we have less? We’ll be ashamed to face our friends. How can we not have this or that?”
So this man thinks that he is a prisoner of circumstance, and so he goes even more deeply into debt — he borrows to make an expensive wedding. What a fool! Who cares what the relatives will say! Who cares what the neighbors will say!
Wild Weddings
Everyone is doing it? So what! יםƒּרַ ב ַחֲ ר≈ י‡ י∆ה¿ה ̇ ‡ֹל ֹ̇רָ עו¿ל. In every aspect of life, we have to learn to be independent – independent of the foolish pressures from outside the home. Even the invitations. You get invitations today, each one outdoes the previous one. Bigger, more ornate — the invitations alone are a wickedness!
It’s so important for a husband and wife to make up their minds; they don’t care what people say. A bar mitzvah doesn’t call for all that expensive arrangement as if it was a wedding. All other simchos, and many things like a kiddush in the synagogue can be waived. It’s not necessary. People have plenty to eat at home, why should they stuff themselves with your food and go home and not be able to eat again?
I’m not saying it’s easy but it’s an obligation of the Torah not to be pulled along with the crowd.
