The topic is cults, assimilation. The only question is, what I have to say about that? What can I say? What do I know about cults? Truth is, usually you would expect, you know, someone to get up and just say how terrible they are and how they ruin people's lives and etc., etc. But the truth is that we know that in this world there is nothing that is bad, it doesn't have something good in it. There's nothing good, it doesn't have something bad in it, except the Torah obviously. But other things in the world, it is always a mixture of good and bad. So there is something positive within what they do. Not chas v'shalom, God forbid, I'm saying it is fine to belong to a cult or anything like that, but there is something there that we have to look at on the positive side. First let's discuss what's, a little bit what this is all about, and then we'll see what we can take out, what positive thing they have. Many of the cults, as we all know, and I'm not a professional, I'm not, you know, I don't know much about it, but whatever I do know is that a lot of it borders with avodah zarah. Some of it is actual avodah zarah, actual idol worship, and some border with idol worship. They actually believe in different beings as, whether it's a human being or other things, as being God or like God, etc., etc. And this is avodah zarah. This is Some of them are not directly avodah zarah, they're very close to avodah zarah, but definitely it's in that line. Plus we all know that their style of the cults are to actually take over the whole person. What they do is they brainwash the person with their ideas, and then the person loses his senses and then becomes completely under their jurisdiction and doesn't think on his own, and the person is completely lost. In other words, the person doesn't loses his own being as an individual human being, but he becomes part of a group, and that group is what controls this person. That's how they work. And in order to get out of it, they have to go through a whole process of deprogramming the person because the person is almost like programmed to a certain way which a person doesn't use his own seichel, doesn't use his own mind, his own intellect, and he's just under what they under the spell of the cult. That's really what how they operate. Now, when we start thinking about it, isn't this something very similar to what we demand, l'havdil, of a Yid? The difference is only that they're under the control, under the spell of something that's wrong. But as far as the approach, it would seem that this is really what we are also aiming at. What we want is that a Yid should be completely batel to Hashem, and the way you're batel to Hashem is batel to the Torah. You're nullifying yourself, and you lose your own being, and your whole being should be one with the Torah and with our book, our code of Jewish law. And then we also apply tzadikim who guide us and tell us how we're supposed to do, what we're supposed to do, how we're supposed to behave. So basically we're also working that way, that a person has to become batel. And we also work in a system, I don't want to use the word because it doesn't sound right, but nevertheless, that's what it is, in a system of brainwashing. We brainwash others, we brainwash our children, we brainwash ourselves. We try to put ourselves in a position that we don't have our own thinking. Anything that has to do with Torah u'mitzvot, we don't use the seichel, and we have emunah. We have total faith, and everything is based on this faith. As a matter of fact, the whole foundation of Yiddishkeit was that the Yidden stood by Har Sinai and they said נעשה ונשמע. They said, \"We will do, and we will hear,\" which means we will understand. And they were makdim. They said first נעשה and then they said נשמע. First we'll do, first we accept to do before we understand. In other words, the understanding is not the important part. The idea is you have to listen, you have to be mevatel yourself, and that's the way you're supposed to supposed to operate. That's what we want from a Yid. The more a person is batel, the higher of a madregah, the higher of a level we consider this person. So basically, it seems like we're working in the same direction. The only difference is that the way they're doing it is for the wrong, for the wrong way. They want that person to be batel to something that he shouldn't really be batel. But the philosophy, the style, seems to be the same. But the truth is, it's not. same.

The way they operate is that there is no seichel involved at all. There is no logic, there is no intellect. They get the person, and they just stuff it down his throat, and then the person doesn't use his seichel to understand, and he just uses the middot. They bring out within the person the emotions and the feelings, and they see the light, and they have certain feelings, but there is no it's not it's not based on intellect. While by us, Yidden, as much as we say that we have to have נעשה before נשמע, it's all based, starts off with intellect. In addition to the fact that we also use our seichel afterwards. Because there is a famous question that if we say that Yidden were so special that they said נעשה before נשמע, they said we will do before we understand, wouldn't it have been even greater had they not said נשמע at all? They should have said נעשה, we will do, and finish. We don't care, we won't understand, we won't think about it, we will do. And we don't say that. We say the specialty was that they said נעשה before נשמע. They were מקדים נעשה to נשמע, but not that they didn't say נשמע at all. And the reason is because according to the Torah, there is no such thing as we shouldn't understand. We have to try to understand as much as possible. And that's why we learn, and we look for reasons for mitzvot, and when we don't understand, we try, we search for it, and we do research, and we do we try to understand, we try to explain, because it is important to understand. What we do say is that the foundation should not be understanding. In other words, if you don't understand, you should still do it. You have to base it all on the נעשה, that you will do it no matter what, and then you have to try to understand. While by them, that's not the way it works. By them, it's only נעשה, and there is no נשמע. Just do, and don't care, and don't understand. But it's more than that. It's not only that this is the difference. The difference is also in the foundation, whether it starts off with sechel or not. Because even though we say that by us, in Torah, we start off with נעשה, not with intellect, but we start off with bitul, we give ourselves over to Hashem, and we accept Hashem, and we accept to do no matter what, but nevertheless, if we start thinking, it's all based on a foundation that according to sechel, we understand that we have to listen to Hashem. And I'll explain in a moment what we what what I mean. We know that there is a machloket between the Rambam and the Bahag, whether there is a mitzvah to believe in Hashem. The Rambam writes that the first mitzvah is to believe in Hashem. And the Bahag said and according to the Bahag, there is no such thing as a mitzvah to believe in Hashem. And the reason is very simple, because when we talk about a mitzvah, a mitzvah means that you were commanded by somebody. Who is that somebody that commanded that you should do the mitzvah? So when the moment you talk about a mitzvah, that means that you already before you get to the mitzvah, you already know that there is somebody, and then you say that that somebody commanded me to do this, and this, and this. But if I don't know yet that there is a somebody, then how can I have a mitzvah? So if you say Hashem gave me a mitzvah to believe in Him, that means I have to believe in Him before I believe in Him yet. The mitzvah is to believe. Who gave me the mitzvah? Hashem. So I know that there is Hashem. That means I believe in Him already. So how could there be a mitzvah to believe? And there is a discussion in the poskim exactly what it means, but the bottom line is, the way it comes out, that the mitzvah is not in the actual believing that there is an existence of Hashem. The mitzvah is concerning details of what Hashem is and things like that. But the mere fact that there is a being that is the first being, and He is the source of everything, that is not a mitzvah. That, we know before we get to start with mitzvot. How do we know that? And the answer is we know that with our intellect. In other words, intellectually, we are able to come to a decision, to a conclusion, that there is a first being. That's not a mitzvah, and that's not emunah. That's not something that we believe because we don't know. That's something that we could logically understand. I don't think we should go into the explanation in detail, and I think I explained it once before, but just in general, we know that there has to be a first being. It can't be. Everything has a source, so there has to be a first first being who that first being is a being beyond all the laws of nature, because the laws of one of the laws of nature is that everything has to have a source. So that if that first being is still in that category of those laws of nature, then he also must have a source. If he also must have a source, then he's not the first. There must As much as you go back, you have to come back to a point that there has to be a first being that is there essentially, and he is not limited to any of the laws of nature, and he's not limited to anything, and he is the essential being. That's something that we come to understand with our sechel. That's not something that we have to have a mitzvah and we have to have emunah. Then, since we come to the sechel, to the understanding that there is this first being, and this first being is the essence of everything, then we have emunah, and we say that if this being told me to do this and to do that, then I don't question it. Then I do it whether I understand it or not. But it all starts with the understanding that there is a being, that this being I could trust, and therefore I don't have to understand all the details. But if I wouldn't have that first point, then where does it start? And how could it start without true sechel? In other words, like this: we have a person is made up basically of sechel and middot. He's made up of intellect and emotion. Which of the two brings something to the person that it's true in the person's mind, in the person? When a person has a feeling to something, that doesn't really mean it's true. He might have a feeling to something which is wrong. But if a person understands something, then in his mind this is right. So, what is In Hebrew we would call it מאמת. What makes something true in the person? It's the sechel, not the middot. Usually it works that after you have the sechel, you understand, then it brings you to have middot, and if you understand that this is true and this is good, then you will like it. But the sechel is the only part of the human being that makes something emet in his mind. Now, it's possible sometimes a person will make a mistake. He thinks it's true and it's not. But we're not talking about what is really true, we're talking about in the person's mind, the way he has it. So, if I understand 1 + 1 = 2, and if it makes sense to me, then to me this is true. This is true, this is emet. If I have a feeling to something, it doesn't mean even to me that it's emet, that it's true. Maybe I just like have a feeling over the action which I shouldn't, I think this is I have a feeling to something and maybe that thing doesn't even exist, because I have an imagination in my in my feelings. But if the sechel says that it's true, so when sechel comes to a conclusion that there is a being, that this being is the essence, and this is the essential being, as the Rambam refers to the to Hashem, he is the מצוי ראשון, the first being שממנו נמצאו כל הנמצאים, that all beings come from him, then automatically, later on, I have to base everything already on emunah, meaning that now that I know that this being is a true being, and in my mind I understand it, so this is true, so now I do not question the details because I know whatever he says is true. Just using an example, when you come into a classroom, and there's the professor teaching, and he starts off first day saying that, \"Before we go further, I want to give you the formula. The formula of this and this thing is so-and-so.\" Someone will get up and say, \"Makes no sense to me. I don't understand it. Why should I accept it? You're not a person I have emunah, I don't have that faith in you, and it doesn't make sense to me.\" He'll close the book and leave. But no one does that. Why? Because there is something in sechel before this. He knows al pi sechel that this professor studied, and he understands that this professor knows more than him, and that this professor knows what he's talking about. If he wouldn't have any understanding in sechel, if the students wouldn't have any understanding in sechel that this professor probably knows what he's talking about, he'd definitely got to be crazy to accept it. You come in, you see a stranger, you have no idea, and he tells you this and this. Unless you have an understanding that you kind of trust it, you shouldn't accept it. Why why should you accept what he says? But if you have the general understanding that this person is trustworthy, then you accept everything he tells you, because you trust him. Now, the truth is, when you talk about a human being, you can't accept everything, because he might make a mistake. But if we have the understanding that there is this being, that this being is the essence of everything and is beyond mistakes and whatever, and this is something that we understand with sechel, so then when he comes and tells you you have to do this mitzvah, so you have to do it, so we accept it with full faith, whether we understand it or not, and we say And after we say נשמע, we'll try to understand. But that's the approach of emunah that we have. So the beginning, as much as we say the beginning is emunah, but the fact is that in Yiddishkeit, it makes sense. Not that the details make sense. I don't say that every mitzvah makes sense. Most of the things don't make sense. But that makes no difference. We accept it anyway. Why? Because the general approach is a sechel'dike approach, which is the approach of a human being. But if you approach it from the beginning with feeling or with brainwashing, then that makes no sense. And that's the way they approach things. And then there the whole thing is there is no logic. It's not that they understood before, first to understand, and then they hock it into their head, and then it's there and they have the feeling, the emotion, and then automatically they have the bitul, but it's not based on the way normal a human being bases his life. And therefore, this is different lehavdil lehavdil, not only from Yiddishkeit, from other religions, I don't want to get into that because to us be'emet, it's all the same. But even the approach, even in the world, why do they consider consider certain things as cults, groups as cults and certain things as a religion? What's the difference between a religion and a cult? To us, all the same. And the truth is, as far as we're concerned, anything that's not true is all the same. So that's not true, and that's not true. The only thing that's true is Hashem and Torah. And we know that's true. And every other religion to us is just as false as as the cults. But nevertheless, what is the look of the people? Why is, oh, this is called a cult, while this is religion, you have this religion, that religion. And no one ever writes and no one is upset about the religions. Why are they all of a sudden upset about cults, people getting schlepped into cults, and when you're schlepped into a religion, it's all the same? It's not, even though the religions are also false religions because they took the truth of Torah, of Yiddishkeit, every religion took a little bit of truth from there and then they expanded on it on their own way, which is false. But I'm saying as far as the look, their approaches, they have certain philosophy that they based it on, and they try to explain it. Now, the truth is, some people might think they understand and they really don't, and maybe if they do understand it, but if you will come to them and will show them they're wrong, they'll get it that it's wrong. But it's based on some seichel, while this is not based on seichel at all. It's based purely on emotions, purely on brainwashing, and that's their approach. So that's something that's not normal.

But on the other hand, the fact is that the fact that people, so many people get a have an attraction, are attracted to these cults, does show something positive. The reason they get attracted is because people are searching for spirituality. That's what it is. It's within every single human being, because every human being is a creation of Hashem, so there is something of Hashem in every being. But Yidden, certainly, because Yidden have this neshama, which is a חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש, so certainly they have this pull, this attraction to spirituality. And that's why in the cults, the majority, I don't know if in every cult, but in many of them the majority of the people are Yidden. If you look in proportion of how many Yidden you have in the world compared to the goyim, it's nothing. And at the same time in the cults, the proportion is without any comparison at all. Why? Because who really has this pull, this attraction to spirituality, to something that's beyond gashmiyut, that's a Yid. And that's why they're pulled, because the way they they they attract the people is by brainwashing him with things which are beyond this world, and everyone, afilu superficially, has, you know, a very strong, you know, people are very curious about what goes on in spiritual worlds and what goes on, and that's how they attack you. But in truth, what attracts the person, the fact that the person is looking for spirituality. And that's something that is positive, even though we're talking about something that's very negative, the whole movement of the cults is negative, but nevertheless this is something positive that's there, the fact that people are looking for spirituality. The problem is only that they have the wrong spirituality. And even this idea of bitul, that these people are completely taken under the wings and they become completely they lose their own being and they completely nullify, in truth, is also because the neshama of a Yid is looking for that. The neshama of a Yid really wants to be close to Hashem. And the neshama of a Yid before it came down to this world was that way. It says חי השם אלקי ישראל אשר עמדתי לפניו. The neshama says that I used to stand in front of Hashem, and it says in the lashon is אין עמידה אלא ביטול. When you stand, it means you're standing Like by Shemoneh Esreh you're standing, like כעבדא קמיה מריה, like a servant in front of his master, or better said, like a slave in front of his master. That's how the neshama stood. It was like a slave, it was completely batel to Hashem. The neshama came down to this world, and the neshama is put into a body, and is not able to be in the same level as the neshama was. But the neshama has this desire. The neshama has this will that wants to get close to Hashem. Now since it's in the body, the person in the body has free choice, so it's utilized sometimes to the wrong channels. And therefore they fall into this, but it's all based on the neshama crying out, wanting to be closer to Hashem. It's similar to what the Baal Shem Tov says on a pasuk. There's a pasuk that says, צמאים, רעבים גם צמאים נפשם בהם תתעטף. The simple peshat of the pasuk is, the hungry ones and the thirsty ones, their soul is involved here. On the simple peshat of the pasuk is that when a person is hungry and thirsty, your whole soul feels it. You always feel hungry. The Baal Shem Tov says another peshat, that when a person is hungry and a person is thirsty, it seems like the body is the one that's hungry, the body is the one that's thirsty. So the pasuk says no, when you're hungry or thirsty, it's your soul that's hungry. That means that when a person eats or drinks, there is nourishment for the neshamah. Obviously if you eat l'shem Shamayim, if you eat with the proper intentions, if you drink with the proper intentions, you make a berachah, you bentch, and you eat with the proper kavanos, then you are maaleh, you elevate the food. And the neshamah is thirsty and hungry to get nourishment from this ניצוץ הקדושה, from the holy sparks that are found in the food. And when you eat, the neshamah gets those holy sparks. The neshamah wants it. Physically, superficially the person thinks that his body is simply hungry to food, his body is thirsty for water. But that's only an expression, a superficial expression. In truth it is the neshamah that's hungry. But the person doesn't feel it. Great tzadikim, they feel their neshamah, so when they go to eat, they feel that their neshamah is looking for the nitzotzos, for this holy sparks that's there to elevate it, and m'meila they get their spiritual nourishment. Average people don't feel it, but the Baal Shem Tov says the truth is there anyway. And the same thing is here, that this is that the neshamah, especially by the Yidden, the truth is even by the non-Jews to a certain degree, but by the Yidden certainly, it's their neshamah that is interested in getting closer to spirituality, and they don't have it, they don't know, there's no one to guide them. And the Rebbe said many times that we have to utilize this to get these people closer to Hashem, closer to the Torah. Now it's very hard, because when they get into the cult and they're completely accepted and drunken in, and absorbed in it, then you can't get them out. You have to do it by force, because the neshamah looked so much for a complete bitul, that when it expresses itself there, it's completely batel, you can't get it out. You got to fight. But when it's out, it is going to use the koach that it has. The truth is, not only concerning cults, this is true concerning the other movements also, like for instance, what do you call them, the Jews for for J. The same idea. Not talking about the leaders, the leaders are all bluffers and they're all trying to chap arayn people for money or whatever there is, but I'm taking people that fall into their trap. It's all for the same reason, because these are people that feel that life is not the way it looks superficially. The whole world is not the way it looks superficially. Gashmiyus, the gashmiyus of the world is not it. Unfortunately many people to them the gashmiyus, the physicality of the world, that's what counts. Money, the kavod, and the food, and that's what is them liegen in them, they're completely involved. But here you have people who feel that this is not it. You have to look for something deeper. And such people, when they look for it, and they don't have the guidance of where to look for it, till hashgachah pratis they find it later, many baalei teshuvah it's happened that way, they looked and they looked, they went to Buddha, they went to here, they went to there, and finally they found the right path. Hashem helped them. Some of them got unfortunately don't find the right path ever, whatever reason there is. But the whole idea is they're looking for something more spiritual. They they get them in with their They try See, in in this group it's different. There they already try with seichel. See, the other group, the cults, doesn't work with seichel. They catch you in for they give you money, for this, they try with other ways. It's not an intellectual convincing that they convince you. The other group, they try to convince you intellectually. But what they use is false tactics. They try to show you proof from the the Bible, so to speak, that they're right, which is first of all, half Yeah, I know I don't have to go into this, because this is not our discussion here, but they their whole basis is based on verses so to speak of the Bible, which comes from a translation. They don't even know the original Hebrew, so how could they even know what they're talking about when they don't have the original words? They don't know the original meaning. They based on a translation that was translated by somebody who put into the translation, to begin with, their ideas. Anyway, we don't have to have a discussion of who who are the experts in the Bible, we are the experts in Bible, not them. Bichlal, many things they what they bring is all false. The main thing is that what they write, they bring from their writings, it can't have any truth in it because it's all against the Torah. I just want to mention one thing, I know that there are some people that try to disprove them by showing that there are so many contradictions within the New Testament, as they call it. Truth is we shouldn't even call it New Testament, because it's not a testament, it's some new writing, some new whatever, I don't have words. I know some Almost, I think, there's some Greek writings or whatever you call it. And if you show that you show them that there are contradictions there, so it shows them that there's something wrong with it. The truth is I don't think that that's much that's very convincing. I don't think it would convince me to to disprove it. As many contradictions you'll show, because if rachmana litzlan, God forbid, if it would be true writings, if they would have any true holiness in it, then I wouldn't bother me that there are contradictions. Because if there is if this is something special and something holy given by God, then you expect to have contradictions. Contradictions means that in our mind we don't understand exactly what it means. No big deal, so we don't understand. How do we expect to understand everything? By the Torah, that's exactly what we say. You can find contradictions in the Torah also. And does that bother us? Would someone say because Well, there are Bible critics who will show that even in the Torah, in what they call the Old Testament, you find contradictions and you find things that don't make sense. Does that bother us? First of all, we find answers. But if we wouldn't find an answer, if we'd have a very strong kashya, someone would come up with it and we wouldn't find an answer, would I care? Why? Because the Torah was written by God, and not everything that He wrote we are able to understand. After all, how big is our mind? With our little mind, we can't understand everything, so there are certain things that don't make sense to us. So? Just like in mitzvot, there are many mitzvot, and certainly many parts in mitzvot, that don't make sense to us, and that's not a reason not to do it. Some people feel that, well, I don't understand it, I don't It makes sense, I can't do it. To us, it makes a difference, why? Because if the mitzvot are the will of Hashem, how do we expect that we should understand every detail of Hashem's will, or Hashem's mind? This Torah is the wisdom of Hashem. How could we understand Hashem's wisdom? How could we expect that the wisdom of Hashem, which is infinite, to enter our finite mind? It's a wonder that there are certain things we do understand. How is that possible? After all, it's infinite, how can we understand? So the fact that we don't understand something, that's not the main problem. The main problem is that what it says contradicts the Torah. And when the Torah says something complete opposite, then we know this is not true. There is a halachah, and it's a logical halachah, if anybody will come, any prophet that will come and say something against the Torah, then we know it's wrong, because Hashem said in the Torah that the Torah will never change. And that's a fact. Now, somebody'd say, well, in that case maybe this itself we don't understand. It's so deep, maybe it's so true and it's so special, that we don't It seems to contradict the Torah, but so Looks like it, but it really doesn't. That's all good when we look at it from the intellectual point of view, but we know from the Torah that when it comes to ma'aseh, to doing the mitzvot, to actual doing, there's no such thing as saying, well, it means something different. In ma'aseh, we know exactly what to do. When it came to doing the mitzvot, we know exactly. And one of the things the Torah says is that the mitzvot stay forever and never be changed. The moment that is changed, if somebody comes and says that the mitzvot are changed, that is against the essence of what the Torah is. And that's all, that's the main thing. All the other questions you have on the It's said here like this, it said like that, and it says that this guy, he did this, and then it says he did it different, and who was he, how All these contradictions are not It contradicts the essence of the Torah, ממילא you know this is all false, and if it's false, it's already off, and there's nothing to talk about. But this is just I'm saying this by the way. The main point I'm trying to make is that the people who get caught up into this is because they are looking for something, and these people take advantage of it and they schlepp them arayn, they schlepp them in. But the point is that they're looking, they're neshamah is looking for something holy, or something special, something spiritual, and if we would catch them first, then their neshamah would be satisfied. Now, it's a superficial thing that they think it, but they've gotten, they're in the wrong place.

And this is really, going back to the cults, the cults are really probably the לעומת זה, the other side that versus תורה, Yiddishkeit, and especially the way it's explained in Chassidut. Because in Chassidut, we learn more than in any other ספרים of how a person is supposed to try to reach a level of complete 100% self-nullification, and to be completely under the בעלהבתישקייט, the control of Hashem and the Torah. That's what Chassidut wants. And there were tzadikim who reached that level that their whole body was programmed, so to speak. It didn't come by itself, they worked years and years on it, but they finally programmed themselves that they became like only programmed to the will of Hashem. The Yerushalmi says that there were there was one of the Tannaim that said, when it comes to daven, by מודים אנחנו לך, he doesn't have to think to bend down. He says his body is so programmed that it bends down by itself. The body, he programmed the body, because he fought with it completely. That's what Chassidus is. You know the famous story with the Rebbe Rashab that by the for Yiddishkeit and the fighting, so the one of the things that the Rebbe Rashab fought very much against. And later on that day, the meetings took place many days, so that one day Rabbi Chaim Brisker comes into the Rebbe Rashab, into his hotel room, and says, Lubavitcher Rebbe, I understand it's something that we have to fight for, but I don't see that this is so terrible that we have to go on mesirat nefesh, we have to give up our life, because what they were what he was doing the Rebbe was mamash going against the government. I don't see that this is there are a lot of worse terrible things that we have to fight for. This is not the worst of all. Why do we have to fight for it so much? And he says to him, where is your source that this is so terrible? And he answered him, אזוי האט א ווארעם הארץ אפגעלייגט. That's how I think. So he says, Lubavitcher Rebbe, you base so much on your personal אפלייג? אפלייג, I don't even know how to say it in English, feeling, I guess, on your personal feeling? Where is your source in halacha, in Shulchan Aruch, and you base so much? So the Rebbe Rashab says to him, yes, from the day I was bar mitzvah, I trained, or better we say I programmed my body that my body should only want and only feel things the way it is according to the will of Hashem. And if my body I feel that, then I think that this is very important. And Rabbi Chaim Brisker said to him, Lubavitcher Rebbe, I accept it. In other words, he understood that there is such a thing as such a high level. And he said, okay, in that case, I will help you. And by the next meeting after the recess, came sat down by the next meeting, there were a whole many Rabbanim, Rabbi Chaim Brisker got up and he said something, did something which is was against his nature. Everyone knows he was an עניו, he wasn't a בעל גאוה, he wasn't arrogant. He got up and he said, listen here, Rabosai! I am the famous famous world-famous Rabbi Chaim Brisker! I am the person that they send questions from all over the world, that and they accept my פסק דין! And I פסקן that in this case everyone should vote for the Lubavitcher Rebbe! And it passed unanimously based on this פסק דין. But what made him פסקן that way? Because the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe Rashab told him that, yes, I base on because I trained my body. So there are tzadikim, there were tzadikim who trained themselves that way. The לעומת זה, we know there is זה לעומת זה עשה אלוקים. Hashem made the world should have a balance of power. Kedushah and kelipah, holiness and the evil forces should be even. Even, because if we'll have one side more, then we will not have true, equal, free choice. In order to have a real free choice, Hashem made that we should have both sides. So just like we have the side of kedushah, what Chassidus especially expects of a person, to work on himself, to be mevatel himself completely, the לעומת זה, the other side seems to be these cults. Because basically, they're working on the same same philosophy, to the wrong thing. The philosophy of a person being mevatel. There it's mevatel to another human being, which is wrong, mevatel to, avodah zarah, it's all kinds of things. But the idea that a person should realize that there is something more than what he is and his being is only to serve something else, that's really what Yiddishkeit is about. אני לא נבראתי אלא לשמש את קוני. The Gemara says, I was created for one reason, just to serve my Master, nothing else. So my whole being is here just to serve somebody else. Who is that somebody? Hashem. But they utilize it in their thing in the bad way. But what we have to take from them, I said there has to be some kind of good, positive from everything, we have to take that there is such a thing as a person should nullify himself to something else as they do that. that you lose your whole מציאות, you lose the whole being, and that is to Hashem and to Torah and mitzvot. Now, it doesn't mean at the same time we lose our mind like they do, because we have na'aseh and nishma, and there, lehavdil lehavdil, it's only na'aseh, there is no nishma, there's no you can't ask questions. The moment you ask questions, you're a wrong crack and etc. etc. But we say no, you can ask, you can try to understand, but the basis has to be the na'aseh, even though all the way back it starts off with the sechel that there is Hashem, and that's something it's a fact in everyone's sechel, and then we go on with the נעשה ונשמע. Okay, I guess we'll stop over here. I just had in mind, you know, this was the first half and then we have to go further, but we'll stop here so we'll change the name from cult to de-civilization, just cults. The idea is when Mashiach will come, let's finish off with Mashiach will come, everybody will be at that level in the kedushah side that we will all recognize the truth of Hashem so much that we will all be batel. In other words, what the neshamah wants now of every single person will come to be in a revealed way in every single person, and we will all be united and one with Hashem, feeling that our whole being is only Hashem. In order to make that happen, we have to work on it now in our level as much as possible, and that will make the coming of Mashiach sooner. Yes.

In regards to religion not the cult, if the religion espouses the Noahide laws not to say all major religions do, but if it did, are we to say or are we to assume that religion is not for eating that it's then false and untrue? If the religion would say only to keep the seven mitzvot, then this is part of Torah. It's not explicitly espoused, that's the test. But if it says more things which are not true, then that part is not. In other words, like this: those parts of the religions which are true, like if those religions that do have the seven mitzvot as part of their religion, that aspect of the religion is not a separate religion, that's Yiddishkeit, for them. That's what Torah is for them. They might not know it, but as far as we're concerned, that's the Torah for them and that is truth. Everything else is false. They say that once the Frierdiker Rebbe was going traveling someplace in a wagon, horse and buggy, and there were some people inside the wagon, and he was sitting on the side and they were discussing. And at that time it was just the beginning of communism, so one guy said that there are certain aspects in communism that have a source in Torah, and another guy said, no, there's a certain aspect in some kind of other -isms that has a source in Torah, and they had a whole discussion. And they turned around to the Frierdiker Rebbe and they asked him what does he say? So he said, anything that's good in the world has a source in Torah, is from the Torah, there's no other source, and therefore the good part of communism is from the Torah, the good part of something else is from the Torah. And that is totally true, and that's what happened to all other religions, any good part that they have is because they took it from the Torah, because the truth is that everything came from Torah, Yiddishkeit, the Torah was the first religion and everything is based on it. Whatever they changed or whatever they added, if it doesn't fit with the Torah, that's false. So we don't care what name, call it this religion, call it that religion. If it's the right, if it's the seven mitzvot that the goyim have to keep, if that's what they say, you could call it whichever name you want, that is Torah, because this is what the Torah says. The only thing is they have to accept, if it's going to be Torah, they have to accept that because it was given to the Torah by the Torah. If goyim will come and say, we feel that it's very logical to accept to do the seven mitzvot, then it's fine, but that's not the ultimate. They have to accept it because it was given to them through us, that Hashem by Har Sinai told the Yidden to tell the goyim that they have to keep the mitzvot. Then it's 100%, and one does not. The reason they have to keep it now is not because of Noach. Just like the mitzvot, the same mitzvot we have also, those seven mitzvot that the goyim have, we also have it. Now why do we keep it? Because it was given to Noach? No. When the Torah was given, everything changed, even if they even of those things that were the same, but we have a new commandment. For instance, מצות מילה. We do מצות מילה now not because Hashem told Avraham Avinu to do מצות מילה. He told him and for generations that he did, that's not why we do. We do it because by Har Sinai Hashem said to the Yidden to do מצות מילה. And the reason we have the mitzvah of not to murder, let's say, is not because it's one of the seven mitzvot which Noach had. So the truth is Noach had seven mitzvot, and we call them because they are seven mitzvot of Bnei Noach, but that's not why they have to keep it, they have to keep it because the Torah says so. Yes. I've heard about people together to keep the seven Noahide laws, much more they are looking for something. There is a whole There's a whole big group, I think in Texas, and they call they call themselves the Noahites. What do they call? Bnei Noach. Bnei Noach. And they they take it they're not try they don't want to convert, they don't want to become Yidden, but they firmly believe that the seven mitzvot were given to them and they have to keep the seven mitzvot. And they have a whole movement, and they have a lot of followers. A lot, I don't mean tens of thousands, but they have a huh? A few thousand. Well, the way to do it is probably rabbanim should get together and decide what The funny thing is the Rebbe said that Lubavitch shluchim should not be involved. Even though the Rebbe was the one that started all this whole thing of bringing the seven mitzvot to the goyim, etcetera, etcetera, but to guide them and to make things for them the Rebbe said you've got to be very careful, you shouldn't it'll have a negative effect, the Rebbe said. But there should רבנים should get together and try to make something for them. They don't have any obligation of davenen the way we have, but nevertheless if they want to daven to Hashem, it's fine. And each one could daven in his own way, but if they want something that should be for everybody, I mean I guess you've got to have people who understand should get together and do it, that's what it is. No, it wouldn't be something that they would would obligate them. No, no, not like what we have because now there is nobody that could obligate them, but it would just be a good advice. If they're looking for something, they themselves can't do it, they don't know the sources, but somebody who is well versed and knows the sources could figure out an expression of how to daven that would fit according to them. I mean, that's it, but that wouldn't obligate them, sure not. There's no one that could do that, except a רב who is the מרא דאתרא, I mean the the the rabbi of his community, let's say let's say in a broader scale, the Rebbe in the Lubavitch community, what he says we must listen, he could establish things that the Chassidim must listen. Same thing in truth, a רב in every community has the right for his community because they have an obligation to listen to him. But no one can obligate anybody nowadays with anything new. The חכמים till the end of the Gemara were able to do it, and that's it. So no one could obligate the goyim or anybody to do anything, but it would be a good advice if they're if they're looking for something, maybe someone could make something up. Yes. Yes, I yeah, yeah, I don't know if they're too probably I would say maybe 90% is probably a bluff, but there are probably some that are true because there is a כח הטומאה. We find in in Gemara, we find in Chumash, there is a כח הטומאה, the טומאה, the קליפה, the evil forces of the world have a power. The truth is, nowadays it's not so much. When they had avodah zarah very strong, now it's hard for us to understand how people followed avodah zarah. You've got to be crazy to bow down to a rock, I mean, they get to be משוגעים. People were not משוגע because they had powers that they showed. And later on, as the קדושה power became weaker, בית המקדש was destroyed and things, so the קליפה power became weaker, everything is equal. There's a balance of power. But there is such a thing as a power of טומאה. The Gemara says like this that you could have sometimes a person walk into a house of avodah zarah limping and walking out healed. The Gemara says that. And it doesn't mean anything. The Gemara says could be that it was punkt the moment for him to get healed. They just happened to walk in there and Hashem made it all to be a test. Or it could be כחות הטומאה. כישוף, black magic, would perform miracles. They also have their limits, you find in Rashi in Chumash different limits when it could, how small, how big, whatever, but there is such a thing as כח הטומאה. Now there isn't much of it. But on the other hand, a little bit there is. There isn't much of it because we don't have too many צדיקים who are able to perform miracles from the קדושה side, so we don't have it in the קליפה side, but there are. So it's possible that you have some of these people who are able to do such things. But it's all from the כח הטומאה that exists in the world. And that's why it doesn't mean anything. Yes. It will be destroyed. The קליפה is destroyed. Yes. The ניצוצות הקדושה in the klipah will be elevated, but the klipah itself is destroyed. To be good with the powers? Well, it's possible if he does not powers of tumah or not. The power of healing could be sometimes a non-Jew who is keeps the seven mitzvot and he's from the chasidei umot ha'olam and he's very serious, could have such powers. I think I once told a story that's printed in the beginning of the Sha'arei Teshuvah leRabbeinu Yonah. It wasn't written by him, but it's I don't know why they printed it there, a story of, I forgot who it was, one of the great chachamim, maybe it was Rav Yosef di Leon, I forgot already, somebody who once met up with a goy, and the goy, when people were sick, they would come to the goy, and he would give them a berachah or daven for them, and then later he would even come back and say whether the person is going to live or not, and it always was accurate. And he came to him, I don't remember who it was, why do I think it was Rav Yosef? Maybe somebody, one of the great mekubalim, I think, came to him and asked him finally, what is it? So he says, I'll tell you, but you have to have a lot of preparation. And he gave him all kinds of things to do: go to the mikveh this and so many times, you should fast a certain amount of days. The goy gave him! And he said, when you finish with all that, come back to me and I'll show you. And after all that, he came back to him, and he said, I'm, you're prepared. He took him into some kind of cave, and in the cave, there was carved out in big letters י-ק-ו-ק. And this goy would daven to Hashem and do all kinds of things, and he would come in there, and if the י-ק-ו-ק would light up, he knew that the person is going to live, and if it wouldn't light up, he knew he's going to die. That's how he knew. And it was all from koach ha-kedushah, it wasn't klipah, because this goy obviously had some kind of feeling for Hashem and he was able to bring down certain powers. A Yid didn't convert, so he was a goy. Yeah, that part, yeah. Right. They even tell a story, I think some, they tell about different people, sometimes about the Chafetz Chaim, sometimes different people, that he was once riding in a wagon with a goy, and they travel someplace, and in the way there was a big cross. And the custom of all the goyim, of the religious goyim, was that when they would come to that point, they would stop the wagon, go out, bow down, and continue. And the Chafetz Chaim, I think, was riding with this guy, and this goy, and he passed by, he didn't stop, and he just passed by. As soon as he passed by, the Chafetz Chaim says stop, and he said, I'm going to get off the wagon, I don't want to travel with you anymore. So he said, why? He said, because you didn't do that. So he said, what do you care? So he said to him like this: As long as I know that you have some kind of moral code, you feel some kind of higher authority, then I feel safe with you. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll kill me. You don't have that feeling that there is some kind of higher authority, then how do I, I'm afraid, he said I'm afraid to go continue with you, I'm afraid you'll kill me. Who knows what you'll do to me? So there is such a thing. Even though bowing down to the cross is avodah zarah, but he meant that point that there is such a thing. It's certainly, sure, sure, they have a religion that should give them a moral code. But on the other hand, those parts of those religions which are against the sheva mitzvot, they're not allowed to keep. The goy will ask you: Am I allowed to believe in Christianity? You'll tell him: No! Because you're not allowed to, Christianity is avodah zarah. The Rambam holds it's not a shituf, it's not like shituf with partnership which you're allowed to, a goy is allowed to believe in, a Yid not, but a goy yeah. This is pure avodah zarah, because they believe that the guy, Hashem and what's his name is all the same. So one, and they have equal power, that's avodah zarah. So it's avodah zarah. Not to believe in avodah zarah is one of the sheva mitzvot, they're not allowed to. At the same time, we'll tell him, if he says should I be religious? Surely you should be religious. But what we want is take out from your religion the parts which fit to the Torah. Because then you'll have a moral code like you said, and the person will be live better. They'll always feel that there's like the Rebbe used to use the lashon from פרקי אבות, עין רואה ואוזן שומעת, he'll feel there is a eye that sees and a ear that hears, and everything is written down. But if you don't believe in that, then the world is like a jungle, you'll do what you want. Who's going to stop you? Unless you'll be caught by the police, but otherwise you do what you want. So it's very important. But nevertheless, those parts which are against Torah, against what they're supposed to, what the Torah hold, supposed to tell them not to believe in it. Next week again is Nature and Beyond Nature. It's going to be the last class before we take a break. Please do come, bring people with you, and there is lots of food there. Take some home, eat, enjoy, please. Thank you.