ונקיים בנפשין and we will be mekayem on ourselves the pasuk says אפס כי לא יהיה בך אביון. There's one pasuk, there's two pesukim, one pasuk says that you shouldn't have a poor man, another pasuk says you'll always have poor people. So he quoted this pasuk: let's fulfill this pasuk, that we won't be poor, let's go do business, fine. אזלו they went, יתיבו תותי גודא רעיעא. They sat down under a a wall that was shaky. This is all the hemshech to the previous Gemara where we learn about you're not allowed to sit under a shaky wall because maybe you won't get a nes, and if you do get a nes, they'll take away from your זכויות, if Hashem used up your זכותים by doing Anyway, so they were sitting under a wall like that. It's a sakanah from the first place, you have to forget about nissim, you're not allowed to put yourself in a sakanah. For that reason, because because you might not I'm trying to hear what is a good business to start, I'm getting very interested. Okay. Okay. The best business is Torah. הוו כרכי ריפתא, and they were eating under the tree, under a wall. אתו תרי מלאכי השרת. Two malachim came. שמע רבי יוחנן דקאמר חד לחבריה, רבי יוחנן heard one malach say to the other, נישדי עלייהו האי גודא ונקטלינהו. Let's take this wall, which is shaky, and throw it down on them and kill them. Why? שמניחין חיי עולם הבא ועוסקים בחיי שעה. They're dropping Torah, they dropped they left learning Torah, which is חיי עולם, here it says עולם הבא, in brackets it's for עולם הבא, besides that it's חיי עולם, it's eternal life, and they're working I mean they went to go do business, which is only עולם הזה, חיי שעה, temporary life. אמר ליה אידך, so the other malach said to them, שבקינהו, leave it, leave them, דאיכא בהו חד דקיימא ליה שעתא, because I know one of them is going to become a head of yeshivah, he's going to become a rosh yeshivah, umimeila I know we're not going to succeed anyway because I see the future, so let's leave them, okay.

Rabbi Yochanan שמע, Rabbi Yochanan heard this conversation of the two malachim, Ilfa לא שמע, Ilfa didn't hear. אמר ליה רבי יוחנן לאילפא, so Rabbi Yochanan said to אילפא, שמע מר מידי, did you hear anything? אמר ליה לא, he said, \"Not.\" אמר, so he said, מידי דשמע אנא ואילפא לא שמע, since I heard and Ilfa didn't hear, שמע מינה לדידי קיימא לי שעתא, it's a siman it's me. That who's the one that's going to become get this position, it'll be me. אמר ליה רבי יוחנן, so Rabbi Yochanan said to him, you know what? אהדר ואקיים בנפשאי, you know what, let's go back, let's drop the business, and let's go back to fulfill the פסוק כי לא יחדל אביון מקרב הארץ, never will there be a time when there will be no poor people, so we'll be poor. In other words, I don't want to continue the business. And he had a reason why, because he knew that he's going to get the position. No, it was Rabbi Yochanan who was supposed to get it. Right. So רבי יוחנן הדר, רבי יוחנן went, left. אילפא לא הדר. So the talmidei chachamim don't have to worry about being poor, is that is that the nafka mina? He said, \"Well, if we'll be poor we'll be poor, but we have to learn Torah.\" And he's not helping his friend out though, because the other guy wasn't going to be a rosh yeshiva. Right, right, so that's why he didn't say anything. He said, \"I'm going to leave, and the other one if whatever he wants to do he should do.\"

דארט אין פרק אלו מציאות איז מען עוסק במלאכה שטייט אז... Yeah. What's the פשט דארטן? דער רבי האט געזאגט דעם פשט: יגיע כפיך מען ארבעט מיט די הענט, דער קאפ און דאס הארץ דארף זיין אין תורה. מען מיט די הענט דארף מען זיין, פשט איז יגיע כפיך אשריך וטוב לך, אבער יגיע ראשך דאס טויג נישט. So der kop, so veist du is, they were getting involved in the business, der kop already was going into the business. So the story with the Rabbi Rashab with the with the kaloshn. There was a chasid, a chasidisher yid this, and he decided to go into business, he went to business of kaloshn, making boots, kaloshn, and he got so involved that his whole mind went into it, so he came to yechidus, asked the Rabbi Rashab an eitzah about something in business. So the Rabbi Rashab looks at him and says, \"I heard of feet in kaloshn, I never heard of a head in kaloshn.\" And that made him change, and he became Anyway, so here also, he went back. עד דאתא אילפא, by the time Ilfa came back after business, I don't know what he did, if he got business or he made business or not, מלך רבי יוחנן, so Rabbi Yochanan became the head. אמרו ליה, and the people said to Ilfa, Ilfa was a bigger talmid chacham than Rabbi Yochanan, Oh, really? אי יתיב מר וגריס, had you stayed and learned, לא הוה מליך מר, he wouldn't have been the rosh yeshiva. But he wanted to show that he knows how to learn. אזל he went, תלא נפשיה באסקריא דספינתא, so he went and connected himself, hung himself, I mean put himself next to a sail of a ship, or not a sail, whatever, one part of the ship, אמר he said, אי איכא דשאיל לי במתניתא דרבי חייא ורבי אושעיא ולא פשיטנא לון, if there's if there will be anybody who will ask me about a baraita that was confirmed by Rabbi Chiya veRabbi Oshaya, because you know all the baraitot, we have many baraitot, but if it wasn't confirmed by Rabbi Chiya veRabbi Oshaya, we're not sure it's a correct baraita, so if someone will bring me a baraita baraita that is corrected, that was confirmed by רבי חייא ורבי אושעיא, ולא פשטינא ליה ממתניתין, and I will not show him how we find a re'aya to this din from a משנה, נפילנא מאגרא דספינתא וטבענא, I'm going to jump, fall down here and drown myself. In other words, I'm so sure that I could figure out if any din you find in a real baraita, I can bring it from a Mishnah. So he saw there was this old man, תנא ליה, he asked him a she'eilah, and the Gemara it's a she'eilah that already that goes in the Gemara here in in Yaakov they don't bring it, מעשה עם אשתו... and he the end was he showed him a baraita, and he found him in the Mishnah where you could bring a re'aya to that baraita. So to show that he was a big talmid chacham. But he missed the boat. Tell him he was going to fall the boat. He missed the boat. But he was less than him. Ilfa was a greater talmid chacham. But nevertheless, he didn't But his his business did not did not affect his his Torah learning. It's also Yeah, but obviously, it wasn't for him. For some reason, he was not destined to be the rosh yeshivah. Why? I don't know, because it's lechatchilah they made it so. The Eibershter made it that he should hear the malachim and then Ilfa shouldn't hear. Now he had the best of both worlds. He could be a businessman and a talmid chacham. Who? Ilfa. Yeah, but he didn't get the position. Whatever talmid chacham he was, yeah, yeah, yeah, but he didn't get the position. Not both. He had learning and business, but he didn't get the position. He didn't get that Who was greater? Who was greater That's what the mefarshim say, I don't know. Maybe Rashi says. Yeah, אילפא הוה גמיר טפי מרבי יוחנן. If he was a greater talmid chacham, how come he wasn't chosen? No, sometimes not only because of your learning you're chosen. Sometimes because of other things, other zechuyot you have. Whole story with Rabban Gamliel when they want to fire him and they who So, Rav Natan and Rabbi Meir couldn't be the נשיא. They looked who should make the נשיא? Not Why? Because he was from his יחוס wasn't so good. Even though, yeah. It was middot, no? No, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Meir was because of his middot. Because of his יחוס, Gemara says. So they had to make Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah then. Also was when Rabban Gamliel came in was about he was stricter, one was stricter than the other, and that's Yeah, yeah. That's when Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah became. They they led in more תלמידים. זאגט די Gemara weiter, אמרו עליו על נחום איש גמזו.

Here's a famous story of Nachum Ish Gamzu that every little kid knows. They said about נחום איש גמזו, שהיה סומא משתי עיניו, he was blind in both eyes, וגידם משתי ידיו, and both of his hands were A cripple. וקיטע משתי, I don't know, cut off, but he couldn't use them. וקיטע משתי רגליו, and he was limping and both of his feet didn't wasn't weren't working, וכל גופו מלא שחין. His whole body was full of blisters. והיה מוטל בבית רעוע, and he was laying in bed in a house that was half falling, ורגלי מטתו מונחין בספלין של מים, and the feet of his bed were in in in buckets of water, כדי שלא יעלו עליו נמלים. Cuz if he'd be on the floor, the ants would climb up on him, and he wouldn't even be able to chase them away because his hands and feet didn't work. So they put the feet of his buckets into the water. פעם אחת היתה מטתו מונחת בבית רעוע, once what one of the times when his bed was laying in this bad house, בקשו תלמידיו לפנות מטתו, they wanted to take him out from there. Take out his bed, take him out. ואחר כך לפנות, they said, well let's take you out from there, and then we'll take out the furniture, everything else. אמר להם, so he said, בניי, children, פנו את הכלים. First, take out the כלים. ואחר כך פנו את מטתי, then take me out with my bed. שמובטח לכם, that I can guarantee you, שכל זמן שאני בבית, as long as I'm in the house, אין הבית נופל. The house won't fall. So if you take me out, the house could fall and you're going to lose all this furniture. So better take out the furniture, and then take me out. What happened? פינו

את הכלים, they took out the furniture, ואחר כך פינו את מטתו, then they took him out with his bed, ונפל הבית, and the house fell. A tzaddik doesn't need a nes, right? It's just because he's a tzaddik, it's good enough. Yeah, it's not a nes, because derech hateva, a broken house could still stand. אמרו לו תלמידיו, so the תלמידים said to him, רבי, כמי שאתה צדיק גמור, so since you are such a complete צדיק, למה עלתה לך כך? Why is it like, why do you have this? Your your eyes and your hands and your feet and your body. אמר להם, he said, בניי, my children, אני גרמתי לעצמי, I caused it. In other words, I made it happen. שפעם אחת הייתי מהלך בדרך, this is the only, not the the only, one of the only stories that are brought in Shulchan Aruch. Shulchan Aruch doesn't bring any stories. But this story is brought in the Shulchan Aruch. But what he he told the story. Once I was going on a trip, the base came to the way to בית חמי, to my father-in-law's house, והיו עמי משא ג׳ חמורים, and I had two, three donkeys loaded, אחד של מאכל, one had food, ואחד של משתה, one had drink, ואחד של מיני מגדים, one had all kinds of delicious things.

בא עני אחד, came a poor man, ועמד לי בדרך, stopped me in the way, ואמר לי, and he said, רבי, פרנסני, רבי, give me food, I'm hungry. אמרתי לו, I said, yeah, sure I'll give you, but המתן עד שאפרוק מן החמור, wait, I'm gonna unload the donkey and then when I finish unloading, I'll give you. ולא הספקתי לפרוק מן החמור, I didn't manage to unload the donkey, עד שיצתה נשמתו, his neshamah left, he died. He was so hungry that he just died from hunger. And had I not waited, had I just given him on the spot something, would have saved his life. והלכתי, I went, ונפלתי על פניו, I fell on his face, ואמרתי, and he said like this, עיניי שלא חסו על עיניך, my eyes that didn't care about your eyes, יסומו, should become blind. ידיי שלא חסו על ידיך, my hands that didn't care about your hands, יתגדמו, should be cut off. רגליי שלא חסו על רגליך, my feet that didn't care about your feet, יתקטעו, should be cut off. ולא נתקררה דעתי, I still didn't feel good, עד שאמרתי, till I added, כל גופי יתמלא שחין, my whole body should be full of blisters, and that's why I had this. אמרו לו, so they said to him, אוי לנו שראינוך בכך, אוי וויי that we saw you in such a מצב. How did that happen? We don't know. How did they get cut off? How did they get blind? It was just... Said so. Said so. So he said they said to him, אוי, that we that that we saw you this way. אמר להם, so he answered, אוי לי אם לא ראיתוני בכך. Oy vey it would be to me if I wouldn't be like this. In other words, I'm so happy that this happened to me as a kaparah for this one aveirah that I did. That's a different story with a Tanna was asked for bread and he refused the guy and next the person was found dead and killed. And he said, you know, how lucky we are that not all not asking for tzedakah are honest? The guy was found to be a liar. Yeah, but that's a... Because of that. The guy was a liar, you're saying. He didn't know. Later on they found, no, this is actually... Yeah, but bashamayim they made it so... He didn't want to come to, you know, we're all coming out, otherwise he would have been chayav. Chayav, yeah. And here is... Yeah, because the guy was, like, he was... And it could be also it depends who. Nachum Ish Gamzu was strict towards himself. So he was very concerned about his Olam Haba obviously because... No. Why not? Because he didn't want because he didn't want to he didn't want to get any punishment in the next world, even it was the slightest aveirah, because he was such a perfect tzadik. Who says he cared about olam haba? Because he wanted his punishment... No, he wanted he should pegam should go, he should he shouldn't have any pegam on his neshamah. Who says he wanted reward? Well, it's a different thing. Eibershter gives reward. He's saying that if he if he if he has the slightest aveirah... No, because he he knew that he did something wrong and he didn't want to have any connection to anything wrong. A person does teshuvah, you do teshuvah just for olam haba? So why he should be punished in this world? That's called shelo lishmah. Okay. It's called shelo lishmah. I'm sure Nachum Ish Gamzu was not shelo lishmah. He did lishmah. He wanted to, so that see, this is the right thing to do, it should be clean to Hashem, not because of olam haba. You could say he meant olam haba for a different reason. Olam haba has two inyanim. Olam haba is a reward. Olam haba is also a level where a איד is closer to Hashem. If you have a problem, if you have an aveirah, you're not so close. So when the Rambam says, actually we just finished the Rambam, the Rambam says the chachamim and the nevi'im were waiting for משיח כדי they should be free, no one should bother them, they should be able to learn Torah, so they should get to olam haba. So the Rebbe asks a שאלה, we know that that's called shelo lishmah the Rambam says if you care about olam haba. So it doesn't mean they want olam haba as a sachar. They want they want to get close to Hashem, that's all. Olam haba is a level where you get closer. So if you're able to learn more and get more olam haba, it means that you'll get closer to Hashem. And also realizing the punishment in the next world is greater. Yeah, yeah, but they don't care about punishment. That's not what they learn they look for. The tzadikim, they don't look for punishment, like worry about punishment in that world. Didn't the Alter Rebbe actually state they don't want no olam haba? He didn't want, that's not what I'm looking for. He wasn't willing to... Yeah, he's that's what he said, if you give it to him, he'll take it. He said, איך וויל נישט דיין עולם הבא, איך וויל נישט דיין גן עדן, איך וויל נאר דיר אליין. In other words, I'm doing mitzvot not because I want Olam Haba. He'll get Actually, the Rambam, when he says that a person should not do it for Olam Haba, should do it lishmah, know what the Rambam adds? וסוף השכר לבא. You'll get the sachar! You'll get Olam Haba, but that's not what the tzadik if the navi or the chacham, the tzadik is looking for. He's looking for getting close to Hashem. Not Olam Haba at all. Now he'll get Olam Haba, why not get Olam Haba? That's also not lishmah. That's not lishmah? Why is that not lishmah? To get close to Hashem, that's for you... That's a third that's a higher madregah even. The Rebbe talks about that, interesting. Answers a whole stirah in Rambam, mamash. The

Rambam says that the chachamim did not look for Olam Haba. Here it says so that he answers, but then there's another place it says a person should do a mitzvah just for the sake of the mitzvah, לעשות האמת מפני שהוא אמת, do the truth because it's true, ולא כל חכם זוכה לזה, not even every chacham zochah. So the the Rambam himself says that the derech of the chachamim is to do it lishmah! And here it says the lishmah is not even every chacham. So that's what the Rebbe said: the chachamim's derech, they do it lishmah, meaning not for sachar, they don't care about reward. What they want is get close to Hashem. And there's even a higher madregah that you don't even want to get close to Hashem. You want to do it because that's what Hashem wants you to do, that's all. דאס הייסט לעשות האמת מפני שהוא אמת, you do the truth because it's true. That's the that's the madregah. And that even לא כל חכם זוכה לזה, not even every חכם gets it. That's special, though. That's a higher, high מדרגה, yeah. So the Alter Rebbe said, זעה, איך וויל נישט דיין גן עדן, איך וויל נישט דיין עולם הבא, he probably meant even that. איך וויל נאר דיר אליין. וואס הייסט איך וויל דיר אליין? Not that I want You so I should gain. I want to do what You want. I want I want to be with You, that's all. You're You're the מציאות. You're the עצם המציאות, the real מציאות. That's a That's all he wants. The

story with the Baal Shem Tov, when he gave the berachah, he gave someone a berachah to have children. And then when he gave that berachah, he heard a בת קול come out from heaven, said that you lost your Olam Haba. Because min hashamayim they had paskent that this couple can never have children, and the Baal Shem Tov said they will. Not to listen to the Baal Shem Tov can't be, so they had to listen to him, but they're gonna go changing. So the Baal Shem Tov smiled, said, Baruch Hashem, now I can serve Hashem not for a sachar. So another As soon as he said that, a voice came out from heaven and said, you got your Olam Haba back. Yishar koach.