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Rabbi Moshe Haber Perashat Balak: How did Balaam's lack of character ruin his gifts? 6.26.26 · Rabbi Moshe Haber - Daily Mussar/Weekly Perasha

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  To brush shirt and there's one line I want to pull out from
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  Hokkat and a little more emphasis from Parashat Bella
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  Pasha Hokkan. It begins with a lot of laws of
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  Tuman Tauran and how to pure. It knows how to purify things
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  with Tumana Taura. And then the end of the end of
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  Parasha middle, you have Moshe in the rock, which is a very
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  hard chapter to understand fully.
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  And then you have some of the wars.
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  Well, I'm still begins to try to travel through different lands
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  to get there to sit. And there are different enemies
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  we fight. There's bazook in there and
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  middle that is seemingly a very, you know, symbol bazook, which
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  pulls out a major point from and that is if the Suk says these
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  words by Yomer Moshlim al Ken yomu.
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  Thank you Al Ken yomu Moshlim hamushlim Bohraj Monti baneva de
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  Canon ESC con Literally it means so the the hamashlim means the
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  rulers come let's come from Heisborn and they're planning on
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  attacking on Michelle trend the basuk, the words of that basuk.
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  Actually the camera explains cami.
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  We we understood how can your mom Muslim.
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  It literally means a cami man. So say the Muslim those who
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  Marshall who took over control the Etzara Bo has bond.
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  Let's make a calculation. What does that mean?
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  That means Messiah shame spent a long time on this.
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  That means that those you look at people who experience life
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  look at people a little older. They look at people who
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  succeeded in developing themselves and you say to
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  yourself, what was very trick, what was their move, what helped
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  them succeed? Must slim.
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  Those who control the hits that if someone's succeeding in life,
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  that means they figured out what can take them down and they got
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  past it. And the key is Bo has won.
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  They made a calculation that means, you know, you have a
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  company, you have business in life, you do inventory, you look
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  at things, you look things over and you see that didn't work,
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  that wasn't good, that wasn't helpful.
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  That's extra. We have too much of that product
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  right in life. It should be the exact same way
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  you look at last week, you look at last month, you look at last
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  year and then you look at today and you start to look at the
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  every single body of life and you say that conversation that
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  was not necessarily a waste of time.
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  That one I don't think I made the made the other person feel
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  good enough. Not one.
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  It was all by myself. OK, let's avoid those and your
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  mind you continue and continue to calculate and calculate and
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  cleanse and he started to develop yourself through that
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  matter. If you have a real reflection,
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  one of the greatest gifts a person can have is be a person,
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  not regrets. Regrets are not good.
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  You know, you have to divide with guilt, but in general,
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  regrets are not a good thing. Doesn't help you, but
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  reflection. Reflection means you look back
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  all your last time and you say to yourself, I could have done
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  that better. I could have done that better
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  because I'm bad that better, you know, And if you have that
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  mindset and you have that approach, it makes your overall
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  future so much more effective. Sometimes you look at certain
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  people. I'm sure you've seen the same I
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  have. You look at certain people and
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  you see that guy is still making those jokes or that guy is still
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  doing those silly things. And then no one ever told him he
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  doesn't have anywhere in his life that could tell him like
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  that that's not smart or that he's making a fool out of
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  himself or that he, you know, he really should be better about
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  certain things. And you wish you could just go
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  over to him telling me this. You know, for some reason he's
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  not the type that's willing to reflect.
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  None of us like to know we made a mistake.
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  None of us like to think that we did anything wrong.
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  So we don't want to be told. But the reality is reflection,
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  being able to look at your last period of time and saying to
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  yourself, let me do better in that area, in that area is what
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  will make you better the next time.
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  The way our mind works is in the moment we're good, but we're not
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  perfect. With reflection, we can be
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  perfect. With reflection.
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  You can have the power to have the strength of mind to know
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  exactly what you're seeing and what you want to do in this
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  situation, which means, you know, if sports is a classic and
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  sports is a classic, which is when you study the defense and
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  you study how they play, you know how to get around them.
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  When you're looking at now every and all sports in every way,
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  every sport is different, but all sports, the same concept
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  applies, which is they're trying to sketch you, right?
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  The defense trying to play you in a certain way, you're trying
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  to sketch. It's trying to scare you going
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  down that lane or trying to make you be tough, you know, nervous
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  to go into those, you know, players because they're too
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  rough. Whatever it is trying to sketch
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  you. Or in baseball, they're trying
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  to, they're playing a certain position and then the shift is
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  making it look like you can't get the ball through.
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  And if you know what they're doing, if you know what they're
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  doing, then you know how to get around it.
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  But if you don't know what you're seeing, you're going to
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  fall for it and you're going to play into it.
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  And that is the trick of the moment.
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  And that's why they have played a tape.
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  That's why they have this thing of looking back and learning and
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  understanding what's happening. Because when you have the
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  knowledge of prior understanding and you apply it to the moment,
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  you're 1000 times stronger. Someone says something to you.
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  If your mind knows, hey, that's a trigger.
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  That comment that is saying it's always a trigger, that always
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  takes me down. I'm not going to get, I'm not
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  going to be caught by this one. I'm going to avoid it.
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  All right? If you realize you feel a little
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  insulted and you know, that's what gets me and that's what
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  ruined my day. And this time I'm going to see
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  past it. And you find yourself with that
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  strength that you otherwise would not have in the moment,
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  because you're on Marshall, you're on Marshall, you're
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  someone in control. How are you in control?
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  Right? Marshall is a ruler.
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  How are you in control? Bo has more because you make
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  calculations, the one passeuk and passeukant that gives us
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  this concept. And I think you take this
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  passeuk and you apply it to the next Barsha, Bashat Balak,
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  what's in Barsha Balak. So the story is that Balak was
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  one of the kings of one of the countries.
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  Melech. Which part of the country?
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  Mauve, Melech, mauve. And he's nervous.
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  He's nervous because he's nervous because AMI Cell is
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  coming and everyone's very afraid AMI Cell is coming.
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  We're all powerful, never very afraid.
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  And he's afraid we're going to attack him.
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  So what did he do? Pursue tells us he calls the
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  only person that has a shot right now against the Jewish
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  people. Who's that?
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  Balaam because Balaam has a power that is stronger than the
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  sword. The sword's got nothing against
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  us. The power of words.
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  Balaam has the power of curse against our people and against
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  anyone actually. And he's shooting a powerful in
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  that area. So Bala calls him, sends
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  messages to him now OK, he send messages to Balaam, Where's his
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  power come from? Where this power of Balaam come
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  from? So as she tells us, if Balaam
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  was a Navi, it wasn't just a power to curse, he was Navi.
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  How big a Navi was he? That's right, she, you know how
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  big a Navi. He was equal to Marshall.
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  I've been in a sense, which means there's been no Navi in
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  history close to Marshall. I've been not one Navi has been
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  close to Marshall. I've been no that may even at
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  all in the same ballpark as Marshall.
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  I've been. If we look at the Nambam, he
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  describes the difference of the prophecies.
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  Moshe Rabino could see his prophecy as clear as day.
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  The other prophets saw like as a reflection.
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  They couldn't see so clear. And then incomes belong.
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  He's a goy. He's not a good person.
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  Any sensitive words? He's a person that's involved in
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  morality. He's a bad guy.
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  And he becomes the only prophet equal to Moshe Rabino.
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  And there are two things in the sand up here.
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  How in the world did this happen?
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  So as she says, nations of the world can die Sham.
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  I say sham. It's not fair on me.
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  Sale. Of course they're great.
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  Of course they know. They know right from wrong.
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  They have a problem like Musharra banner.
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  They gave them a clear vehicle between them and God.
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  They got all the word of God. They were straight down to them.
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  What else do you expect? Of course they're going to be
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  great. It's not fair.
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  We don't have Musharra Banu, we don't have a connection to our
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  sham. We don't have that prophecy and
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  that's why we're lost and that's how we fail.
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  So God said no problem, I'll give you a prophet.
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  That prophet will have equal level of connection to God and
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  the wording of Hashem as Mushir Abenu.
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  Let's see how you fare. And God gives them balaam.
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  Balaam therefore was the one to be the vehicle of Hashem down to
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  the nations of the world. And how'd that work out?
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  He started to curse. So he got the power of prophecy
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  like Mushir Abenu because of the complaint of the going, and yet
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  he took it and turned it into a means of making money.
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  Imagine he took it into a means of destroying other people.
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  He took it into a terms and means of of of, you know, using
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  if all bad things. So God answered their prayers,
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  so to speak. And the result was the same
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  problem, the same issue only doubled.
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  So Balaam as his Coh, all right, Balaam as his Coh and Balaq
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  asked him send messages to him to come and curse the Jewish
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  people. And what does Balaam say?
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  Balaam says Asir Hashir, he says he says stay over here at night.
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  I want to tell you what I want to see what Hashem says OK, OK
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  and God tells Balaam and that night because God surprised God
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  appears to Balaam and he says who all these people that come
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  with you. So Balaam tells God listen to
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  this line. He tells God, well Balaak, when
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  support the King Balak sent them to me where she says she says
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  that, but I'm told Hashem, let's just find out how crazy this
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  person is. But I'm told Hashem Alpha peace,
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  any Hashu, I might not be so important to yours, but Hashu I
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  need I am important in the eyes of the kings of this world
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  because the king of Moab sent messages to me.
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  So again, but I'm talking to who?
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  Talking to God, and he tells God I'm important.
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  You see how wild this person is? I'm important, I'm impressive in
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  the eyes of the kings. Hashem tells him, you know,
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  don't curse them, don't go with them because they're a blessed
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  nation, Balaam tells the people. Go tell Balaq, listen, God
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  doesn't want me to go with you, says Rashi.
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  What was his comment? Go tell Balaq that was
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  understanding is he didn't send in Poland enough people.
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  You didn't send people that are prestigious enough to come make
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  this request. You got to send the major people
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  to come make this request. See, I will be here.
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  A person who's literally out of his mind.
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  God told him don't go, don't curse clear as day.
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  And his translation is I'm not, you know, the people, the
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  messengers were not important enough.
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  Everything is about him. It's all about I'm so important
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  in the eyes of the kings, even if not important as a guard.
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  It's all about the fact that the officers that came were not
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  respectful enough, whether or not prestigious enough.
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  I need more. How does this happen?
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  How does someone so out of their mind?
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  And the concept that this is a person, well, let's say it this
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  way, never made a hegemon. Bilam is a person who never once
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  looked himself in the mirror and said, what do I look like?
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  Do I look normal? Do I look very ugly?
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  Do I make sense or I'm out of my mind here, but once stopped and
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  said how does this look? You know the machine I'll pick
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  you a vote says that three things that are the students of
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  our Bahama Veena right, and they are and I that wants other
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  people. I in Tova, a humble person and
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  someone who's forget the words I in Tova Neva three ways to
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  describe it and a good eye. I'm a person and someone who's
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  low key. I forget the exact way of saying
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  it and then it's not compares that to belong.
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  Talam is the opposite. Talam is a person who has an eye
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  in law. He's a person who's Gava.
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  He's a person that's all about my and he wants he's a person
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  that wants more and more. Now you say to yourself, you're
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  comparing belong or rather the students of belong to the
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  students that have you know, that's how you do.
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  That's how you compare. Yeah.
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  Long like we as this week with it came to a different mission.
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  Now, normally you compare apples to oranges, see it a little
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  different. They're both fruits.
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  They're a little different. I gave you these two drinks.
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  That's lemonade and that's pink lemonade or it's not really what
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  it's like pink lemonade. OK, fine.
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  I can see there's a comparison. Chocolate and cinnamon, there's
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  some difference, but they're somewhat similar.
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  You're comparing the students that have you know, to the
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  students of Balaam and saying the difference is this and this,
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  this one of the students of this.
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  This is as soon as that. And I think the theme of that
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  Mishnah and the overall goal is, is that a person should know.
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  If you don't have the proper character and the proper
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  personal reflection about your character, you can end up like a
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  Badam. And if you do have the good
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  character and the good reflection of your character,
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  you can end up like an Abraham. In other words, the difference
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  between a person who's nuts or who's great is reflection.
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  Is looking yourself in the mirror and saying am IA person
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  of character? Or am I really not really
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  building my character properly? The difference between a person
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  with the gifts of Moshe and yet the result of Balaam is that he
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  has gifts, he has talent, he has capability, he has the ability
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  to become everything. But he never once worked on his
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  character, never once looked himself in the mirror, never
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  once thought about himself as what am I doing as human being
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  And therefore everything that comes his way.
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  He translates to more money, more arrogance, more cowards,
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  more about me, more destruction to other people.
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  That's what happens. Whereas if he'd be in our camp,
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  a camp of character, then he would say, like our our Javino,
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  the opposite. I don't need the money.
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  Let other people have the money. It's not about my honor, it's
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  about their honor. It's not about me having, it's
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  about them having and their their perspective should be
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  based on the reflection is a complete different person.
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  So the Mishnah tells you if you have these tools has Shalom like
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  in the Balaam camp. If we have these tools when our
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  Raham camp, what are you telling me about comparing these two?
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  I'm telling you lack of character goes that way.
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  Great character goes other way and the difference is that one
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  person, they both can have the tools and the gifts of more
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  shit. I've been and 1 ends up like one
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  of the most destructive people that were mankind ever had.
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  Another one ends up like one of the most blessed people that
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  meant I ever had. It's all dependent on your
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  character. And deeper than that, it's all
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  dependent on your reflection of your character, your building of
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  your character. And you and I need to realize
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  that you have to once in a while to stop and say, I can fix that.
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  I can't trust that. I could be a little softer over
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  here, a little less rough around the edges.
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  I could be a little bit nice with other people.
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  I should be more in the Khazouk camp than the criticism camp.
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  I can be a person who can make other people feel good left and
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  right. I should watch what I say.
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  I should avoid that sure at all. It's not helping me anyway,
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  right? This week again I started again
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  trying to learn another whole lot again, once again trying to
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  figure out a way to get yourself out of the negativity.
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  And for one week, short time, but for one week, you know what,
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  it was a good feeling. You feel cleaner if you nothing
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  change nothing really. Nothing that got affected
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  negatively in my life because I didn't speak on Shah Rah.
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  Well, I try at least not to speak, but you just feel a
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  little better by yourself. That's built on the reflection
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  and the work of character and the concepts that we have
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  different camps. You have the Balaam camp and the
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  Abraham camp. Moshe been on camp and the
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  cursor Bilam camp. Why did Hashem pick Bilam?
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  Why? What made him merit to be
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  picked? I don't know.
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  I don't know what it's called a merit because God probably knew
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  what this man is going to become and you know it's unbelievable.
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  It's a good question. You know it's unbelievable.
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  Not only was Bilam so you would have said OK, Bilam is not
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  Moshe. He's got the tools of Moshe.
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  He's not Moshe. He's just not become Moshe.
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  He becomes the opposite, which means if you have gifts without
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  character, not only you lacking the more shared development, you
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  end up going first, ends up going the other way.
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  That's how far it goes. Without character, a person
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  becomes a disaster. With character, they become a
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  beautiful thing, and it's not just they become law, which is
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  nothing. Without character, they become
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  worse and worse and worse, and they gives them the tools and
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  the talents and the abilities. Don't play into strengths, they
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  rather play into weaknesses. And that's really the world of
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  arrogance. The world of arrogance is a
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  world where someone's got capabilities one way or another.
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  Everyone's got capabilities and he takes them to feed his mind,
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  to feed his ego, to feed his name, to feed his, his, his, his
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  appetite for wealth. And all those have been things
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  and they end up going the opposite of what those gifts are
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  meant for. Any person has a gift, if you're
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  an artist, if you're a very talented in one area, if you're
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  good at ball, if you're smart, if you're good at making money,
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  if you're good at running a business, if you're good at
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  whatever it may be, if you're very funny, whatever gift you
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  have, all right, those gifts are meant as something special.
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  If you apply it, great. If you don't apply it, if you
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  don't realize that the gifts are something special and those
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  gifts as a humble person are there for you to develop, for
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  you to do good with, then you have to be going the opposite
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  way. If you think about the world
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  stars, just take this to your mind, then we'll close to this.
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  If you're thinking about world starters, right, celebrities and
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  things like that, the ones that over time become so unlikable
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  are the ones who mistaken talents and they understood it
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  to mean I'm something special. And you can't even look at them.
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  You definitely can't hear a word that they have to say, but
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  there's one way or another, it's me, me, me, me, me.
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  And the ones who have the ability to have a certain degree
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  of likability, to have a certain degree of like the fans
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  appreciate that person. They're smart enough to know
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  don't make it all about yourself.
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  Don't talk about yourself all day long.
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  Don't pump yourself up, don't bang your chest.
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  Don't do all those things. And you know what?
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  People appreciate that better because that is a reflection of
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  this concept of character. That's the idea out there in the
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  world, and for sure in the Torah world, it's very much the same
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  way. You have gifts, you have
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  talents, you have abilities. If you do a right and it's
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  great. If you do a wrong, then it's the
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  opposite. This is the comparison of Bilam
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  to Moshe and Bilam students. To have Raham students, and this
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  is for all of us as the concept of life, you have to reflect and
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  say, am I doing all right or can I make it better?
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  Can I make it make it better? And when it comes to the area of
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  character, if you do that and you take your talents the right
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  way, you'll make them into a very special person.
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  And in fact, like we said, well, should I be able to?
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  The greatest man ever lived, he's also one of the most
• 20:00
  talented people ever lived what God gave him.
• 20:03
  And yet he still was also the most humble person ever lived,
• 20:07
  because he took his talents, he took his gifts.
• 20:10
  He took his connection to God and he used him to make him
• 20:13
  great, and belong did the opposite.
• 20:15
  Let's stop with this.