NE DEVIENS PAS UN RELIGIEUX (7min26)

The Rabbi, may he rest in peace, he always told us this. He would tell us especially, especially, especially, never become religious, never be religious. Do not be religious, the day you become religious, you will lose everything, don't become religious, become serve Hashem with the love of Hashem, the fear of Hashem. Do not become religious.

It is just as I told you about Hebrew in Israel, it is the same thing. He himself, when he went to build his community in Tel Aviv, then someone once asked him, he said, "Rabbi , why did you go to Tel Aviv to build your community?" He said, "I stopped in Tel Aviv because there was, there is the sea. But if there were no sea, I would have gone, I would have gone even further than I could. As far as I could , as far as I could from the religious, as far as I could.

It is true, we need dedication for our children, for the education. There is a need for many things, but people, they become religious. I am speaking from experience. I have friends of mine who did Teshuva at the same time, Israelis, friends, we started almost at the same time, 48, 49 years ago, we started almost at the same time.

Now, now, what are they doing? The wife, the wife tells my wife," All day long they are on Netflix, they are watching movies, " after 49 years of Teshuva. Because the person became religious. So now, they became religious.

So as long as there is energy, the person can wear a mask, they can wear a costume, but eventually all that falls away. It falls away. It is like people who have, you know, operations done on their face. After a while, there is a moment where it all goes away.

It is not, the guy, he played at being religious, and then at one point it ends, he no longer has the strength to play. Reality comes back to the surface because he did not take care of himself. He did not live his life. He lived religious.

He wants to be religious. So, yeah, you have to study every day, you have to do this, you have to do that, you have to, you have to, you have to, you have to, you have to, and then in the end, there is nothing left of the person. The whole reason why He makes you do teshuva is so you can bring back the good that is within you. Your originality, your way of being, your way of praying, your way of studying, your way of—you must be yourself.

That is what you need to bring back. Torah is not the army. We are not the army. It's not the army.

There is Halacha for the whole soul of Israel. But Halacha won't tell you where to live, or if you should put flowers in your dining room, or how to decorate your living room, or what music to listen to, or what job to take . Most of what concerns your life, Halacha won't tell you what to do because it's up to you to decide, it's up to you to search. So you shouldn't just copy systems that already exist.

It's certainly easier. It's easier to play a role than to create. It's like if you want to make a movie, it's easier to take an existing story and make a film from it than to create a whole new screenplay. It is definitely easier.

But then, you don't get the same result at all. Not the same result at all. There is no simcha either, because someone who doesn't have simcha isn't being themselves. They can't have simcha.

You can't have simcha if you're not yourself. You must be yourself and you must kosherize who you are. That's all. You have to be a kosher ben adam.

You have to be a kosher ben adam. You kosherize who you are. But you remain yourself. You talk to Hashem.

It is you who talks to Hashem. Hashem. He doesn't want you to give Him a speech prepared according to norms and such when you do hitbodedut. You need to say:" I hurt here, I have this, I have...

"Since you're talking to Him, you pass by a bakery and you say to Hashem:" You see this cake, wow, it's great, but since it's not kosher, I'm not going to eat it for You, "that's all." I want to eat it, but You said 'don't eat it,' so who am I? "But don't start saying, no, I have nothing to do with this; just speak, express yourself, it makes Him happy for you to be yourself. Say everything; every time you make an effort for Him, tell Him you made an effort for Him. Don't say it comes from the army.

Tell Him that you made an effort. You gave of yourself for Him, you did something for Him. You're going to the synagogue now. Instead of going to the synagogue, you want to go play poker.

But tell Him, tell Him," I want to go play poker. "" That's what I want to do. "" But what makes you happy is that I come to the synagogue, and I am going to please you. "" So I am going to the synagogue.

"But don't be afraid, don't be ashamed, and be yourself. Whereas if you pass for a religious person who goes to the synagogue and stays on the rails, that's a shame. You can please Hashem, you can have originality, you can show who you are. Hashem, He knows very well who you are.

Why did He leave you where He left you for so many years and then bring you back? He expects something from you. If He wanted you to be religious right now , He would have made you be born in a different environment, He would have brought you. So Hashem, He expects something from you.

He wants those things. He wants you to be in these constant paradoxes. It's extraordinary, these constant paradoxes. It is something wonderful.

You are in paradoxes all the time. And it's beautiful. Paradox is beautiful. It is extraordinary, >> right?

The paradise of paradoxes, >> right? >> Yes, that’s for sure, he has more merit. No, the merit—even if you play the religious card, you have merit too. But it's better, you'll feel better in your skin with these paradoxes.

You'll feel better, you'll feel like yourself. You won't leave a part of yourself behind and you’ll be functioning on just one side, that’s all. You have to be entirely in it with everything you have. You dive right in.

But renewing yourself doesn't mean you have to enter a mold where you'll lose yourself completely. You are going to lose your heart, you are going to lose your joy, you are going to lose, you are going to become a grump, someone who starts complaining all day long, starts seeing the bad in people. Someone who is not happy, who is not joyful, sees the bad in everyone. Yeah, that one, that other one, and all day long, he is stuck on that because he is not well.

He is not comfortable in his own skin. Be yourself