0206 - Farbrengen about Flying to the Moon Part 2

00:00 In that farbrengen of a Yigash Tov Shin Chof Tes, where the Rebbe spoke about them getting close to the moon, the Rebbe said that from here we have a lesson and an answer to a question that was asked. The Rebbe didn't say when the question was asked, what kind of question, but he just said that a day before, twenty-four hours before or more, there was a question asked, and from here we get the answer. The Rebbe didn't explain what the question was and where it was asked, but what happened was that there was a special radio program, I think it was on that Friday before that Shabbos Vayigash, where on a regular non-Jewish radio program, they had two Rabbonim that were talking about Yiddishkeit, and there was the radio host. He asked them questions, and they talked, spoke about Yiddishkeit. Now, those years, it was seldom that you would be able to get on a regular radio program and speak about Yiddishkeit. So here they got a chance to do it, so it was something special. And the radio host asked them questions, and I heard, I think it was someone called Barry Farber or something like that. And the two Rabbonim that were there, one of them was Reb Zalman Posner, and I think the other one was Dr. Yitzchak Bloch. And they were asked all kinds of questions about Yiddishkeit, and they answered. And the way we were told is that the Rebbe even was listening to that program to hear what was

01:15 going on. So the Rebbe said that there was a question that was asked. One of the questions that was asked was, how is it possible that for doing a small aveida, you get thirty-nine lashes? For instance, you eat a kazais of non-kosher food, you get thirty-nine lashes. Such a small thing. So for that, you deserve to get such a horrible, hard punishment of thirty-nine lashes. So the Rebbe said, and the answer that they gave was that it happens very, very seldom because you only are chayiv malkis if you were warned and in front of two edim, and you were warned techilas dibur right before you did it. It happened very seldom. Avela, it's not such a big kasha because it doesn't really happen. So the Rebbe said true, their answer is true, that this is take what it, what-- it's very seldom. But when it does happen, the question is a question. For such a small thing, you get thirty-nine lashes? And the answer the Rebbe said is that if a person realizes that what he does affects not only him, but it affects the whole world, it affects not only this world, but the ruchniusdike worlds, it affects everything. Because like the Mishnah says, a person is supposed to say, bishvilin ibro haolam, that the world was created for me. So the world was created for every person. So every person affects the whole world. And as the Rambam says, that a person always has to see that with one act, he could tip

02:35 the scale. So with one chas veshalom bad act, you tip the scale for the whole world and all the other worlds. And when you know that, so then it's no kasha. You get thirty-nine lashes for doing a small aveira. It's not a small thing. What you did affected, was mazik, hurt you and everybody around you, the whole world, all the other worlds. It had such a great effect. The question is the opposite. Why is only thirty-nine lashes? Really, it should be more. But then the Rebbe says, this is something that says a svadim. But if you want to explain it in reality, you see it from this mission of going to the moon. What happened here, they took three people, and they told them that you're gonna have to listen to us exactly what we tell you to do. You can't do anything on your own. And they told them what to eat and when to eat, and they told them even when they should sleep. They told them what shoes to wear. They told them even when they are able to tie their shoes. Everything was given to them. And they told them that if you don't listen even as any of the thing that we tell you, you put in jeopardy the whole project, which is a project of a billion dollars. Now, when people hear a billion dollars, even though it's not their money, it belongs to Uncle Sam, but a billion dollars, they get very scared. Oh, now they have a

03:41 psairas hakovod for it. So, and they tell them, if you do that, the billion dollars is in danger, the project is in danger, you're in danger. And you can't say, well, I'm only one out of three because there are two more. And everyone understands how bad it is if the person will not listen even in a small thing, because the small thing is not really a small thing. It's a big thing. And whether he understands why he has to do that or not makes no difference. This is something that affects such a great thing. And from there we take the lesson. The same thing with any little aveira that a person does, it's not small. It affects everything, the whole seitas hishtalshelus. So the Rebbe said the project of the going to the moon, this whole project, is-- answers this question, shows the gashmius how this small thing could affect something very, very big. And then the Rebbe went on with many different lessons that we take from the way the rocket works, et cetera, et cetera.