Judaism 101 - Free Will Part 1

1:49 What would you say, secular society? Just about just before we even start, what would you say, secular society's response to this is? Do you have free will or not? Most of you think secular society would say that you do have free will. A little bit of both. Why? It depends on who the person is doing it. If someone from some let's just call it urban community. Without being racist, they're more likely to blame the system. But if it's someone who's, I guess you say, from a lower upper class home. Say that I'm with you 100%. Even though I would acknowledge that the secular society still, to a degree, believes in free will, I definitely agree with you that the free will experiment is playing itself right. It's playing itself out right now in the American judicial system, because as things are happening, people are asking the question: Well, am I really responsible given the circumstances that I grew up in? Maybe it was.

2:49 Almost predetermined, either from a psychological perspective or from a sociological perspective, that this is always what I was going to do. Abe. There's also this idea of people thinking about destiny, which wouldn't be free will. So that's the got that's not on this paper, and the reason it's not on this paper is because I intend on doing two days on the notion of free will and destiny, and that's just to give you guys a heads up for what's coming. That's a famous question. Do I actually have free will, given that God knows what I'm going to do? Do I still have free will? That's God willing. What we're going to handle next week. So first, let's define what we mean when we're talking about free will. If I walk into a hardware store and I'm choosing between two different types of hammers, is that a free will experiment from the perspective of religion? No. Why not? There's no.

3:46 There's no moral. In other words, when we determine what is free will and what is not free will, when we what was that? Consequence. Correct. So we're talking about something that actually matters. Or to put it a little bit differently, and this is an important way of framing the question, the entire conversation around free will begins and ends with the following concept. This the whole thing. You ready? Your job in this world is to become the person that you're meant to be. That's the entirety of the question. Say that one more time. Make sure everyone gets it. Your job in this world is to become the person that you're capable of being, that you're meant to be, that God wants you to be. Therefore, when we discuss questions like free will, do we care about whether or not you bought a particular type of hammer, or a particular type of saw, or a particular type of food? Is that relevant to us? As thinking.

4:43 Jews is that a relevant topic for us? It's not relevant. Therefore, what's the only issue that will be relevant from a free will perspective is going to be morality, meaning, of course, if somebody says to you, "Do I have free will to choose that hammer over that hammer?" What's the answer? Of course. What's the answer to that question? Sure, but is it relevant to us? It's not relevant. Here's the key, because we're only speaking about things that have inner meaning. So you're waking up. You're or let's say you're in bed in the morning. You have the opportunity to wake up to go to Davin or to roll over. Why is that any more free? Why is that more of a free will issue for Jews than choosing a hammer? The answer is because that particular moment is a quest of morality. Who is the person that you're going to be? Buying a particular type of hammer has no impact on the type of person that you're going to be. So far, so good. Questions, comments, reactions. We're good so far.

5:42 For the guys that are new to the shir works better with people like Kushner who hammer away. We're gonna. That's an excellent question. What he's doing, just show you the chafem of what he's doing, is he's taking the issue. He's been well trained. He's taking the issue. He's saying, okay, if it's only in the issue of morality. So now, how far does that go? Is it every moral issue that I have free choice over? Right now, I haven't gone that far. All we've said, just make sure we understand it, is once I'm in the arena of morality, free will becomes a relevant question. Now the question you're asking is how much free will do I have over any particular circumstance? We're going to explore every time. Also, do I have to be aware whether that's going to have moral consequences somewhere? Like, let's say that, when I'm going to buy a hammer, me buying those that hammer might have.

6:38 Severe moral consequences for what I'm trying to use that hammer for, but for someone else. It's about the awareness. Amazing point. You're saying even buying the hammer could be a free will issue because buying a hammer is not always buying a hammer. Maybe the issue is whether or not I'm going to kill someone with that hammer. And now the struggle to buy the weapon of destruction or not to buy the weapon of destruction. In other words, what you've done is you've tied morality into something. So the question is how much. If it's again, let's keep it simple for now. If for you in that particular arena, you're entering into a moral issue. So then we're in the realm of free will. You're right. You're jumping a little bit ahead of me. You're right that anything could become an issue of morality, and so we could be in a more consistent state of attacking our free will than we even realized. Because everything has like sort of power of waiting to be defined.

7:32 But let's just keep it simple. Let's say you're going to the Home Depot because you want a hammer because you want to do whatever you're going to do with that hammer. That's not, by its definition, a free will issue. You can attach morality to it, but by its inherent nature, you would not describe that as a moral issue. That's within the realm of free will. We're now going to make the following split. This is critical. We're now in section two. How free are you? I think they want you sitting in this chair. Let's get them some paper. Thank you, Toby. Again, as we said, the number one issue is responsibility. If I'm not 100% free to make that choice, naturally my responsibility is going to be less. So far, so good. Everybody agree? That should. That's the easy part. Here's where we get a little bit more complicated.

8:31 In truth, despite the fact that we're going to maintain that your free will is unencumbered, you are not in control of all of the factors that surround your point of choice. For example, Gross brought up before. Let's say I was born into a community, any community, that let's say that community is impoverished. So now what might be the result of living in an impoverished community from a free will perspective? What might be the limitations there if I don't have money? I don't have resources, and therefore I may be more inclined to do what? Let's take theft. Because that happens to be the classic example that people are dealing with. So now I find myself growing up in an impoverished community. Everyone in the community is stealing to get by. I myself find myself in a position where I'm in a bodega, and that candy bar is right there. My parents can't afford to buy that candy bar, and so I start to think to myself, 'What's the big deal if I take that candy bar? Am I responsible for the fact that I was born into that community? Was that within the realm of my free choice?' No, clearly not. So now here's where we diverge. Some would say that your responsibility.

9:59 Is minimized or even mitigated because you were born into that socio-economic background. We would argue that while you're not in control of the choices that surround your free will, in the point of free will, you're still responsible. Make sure everyone has it. Was I responsible for being born into that family? No. Was I responsible for the fact that I was sent to the bodega by my mother to go get some milk? Was I responsible for the fact that I grew up in a society where theft was more common because that's what people needed to get by? But now I'm about to take the candy bar. Am I responsible? Why? In other words, what you're separating is excellent. I'm with you 100%. The point of choice remains mine despite all the factors that surround me. You realize the level that's an intense thing to say, right? Because if my entire existence is predicated on.

10:55 This socio-economic background. One could argue again in Judaism we don't, but one could argue, did that kid really have a choice? He did. He's less responsible for making the wrong decision, maybe, but he still has a choice. I'm one hundred percent responsible for the decision that I made, because within the context. That's what's so extreme about what you're saying. And by the way, I agree with you. But that's what's so extreme. Because I wasn't responsible. You're not held accountable for the fact that you were born into that background. The fact that everyone around you is stealing could contribute to the fact that it may be more difficult for you to not steal the object. Let's say two people, both are in the bodega at the same time. One comes from a very affluent background. He's never had to steal in his life. He grew up with mommy and daddy's credit card. He's never thought about stealing. So for him to not steal, it's not like he's walking by. He doesn't even register that he should steal. The kid who's right next to him, who grew up totally impoverished, where theft was more natural for him, it's a huge gap. It's a huge choice point.

11:53 But the point is, and this is what you're arguing, right? He's capable of making that choice. Ergo, he's 100% responsible every time. Like I mean, it's really interesting when you come to play with different psychological, okay, good influences. Because what do you, how do you draw the distinction? Let's say this kid was born into this community, is trained from a very young age to say that everyone around him steals. Stealing is something that you have to do. Don't feel bad, and it's okay. So when he's in that store, how for the kid in the affluent neighborhood, although they still have the choice, it's not the choices. If he were to steal it, so much more than the kid who wouldn't, because he's trained to think that it's okay. Excellent point. In other words, what you're saying is as follows: Is there a point? Just to sharpen your question, is there a point at which you could lose your free will?

12:50 Because of the external circumstances that you're in. That's really what you're asking. In other words, if I grew up in a society that never told me it was wrong to steal, everyone in the society stole. I didn't even think to myself. I didn't have any. There was actually no moral struggle there because I didn't even know that there would be a moral struggle. Am I held responsible for that? God willing, we're going to get to that. I didn't even have a choice because I didn't even know there was a choice. Excellent point. And at the same time, I think we're both acknowledging that the affluent person who steals is going to be held seriously responsible for that because why would you do that? What was going on inside of you that you did that? I'm with you. We're gonna get you. You get it more real way. You're never usually gonna have people that are a hundred percent one way and zero percent other ways. Usually, you'll have a kid who's born into a bad neighborhood. Ninety percent it's okay, ten percent but like then is he that like how responsible is he? How much free will does he really have? Excellent.

13:43 But right now, let's assume. Just make it an easy case. Again, we're going to get deeper into this. But let's assume just a regular case where it's still 50-50. The kid knows that it's wrong, but his external circumstances. A lot of people are doing it around him. We would still agree, would you agree? Would you still agree that at that point he's responsible for the choice that he made? He had a moral struggle. He's capable of choosing differently. So far, we're still on the same page. You have a question? Anyone else? Because there's a concept of stealing in his mind that there's automatically a choice. He knows if he knows there's a concept of paying versus not paying that he knows that there's the automatic as choice. But let's say again, let's say in his neighborhood, just nobody paid. It was common to walk in, hold a gun to the owner's head, and just walk out. But he understands that there's a proper way to do it. Agreed. I'm with you, hundred percent. I'll tell you a true story.

14:40 There was a certain high school. They had a work study program their senior year of high school. It's a particular name of a school. Happens to be in Washington Heights. So maybe it's MTA. There's a lot of schools in Washington Heights that have three initials. They had a work study program. My friends used to go. They loved work study. Why? Because they would always fight to get the best work-study job. What was the best work-study job? It was a grocery store in the city, owned by a Jew, and everyone loved working there because there was a messora in MTA that basically the owner was totally out to lunch and you could steal whatever you want. So all the guys, all my friends at least, would run to get that internship. That was like the best work-study internship you could get because you'd eat like a king the second half of senior year. Where do you go to school by the way?

15:34 I'm not saying. I'm just saying. You know what I'm saying. I'm not saying I knew. I'm just saying. If you're coming second FV, do they still have work study? No. Chaval, because it used to be a good meal. Were you in MTA? I went to MTA. And do you know exactly what I'm talking about? Because it was in my time. It was in the '90s, but it was a good time. My buddy, he got off room, and chaval, and his shanabet, he did the pre-om kippur phone call. You know that phone call where you're like. Now you're from, so you gotta like call people back in America and be like, "I'm sorry for all the bad things that I did." So he calls up this store owner and he says, "Hi, it's Ploni. I just..." and he goes, "Is this the Priyom Kipper you stole from me?" phone call. And the guy's like, "What?" He's like, "You knew?" He's like, "I've been getting this phone call for years. Like everybody knows. You come to that store, and today you steal. You're walking out with deli sandwiches. People like guys. Guys thought they were being so sneaky. He's like, "I knew the whole time." These guys come with the huge jackets, piling their jackets with burgers and steaks as they left.

16:31 It's like I knew the whole time. I'm like, why in the world would this store owner keep doing it? That's the definition of insanity. So yeah, but you still have a choice, right? Because when you're walking out, you're hiding it. You know what you're doing is wrong, right? You have that moral struggle. Can you ask the same question just the opposite, saying like, if you grow like never stealing, like what you said, like you always had your parents' credit card, do you have the choice to not steal? Right. Excellent point. So that brings us to the very next point. Excellent. Couldn't have said it better. So now it goes as follows.

17:02 Do you get reward? We're getting to reward and punishment. You're jumping to reward. You're right to jump to reward and punishment because what you're really asking is, what's the consequence of my responsibility? But just hold off because I want to reframe reward and punishment. Fair, but I'm gonna get to you because it's an important point. In order to explain this next point, I need to tell you an interesting story. I worked in a camp called L I J, which was actually run. It was a center day camp in the five towns, and we had an L I J program. How many of you have heard of L I J Hospital? Yeah. So L I J Hospital has a division, which is for kids who have psychological disorders. Okay. It was run by a woman whose name was Mary Courtney. Mary Courtney was the last word in behavior modification. You guys know what behavior modification is? Behavior modification basically says like this: We can take.

17:59 Any disorder that anyone has could be OCD, could be Tourette's syndrome, could be ADHD. We can put you in a behavior modification program, and we can teach you how not to behave that way. So the program goes like this. Let's say I'm a counselor in this program. Every single thing that any of the campers do has an immediate points consequence. I'm going to tell you a very specific example right now. We had a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful young man. I won't tell you his name, obviously. He's a great kid. He had Tourette's syndrome, and his Tourette's syndrome meant that he had a particular tic that every three steps he took, he would spin in a circle. So it was amazing to watch this kid walk. We'd be transitioning from one activity to the other, and this is what he'd be doing. He'd be like.

18:56 You know how hard it is to walk that way. I tried it. I tried to walk just from one activity to the other. So what would happen is we created, in this case, multiple structures for him. There was the positive and the negative. So if he could walk more than three steps without spinning, even if he took five steps without spinning, that got an immediate positive points consequence. Whereas if he took three steps with spinning, that had a negative points consequence. So far, so good. Now at the end of the week, there's a trip, and how do you get on the trip? If you have 10% more points than you had the week before. So let's say at the end of the first week, every single kid goes on the trip. The next week, how do you get on the trip? 10% better than you did the week before. Let's say you do the same. You get to stay in camp. You have a great day, but you don't go on the trip. Let's say you do worse. You took a step back.

19:52 So there's a negative consequence. You have to stay in camp, but you have to work as a waiter, or you have to clean the kitchen. And this was called the behavior modification program, specifically called the Bill Pelham behavior modification program. What was brilliant and revolutionary about this particular Bill Pelham behavior modification program that I was privileged to work on for two summers, is every kid was only evaluated, and this was critical, only evaluated against themselves. And only evaluated against their point of choice. Meaning, let's say this kid who has Tourette syndrome, he's really capable of following the rules. He's just not capable of walking three steps, or he seems not so capable of walking three steps without spinning. Does he get positive points consequences? For example, for staying in the activity area. What would you say? Why not?

20:49 It's not relevant to him. But the kid who has severe ADHD, and by the way, what made this program amazing is every single kid we took into the program had been thrown out of yeshiva. So that was so important because you're taking these kids that have totally been eviscerated; they've already been thrown out of yeshiva, and you're seeing, in the course of an eight-week summer, you can get them to a point of behavior where they're able to retransition into yeshiva. By the way, our numbers were off the charts. Over ninety percent of the kids were able to successfully transition back into a yeshiva because they had eight weeks of behavior modification. It was an incredible program. It's actually where I got my start in chinuch. I didn't know if I wanted to go into chinuch before that summer, but after that summer, I felt so amazing because I was like, "Wow, we really changed these kids' lives." I said, "I got to go into chinuch." So now, find yourself in a situation right where you are evaluating a kid. How do you evaluate the kid? Only against himself, only against his point of choice.

21:41 Where's the battle in free will? When you were a child, what was the battle? Let's take any example. Your mother called you to come upstairs for dinner, but you had five minutes left to play with your Legos. So what's the battle there? Do I go upstairs? Do I play with my Legos? Five years later, you're totally disinterested in Legos. Your little brother is playing with Legos, and your mother has asked you to play with him. Your mother calls you upstairs for dinner. Is that anymore a free will issue? A couple years ago, it was a free will issue. Why is it not a free will issue today? Because the battle has advanced, and this is what's critical: the battle of free will is constantly in flux. So think about it like a football field. The line of scrimmage is where the battle actually occurs. The battle doesn't occur 40 yards downfield. Why not?

22:37 Because that's not where the battle is right now. The quarterback throws the ball forty yards downfield. Where's the battle now? Forty yards downfield, right? In other words, a person could constantly be in a scenario where the point of free will moves either in one direction or the other. We're either advancing or regressing. That's the point where you're held responsible. So let's go back to our example. The kid who was born into an impoverished socioeconomic background is held responsible for the fact that he's in that background? No. Is he held responsible for the fact that he has a free will challenge right here in this bodega? He's not held responsible for that at all. Why not? What's that a function of? That's a function of his socioeconomic background. That's the external circumstance. What's he responsible for? Only for that particular battle.

23:33 The affluent kid who walks in every time—that's getting to your question, right? The affluent kid who walks in and doesn't experience any challenge at all—does he get rewarded? Whatever that means, does he get rewarded for not stealing? No. Why not? There was no battle. Because he wasn't responsible. This is what's critical. He wasn't responsible for the choice to be affluent. That makes sense. Man, I want to make sure everyone gets this. The external circumstance of his affluence was that a free will issue? To think, why not? Wasn't subject. He happened to be born into that family. He happened to have been given mommy and daddy's credit card. So for whatever reason, it didn't come up in his head. Does he get reward? People ask this question all the time. Do I get rewarded every second that I'm walking around and I'm not serving idolatry? What's the answer to that question? Obviously not. Why not?

24:29 There's no tayvor for it. Same exact situation, but now with something that you have a tayvor for. You're responsible for that. Again, within that particular box, I may not be responsible for the generation that I was born into. But I'm definitely responsible for the choice point, Ellie. How extreme can you go in your direction with that? That idea, like I'm saying, someone that has some really messed up—I don't know—someone that does some really messed up stuff. No go extreme. We test things in the extreme. Someone I guess someone that's I don't know how you want to say someone that just I don't know murders people. So you're saying that. Give me the scenario. Why is he murdering people? What's the external circumstances that led him to become a murderer? That you know his parents broke up and. Let's say he grew up with no parental structure.

25:28 No moral guidance. He never got any consequences as a kid growing up. He has a type of a murder. He has a type of a murder. So he's getting rewarded for that. For if again, if it's in other words, let's say he's sitting in a scenario where now normally he would take out his gun and bust a cap in that guy. And instead he chooses not to. What would you say? It's amazing. But let's say, is it possible to have the following scenario? You're born in a situation where violence is totally normal, and you basically have lost all free choice. The only free choice you have is to punch the person this hard or that hard, and you exert that level of free will. Is that meaningful?

26:27 I would say so. Is it possible to get to a scenario where you lose free will entirely? Then you're not making a choice anymore. I'm saying, is it possible? I guess in every scenario. You're constantly making choices. If you're making a choice, that means inherently that you have free will. Let's say there are choices. What was that? Choices. You're making I should like I'm saying a lot. I mean I remember when I was in a Holocaust Studies class, in my senior year. And there was a lot of like my teacher referred to a lot of decisions that people have to make as choices, because, although like someone is choosing to do something or not, it's really either way, like it's a really bad outcome either way. Meaning if I choose not to join the Nazi Party, I'm gonna die. If I choose to join the Nazi Party, I'm gonna become a murderer.

27:22 So the limited free will that you have again. I would say this: I'm not responsible for the external circumstances that I happen to have been born into Germany. And that's a complex moral issue. I would argue that a person would should be murdered rather than become a murderer. That's what I would argue. But I can understand that might be a really tough free will choice. And within the parameters of that particular person is how he'll be judged. What if a person has a serious psychiatric issue? So you're responsible for that. Let's say a person is taking psychiatric medication that makes them suicidal. It's a real thing, by the way. A person has to be very careful when it comes to these things. Only medicated properly under clear guidance of a psychiatrist. Unfortunately, there are all too many stories of people that are taking serious psychiatric medication, and the psychiatrist goes on a vacation, which is real, and the backup is not readily available. Unfortunately, people lose their lives.

28:19 Did he have free choice when he made that? When he made that choice, let's say to end his life. If it was, if in that moment he may not have. Depends on much control he has. In that moment, he could make a conscious moral decision. You're good. I'm with you. In other words, there, but you acknowledge that there might be a point that the medication removes all possibility of free will. That's interesting. I would agree. And by the way, that's what halacha says. We assume that if somebody takes their own life under such conditions, halachically we say that the medicine is considered a rodef. That he's being sort of killed by the medicine. Therefore, he's buried in full burial in a Jewish cemetery, and we don't assume that he had any choice. Like the thing that's coming to my mind is you hear about these stories of these people that it's horrible that you know school shootings or stuff like that. They go in and do these things.

29:16 But then you read interviews and you hear about when they and all the different medical diagnoses that they have and you're like these are not people that are healthy in any way. What about someone non-medical? Think like you know. And it's the case of Abiyatash giving it as. Let's say you're a kid who was bullied in school, right, and you grew up with your grandfather's arsenal in your house, right, so you have access to weapons, and it gets to a point where you're so bullied. Is it possible to lose free choice? In theory, that's possible, but again, if it's again, I'm not bochin levavas vekloyos. I don't know what's going on inside of a person. But if in that moment he has the capacity, true capacity, to make a moral decision, and he makes the decision to go in and do a horrific school shooting, while it's important, extremely important, to talk about the external circumstances that surrounded it, that in no way should minimize his responsibility, if indeed there was one.

30:10 In other words, we should talk about gun control, and we should talk about bullying in school. We should talk about teachers who aren't paying attention to kids who are falling through the cracks. We should talk about the FBI paying attention to the Instagram post that he posted that he was going to do it. We should talk about all those things. But at the end of the day, if he is indeed responsible, if he was capable of making that moral choice from a reward and punishment perspective, he's culpable. What about someone not like that? Someone who is maybe born with some kind of disability, whatever it was. And a developmental disability. They never got medicated for it, and something happens where it doesn't have to be that they went and had committed a school shooting. That person was straight up born bipolar. They were never diagnosed. They didn't even know that they had it. And at some point, because of their bipolar, they weren't capable of making a choice. It could be that they would not be held responsible.

31:00 But if there is a choice, and we don't know because we're not inside of that person, if indeed it's still at the point where they're making a decision, then they would be held accountable for that. Back to the school shooting thing. We said that once there was an opposite view in his head of something to do, like when we knew this isn't the right thing, then that was hence free will. So in the case of the school shooter, let's say once he had it, that we say that maybe he didn't have the free will, maybe it was just the place he was then. That upbringing, but once he had that opposite view of what's morally right and wrong. Then I would argue that he had free will. Agreed. I feel bad. Who? You had a question before. I was kind of answered. Yeah. Every time. What about a case where a drug addict who's like, let's say they have the choice whether to take the drug or not, but then once they are under the influence of that drug, they have no choice over the decision. So I'll tell you a real case. A woman.

31:56 Became an addict, and she was a serious drug addict. It's not like just doing regular. She was knee deep in whatever drugs she was doing. As a result, in order to get money to pay for her addiction, she cheated on her husband. The husband finds out about it. He comes to the rabbi, and he asks the rabbi. I know the rabbi. He comes to the rabbi and he asks the rabbi, "Do I need to divorce my wife?" Fascinating question, right? In other words, did she really make a choice to violate the sanctity of our marriage? The rabbi didn't know the answer to the question. He flew to Israel. He asked Rav Yashiv Zeichatzadik B'Kadash LeBracha, Rav Yashiv here in Yerushalayim. What's the din? What do you think? Rav Yashiv's answer was? Let's see if anyone gets it. What would you say? I'm gonna guess no. You're gonna guess no. Still, meaning she's still responsible. She's not responsible. Because when she bought the drugs, she wasn't under the influence.

32:53 She caused herself not to get that choice, but it was her choice to follow. Anyone else? The situation was a free will decision. You're all missing it. It's a product of her surroundings. Before she ever took drugs, but then it's her surroundings. She did it while she was on drugs. I'm saying before she ever started doing drugs, that was the free will choice. Good, Adam. I was being so because I think her choice had to do with the drug and not the. Everyone's missing it. It's amazing. Why is he even a question? She cheated. You're saying Stamm? Obviously his wife is suffering. He loves his wife very much. She did terrible things, of course, but he's like, my halachically, did she really even halachically do it? Her intention wasn't to cheat or intention was to get drugs. Rabbi, you're all missing it. Say she cheated with the drugs. There's no data. That's a lumpish answer.

33:49 She didn't cheat with a person. She cheated with the drugs. Only a London could love that answer. I love that answer. Rabbi say, you know what his answer was? First, we have to consult a psychologist to understand the nature of addiction. We have to get this woman evaluated. See, Rabbi say, halacha takes into account these things. You were all thinking like you were all thinking halachically. You forgot that halachic rabbanim don't evaluate the free will of a person. Who evaluates the free will of a person? Psychologist. So that's what they had to do. They had to find an expert in addiction and get that expert in addiction down to this woman and to be able to make that evaluation. And don't know the end of the story. But it's pretty irrelevant, right? So I'm glad that if you're on like a drug and then you do something, would you be held responsible? We do know that. But maybe it's taken away your free will. But we all know that. Let's say you drive under the influence and you kill someone, you're held responsible.

34:47 Let's make that a little bit more relevant. Because I hope none of you will ever drive under the influence. What about texting while driving? That would be the same thing. That's a big one. You just decided to answer that one quick text. Remember, these things happen in the blink of an eye. And we all know. I'm saying, at least some of us in this room know people who have, unfortunately, resulted in the death of other people based on texting and driving. I know for a fact that there are people in this room that know of such a story.

35:18 So it all depends on the internal. One last piece. Let me just get one last piece, and then we'll finish this up. How do you move? Right in the football game. We're all standing at the line of scrimmage, and the goal is to move the ball downfield and not have it move in the opposite direction. What makes the ball move? My choices. What else? Other. For sure, other people's choices are going to have an impact, but what's critical is the level of effort that you exert. Meaning, when you see, I'm going to date myself here, it's okay. The greatest, in my opinion, the greatest running back of all time was. You could argue Emmitt Smith, but I would argue, having seen both of them at the same time, Barry Sanders. Barry Sanders. What was great about Barry Sanders? For those that are holding, you're holding Barry Sanders. OJ.

36:17 Big gloves don't fit. Just not stupid people. The truth is, O. J. Probably was the greatest running back of all time, until he was better at murdering people. But then, he didn't do it. He only knew how. In the words of one great comedian, if O. J. Drove a bus, he wouldn't even be O. J. He'd be Orenthal, the bus-driving murderer. The it's a terrible joke. That's a terrible joke. I'm definitely going to use that. I'm really proud of you, honestly. What made Barry Sanders an incredible running back is if you watch him play, and I recommend seeing the YouTube highlights. He juke like no running back ever juke before, and he made it so effortless. He made it look so effortless. It was amazing watching him because with a twitch of a shoulder, he had linebackers flying past him. It was incredibly difficult to tackle him. But you knew, if you knew anything about football, you knew how much effort it took to have that level of concentration in the game. It's incredible. What's amazing about people who make it look that effortless is you know how hard that is to do, and they're doing it as if it's nothing. It's like if you're a Knicks fan. The ball goes in sometimes.

37:39 But you see the effort, right? It's obvious. Julius Randle, I understand he can score a little bit, but he's working hard for those points, right? And then you see someone like Luca, and he's just making it look like 40 feet out, step back three, behind my back, flip it up. He just makes it look so effortless. What moves the ball down the field is the amount of effort you exert. There. Remember, let's go back to the very beginning of the show. What's the goal in all of Judaism when it comes to free will? What's the goal? The goal is, who are you? How much you move depends on the amount of effort you exerted in that particular free will scenario. So now, let's say I'm standing here. It's a twenty yard line, right? Again, twenty yard line metaphorically, and I've got my phone, and my phone has whatever challenges exist on my phone, anything from looking at something inappropriate to wasting time, right? And I'm sitting here, and I'm used to, I'm totally accustomed to the fact that wasting time on my phone.

38:36 In inappropriate times, let's say I'm not saying I'm just saying if you know what I'm saying. Let's say I'm used to doing that, right? And now what's happening? For the first time, it's coming up. Like maybe this isn't what I should be doing. How much effort does it take to put away that phone? Tremendous amount of effort. One guy this year described to me the first night that he decided to take his phone and to have it plugged in on the other side of the room. He said I was in bed, and he said it's been years since he was in bed, not on his phone, right? Because where does your phone go? You plug it in right by your bed, so that you can literally have it on until the moment that sleep overtakes you. How difficult is it for someone like that to take the phone and just put it across the room? It's exceptionally challenging, right? But according to the level of challenge and according to the effort you exert, what happens? Now you've changed as a person. Right? You put in that effort. What happens? What happens the next time?

39:34 The next night. Now it's after one night. You did it one night. What's the next night? It becomes easier. Why? Because you're not used to. Because now the ball right the ball moved downfield. So is it still hard on the second night? Absolutely. Let's say I'm in my room and I see three of my roommates are still on the phone. And now I have to go because I know myself. If I don't put the phone away, I'm not going to go to sleep. If I don't go to sleep, I'm not going to wake up for shachar. So now I myself have to do it. In the context of that, it might still be difficult, but it's easier because last night I exerted a tremendous amount of effort. And vice versa. Let's say there was something that was very easy for me, but I fell into it. What now? As I made the mistake, what happens now? We move back. So I regress, and now all of a sudden, avera goreras avera. Guys, see how that makes sense? Mitzvah goreras mitzvah, avera goreras avera. Just from a pure psychological perspective, means.

40:25 When you do something, you become accustomed to doing that thing. The more you become accustomed to doing that thing, the easier it becomes. Let's say I've been putting my phone away on the other side of the room for two years. Still getting scarred for putting your phone on the other side of the room? No. Why not? It's no longer within the realm of the choice point. What happens? Because that's no longer within the realm of the choice point. What happens? So now, other choices will become more difficult, right? For example, if you're on your own 20-yard line and you're going up against those linebackers that are standing in front of you, how hard is it to break through them? Relative to if you're on the one-yard line. If you're on the one-yard line, it's a goal-line stand. What are those linebackers going to do to stop you from getting in the end zone? Everything that they have is going to go into that one moment, right? Why? Because it matters that much more. So as you move downfield, what naturally starts to happen, logically, what naturally starts to happen, the tests have to become more difficult.

41:23 So guys, always asking yeshiva. They're like, I know what's going on. It's just so difficult. I feel like I've done very well in yeshiva, but I'm confronting these tests that are so difficult. What's the answer to that question? Of course you are. Why? The ball moved downfield. The choices that were difficult for you in Elul should not be difficult for you in January. But by that same token, in March, the choices of January should no longer be difficult. In fact, what's going to happen? It's going to get harder. Those old choices will be easier, but what's going to happen? The new choices will be harder. For example, when you were a kid, right? So it was really hard. Let's say to wake up in the morning. When you're an adult, it is not hard to wake up in the morning. Why is that? Some will say, and they're probably right about this. On some level, just your body needs less sleep. But also, what happens as you increase responsibility in your life? Naturally, what happens to your free will?

42:18 Your capacity to stay in bed is diminished, because if I don't get out of bed and I don't go to that job, what's going to happen? I'm going to get fired. If I get fired, what's going to happen? My wife is going to say to me, "Hey, what happened to your job?" "Oh, I slept in. You slept in. You're a lazy bum. Why would I want to be married to a lazy bum?" So the choice point becomes so serious that naturally, what happens? Your free will has to be engaged. Once your free will is engaged for enough time, it's almost like you can't sleep in anymore. And that's a crazy thing. When you talk to a kid who's eighteen years old and they're sleeping all the time, you see them seven years later, and they're in medical school, waking up at five o'clock in the morning to study. You're like, how in the world did that happen? What's the answer? The consequence elevated. Memela, their free will had to elevate. They became accustomed to doing it. There was a guy in yeshiva. This is a hundred percent a true story. His parents told me he has a sleep disorder.

43:11 Do whatever you can to get this kid up in the morning. His mother said, 'Whatever you can.' So this young man would sleep, pretty unclothed. I'll keep it clean. Pretty unglamorous school now. Pretty unclothed, and the Alagova staircase, that metal staircase. Every morning I would come with the avbait, and we would pick him up. By the way, he'd still be sleeping while we picked him up. We drag him through the floor. And we put him on the Alagova staircase, and he would come into a fetal position, and he'd be shivering, and he'd wake up in that position, and he was like, why? I would take videos and send it to his mother, and she would take videos of herself back, sending it, thank you so much. I thought it was crazy, but that's what she wanted me to do. Today we call this physical abuse, but back then it was a different age. We could do these things without consequence. He's a doctor today. He's a doctor. So I I've spoken to him pretty recently. I'm like, how did you become a doctor? You can't even stay awake. He goes, you can stay awake when it's medical school. If I say here, we'll stop here for today.