What Makes Us Human? Hakaras Hatov and the Inner Person

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. If a person appreciates Hashem, because he appreciates what Hashem does for him, someone who's modeh to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, who's modeh b'tovato shel HaKadosh Baruch Hu. But it's something interesting here, yeah, because what do we have? We have over here that they did a tremendous aveirah, and yet we're rooting it to kfiyas hatov, which explains, why monkey? What's the monkey? And the answer is, Ata lo ben adam. The lesson to be taken: you could walk around eating, talking, even doing business, and have a tremendous mind to v'hatzlacha in this world, yet the Torah says, Ata lo ben adam, ata kof, you're a monkey. You look like a person, you sound like a person, aval ata lo ben adam. There's a story that they say over. They say over a story that there was once a daughter of a prominent mayor in a town, that she went crazy and she decided that she's a chicken. She had a mishpachah, she got it on that she's a chicken. So she went to the backyard, yeah, and she took off her begadim shelah, and she stayed with the chicken, eating corn kernels like a chicken in the coop. The father, who was a prominent mayor, hitbayeh. She was so embarrassed. What happened to his daughter? Anyone who can heal my daughter, I will give hon rav. I'll give all my money, okay? There was a chacham pikeach. Jew was a smart guy, and he says, I'm going to take care of this. Goes to the mayor, and he says, Leave it to me. I'm going to take care of her. He goes to the backyard. He takes off his begadim, and he goes on all four, and he sits next to his daughter, and he starts eating the chicken food, like, and he's pecking. So she says to him, What are you doing here? He says, What do you mean, what are you doing here? I'm a chicken. He says, So, so too, I'm also a chicken. I'm a rooster, okay? And together, this went on for a while. One day he turns to her and he says, Eifo katuv, where does it say that a chicken has to be in a chicken coop outside when it's cold? Maybe it can be in a house. Maybe it can be in a house, in a warm room. Let's go inside. It's muchach. It has to be that we are outside in a chicken coop? She goes, You know, zeh hayom tov. You're right. They both went in. He tells her, Who says a chicken has to be b'libgadim, b'onilbash begadim? Who says a chicken has to sleep on the floor? He can sleep in a bed. Who says a chicken has to eat chicken kernel, chicken food? Garinim, בוא נאכל ביצים. Let's go eat, let's go eat bread, הלחמניות, you know, whatever you guys like, לחמניות, ג'חנון, whatever you guys eat, okay, I don't know, whatever it is, yeah? בוא. And little by little he convinces her, and she starts to behave like a regular person. He comes to the father and he says, All right, pay up. Hey? You see? She sleeps in a bed. She goes to work. I got her to do everything like a regular person. He goes, But what are you talking about? She still thinks she's a chicken. So he tells the father, מה אכפת לך מה שהיא חושבת? Why do you care what's inside her? As long as she eats and drinks and sleeps like a regular person, she's a person. Give me money, pay me up. בפנים היא חושבת שהיא צ'יקן. מה אכפת לך? What's the problem with the story? Of course it makes a difference. Just because you walk around and you act officially like a person, and you go to work and you sleep in a bed, זה עדיין לא אומר שאתה בן אדם. מה בפנים? מה בפנים? What's inside you?

אדם שהוא כפוי טוב. חושבים שהוא בן אדם. חושבים שהוא בן אדם. חושבים. Look at him. So honorable, respectable, big businessman. הוא קוף. הוא חיה. הוא לא בן אדם. This was the lesson that was supposed to be taught to the dor haflaga, that we're supposed to take from it. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.