Timeless Wisdom of Pirkei Avot

You see, when a person understands  what a Talmid Chacham is, they   know what they're looking for and they  know when they find it. Unfortunately,   many times people are looking for someone that's  going to agree with their own logic, with their   own logic. And that's why the Mishnah in Avot  says in the name of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa says takes precedence over his wisdom, his wisdom will  endure. But anyone whose wisdom takes precedence   over his fear of sin, his wisdom will not endure.  Many times we mention and other people mention   different books, different quotes of different.  Now, of course, you're going to have the   occasional book that no one's ever heard of, the  the the the uh rabbi that no one's ever heard of,   but generally speaking, all mention the same  people, the same from previous generations,   whether it's the Rambam or the Ramban or the  Even HaEzer or it's the uh uh you know, the   the the Rishonim the Achronim uh Gemara sages, the  recent the Gadolei HaDor the Rav Elyashiv and the   Steipler and the the from the Vilna Gaon or the  or the and everybody mentions in essence the same   giant sages one after another how come they don't  mention the reformers how come they don't mention   the innovators how come they don't mention the  modern orthodox how come you're going going to see   nine out of 10 people mention the Rabbi Avigdor  Millers, but you're not going to hear them mention   Efrem Goldberg. How come you're going to hear nine  out of 10 people mention Rav Yagen, but you're   never going to hear them say a manis friedman? How  come you're never going to hear those names? Not   today and not ever. Because the Mishna promises  that the person that takes sins seriously,   whatever wisdom they have will endure forever.  Their teachings will endure forever. Their words   will endure forever. But a person that does not  take fear of heaven seriously, whatever teachings   they have will simply go into the garbage pale  and never even be recycled. Sometimes there are   certain people that are looking for somebody  that's going to teach them things that they   already have in their life. And says that the fear  of sin must precede a person's wisdom in order to   serve his creator because it has to be his moral  and spiritual compass. Because the reality is that   everybody enjoys the pursuit of knowledge when  it validates their own lifestyle. In essence,   that is the the is going to make you more inclined  to listen to people that agree with what you   already have as a thought. But the way in order  to go back to the right direction says you have   to use as that compass. Why? Because your inner  compass is not your inner compass is convenience.   Your inner compass is comfort. Your inner compass  is going to lead you to go to a place where people   already agree with you. So if you're going to  follow your inner compass and what feels good   to you naturally, you're going to go to the manis,  you're going to go to the Mesa, you're going to go   to the Aminov and all the out there. You're going  to go to the Christians, you're going to go to the   you're going to go to Malakam, you're going to  go to Gong. But if you follow the compass that's   not doesn't come naturally to you, the compass  that goes after the Torah's holy truth that the   foundation of it is fear of all the almighty then  you know that's that's the right that's the right   direction. That's the right direction. There are  some people that knew that there was questions   around these wicked people, but they didn't  care enough to do anything about it. You see,   most of the people are not really victims. Most  of the people are perpetrators. Most of the people   are simply victims of their own decisions, not  necessarily of other people's decisions. You see,   because they were looking for a shortcut. Most  people were looking for a shortcut. They were   looking for a leniency. They were looking for  someone that agrees with their preconceived   notions. Even if those notions were 100%  against the Torah. So when sent them the truth,   multiple times they rejected it, said, "Okay,  you don't want my truth. I'll get you what you   want instead." And he sends them the manises.  He sends them the amino. He sends them the mas   and the ds and the ephims and and all of these.  He sends those to those people. Why? That's what   you want. That's what you want. You wanted a  different Torah. Here you go. Will they get   punished for it? If they don't do cha 100% they'll  be punished for it. Not only for following it,   but also for enabling others. Because each time  you followed falsehood, you gave to that Torah   that caused other people to follow it. And that's  the truth. You see, there's nothing that happens   for no reason. Nothing that happens for no reason.  And every single person has to do a selfacounting. Am I following the Torah or am I following  what I think is right? Am I following the   teachings of my rabbi or am I following the  teachings that make sense to me and I agree   with? Am I following Hashem or am I following  my ego? Am I following what's convenient? Am I   following my own cult that's not connected  to the Torah in any way, shape, or form?   A person that knows what the truth is is going  to run away from all things that are anti- Torah.   And even if something smells like it's against  the Torah, like it doesn't agree to the Torah,   you couldn't get them to do it, even  if you paid them a billion dollars.   You walk in to our inim, you go to any of of in  you tell them, I'm willing to give you a billion   dollars to drive on Shabbat. Not a single one of  them would even look at you. Not a single one of   them will ever even look at you. Why? It's not  non-starter question. It's a non-starter question.