We left off studying the pleasures of the fifth class. We said fifth-class pleasures are physical pleasures. We compared that to hanging on a rope off an airplane. We said that with all pleasures, in all kinds, there is a right way to enjoy them. I don't mean right as in right and wrong. I mean the correct way to be able to enjoy them. If you don't follow the rules, you won't be able to reach the pleasures that everybody is looking to achieve in life. So we said the first rule we always have to ask ourselves when it comes to pleasures is that we have to look for the counterfeit. Like we said, since this is a world of free choice, it cannot be that the choice to enjoy life is automatic, because then that wouldn't be part of our free choice. To enjoy this world, to have ta'anug (pleasure) in this world, is a choice. It's a good choice. It's a choice that we must make. If it were an obvious choice, if it were the only choice, then it would not be a choice. If I tell you this is the only way to go and you go that way, that's not called a choice. So, in order for there to be free choice in the matter, and for us to be able to choose our pleasures and our life of pleasure, there has to be a counterfeit, something that misleads you in that pleasure. If there isn't, it would not be free choice.
We said last time that in the physical pleasure world, one of the counterfeits, perhaps the greatest one, is that people automatically assume that more is more. Which is logical, because you have the same body, the same item. So if I enjoy it once, the more I have it, the more I enjoy it. The body didn't change. The item didn't change. So logically, one would say, yes, of course, more is more. But as we explained last week, in reality, more is less. And it's very simple. More is less means that the same pleasures that are available to a person, the more they do it.
Now, when we say “more,” what's called more? Each item has its proper amount, its proper limit. One size doesn't fit all. Eating has a certain limit, and every pleasure has its rules for what's called more. Right now, I'm not discussing what's called more. More is not based on each person's decision, and it's not equal for all things. Each item has its proper measurement. If you go beyond it—I gave you an obvious example last week of the guy who ate steak every day—it's important to know what happened at the end of a week or two weeks. What happened was not so much that he didn't like steak. It's deeper than that. What happened was that he was no longer able to enjoy a pleasure he had been able to enjoy before.
So what happens in life when you don't know the measurement of pleasures and you do more than you're really supposed to? You're going to burn out your ability to enjoy the very thing you used to enjoy. And if you keep doing it, and you burn out one pleasure, then a second pleasure, then a fifth pleasure, at some point you're going to have to look for a different kind of pleasure. You need alternative solutions for your pleasure because the one you used to enjoy is no longer relevant to you. You can't enjoy it, so you need to turn to something different, sometimes something weird. In order to enjoy something, sometimes you have to turn to alcohol and drugs to get yourself an external high, meaning something that's going to come into your body and drive your pleasure. You're going to have to turn to gambling so that you can enjoy something with a little bit more excitement. This is what happens to people who live the more-is-more life.
Now, who are these people? Who is most in danger of such a terrible life and terrible ending? Well, the poor people. It's not so much that they're intelligent. It's not because they're following the wisdom of this class, but they're limited by their own limitation of not being able to afford more. So they're working very hard. They don't have the ability to go on more vacations. You know, you go on vacation once a year. Nice. Maybe twice a year if you have to. You go on vacation every third week, and at some point you don't enjoy the vacation. It's not good. You have to look for new places and new things, and new places and new types of ideas. You have to constantly be able to change because the item you used to enjoy is no longer enjoyable for you.
A poor person is protected in this area. It's not so much that he enjoys life tremendously, but he usually doesn't have the ability to burn out his pleasures. He can't afford to eat steak every day. He can't afford to go on vacation every month. Many of the things people do in order to get pleasure—shopping till they drop, vacationing or planning or thinking about their vacation 12 months a year, eating out every single day in a different place—are things a poor person usually isn't able to keep up with. This actually protects him, so he's at least still able to enjoy the things he has. So who is most in danger in this area? It's people who can afford it, the wealthy people.
Wealthy people are in tremendous danger. Since more is more is the logical way to go, and they can afford it, why not? Why not eat as much as you want, or whatever kind of foods you want? Why not travel as much as you want? Why not buy as much as you want? Why not do whatever you like? Just do it many times, in any way or form. A person who can afford it is in tremendous danger. That is why being a wealthy person is a very dangerous endeavor. Being a wealthy person has many, many beautiful things to it. But it also has something very destructive: a person who is wealthy and doesn't know boundaries has a very rocky road ahead. For sure, it will be an issue for him and his marriage, because again, he doesn't live within boundaries, even in relationships. There are boundaries even in relationships, and he doesn't have those boundaries. He will not be able to live happily with his wives. He will not have an easy time with his children. His children will grow up in a whole different type of way, and they won't be able to enjoy the simple life. He started on level A; he became level M. He starts then on level M. That means he at least was able to enjoy A to M until he burnt himself out. But his kids are starting at M, so forget about it. They don't even have a start like he had. He at least had 20, 30 years when he was able to enjoy some simple pleasure in life. His children are starting in a very high place, and again, with no boundaries, it just keeps going and going, and you burn out one item at a time.
It's therefore no surprise that you have the celebrities—we'll call them celebrities. Calling them celebrities, meaning they celebrate or they're celebrated, is a fake reality. If you study the lives of celebrities and very famous people and very powerful people and very wealthy people, and you go inside, past the picture they're posting once a day while posing, and into their real life, you will find that the norm is disaster: relationships broken, depression pills, drugs, all kinds of things that nobody here would wish for their child. That's what they have. This is the story of Hollywood and the story for many people who live a Hollywood life. Unfortunately, even people in our own community have that same exact lifestyle because they can afford it, and therefore they get themselves stuck and cannot find their way out of where they are.
A person could get so stuck in this type of lifestyle that he's seeing the pain and the results and feeling it, and still he doesn't figure out that it's all coming from the mindset he grew up with: more is more. No boundaries. In fact, one of today's great words of wisdom, which people wear on their T-shirts, is “No limits.” That's considered a very chashuv (important) type of statement that comes from very, very wise people. No limits. That's what Madison Avenue says. It sounds so beautiful when you hear it. It sounds so appropriate and, we'll call it, independent, empowering, free. What are your limits for? Why do you have to stay within lines? All these lines basically inhibit you. You want to be a free person. No limits in what you wear. No limits in what you say. No limits in what you do. No limits. Gorgeous.
The average ear that listens to that says, “This is stunning.” You go to shul (synagogue), and the rabbi says, “You can't do this. You can't do that. You can't go here. You can't say that. You can't listen to that. You can't wear that. Shabbat. No, no, you can't.” Then the same guy goes to Madison Avenue, and they tell him, “No limits. Whatever you want. It's all good.” There used to be limits in the world a hundred years ago. Those archaic people a hundred years ago had limits. They spoke about limitations. They gave rules. They tell them today, “We changed. Today we became smarter. Your grandpa was a monkey. No wonder he had all these limitations. But now, thank God, we've evolved. We've become these wise, smart people. And now we know: no limits is the way.”
Did you blame a teenager who doesn't know much? When faced with those two options, could you blame a teenager? Yes, our kids go to yeshiva. Yes. Could you blame a kid who goes to yeshiva, where they're telling him, “Rule number one, rule number two, rule number 613,” and each one of the rules has secondary rules? Melachot Shabbat (Shabbat labors) is one; there are 39 of them, and each one has many kinds and many types. He's all in, he's in the yeshiva, and then all of a sudden his mind opens to Madison Avenue and Hollywood and all of the great people there and all the messaging they give you. Could you blame a teenager for saying, “Why would I go left here with the yeshiva if I have over here on my right the no limits? Why would I choose limits over no limits?” And not only are teenagers not expected to make a good choice; even the smartest adults will fall for such an obvious answer. In their mind, it's obvious. What's the question? We all desire freedom. We all desire independence. People fight wars in order to become free men. So here I have a system that puts boundaries everywhere I go, and here's a system that has no limits. What is the question here? It's peshita—obvious. There's nothing to talk about. This is the mindset of most people in humanity. Again, sometimes they can't afford it, so they live within limitations because they have no choice. But if they had a choice, they would be just as much in Hollywood as the Hollywood celebrities.
Go study the statistics of people who win the jackpot of the lottery. Go see what happens to these people. They have a very interesting ending. A normal guy was happy, had his wife and his dog, and he was doing great. That's it. The average American has maybe a wife, for sure a dog, and maybe a child. The guy is doing awesome. All of a sudden he became a multimillionaire. He lost it, lost his mind. He lost his happiness. This is a real issue.
That's how you can explain how a young man or young lady can go to yeshiva—not a Jewish school, a yeshiva that teaches the values of Torah and Mitzvot—and then graduate at 18 and look like goyim (non-Jews). How could it be? How could a person go to yeshiva until the age of 18? You know how many years that is? Do you have any idea? That's his entire upbringing. From the time he's two until 18, he's within the walls of the yeshiva more than he's within the walls of the house. And who are they hiring over there? They're hiring good ladies to teach. They're hiring great rabbis to teach. They're giving over the values. How can this guy look like a goy in the street? He eats like a goy, talks like a goy, dresses like a goy. How could that be? It doesn't make sense. We don't see this once in a while. We see this every day. This is the norm, and you say, “What's going on? What's wrong with our yeshiva system?”
So there could be something wrong, but what's more wrong is that you are intrigued by the celebrities of Madison Avenue and Hollywood. All over the world, when you go on vacation, you need to go to a place where they go. Why? Because they're very chashuv people. That's how, unfortunately, most people grow up. They have parents who idolize these low people who are supposed to have success in life, whether through the magazines they read about them, the discussions about them, trying to emulate them by what they wear or what they listen to or where they go, or a lifestyle that emulates them. For that kind of young boy or young lady, no years of yeshiva can be the solution to a no-limit life.
There is an avodah zarah (idol worship) called Baal Peor. It was a very, very popular avodah zarah in the times of old. Even the Jewish people in the desert were intrigued by this avodah zarah. If you didn't see this in print in the Torah, you would say this is impossible. You have the Jewish people in the desert. These are the people who experienced Yetziat Mitzrayim. They saw Hashem at the splitting of the sea. They had this prophetic vision that Chazal (the Sages) tell us was greater than that of some of the prophets. These are the people who stood by Har Sinai, and Hashem spoke to them. These are the people who were living with the man (manna) coming every day as their breakfast and dinner. These are the people who were traveling with water. These are the people who had clouds of glory constantly protecting them. These are people who haven't changed their clothing since Mitzrayim. These are people who were living a miraculous life. They are actually called Dor De'ah. Dor De'ah means it's a generation of wisdom. That's all they did. They had nothing to do. They had no jobs. They didn't have houses. They didn't have to fix. They didn't have to build. They had nothing to do. What learned and what shared with them. Dor De'ah. This is a generation that I'm talking about now.
The Pasuk (verse) says at the end of Parashat Balak that, through the advice of Balak, they figured out how to entice the Jewish people. They put young ladies in the market and enticed them to go inside. But that wasn't even... That was a big problem. But here it says, “Vayitzamed Yisrael” (Israel attached itself). The word Yitzamed means that they connected with the Baal Peor idol, like you collect or connect, like glue. Yitzamed, cling. Rashi, alav hashalom (peace be upon him), says, from the words of Chazal, “Why is it called Baal Peor? What was so intriguing about this idol that this Dor De'ah—you have people in this generation who actually connected to it, loved it, and were literally tied down with it? What is it that intrigued them? Who is this Baal Peor? What were they doing?” So Rashi says, “You know why it's called Peor? It's not even nice to repeat. I can't repeat it. Let's say it in Hebrew, that's it.” But in a clean way, they basically would go to the bathroom on the idol. Instead of going to the bedroom, they would go and relieve themselves on this idol. And Rashi says that's the way you worship this idol. They made an idol, and the way to worship it was for it to become your toilet. That's the worship. They say to the Baal Peor that they love him; they connect with him. It's an unbelievable relationship they have with him. And what is the ultimate service of this idol? It becomes their toilet. Anyone reading this says, “These people are nuts.”
Now, if this was regular—some nation somewhere in a third- or fourth-world country—okay, fine. Ignorant people, they don't know anything, they do dumb things. But you're talking about Dor De'ah, a generation of wisdom, who've experienced and continue to experience the most unbelievable events. What could they possibly see in this idol? I understand idol worship in the sense of, you know, these guys who go to the mountains somewhere in India and meditate and talk about love. You know those people? They talk about love and calmness and relaxation and yoga. Then they bring spices and burn them, and you're smelling it. Then they play music in the background and the wind is blowing. How do I know about this? I used to have a good friend in business. He's an Indian fellow, so I did a lot of business with him. Almost every day I would talk to him, except for like 3 weeks out of the year. He disappeared for 3 weeks. He tells me, “I'm going to be out for 3 weeks. I'm gone.” So I ask, “If I want to call you?” He says, “No, they can't call me, can't reach me. No phone or nothing.” I ask, “Where are you going?” Where you going? He asked his rabbi in India. I said, “Where is this rabbi?” He says, “He's on one of the mountains in a cave. You gotta go in. I don't know where the place is. I don't know where it was.” And he spends three weeks on the mountain with this guy. I said, “What do you do over there?” So he gave me some of the things they do. They meditate, they think, they do. They exercise, they walk, music, whatever they do. They have a whole thing every year. For three weeks he's out, three weeks. So I hear that. You know, a guy talks to you about his trip to these places. You say, “Oh wow. Sounds, you know, nice. Love and quiet and peaceful.” So I hear it. But to tell me that this generation, or anybody for that matter, is intrigued by such an idol, whose service is the most disgusting service to the idol—how would anyone even be involved in that? For most of them to be connected to it, they were inseparable from it. They couldn't do without it. It became inseparable from them. They needed it. You can't imagine it. But according to what we're saying today, it makes perfect sense.
What was the service of this idol? The service had meaning. The service was no limits. As disgusting as it was, that was the point. The point is you could do whatever you want to whomever you want, and it doesn't matter. You can go to your idol and use it as your bathroom. It's fine. Do whatever you want. No limits. Vayitzamed Yisrael. You know, when you're a Dor De'ah and everything is rules and guidelines and can and you must, and you got yet there in yeshiva for 40 years, all of a sudden they leave the yeshiva and see this. It's very intriguing. It's a life with limitations that feels like they're taking away your freedom, and then you see no limits. It's very intriguing, and you need it. You want it. You feel like a free person.
More is more has confused even the Dor De'ah. Even that generation dealt with this fake reality, this counterfeit in the world of physical pleasures. No limits may feel so comfortable to the human mind and to a person's heart, and living without limitations may feel so good and play into my desire for freedom. While it feels that way, it is a terrible mistake that has led to the destruction of many, many, many, many people in this world, especially the wealthy and the successful. Those people are in the biggest danger of destruction because they're able to carry it out, not just in their mindset, but in reality.
So we must realize that the reality is, as hard as it is to believe, less is more. In the physical world, less is actually more enjoyable when you limit yourself and know the right amount, in the right way, with the right person, in the right situation. When you know your guidelines and therefore do less because you have guidelines, you're actually going to enjoy more. It may be different from what our mind would automatically think, especially in the world we grew up in, but we must know that: less is more, more is less.
We cannot be expected to enjoy fifth-class pleasures if we don't know the limitations to every kind of pleasure that Hashem gave in life. And if you ask me, “How do I know? How much? How little? When? With whom? How? Where is the rule book here? What's the limitation?” Okay, by steak it's easy. That's an easy one. I gave you an easy one. Everybody knows you eat steak for one week straight, twice a day, and you're not going to be able to continue. That's an easy one. There are some limitations that are obvious. But most of them are not so obvious. So someone is going to come and tell us exactly the limitation to each and every part of life, so that we can maximize our pleasure and enjoy the physical world as much as possible? Even though it's fifth class, the lowest class, it's still enjoyable. But it can only be enjoyed if you have the rules of limitations. If you don't have the rules of limitations, you're not going to be able to enjoy the physical world. You'll be frustrated your whole life, get yourself in trouble, destroy your family, and still come up short because you're not following the guidelines.
Where are these guidelines? The guidelines are what we call Mitzvot. Mitzvot means Hashem tells us, don't do this. Generally, it's Mitzvot Lo Ta'aseh, the things we're not allowed to do. There's Mitzvot Aseh, things that we must do. And Mitzvot Lo Ta'aseh, things we're not allowed to do. The Creator says, “Don't do that. Don't eat that. It's not a good thing. Limit.” The Creator says, “Don't go there. Oh, don't look at that. Don't listen to that. Don't be with that person in a private room. Can't do that. Limitation. Oh, that relationship is off limits. Don't do that. Oh, that person you may not talk to in a certain way. Or you may not touch. Off limits, limitations in all areas of life.” What are these limitations? What does Hashem care if we do all these things? What does it matter to Him? What is He getting out of it when He says, “Don't do something”? What He's giving you is the rules of life. He's giving you the rules of where you need to limit. Because if you live within the rules, you actually enjoy the physical world tremendously.
And by the way, which day of the week is the greatest pleasure? Shabbat. Guess what happens on Shabbat? More rules. You have rules six days a week. Come Shabbat, the day of pleasure. So what do we do on the day of pleasure? More pleasure, more rules. The rules are meant to bring out the maximum pleasure a person could have in this world. No limits equals no pleasure. Limits, of course, with the right guidance, equals a life of physical pleasure in this world. This is something every person must learn from a young age. Unfortunately, most people not only don't learn it, they learn the opposite. They think the opposite and live their life in frustration, breaking many, many, many things that were there to serve them and help them, and they are no longer able to enjoy those very things. Why? No limits. That's what they imagine. That's how they thought and that's how they live because they can. This is the number one rule to learn. More is less. That's reality. Less is more. You want to enjoy this physical world, you better be focused on the boundaries. If you live within the boundaries, you're going to have an unbelievably enjoyable physical life.