Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz

that Hashem does good for those who observe His commandments and punishes those who do not observe His commandments.

This is one of the questions we ask a ger when he's in the mikvah, neck deep in the water.

Do you accept, do you believe that Hashem punishes those who do His will, do not do His will, and rewards those who do His will?

Absolutely, absolutely we believe these things.

Mitzvos matter, averos matter, right?

That's clear.

Okay, so now the question becomes, so now I look at anybody who's not from, and I say, well, they're not doing mitzvos, and it's their fault that the gul is not here.

So let's slow down a second.

Instead of saying it's their fault, I think the better way to formulate it is,

it's my problem that they're not doing mitzvahs, meaning it's all of Klal Yisrael's problem, because there is a major issue with the fact that we're not doing mitzvahs properly.

In the aftermath of October 7th, there was a rabbinic convention in America, and I interviewed Moreno Agon Rav Shechter Schlita, and one of the questions I asked him was, and Rav Shechter had already visited him,

the different places, Kibbutz Beiri and Yeroz and things.

So I asked him, these places were entirely divorced from the Kaddish Baruch Hu, almost entirely, almost entirely.

There were little hints, little, but it's hard, it's hard not to feel at some point that

These things happen when Jews in Eretz Yisrael are totally divorced from Hashem.

One of my visits to Eretz Yisrael, a person who spoke to us said, we asked, can we daven for you?

And the person said, put a prayer into the universe.

A prayer into the universe?

Not into the universe.

We daven to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.