Did Rabbi Manis Friedman Go Too Far?

A non Jew, i realized that my behavior was manipulated by "idol" worship until I listened to Rabbi Manis Friedman Teaching. I was driven to serve G-d either in fear of escaping "hell" or a desire to go to "heaven". My perception got in the way to seeing G-d clearly. Thank G-d there is profound clarity in the Rabbi's Teaching. If one knows G-d the way HE wants to be known, it will certainly cause that individual to serve G-d better regardless of where in the World.

I am not Jewish but I love watching you guys talk about God and it is helping me out with my addiction problem so God bless you rabbi yoni and family.brittany Navarre from baton rouge Louisiana

Rabbi Friedman is the Mesiachh of our generation You are the only Rabbi i listen about 5 years now it has changed my Christian way of thinking about God You are my mentor Thank you Rabbi Friedman

I was walking home on shabbos erev purim after shul. It was dark, and I got hit with a truck. This was the 1st day I wore tzizis... All my friends said "Nebech, Boruch. What did you do to Hashem!?" I said, fools. It was Hashem who saved me and made me get away from this accident with three broken ribs. And they were broken ecsectly were tzitzis did not touched.

This is R' Botton -- I have spoken to lots of rabbis Chabad Litvish Sefardic rabbis that poskim Halacha and that could easily sit on a Beit Din - this is my conclusion based on all of the above: 1) His isn't an Am HaAretz. 2) Most of the clips created and promoted by those 2 rabbis have nothing to do with heresy. 3) The only issue is with the statement of reward & punishment - and this video clearly explains that R' Friedman believes in reward & punishment. His view is that the suffering that a person goes through for sin in today's generation is a rectification (sin causes suffering in gehinum (hell) etc.) But it isn't a punishment because people aren't rebelling willfully so they don't deserve punishment, but they do need to rectify the damage they caused to their soul and the world because of their sins. 4) Although the above isn't not exactly my view on this topic as I stated repeatedly in the video - Based on R' Friedman's statements in the video there is NO LONGER an issue with R' Friedman - he isn't a heretic, his statements are no longer heretical, he is calling what others call punishment rectification - now it is clear everyone agrees - they are just giving it two different terms. All the best

Just to clarify: Both rabbis in this video agree that there is Reward & Punishment, as the Rambam states in his principles of Faith. Except that R' Friedman prefers to call punishment rectification. This is also true. I personally have no issue with using the term punishment, but saying rectification instead for the reasons R Friedman explained is also kosher. There is nothing heretical in this video - BUT I do admit the clips can be misleading. It is very possible the full video that the clips were taken from gave an entirely different message as the clips. I hope this is helpful. R Botton (the one doing the interview)

Rabbi Manis has a lot of patience. ❤

Sorry but I wasn't raised frum and I understand what that this Rabbi is trying to explain in his talks. It's amazing to me that people who consider to be Torah scholars can't understand it. Explaining the difference between punishment versus cause and effect and similar concepts with very helpful to my spiritual walk, and others that I have met who have listened to Rabbi Friedman, because they learned to approach Torah observance for the approach of doing it out of love, and then understood that the obligation part comes in in terms of responsibility to themselves and their greater society. If you love HaShem & other people on a mature level, you understand that responsibility and self-discipline are part of expressing that love. I think the issue this Rabbi is having is more reflective of a problem within the frum world, rather than an issue with the message that Rabbi Friedman is getting across. No one who listens to Rabbi Friedman seriously, apart from a few internet trolls that make a lot of noise in the comments, other than that no one listens to him and thinks that HaShem says we can do what we want without consequence. I'm sure that the person doing the interviewing is simply trying to play devil's advocate in order to give the Rav a chance to explain himself, but regardless of whose behalf he is speaking on, I think this is interview is very telling about how much difficulty people in the Orthodox community have in trying to get across the message of Torah to people outside of their own neighborhoods. This is why they're not affecting the change that they want 50 in the world especially where it regards non-orthodox Jews. You don't know what people need to hear, let alone how to explain it to them. Rabbi Friedman has figured it out and he's getting it across very well but you don't understand because you're not the type of person who needs to hear what he's saying. I say that in all respect.

The guy on the left sounds extremely smart, the way he comes to the conclusions of minute long conversations before they happen is incredible. Id love to hear him speak his own thoughts and ideology.

Wow again Rabbi Yoni, this is priceless. In a way this is better than the classes themselves by Rabbi Friedman, mainly since he is clarifying many of the issues the religious world has with these amazing messages.

Rabbi Friedman understands how to talk to this generation.. those that speak against him are just ignorant

Fascinating and deep discussion. Sometimes God allows 'negative' events in our lives which can be considered as a punishment for our sins. But sometimes God allows 'negative' events where a person is innocent, and these events enable people to grow and mature in their faith and come out stronger. In both cases, God is always by our side as he loves his creation.

40:30 mark: "There needs to be a revolution in the way Yiddishkeit is approached in the yeshivos."

Can't wait for the 2nd part!

Here is a full quote of the passage from the Maaneh loshon book. “ … For who am I that You have brought me to this position. I AM NOT NEEDED BY YOU. It is only in Your great kindness that You created me, so that I could achieve merit. You brought me into being from nothingness.” in black & white letters.

Finally, this controversy is being addressed regardless of your opinion on the matter.

Basically every Sin has 2 aspects. Defying god’s will and the actual sin itself. In conclusion Merida = Punishment and rectification. The actual sin = Rectification. Same as obeying commandments. One is the obeying 2 is the actual good that takes effect. You receive 2 diff rewards. For the obeying you get credit and for the good deed done it’s an automatic payment, the good deed itself pays off.

Lots of love to Manis Friedman ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Thank you yoni for putting out these videos, this is an amazing conversation, this Rabbi challenges Rabbi manis, but in a very respectful and humble manner, which is the only way to get to the truth, as opposed to debate someone, and everyone becomes defensive, So Please keep on sharing these kind of conversations of rabbi manis with other Torah scholars! Especially those who challenge the Rabbi, so we get more clarity on these topics. Thank you you again

But shout-out to the Rabbi on the left for coming down asking his questions!!!! Not being like rabbi Mizrachy who simply criticizes That's amazing!!! I hope rabbi Mizrachy comes around too!!!