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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Purim & The Month of Adar
- The Month of Adar
2. Elisha heals the bad waters with salt.
3. The Vilna Gaon: The redemption will spring from within the crisis itself.
4. Adar: The tables are turned, and the Jews' ordeal became their celebration.
Since the miracle of Purim, the Jewish people have a tradition, "From the onset Adar, increase in joyousness." In this month, not only were we saved from mortal danger (of annihilation by the wicked Haman), but we actually benefited as a result of that crisis, since the stature of the Jewish people became stronger afterwards than it had been before. In fact, many times over the generations we underwent the phenomenon of "going down for the purpose of coming up" where the descent itself is the cause of a new ascent.
G-d instructs Moshe to sweeten the bitter waters with a bitter tree.
Accordingly, our sages teach us (in Midrash Shemot-Rabbah 50) regarding the prophecy of Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 30:17, "For I will restore health to you, and will heal you from your wound," that G-d's nature is completely different from that of flesh and blood. Man strikes with a spear and heals with a bandage, but the Holy One, Blessed be He, heals with the very thing with which He strikes. As the Torah says in Shemot (Exodus) 15:23, "And they came to Marah, and they could not drink of the waters of Marah since they were bitter." Rabbi Levi said: The deeds of this generation were bitter. Verse 25 relates, "And he (Moshe/Moses) cried out to G-d, and G-d showed him a tree, and he cast it in the waters, and they were sweetened." The Sages ask, "And what was this tree? One opinion is that it was an olive tree, another holds that it was a willow, yet another is that it was an oleander." That is, the tree that G-d instructed to use was a bitter one (and according to the third opinion even a poisonous one); Moshe took it and cast it in the waters, and they were sweetened. The Midrash continues, "This is what is meant by 'I...will heal you from your wound'," but with the word "from" meaning here "as the result of, by virtue of." In other words, the blow itself is the remedy; the bitter tree sweetened the bitter waters.
Elisha heals the bad waters with salt.
The Midrash continues, "We saw the same thing with Elisha the prophet, when the people of Jericho said to him, (II Kings 2:19-22) 'Behold, the settlement of the city is good, as my lord can see, however the water is bad and the land causes bereavement.' And he said to them, 'Bring me a new vial and put salt in it,' and they brought it to him. And he went out to the source of the water and cast salt into it, and said 'Thus says the Lord, I have healed these waters; no longer will there be from them death and miscarriage.' And the waters were healed until this day, according to the pronouncement which Elisha spoke.'" Again, (the same phenomenon) the salt sweetens. These are the words of the Sages.
The Vilna Gaon: The redemption will spring from within the crisis itself.
In this light, we see that the troubles themselves bring on the salvations. "And it is a time of ordeal for Jacob, and he will be redeemed from it" (Yirmeyahu 30:7). Jacob (meaning the Jewish People) will be redeemed as a direct result of the crisis itself, from which springs the deliverance. Regarding this, The Vilna Gaon says in the book Kol HaTor, "It is imperative to know in advance, that in the footsteps of Mashiach (Messiah), from every distress springs salvation, and the salvation comes from within the predicament, according to the verse, 'It is a time of ordeal for Jacob, and he will be redeemed from it.' The footsteps of the Mashiach coincide with disturbances and obstacles caused by (the forces of evil, namely) the angel of Esau and Armilus, the angel of the Eruv-Rav, but they ultimately succumb to the angel of Yosef (Joseph). Therefore, under no circumstances are we to retreat if there should be, G-d forbid, some difficulty or obstacle in the path of our service. We must be confident that through the crisis, the Jewish people will be delivered, and from the narrow straits of distress we will arrive at the broad plain of G-d's salvation."
Adar: The tables are turned, and the Jews' ordeal became their celebration.
This month, Adar, is regarded as miraculous in this way, that the distress turned into salvation. "And to the contrary, that the Jews themselves ruled over their enemies" (Esther 9:1). Therefore, from the beginning of the Adar, we increase in joyousness. And with G-d's help, we will also be delivered from today's spiritual, sociopolitical and military crisis. And by virtue of it, and from within it, please G-d, will a new era open in the redemption process: an awakening of spiritual return, establishment of Jewish settlement in the whole of the Land of Israel, and repulsion of the enemies from Eretz Israel. May this month be the termination and end of all of our troubles, and the beginning and onset of our ultimate redemption.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
