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The Torah study is dedicatedin the memory of
Rabbi Mordechai Tsemach ben Mazal Tov
This year of 5769 the month of Nissan contains within it another special natural feature - birkhat hachama - the blessing of the sun. This blessing and ceremony takes place every twenty-eight years, always on a Wednesday, this time on erev Pesach April 8. The celestial cycle of twenty eight years aligns the sun and the adjacent planets and moons in our solar galaxy in approximately the same positions that they were relative to each other at the time of creation. Through the simple blessing that we make on that morning - oseh maaseh bereshith - that the Lord has done and continues even now to create our universe, we acknowledge the fact of creation and the existence of our Creator. It is an affirmation of Judaism’s cardinal belief in God and in His creation of our universe. This year it serves as a fitting introduction to the Pesach seder which will take place that night since the seder affirms the further attribute of God, so to speak, which Judaism emphasizes - the unique guidance by Him of the people of Israel and its special role in human events and history. Thus this month of Nissan represents the two strands of thought and belief within Judaism - the universal and general and the particular and national. It is the representation of these two seemingly disparate views of God’s role, so to speak, in human affairs that delineates Judaism from other faiths. The Jewish God is the God of all, of nature and the entire universe, while simultaneously being the God of Israel and the Jewish people. And this also an important lesson of the month of Nissan to us.
The month of Nissan opens for us a portal to gaze at spiritual greatness. It allows us to see God’s hand, so to speak, in human affairs and especially in human history. It also gives us a sense of how God metes out justice in this world to nations and individuals. Sometimes, as in the case of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, this judgment is public, well-known and irrefutable, not given to denial and/or interpretation. Other times it is not quite visible, understandable or immediate. But the Torah teaches us that it is always present. In Avot we read that the heavenly court’s messengers appear daily on this earth to collect from we humans what we owe to the heavenly court of justice and retribution. But we rejoice in Nissan because that month reveals for us in stark detail the exactitude of God’s judgments and the truth of His justice. Nissan therefore stands as a vindication of our belief in a just yet inscrutable God. That is perhaps why the Torah made Nissan the first of all months, not only in chronology but in symbolism and education as well. This month was given by God to us as a gift as it is written: "This month is yours." It is ours to teach us to recognize these fundamental ideas of Judaism as outlined above. May it yet prove this year to be a time of spiritual and physical redemption as well.
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
