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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Kdoshim
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Achrei Mot
As R. Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (Commentary on the Torah, Vayikra 18, 24-28) points out, every person ("adam") who comes from the earth ("adamah") is rejected by it, should he defile it. For example, this is what happened in the time of Noach. However, Eretz Yisrael, the chosen land, has a special relationship with B'nai Yisrael, the chosen people. We were selected by God to educate the people of the world to live moral lives and therefore, unethical behavior is absolutely intolerable. The Land of Israel will not flourish unless its society fulfills the lofty goals that God has set for it. If some individuals are guilty of moral corruption, only they will be punished. However, if the entire society acts unethically, and immorality becomes the national "way of life", the entire nation has betrayed the Torah and God's land. Therefore, it will be expunged from the land just as a foreign object is expunged from the body.
This has happened to us and it is a very frightening. How do we deal with it? Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik (Divrei Hahkafah, 92-93) suggests that we look to the haftara for consolation. At first blush, it would seem that Chapter 9 of Amos has no connection to the mitzvot and prohibitions of Parashat Achrei Mot or Parashat Kedoshim, when it is recited. However, the Rov points out that it is precisely because of the last line in the haftara, where God gives the people of Israel hope, and promises them that galut is temporary and they will return to Eretz Yisrael: "And I will bring my nation Israel back, and they will (re)build destroyed cities and settle in them... and I will plant them in their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land that I gave them..." (Amos 9, 14-15) We will be given the chance to repent and return.
B'chasdei shomayim, we have been given the opportunity to return to Eretz Yisrael. We pray that more and more Jews come here and join us in creating the moral society mandated by the Torah, thus hastening the arrival of Mashiach.
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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.
