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Beit Midrash
- Family and Society
- A Nation and its Halachot
- Leadership
- Family and Society
- The Nation of Israel
The Torah study is dedicatedto the full recovery of
Asher Ishaayahu Ben Rivka
The whole concept of Jewish National Pride must be totally reconstructed. During many generations of exile, we became accustomed to having our honor defamed. We became used to degradation and humiliation. Our honor was stripped from us and we were outcast like lepers. The Jewish people were disgraced and humiliated for nearly two thousand years. We had no choice, we were forced to swallow it all, to stoop low and give in. Any attempt to fight for our honor was useless, and any attempt to cast off our humiliation could imply even life-threatening danger. Hence, being degraded became second nature, such that even today we continue to be insensitive when it comes to national pride. In fact, we have even made a sort of ideology of it: The honor of Israel is unimportant, even trivial.
Though we have regained national independence, it is taking time to restore our pride as a people - not only in the eyes of the nations, but in our own eyes as well. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, we have been slowly freeing ourselves from the mentality of the exile. It is no longer possible to assault us without suffering the consequences. The nation of Israel is gradually earning a respectable place in the family of nations, and the assembly of states. Nevertheless, there is still a long road ahead of us. Our independence is not yet complete. Biting, denigrating anti-Semitism is still alive in the world and beating in the hearts of the nations. There is strong criticism of Israel. Our actions are being examined as if through a magnifying glass. We have not yet escaped the exile entirely. Even today, anti-semitism makes itself felt, and some people are desperate to escape the isolation and degradation. Many sincerely feel that it is best not to stick out, not to draw attention. There is no reason, they claim, to go emphasizing our uniqueness. According to this school of thought, we would do well to adopt the behavior of other nations, to attempt to resemble them - perhaps in this manner we will succeed in freeing ourselves from isolation and hatred. Sometimes the arrogant attitude of the nations toward us succeeds in convincing Jews that these nations are in fact superior to us, and that we ought to esteem and imitate them - to "be like America." Israel's economic and diplomatic dependency on these other countries also affects national pride and taints spiritual independence. All of these factors contribute in delaying complete Israeli burgeoning.
All the same, we are progressing toward national self-esteem. We are constantly advancing. The time is not far in coming when we will cease imitating the nations and refrain from bowing to them. The time is coming when we will return to ourselves, to our own way of life, to our own holidays and festivals, to the Jewish calendar, and our own Jewish New Year. The day is coming when we will no longer stoop so low as to participate in foreign holidays - holidays which run counter to our healthy independent Jewish character. Then, when we finally return to ourselves, other nations will come to learn from us. "And many people shall go and say, Come, let us go up the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths, for out of Zion shall Torah go forth, and the word of God from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3).
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Biblical quotations were taken from the Jerusalem Bible, Koren Publications.
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.
