YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Jewish Holidays
- The Seven Weeks of Condolence
The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed 1939 years ago. It has not been rebuilt for millennia, neither by Jewish efforts nor by heavenly intervention. An independent Jewish state has nonetheless arisen in the Land of Israel. The state is imperfect, socially, economically, politically and spiritually. Many times I have heard people in Israel say, only half-jokingly - while waiting in line at one of our many government offices " For this we waited two thousand years?!" The great and grandiose dreams that many associated with the advent of the Messianic Era have not as yet materialized. We are still far from peace and security, from social equality and from a spiritually oriented society. We are riven with internal divisions, unreasoning hatreds and grumbling complaints. We have reached the Promised Land but many feel that its promise has been denied us. So therefore the not so small comfort of being able to live in the Land of Israel in an independent Jewish state ends up not being appreciated and for many Jews, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, not even recognized. It is as though Jewish redemption and rebuilding is an all or nothing matter. And if we don’t as yet have then many somehow feel that we have nothing. And we buttress this wrong attitude with piety or distorted ideas of humanism accompanied by infantile sloganeering. We behave like a spoiled child rejecting or demeaning a gift given to it because it feels that the gift is somehow inadequate. That is not only bad attitude; it is bad manners as well.
The rabbis of halacha and of the Talmud were master psychologists of the human spirit. They made provision for releasing grief and restoring emotional equilibrium in measured stages - seven days, thirty days, a year, annual memorial days. Each of these stages brings only a small measure of comfort in gradual measure as compared to the terrible shocking blow of tragedy itself. There is only one Shabat Chazon - the dark Shabat of sadness that precedes Tisha B’Av. Its impact is sudden, enormous and devastating. However there are seven Shabatot of comfort that follow Tisha B’Av. Comfort apparently comes in small and of necessity repetitious doses. Each small comfort is to be appreciated and savored on its own terms. None of the comforts are complete in themselves. They are small in comparison to the great national tragedy that befell us. Yet cumulatively they allow us to be comforted and begin again our personal and national missions. The rabbis questioned Rabi Yochanan ben Zakai why he did not ask the Roman general (soon to be emperor) Vespasian for the right to rebuild the Temple. He replied that he only wished for now an hatzalah purta - a small salvation and comfort. The small salvation and comfort was the yeshiva at Yavne and its scholars. This small salvation fueled Jewish survival throughout the long dark night of the exile. We should appreciate and be grateful for our current hatzalah purta - our wondrous small comfort.
The Seven Weeks of Condolence Kibutz Galuyot and Self Hatred
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 2
The Seven Weeks of Condolence Rebuilding Jerusalem
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 3
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.
