Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Ki Tavo
The parsha makes it clear that the relationship between the people and the Land of Israel is based upon mitzvoth. The first section of the parsha deals with the commandments regarding bikurim - the offerings of the first fruits of the season - and the commandments regarding the tithing of produce and the redemption of it in coins to be brought to and spent in Jerusalem. All of the laws regarding the Land of Israel and its produce are meant to remind us of the uniqueness of that land and its inherent holiness. If the Jews somehow treat the Land of Israel as just another country or location on face of this earth then their stay in the land will remain questionable and impermanent. Just as the Jews are not allowed by God to see themselves as just plain folks like everyone else so too does He not allow us to see the Land of Israel as a place on the map just like anywhere else. Zionism learned the hard way that Uganda is not the Promised Land for Jews. The difficulty in treating the Land of Israel as a unique location lies in the practical tasks of everyday national, governmental and social life. How to try and live a supposedly normal life in a country and location that the Torah defines for us as being abnormal and unique represents the great challenge that faces the Jewish people in today’s world. Hopefully we will meet that challenge more successfully than did our earlier ancestors.
Rabbis in Midrash
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
