YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Bereshit
A second trenchant point that the story of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden teaches us is that human beings cannot hide from the consequences of their behavior. Eventually the piper must always be paid. When man‘s plans go awry, when his ideals turn into false idols, when he realizes the disastrous consequences of past hopes and policies, when he is literally stripped naked before the bar of history and suffers from the unforeseen consequences of his past behavior and decisions, most humans follow the example of Adam and attempt to hide from their mistakes. Adam hides in the vegetation of the Garden of Eden and naively believes that he can avoid the necessary confrontation with God. He also believes that somehow he need not confront himself either. Then the voice of the Lord is asking the question of all questions - "Where are you?" This is not a question that refers to Adam’s location on earth. Rather it is the deep probing question of self-assessment that governs all of life’s actions and vicissitudes. Every moment of our waking lives the question "Where are you?" is directed to us. And hiding in the bush does not help for the question eventually emanates from within our deepest being and cannot be wished away or ignored indefinitely. After centuries of secularism - "Where are you?" After decades of peacemaking and unilateral concessions - "Where are you?" After the pursuit of material goods to the exclusion of all else - "Where are you?" There is no hiding place from that question. It is what guides and informs our personal and national lives.
And as a final insight that certainly can be gleaned from the story of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden concerns the clothing the Lord made for them, so to speak, to cover their nakedness. In the Torah the clothing made from them was from material called ohr - spelled with an ayin and meaning "hides/leather." The Talmud records for us that in the Torah written by Rabbi Meir, the great scholar and scribe of the second century CE, the word ohr was spelled with an aleph instead of an ayin. Ohr with an aleph means "light/radiance." Human beings have the choice as to how they wish to cover their nakedness and their base and wrongheaded behavior. They can cover it with hides and leather, furs and satins. But eventually these materials fray, tear, decay and/or are no longer considered to be fashionable. Rabbi Meir’s option was to cover them with light - with Torah and faith, commitment and tenacity, repentance and good deeds. The original light of creation still exists in our universe and world. If humans are wise enough to envelop themselves in its radiance our shameful nakedness cam be covered and we will not be doomed to repeat past errors of judgment and behavior. We should attempt to retain as much of our physical and spiritual Garden of Eden as possible in this good new year that has now begun for all of us.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
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.
