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Beit Midrash
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- Ein Ayah
Rav Yehuda said: How do we know that the blessings on food after one eats are from the Torah? For it says: "You shall eat and be satiated, and bless ..." (Devarim 8:10). How do we know that the blessing on Torah study before one studies is from the Torah? For it says: "When I will call out the name of Hashem, give greatness to our Lord" (ibid. 32:3).
Ein Ayah: There are two benefits one receives from Hashem by means of food. One is the enjoyment of the eating - as one eats. It is fitting to give thanks for this enjoyment even if one did not gain any life-sustaining benefit from the eating. However, the main benefit from the food is the fact that it helps sustain life.
There are also two benefits that one receives from Torah study. One benefit is that it helps one act properly, as it teaches him what he should be doing in order to lead his path in life based on the Torah. The act of learning, in and of itself, is one that elevates he who learns to the sanctity of involvement in the sacred Torah, which is a Torah of life, the light of the face of the living King.
It makes sense that in regard to the blessing that is of Torah origin, it is fitting that the blessing should relate to the main benefit, whereas the lower level benefit should be covered by the expansion of the concept, with a rabbinically ordained blessing. This distinction enables us to distinguish between the main and the secondary benefits.
Regarding the blessings on food, the main benefit is the sustaining of life that it facilitates. This benefit is received after the eating has taken place and the food begins to be digested. Therefore, the blessing of Torah origin is the one that comes after eating.
Regarding Torah study, in contrast, the lofty sanctity of the Torah itself is truly above all other actions, so that one who is involved in Torah study lishma (for the right reasons) is made great and elevated over all things. The completeness of a man upon grasping the truths of Torah, even when he does not do an action based on it, is greater and higher than the improvement that he receives from the actions that Torah study enables him to fulfill correctly. Therefore, even though one’s actions are improved only after he has learned, when the knowledge is in place and enables him to act correctly, still the blessing on the Torah that is of Torah origin is the one before the study. This lets us know that the heights of the value of the Torah are in the quest for the knowledge, in and of itself. The study itself is what we refer to as "our life and the length of our days." This is what we gain right away as we start to learn.
This is also why we cite the pasuk, "When I will call out the name of Hashem...". We should recognize that the greatness of Torah comes from the fact that it is a manifestation of the name of Hashem. Through it we are to know His great name and when it brings us light, which is loftier than all activities, and no objects can equal its value, including all of the mitzvot of the Torah together (Yerushalmi, Pei’ah). Neither our objects of precious stones nor Hashem’s objects of mitzvot and good deeds equal it (apparently based on Bereishit Rabba 35:3).
Ein Ayah Self-rebuke by Comparing Oneself with the Forefathers
condensed from Ein Ayah, Shabbat 9:132-133
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
