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Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Balak
Israel had the father of all prophets, Moshe. The nations had one who was his equal (ibid. 14:20). Despite their equal potential, regarding wisdom and prophetic powers, one created a nation, and one set out to destroy one and to cause it to sin. This is because knowledge is not enough. It can cause its possessor’s downfall, as one digests knowledge and uses it according to his innate nature.
"If someone tells you there is wisdom in Edom, believe him; there is Torah in Edom, do not believe him" (Eicha Rabba 2:13). "The beginning of wisdom is fear of Hashem" (Tehillim 111:10). Wisdom can be a tool to broaden and deepen fear of Hashem. Our tradition is to use wisdom to recognize Hashem’s greatness and the justice of His laws, which brings love of Hashem, as a son loves a father. The righteous become prominent partners in creation through their actions (see Ketubot 5a). Among the nations where godliness is an abstract term and there is not a belief in Divine Providence, intellectual pursuit, instead of elevating the soul, just causes haughtiness. Their [focusing on Nazi Germany] ethics are based on intellect that is controlled by personal desire, allowing society to kill the elderly and disabled. Ethics do not purify the soul that, like Balak, looks to fill itself with wealth.
Bilam was confronted by a culture based on the idea of Hashem’s unity, whereby life is full of content, from the spiritual elite to the lower strata of society. When Bilam saw the nation, he cried out excitedly: "How good are your tents" (Bamidbar 24:5) - these are pure and simple tents, but they contain the secret of the nation’s greatness. The Jewish tent, at once, opens in a manner that promotes modesty but also includes the tents with multiple openings that enabled our patriarchs to excel at welcoming guests. Bilam’s excitement was short-lived, and he remembered what he wanted to accomplish, to curse this impressive nation. When this failed, he devised the scheme of Baal Pe’or to undermine their greatness, focused around the tents, by ruining their modesty and purity.
Times have changed; generations have come and gone. Prophecy has left our people, but basic differences continue. We now see great scientists who use their expertise just to make money and throw oil on the flames of anti-Semitism. Professors in Germany give "credibility" to the doctrine of "the superior race." We don’t even have a short respite to hear blessings, as we did from Bilam, because we now lack the aura of sanctity that enveloped our forefathers.
Let us return to the purity and the proper openness of the tents so that the curses will turn into blessings against the will of sinister nations.
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.