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Beit Midrash
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The Talmud teaches us that the current names of the months of the Jewish calendar year are Babylonian in origin, brought into Jewish society by the return of Ezra at the beginning of the Second Commonwealth. Yet the name of the month of Av has a distinctly Hebrew ring to it. Av in Hebrew means father, head or leader. It also intimates strength and greatness. The Talmud teaches us that it also implies that there are "toldot" - descendants - consequences if you will that inescapably derive from the presence of an "av." As such it appears to me that this month is therefore most aptly named and called. For the events commemorated in this month have had major effect upon Jewish and world history. And the "descendants" of Av continue to influence our national and personal existence even through today. The Talmud again reminds us that the absence of the Temples and Jewish control over the Land of Israel, the state of rootlessness and alienation that exile foisted upon the Jewish people for many centuries has even changed the physical and emotional environment of our world society. The tastes of foods, the aroma of flowers, the laughter of humans all were changed and somehow diminished by the destruction of the Temples and the exile of the Jewish people from the Land of Israel. In these respects as well as in many others, Av became and remains the most consequential month of the Jewish calendar year. It is the month that casts the longest shadow of all over Jewish life and history.
The rabbis taught us that those who are able to truly feel the loss of the Temples and Jerusalem within their hearts, whose mourning on their destruction is heartfelt and genuine and not merely externally expressed and pro forma, are privileged to see the other side of the month of Av in its consoling comfort and promise of redemption and better times. This ambivalence of feeling, a deep sense of loss combined with a sense of soaring optimism that is able to overlook current difficulties and misfortunes, makes this month of Av truly special. The ninth of Av marks our sorrow and pain while the fifteenth of Av lifts our spirits and points to success in family and community matters. The fact that these dates are close to one another prevents us from having a permanent feeling of depression and sadness and burdening the entire month with a black shroud of negative feeling. The addition of the adjective "menachem" - one who comforts and consoles - to the name of the month of Av is meant to bring this lesson home to us. It is necessary to maintain this upbeat spirit for Av leads to the month of Elul and with it the anticipation of the new and good year awaiting us. Av and all of its days will yet be a source of happiness and permanent achievement for all of Israel.
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
