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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- The High Holidays
- The Month of Elul
One of the great aspects of Elul is that it dwells upon the future. Months that contain within them days of commemorations and holidays always possess a necessary emphasis on past events, on history and great events that have previously occurred. Elul possesses no such commemorative days. It therefore looks forward to creating a better future for ourselves and our families and communities. It emphasizes that the misdeeds and sad events of the past should be considered as having ended and disappeared and now we can only look forward to better times and more positive behavior in the new year that now appears over our horizon. The emphasis on introspection that I previously described as being part of the Elul package - and introspection always concentrates on dealing with past events and behavior - is tempered and balanced by Elul’s demand to look forward and deal with the future in a hopeful and positive fashion. The ability to balance the past and the future in our lives is always a difficult task. Dwelling on the past often induces unrealistic and distorted nostalgia which again always cripples our ability to deal with our current lives and our future. Once again dealing only with the future and ignoring the events and lessons of the past can only lead to great frustrations and disappointments when our rosy predictions and seeming certainties turn out to be wrong, useless and even dangerous. Elul sets the right tone in emphasizing our future and looking ahead while still demanding that a measure of introspection will allow one to learn from the past year gone by and create better emotional and psychological frame of mind and soul in approaching the future and the new year.
Elul is marked by the sounding of the shofar in the morning synagogue prayer services and by the recitation of selichot in the Sephardic and Near Eastern Jewish communities. These customs are meant to internalize within us the opportunities that the month of Elul offers us for our spiritual restoration and growth enhancement. There are no easy or even proven methods to help this process along within ourselves. Every individual must find his or her way alone. Judaism generally is not a one size fits all faith when it comes to spiritual growth. While we are all bound to perform the commandments of the Torah in their entirety no explicit guide to finding spirituality in one’s life is granted to us. Elul is therefore a time to search deep into one’s own self for the personal road that we all seek to find to become closer to the Creator and to leave a legacy of decency and Jewish commitment to those that will follow us. Elul is truly a special month for all of us.
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.
