Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Ki Tavo
All of these points teach us that the declaration is not for Hashem to hear our acknowledgement that it was not our strength and skill that brought us produce. Rather the Torah wants the declarer and the rest of the Jews in his proximity to hear, especially: "for I have come to the Land that Hashem swore to our forefathers to give to us" (Devarim 26:3). They should all realize that the conquest of the Land of Israel did not come by sword but that it was given to the Children of Israel as a present by He who created the world and divided it among the nations. This declaration should give us confidence that we have the moral right to inhabit the Land and not be perturbed by the classic call of the nations: "You are thieves" (see Rashi, Bereishit 1:1).
The Jewish people have three special characteristics: compassion, modesty, and proclivity to help others. Compassion for others is a wonderful trait that can help mold a society based on the values of justice and truth. However, it can also warp logic and cause "national suicide." This is the conclusion we can arrive at after seeing this week the strange alliance in the demonstration on behalf of those who were uprooted from the villages of Biram and Ikrit (Christian Arab villages near the Lebanese border, which were uprooted in 1948). The joint assemblage of holders of the cross and Jews, in theory came in the name of justice, but was based on the old slander that the Jewish settlement of Israel is thievery.
In the bikurim declaration we say that the Aramite went about destroying my father (ibid.:5). The Torah knew that the same people who try to destroy us will also hide their enmity for us. The descendants of those who tried to kill us throughout history until our time now say they just want justice and peace. Since we are susceptible to gullibility in this matter, we are to "call out and say..." As the p’sukim say, Hashem swore to give this Land to our forefathers, and we are not the thieves. Those who removed us from our Land of Heritage are the thieves, and we are just returning to reclaim it.
Rabbis in Midrash
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
