Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Noach
Enter the ark. The ark symbolizes not only the salvation of one person and his family from the ravages of the flood but it more importantly symbolizes the ability to rise above our fears and innate pessimism and salvage the purpose of our lives from pessimism and nihilism. As a reinforcement of this idea of a saving ark there is also the natural phenomenon of the rainbow which represents an eternal covenant between humankind and the Creator that the flood will not recur. This rainbow is not to be misinterpreted or its impact to be exaggerated. We have no guarantees against recurring disasters, natural and man made, wars and strife, but we do have a promise that somehow human life will continue. It is therefore incumbent upon us to make that life productive, meaningful and in a true sense, eternal as well. The ark was and is the will of humankind to not only survive the omnipresent threat of the flood but somehow to overcome its dangers and attempt to reinforce the rainbow and not be distracted by the false messages of unrealistic hopes on one hand and the prophets of impending doom on the other hand. Every generation is charged with the task of building an ark for itself anew. It is also instructed to teach the message of the rainbow to the next generation, to implant belief, tradition, values and a concern for others into the lives of those that will follow us here on earth.
All of this is true for humankind generally. It certainly is true for the Jewish people particularly. Israel, world Jewry generally, finds itself hemmed in by enemies and beset by great problems. We are the only people targeted openly by others for a great flood to befall us. The world apparently is unaware that the fate of all is tied in inextricably with the fate of the Jews. One would have thought that the story of the twentieth century and its horrendous events would have made this lesson clear to all. Obviously this is not the case. But we Jews have to nevertheless continue building our ark. This little seemingly flimsy ark has withstood all of the floods that time has thrown against us. We should revitalize ourselves, dream great dreams again, see the great picture and not concentrate so much on the picayune details which so blind us to our accomplishments and goals. We have to rebuild ourselves anew but without discarding the treasures of our past. God promised the Jewish people a new heart and the ability to rise to all challenges. And above all we must educate our generation and future generations to observe the rainbow which is reflected in the Torah and our teachings and traditions. Jewish ignorance, hedonism and worshipping false idols that mask themselves as being somehow the greater good are the real flood that threatens our future existence and success. The rainbow teaches us that our ark is waterproof and those generations and individuals wise enough to enter it will surely succeed in avoiding all permanent floods and disasters.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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)
