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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Toldot
Sixty years later I fully comprehend at last the import of his words. Midrash teaches us that Abraham died earlier than the destined amount of the years of his life so that he would not have to witness the betrayal of his life style and value system by his grandson Esau.
I believe that there is nothing more shattering to family life and personal serenity than the fracturing of familial tradition. Jewish life always prided itself on the continuity of generations. It was the cement that bound the small, persecuted people of Israel together in all of the lands of its dispersion. It also was, and is, its dissolution that heralded the breakup of the Jewish home and the wave of assimilation and intermarriage that has now engulfed much of Jewish society.
The pressures of modern life, of mobility and geographical distance have contributed to this fraying of generational continuity. Basically, it is the weakening of individual commitment to family and generational continuity that has contributed to this situation. Family generational continuity somehow is no longer the priority that it once was in many Jewish homes and societies.
Our mother Rebecca recognized that her eldest son Esau was a danger to the generational continuity which is the foundation upon which a Jewish nation is founded. Unfortunately, as every school teacher can testify, the survival of educational progress relies on a system of triage. Not everyone can and should be entitled to attend graduate school or become a brain surgeon.
The same is true in the spiritual world. Not everyone is entitled to proclaim one’s self a kabbalist, a halachic decisor, or a holy person. Not everyone is cut out to spend an entire day studying Talmud, as admirable and necessary as such an occupation is. Because Joseph was so beloved by their father, the brothers feared that the disagreement with Joseph, which was based on the triage that eliminated Yishmael and Esau from Abraham’s and Isaac’s family, would also eliminate them.
They were well aware of the process of triage that seemingly dominates Jewish generational continuity. Perhaps this is one of the causes of the low numbers in the Jewish population. And, therefore, the problem of generational continuity is a touchy, delicate and mostly painful process. And it changes from place to place, time to time, and generation to generation.
That is why the Torah always portrays our future as an uncertain one - with barren mothers, fathers threatened by outside enemies who covet their wives and assets, and the difficulties of raising children in an unwholesome environment. And that is why "toldot" somehow remains the key to Jewish survival and success.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
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.