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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Purim & The Month of Adar
- The Month of Adar
There are two heroes to the story of Purim. One naturally is the great queen Esther who emerges to be the savior of her people. Esther is the example of the Jew who feels responsible for the Jewish people and its future even at the cost of personal gain or even one’s position of power, influence or life itself. It is an act of desperate courage for her to rise against Haman who apparently has the king’s ear and confidence and who also apparently represents the majority opinion of the people that she rules over and certainly her behavior could not be considered politically correct. There are many Jews today of influence and wealth, power and stature that unfortunately fail to stand up for their fellow Jews and for the only Jewish state in existence in the world. Truth be said, many of them, in all sorts of guises and fancy pious sounding names really stand against us. They fulfill the rabbinic requirement of Purim that they are so drunk on their own Jewish ignorance and assimilation and self-righteousness that they cannot distinguish between Mordecai and Haman. It is Esther who rises to the occasion and sees things as they are and not as many others would naively wish to see them. This is the source of her heroic role in the Jewish story and the reason that she has had so many namesakes of wonderful Jewish women over the ages.
The other hero is Mordecai. Mordecai is the Jew that annoys us, that is stubborn, demanding, prickly, and possessed of great Jewish paranoia. He is described in the book of Esther in a most succinct fashion: "And Mordecai will not bow down and will not prostrate himself." Midrash teaches us that there were many who disagreed with Mordecai’s behavior. They found his stubbornness to be provocative and that somehow therefore he was at least indirectly responsible for Haman’s genocidal intents. Again there are many who feel that the abused bring the abuse upon themselves, that the victims are somehow at least partially or perhaps even fully at fault in their victimization. The UN, the EU, many NGO’s, the boycotters and divestiture activists certainly would pillory Mordecai for his behavior. But without Mordecai there is no Esther and no happy ending to the Purim story. We need stubborn Jews even if we disagree with them ideologically, politically and socially. And we see at the end of the Purim story that even after Mordecai emerges as such a hero not all Jews are happy with him. They found him wanting spiritually, educationally, study wise. Such is the fate of great people in Jewish life. There never is one hundred percent approval of anyone. But history and the Jewish people have immortalized Mordecai’s stubbornness and he remains with Esther the hero of the Purim story. I pray that our Purim story also ends triumphantly and clearly.
The Month of Adar 4. The Three Mitzvot Concerning the Obliteration of Amalek
Chapter 14: The Month of Adar
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.
