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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.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
