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The Torah study is dedicatedin the memory of
Amram son of Sultana
The Torah warns us, in our parasha (Devarim 4:23):
"Beware lest you forget the covenant with Hashem ... and you will make an idol, the image of anything, that Hashem commanded you.".
Rashi explains the end of the pasuk to mean "that Hashem commanded you [not to have]," but the pasuk’s literal reading implies that there is a type of idol that Hashem actually commanded. It is brought in the name of the Rebbe of Kutzk that there is a danger that one could take something that Hashem commanded, in other words, a mitzva, and turn the mitzva into an idol. For there are times that a person performs a mitzva, but does so in a hollow form, without the mitzva’s soul and spirit, thus making it like a lifeless idol, which is nothing but an image.
A striking example of such an external and meaningless approach to a mitzva can be found in the shocking story related by the gemara (Yoma 23a). The story occurred before the destruction of the second Beit Hamikdash. Two kohanim were racing up the ramp to the altar. One stabbed the other in the heart, mortally wounding him. As people were crying, the father of the victim ran to his son and removed the knife. He called out that he had managed to remove the knife before his son died, thereby saving the knife from tumat meit (impurity from contact with the dead). The gemara concludes that we see that the purity of utensils was more significant to some people than murder.
The stones of the altar cannot be fashioned with the help of metal, because that which is reminiscent of the sword is inappropriate to be involved with the holiness of the altar. Similarly, King David was not allowed to construct the Beit Hamikdash because of his involvement in war. In the Holy of Holies, the set of keruvim, serve as symbols of brotherhood and peace, a theme that King Shlomo prayed for on a universal basis, at the Beit Hamikdash’s inauguration. So when a kohen is so "diligent" that he kills his closest competitor to reach the altar first, the diligence is not to the ideal behind service of Hashem, but to an empty, idolatrous form of the practice.
The father’s response, in the story, also shows a warped view of mitzvot. The laws of purity and impurity should imbue in us the value of life. For indeed, the highest form of impurity comes from the remains of a body, which once housed human life and is now lacking. Impurity in animals does not exist while the animal is still alive. In the period of the Second Temple, people were careful about the laws of purity, but it was the idol-like image of the mitzva that they observed, not the ideal behind it. Thus, the stricken father was consoled that the knife was pure, barely noticing the tragedy of his murder.
In our times as well , we must be aware that, although the inclination toward classical idol worship was "slaughtered," the commandment to avoid forming idols is still very relevant. It should remind us to think about the heart and soul of the mitzvot, not their "outer shell."
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
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P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
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.
