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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Shabbat and Holidays
- The High Holidays
- Yom Kippur
Several statements of Chazal connect our behavior and appearance on Yom Kippur to that of the angels serving Hashem in the Heavens on a daily basis. Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer (45) tells that Hashem grants Samael power over Israel on Yom Kippur if he can find sin in us, but that he finds us like angels: we do not eat or drink, we are without shoes, we stand a lot, and we have peace between us. Indeed, the five inuyim, in which we refrain from basic human luxuries and even necessities, make us resemble angels, whom we do not attempt to imitate during the rest of the year (except, to some extent, during Shemoneh Esrei and Kedusha).
Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlop (Mei Marom, vol. VII, 43) sees us as resembling Adam before his sin and explains the significance of not eating along those lines. It is possible for people to be "above time." Eliyahu did this during the 40 days that he walked with the strength received from that which he ate before leaving (Melachim I, 19:8). Adam also was on this level before his sin, as the food that he ate could have satiated him continuously. The natural processes that prevent this are related to our enslavement to the natural passage of time.
By refraining from eating on Yom Kippur, says Rav Charlop, we signify that the food that we eat before Yom Kippur (which is a special mitzva) can last us as we reach toward the high level of the first human before his sin. That food is thus reminiscent of the fruit of the Garden of Eden. Indeed, Adam himself was on a level that was similar to an angel and in some ways above their level (see Bereishit Rabba 8, which tells that originally, the angels were confused by Adam’s greatness and wanted to say Kedusha to him).
It is important to view the mitzvot of the day not only as an obligation and not only as a condition for getting through the day with a maximum of atonement and a minimum of sin. Rather, it is an opportunity to experience being on the type of level where we can feel our own potential for greatness, and hopefully want to adopt much more of it throughout the year than we did in the past. True, we remain fully human, and those who medically need to eat must do so and not get carried away with the comparison to angels, Adam, or Eliyahu. However, we should all focus on those special powers that, perhaps we identify in uniquely holy individuals, but fail to see in ourselves.
Chemdat Yamim (3133)
Rabbi Yossef Carmel
1 - The Right Pace to Leave a Holy Place
2 - An Individual Who is a Community
3 - Giving More Than You Have?
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P'ninat Mishpat P'NINAT MISHPAT: A Mess of Loans, Repayments and Grievances – part II
based on ruling 83033 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
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.
