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Beit Midrash
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- The Seven Weeks of Condolence
Part of the difficulty of attaining comfort and consolation is the fact that we have never been able to mourn the past tragedies completely and thoroughly. Rabbi Simcha Wasserman, one of the seminal educators of the Jewish people in the past century, pointed out that in the book of Zecharia the prophet describes in detail the great times of redemption and restoration that will certainly occur in our future. In the midst of this description of greatness and good times of hope and rebirth the prophet describes that there will take place a great funeral and a time of sustained eulogies. What and why is the reason for these eulogies and weeping at the time and era of redemption and restoration of Jewish sovereignty and glory? Isn’t the worst over already and are we not discussing in that chapter of the book of the prophet Zecharia the time of the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem? Rabbi Wasserman explained that in the travails of the long Jewish exile, the Jewish people never had the time or ability to truly mourn and eulogize over the tragedies that befell them. They had to keep on going, to struggle for future survival and thus had no ability to dwell upon the past. Now however when the moment of redemption has finally arrived then the prophet tells us that before there can be true consolation there has to be adequate mourning for what befell us in the past. The mourning over the past is the key to the ultimate comfort and consolation of the present.
We have yet to devise a proper and psychologically gratifying medium to mourn the Holocaust of seventy years ago. The tragedies of the First World War, of nineteenth century Czarist Russia and Ottoman Land of Israel are all but forgotten from our generations. Even the sacrifices of tens of thousands of Israelis in our struggle to maintain our independence and sovereignty in our ancient homeland have not yet found a meaningful method of spiritual and psychologically healthy mourning. We are too busy confronting the problems and challenges, the dangers and hatred that encircle us to be able to concentrate somehow upon these issues of mourning and comfort and consolation. In the necessity of getting on with our lives, personal and national, the wounds of the past remain untended and never really closed. It is of no wonder therefore that we are always in a constant state of stress and distress. The prophet’s vision of comfort and consolation as expressed in the haftorah of this Shabat is dependent upon our view of history and our coming to terms with its realities, tragic as they may have been. Those who are unaware of our past certainly cannot be expected to properly mourn its tragedies and learn from its events. Thus any feeling of true and lasting consolation is precluded from them and sadly, this group of the untaught and historically ignorant section of world Jewry numbers today in the millions. However, correcting this situation can lead eventually to the ultimate Shabat Nachamu of lasting comfort and consolation.
The Seven Weeks of Condolence Is Redemption Fixed or Flexible
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 1
The Seven Weeks of Condolence Hester Panim, Exile and Redeption
Shiv'a de-Nechemta: The Philosophy of Comfort and Redemption - 6
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
