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Beit Midrash
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One who spends a long time at his table [merits long life], for maybe a poor person will come along and he will provide him with something, as the pasuk says: "The altar of wood was three cubits high…" (Yechezkel 41:22) and the pasuk [continues]: "He said to me: ‘This is the table that is before Hashem.’" It opens with the altar and finishes with the table. Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Elazar both say: When the Beit Hamikdash existed, the altar would atone for Israel, and now a person’s table atones for Israel.
Ein Ayah: Certainly kindness and generosity are foundations of the world any way they are performed. However, we are also commanded to be wise in dealing with the needs of the poor. It is best to handle matters of tzedaka in a manner that will protect society from poverty.
The preferred manner is for the community to take responsibility for the needs of the poor in an organized, efficient, and complete manner. However, when the circumstances do not allow this to happen, individuals have to take responsibility for the giving of tzedaka and see to the realization of the needs to the best of their abilities and resources. When one is forced to act as an individual, he is still able to collaborate in spirit with the group of other people who do acts of kindness that cumulatively save many from hunger, disease, and pain.
The altar is a symbol of national unity, for it is forbidden for there to be more than one altar in the "place that Hashem will choose." In fact, when members of the tribes of Gad and Reuven built an altar and the rest of the nation thought they were planning to sacrifice on it, people of the nation were very upset, because they saw it as weakening the power of national unity.
The gemara talks about a time when the Beit Hamikdash stood, which refers to the period when the nation was strong, from both a physical and a spiritual perspective. At that time it was possible to utilize national institutions, which reflected the vibrancy of the nation, to meet the needs of people who needed various types of help. The idea of the altar atoning for Israel reflected the improvement in matters of ethics, whether in the realm of relations between man and his Maker or man and his fellow man. The national structure facilitated effective achievement in these areas.
Now that there is no Beit Hamikdash, the individual needs to ‘pick up the slack’ through his personal table, when he simply and literally gives bread to the poor. This table is an unfortunately necessary replacement when there is no an altar and that which it represents. This gemara stresses that whenever there is an opportunity to be generous in a communal setting, all the more so on a national level, we should seize that opportunity. It is wonderful to donate to a general fund for relief of those in suffering. In that way, we get closer to the ideal of the altar.
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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.
