YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Jewish Holidays
- Rosh Chodesh
The Torah study is dedicatedto the full recovery of
Lea Bat Rahma
It is impossible to ignore the significance of a calendar and the manner in which we count the days and the years.
Some say, "Who thinks about the original intentions of the creators of these calendars anyway? Their intentions do not interest anybody today. Usage of the non-Jewish calendar does not imply any ideology; it is simply more convenient. It is even necessary, for we here in the modern state of Israel do not live in a vacuum. We maintain tight relations with the western world; Europe and the United States both use this calendar, and therefore we too must use it. It is extremely convenient that there is a single calendar, and not using it will certainly confuse all of our accounting and will lead to all sorts of complications - so why confuse and complicate things for no reason? The universality of this calendar, a common reckoning of dates, is a technical-organizational matter. It's all a question of convenience, and there is no reason to see in it any particular ideology or intention beyond technical calculations." However, they are mistaken.
Some say, "Using the non-Jewish calendar does not have any spiritual significance." This is not true. Perhaps it is not the intention of the user to give it spiritual significance, yet, unintentionally, the usage of a particular calendar has such significance. It is impossible to divorce the fiscal-organizational order from the ideological-conceptual order in the world. Economic and commercial strategies along with communal-religious planning are grounded in the in the yearly order. If economic and revenue systems are determined according to yearly frameworks, then it follows that the spiritual and social arrangements are also determined according to these yearly frameworks. Every yearly plan begins from some date, and that date is necessarily imbued with significant value.
When the end of the fiscal year arrives, one summarizes the year that passed and prepares for the coming one. At that time there is a feeling of having reaching the end of a cycle and the beginning a new one. One makes a financial accounting, and this spills over into moral accounting - spiritual matters. We, the Jewish people, have a rich spiritual world of our own, and it is intimately bound to the unique Hebrew calendar. The Jewish New Year is on the first of Tishrei. This is the conclusion of the year in all respects: personal accounting, repentance, and rectification. At this point each Jew considers and reflects upon what he managed to accomplish during the previous year, deciding in which areas improvement is needed, and in which areas matters should be allowed to continue as they have up until now.
It is no coincidence that the Hebrew calendar is arranged such that Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, falls on the first of Tishrei. The intention is to count the days of the year and the number of years that have passed since the creation of the world by the Almighty, according to our Torah-based tradition.
Because the economic and social-religious systems are interlocked, and because they are connected to time, there is great significance to one's choice of calendar.
Indeed, the time has come to reintroduce ever more the usage of the Hebrew calendar.
The Hebrew calendar is ours, and we have four New Years: the first of Nissan is the New Year for kings; the first of Elul is the New Year for the tithing of animals; the first of Tishrei is the New Year for the reckoning of ordinary years, Sabbatical years, and Jubilee years etc.; the fifteenth of Shevat is the New Year for the trees.
This is our calendar. A practical worldly calendar, bound to nature and the seasons of the year by the Creator of nature Himself.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
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.
