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Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Vayechi
Yosef, as his death approached, instructed Bnei Yisrael: "Hashem will certainly redeem you, and you shall take my bones out of here with you" (Shemot 13:19). In addition to the purpose of getting his remains out of Egypt and into Eretz Yisrael, there is a point hinted at by an added word [in Parashat Beshalach, not Vayechi] – "itchem (with you)." Yosef, the great dreamer, wanted his bones and memory to accompany the people, so that the redeemed nation might learn from him.
The gemara (Sota 13a) says: "The two arks, of the Divine Presence (including the Tablets) and of Yosef (his coffin), were travelling one beside the other, and they would say: ‘This one kept what it is says in this one.’" It is not sufficient to have the first ark, containing the written law. Sometimes a person thinks that it is easy to write what needs to be done, but it is much more difficult and powerful to show that the ideal can actually be carried out in real life. That is what Yosef’s coffin (the second ark) taught. Yosef had been a living sefer Torah, sacrificing safety and success and being ready to sit in jail in order to preserve his moral purity. This example is something that cannot be learned by the written law itself.
While all of Bnei Yisrael were busy collecting the spoils that the Egyptians left at the Splitting of the Sea, Moshe was busy tending to Yosef’s coffin (Mechilta, Beshalach). Moshe was doing so because he knew that Yosef’s coffin contained the secret of the success of the nation. This liberation was a consistent result of Jewish stubbornness not to compromise our principles and the belief that some time on the horizon the liberation would come. This is what Yosef represented.
Regarding the holy martyrs of the Holocaust, we did not even merit to see the coffin or the bones of so many. We did not merit to eulogize these people individually, and we do not even know the day of death of so many. At least, though, we must never forget their memory and the pure and righteous path that so many led. If we think we can draw a line in history and begin national history again from the new national life that we are experiencing in Israel, without basing it on the rich Jewish history of the past, we are making a terrible mistake. We must remember the stubborn guarding of the principles of Judaism and the willingness to put up with discrimination and even death in order to preserve them. We have to take Moshe’s approach and realize that it is important for us to tend to and learn from their memory.
The metaphorical coffin of the modern Yosefs also must remind us that we cannot put our faith in the nations of the world and expect that they will help us. Even with the connections that Yosef had in the highest echelons, the best he could do was to promise: "Hashem will certainly redeem you." The martyrs’ memory also has to remind us that even the most cultured nation in the world can end up being the source of the must brutal atrocities that the world has ever known.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
