YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Passover - Pesach
- Shabbat Hagadol
In the pagan world, there is nowhere to move, there is no process. Man is a prisoner in an eternal Sisyphean cycle without the possibility of breaking out, or in other words: slavery. Pagan man does not create units of time and is therefore controlled by the emptiness of time. He wears out, run by inertia and does not control his life. In Egypt, the main culture of the ancient world, there is nothing beyond slavery: "At the beginning, a slave could not escape Egypt since it was tightly closed" (Mekhilta Yitro). Not only Am Israel, the Egyptians 'masters' were in that state of slavery and closings for anything beyond mere sustainability. There is nothing beyond the random nature eroded in circles time.
All this is going to change at the Exodus from Egypt. Nissan is the month when in fact time was created in the world: "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Exodus 12, b). At Nissan, the history begins. There is a beginning, renewal, and historical memory starts to accumulate. Time has two dimensions: fixed and mutable. To measure time, we need a starting point, a constant and stable base. Then, we need a movement which we can mark as changing and progress. Also in our personal feelings we sense it: if we have no movement or change, we feel that time is "not moving".
In the Jewish year there are indeed two such axis: Saturday – a fixed base, and Yom Tov - movement and changing. Our sages say that Saturday is "Fixed and existing" (Hulin 101, b). Saturday is the constant point in time, which exists since the six days of creation. The holidays on the other hand are dynamic and depend on "Israel who sanctify the time. " (Brahot 49, a).
Before we get to the first holiday of Am Yisrael, Passover, the holiday that begins history, we have Shabbat Hagadol. Shabbat Hagadol is when Israel bounded the Egyptian God, which is the Lamb - an animal that expresses the natural innocence, a flock of sheep which moves without purpose; sheep without a shepherd, and no sense of time. We bind the casual innocence and mark the starting point. History starts to move. A few days later, the second dimension appears: Passover will come and the nation whose job is to mark direction and movement in history will be born.
Where does time lead us? Where does history bring us to? History is not just a "list of crimes, obsessions and catastrophes of mankind", as A. Gibbon said. History is, in the words of Rabbi Kook, "historiya" – "Hester–Yah" (hidden G-d). History leads us in a certain direction, God is revealed in history. The greatness of the first Shabbat of the exodus continues throughout the Israeli history and leads to "the great and terrible day of the LORD". (Malachi 3, 23). The figure of Elijah, the man that time and death had not mastered on him, who stormed up to heaven. He announces us that great day, a day without time limits, "that is neither day nor night."
Rabbi Haggai Lundin
Family and Society There Will Not Be A Civil War!
(Told to the students of the Hesder Yeshiva in Holon)
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Realtor’s Fee on Large Commercial Building – part I
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Realtor’s Fee on Large Commercial Building – part I
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: The Goal of an Agricultural Yeshiva – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh)
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh)
Re'e NEVER EXTREME EXCEPT ISRAEL
Parshat Re'eh
Judaism is against extremism, so how can we understand the seemingly extreme statements found in our sages in favor of living in the Land of Israel and against living in Chutz laAretz? The article deals with the seeming contradiction between the strength of Free-Will and the strength of being influenced by our surroundings.
Ekev DANCE FOR ISRAEL- FOR YOUR BENEFIT
Parshat Eikev
Description: The 7 Haftarot we read after Tisha B'Av ("Shiva D'Nichemta") surely get us excited that they're coming TRUE, and awaken us to yearn, dance & join the return to Zion! The short article also deals with the problems and solutions facing the American Jewish community as discussed at a recent panel, as well as the question why Jews come from America to Israel to help when we face problems, but Israelis don't come to aid Jews in America when they face anti-Semitism.
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
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.
