YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Ein Ayah
"As the destruction was occurring, Hashem saw and decided to halt the bad (the plague)" (Divrei Hayamim I:21:15). What did He see? Rav said: He saw Yaakov Avinu, as the pasuk says: "Yaakov said when he saw them" (Bereishit 32:3). Shmuel said: He saw the ashes of Yitzchak, as the pasuk says: "Hashem will see for him a sheep" (Bereishit 22:8).
Ein Ayah:The deterioration of the group that comes from the spread of bad ideas cannot fully take hold. It is an important basic characteristic of the Jewish Nation that the ability for them to join together and succeed is a wonderful inheritance that stems back most clearly to Yaakov Avinu. He was the one who first started to prepare a separate nation, by building a house of tribes of the nation that would serve as a testimony. Yaakov said: "This stone that I placed as a monument will be a House of Hashem" (Bereishit 28:22). This is different from Avraham who called that place a mountain and Yitzchak who called it a field (Pesachim 88a), as only that which Yaakov described has walls. This house illustrates the uniqueness of the spirituality of the Jewish Nation in the Land in which Hashem has a particular interest.
Interestingly, specifically about Yaakov we are told that he will have a lot without boundaries. This is because uniqueness that comes from a complete realization is not an over-focusing on individuality even on a national level, but a focusing on influencing and connecting in the best possible way. Therefore, many nations will say, "Let us go up to the mountain of Hashem and the house of the G-d of Yaakov" (Yeshaya 2:3). This is an example of the connecting of two extremes. An individual insulates himself within his own boundaries to create a powerful center for the collective.
For the same reason Yaakov chanced upon the angels of Eretz Yisrael and the angels of outside Eretz Yisrael in one place [which is that which Yaakov saw in the pasuk that the aforementioned gemara cites]. The special place in which Yaakov saw the two sets of angels was fit to receive a name that would make it remembered for all ages – Machanayim (meaning, encampments). Eretz Yisrael, which is the world’s spiritual center, is able to give its power to the areas abroad, and someday the Land will expand and spiritually encompass the whole world.
A nation that has as an inheritance such a profound philosophy can never fully lose the philosophical path that connects these two ideas, of the individual and the collective that is made up by the individuals therein. Therefore, this nation is able to quickly recuperate from the ills of not understanding the need of the individual to preserve righteousness without tolerance for evil. The binding together of the masses will recover and realize how special it is that each individual has complete free choice and is expected to choose life. This choice fits into the promise of a covenant on a collective basis. This covenant is an eternal idea like the existence of the heavens and the earth, which stand before Hashem, as will the offspring of Bnei Yisrael and their name (based on Yeshaya 66:22).
Various Rabbis
Various Rabbis including those of of Yeshivat Bet El, such as Rabbi Chaim Katz, Rabbi Binyamin Bamberger and Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblat and others.
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: A Crown and its Scepter – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 294-5
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.
