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Beit Midrash
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- Vayikra
- Behar
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- Mitzvot of the Land of Israel
- Shmitta
But of all the outlandish features of Jewish life, I think the most extreme one is the Mitzva of Shmita, the subject of this week’s Sedra. Asking an agricultural society to suspend its primary source of income for 12 months - & our agreeing to do so – simply boggles the mind. What is the purpose of this law? And how can we possibly survive without our fields for an entire year?
While some sources (e.g. Moreh N’Vuchim – Guide for the Perplexed) suggest that letting the land go fallow enhances its fertility, nowhere does the Torah say that. And modern science tends to dispute the claim; agronomists contend that letting the land rest seems to have no "therapeutic" value. For if this was the case, then why not let 1/7th of the land go un-cultivated each year, leaving 6/7ths still available for farming?
Rather I suggest that the rationale behind Shmita, as the Torah explicitly says, is to create for us a "Shabbat Shabbaton" every 7 years. Like the contemporary Sabbatical, this results in a complete change in our routine, a break from the norm, a chance to recharge the batteries & then make a new start, refreshed & reinvigorated.
This is the same lesson that we might derive from our holidays throughout the year. On Pesach, our entire way of eating – humanity’s most common act of behavior - is radically changed; our whole house is turned over. And on Sukkot, we physically leave our homes to take up residence in the Sukka. On Shavuot, we forego the other most basic mode of human behavior – sleep – in order to study Torah deep into the night.
Not to mention Shabbat, when our whole schedule of activity changes for a full 25 hours every single week.
Via all these examples – the holy days & Shmita – one crucial lesson emerges: We can change our lives. If we can alter what we eat, where we live, when we sleep or stay awake, how we make our livelihood, then we can change anything! Though we may have become careless & complacent in the (6)days & (6) years prior, we can re-order our lives to better conform to Divine ideals.
It’s totally up to us; as we reap (or not), so shall we sow.
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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.