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Beit Midrash
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We might ask the same question about Am Yisrael. Always the underdog, we face the worst enemies on the planet, generation after generation, & yet we are never knocked out. What is holding us up?! Hold that thought for a moment.
In our Sedra, famous for the episode of the bechora – whereby Yakov wrests the birthright from his twin Esav – mother Rivka plays a crucial role. It is she who sets up the whole charade, she who convinces Yakov to fool his father Yitzchak & impersonate Esav in order to to win the blessing.
Asks Rav Pam: "Wasn’t Rivka taking an awful chance? Wasn’t she afraid that if her husband discovered the ruse being played upon him, he would be terribly angry at her, even possibly divorce her? What was she thinking?"
Rav Pam offers a novel answer. During the 22 years Yakov would spend away from his parents, he would undergo the most challenging, debilitating ordeals. He would battle with Lavan, his devious father-in-law. He would confront Esav. His daughter Dina would be kidnapped & raped, & his sons would attack Shechem. Then, when all this was over, the whole saga of Yosef’s abduction would send him deep into depression.
How did he survive all this anguish & agony?
What kept him going, says the Medrash, was the knowledge that his mother had risked everything – including her marriage – to see Yakov take his rightful place as leader. If he gave up, if he threw in the towel, he would let his mother down & negate her self-sacrifice & unstinting faith in him. And so he battled on, Rivka’s love sitting like a medallion on his chest.
Years later, ironically, it would be Yakov’s face that would keep his own son Yosef faithful to his sacred principles.
The pasuk says: "Vaye’ehav Yitzchak et Esav; V’Rivka Ohevet et Yakov;" Yitzchak loved Esav (past tense), while Rivka loves (present tense) Yakov! In other words, Rivka’s love for Yakov was eternal, ever-present, unending, the source of his strength.
And I ask you, are our own parents any different? Did they, too, not sacrifice for us in so many different ways, putting us always before their own wants & desires? How can we let them down? Close your eyes, picture their faces, & you, too, will be able to face any & all challenges.
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.
