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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Vayeshev
The first example is the powerful and momentous dream that accompanied the Brit Bein Habetarim (Bereishit 15:11-18). After the procedure Avraham undertook involving animals he slaughtered as part of the covenant, Avraham fell asleep and was told about the exile of his offspring and their liberation and return to the Land. Avraham was a nasi (prince, leader) and Sarah was a princess of sorts, as her name indicates. They interacted on an ongoing basis with kings, and this prophecy related to the future of his descendants, as they emerged as a nation hundreds of years later.
In the next dream, Hashem appears to King Avimelech and warns him to stay away from Sarah and return her to her husband, Avraham. The dreamer is a king and the topic relates to a common practice of kings – abducting a woman that he desires. Yaakov’s dreams about the ladder, as he was leaving his homeland, and the one he had as the leader of the encampments returning home from Aram, dealt, as Chazal explain, with the rise and fall of empires over history. The Ba’al Haturim points out that the numerical value of "olim v’yordim bo" ([the angels were] going up and down on it [the ladder]) (Bereishit 28:12), is equal to the names, Bavel (Babylonia), Madai (Persia), Yavan (Greece), and Romi (Rome).
Even the dream of Lavan, at the end of Parashat Vayeitzei, is the dream of the leader of a camp. He was a leader in Aram, and he was in the midst of deciding the future of the relations between Aram and Israel. The dreams of the officers in Egypt, who were more than a simple baker and a simple butler (they were in charge of two important areas of the time’s superpower’s commerce (grains and water)), dealt with national issues. The dream’s outcome relates to the future dreams of Pharaoh about the famine in Egypt.
The conclusion to arrive at, which has implications for generations, is that the job of a prophet is to give guidance to help set the path of nations. They did not deal with private matters that affected the individual in his daily life. Therefore, whenever we see something that seems personal, we should look for the impact that it had on a much grander national scale.
May we merit a return of prophets to our nation to guide us in national and international affairs.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
