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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Korach
The Torah study is dedicatedin the memory of
Asher Ben Haim
Over the course of the last century, however, there was a machloket which appears to have been leshem shamayim.. I refer to the issue of the proper Jewish response to the Zionist effort, to the opportunity afforded the Jewish people to return to Eretz Israel and rebuild Jewish society. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik saw a foreshadowing of this controversy in the conflict between the biblical Joseph and his brothers. He gives the following analysis:
With the founding of the Mizrachi movement in 1901, a bitter controversy engulfed Orthodoxy. The Religious Zionists sensed an ominous cloud on the horizon of the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, an impending cataclysm led by the forces of secularism and anti-Semitism. A storm called modernity was sweeping away all the obstacles that stood in its path. In this world, all professions would be linked to an academic education and the centers of Jewish life would move to America and Israel. However, the opponents of this approach were blinded by the status quo in which the synagogues and study halls were full and the traditional faithful constituted the bulk of the Jewish people. They saw only the dangers in modernity and none of its opportunities. Says the Rav: "In this controversy for the sake of heaven, between the biblical Joseph and his brothers, God ruled in accordance with Joseph that, ‘God did send me before you to preserve life’' (Gen. 45:5). In our own day, the Creator of the world has ruled like Joseph of 1901 who dreamed of a new land and new conditions. If the Joseph of 1901 had not paved the way to Eretz Israel it would not have been possible to transplant anew the world of Torah in the Holy Land."
Surely 56 years of ingathering and growth of the Jewish State should be enough to convince those of us still tied to the gilded ghettos of America that their rightful place now is at the side of their brothers and sisters in Israel. "Shall your brothers go to war and will you sit here?" (Num. 32:6).
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
Shlach Lecha "Why So Many Don't Make Aliya?" - Parshat Shlach
This short article deals with the weird phenomena that every single time Am Yisrael is meant to enter the Land of Israel, throughout the Tanach, 2nd Temple and until today, they "chicken out" and look for excuses. What's the problem with this mitzvah that proves so challenging. The article, based on sources, suggests that the difficulties of Eretz Yisrael is precisely her secret and beauty!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 4
The class deals with Islam and how the Muslim tries convincing the King of the Khazars, and why he was also rejected.
Beha'alotcha JEWISH STATE= GUIDE TO G-DLINESS & SELFLESSNESS
A Jewish State not only is a good idea, but educates us towards selflessness, altruism and G-dliness in our daily lives.
Ein Aya In Zion Even the Smoke of the Bark is Sweet
Just as Jewish nationalism is different from others, so too our capitol of Jerusalem is totally different than other national capitols. Rav Kook beautifully explains the passage in the Talmud that the trees of Yerushalayim were cinnamon trees.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 3
The second speaker invited to convince the Khazar King is the Christian, who presents their beliefs. Even before the questions of the King, "between the lines", the author R. Yehuda HaLevi already begins disproving them.
Ein Aya "Intimacy: Love, Life & Giving or Egocentric Taking & Expiration"
Today, many confuse between intimacy in marriage, based on love, giving and life which are diametrically opposed to empty "sex", pornography and prostitution which destroyed the Beit HaMikdash. The practical importance of clarifying this topic in today's western society is obvious, especially for young adults.