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Beit Midrash
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- Metzora
The famous Gemara in Sanhedrin 98 depicts Moshiach as a Metzora, a tzara’at-stricken sufferer, who sits, all bandaged up, at the gates of Rome. There he faithfully waits – in each & every generation – until the Jewish People will finally unite as one nation under G-d & merit his coming.
Now, of all the different guises we might have guessed for Moshiach, this one is surely the strangest! Talmid chacham, nobleman, military hero or leader of men, THAT I would understand. But tzara’at victim? What is that all about?
Here is what I think it means: "Metzora" is a combination of the words, "Motzei Shem Ra," literally, "putting forth a bad name." Usually, we ascribe this condition to a person who defames others, & so he is stricken with this Heaven-sent malady that aims to correct his errant behavior.
But I suggest that, more often than not, it is the world at large which is the defamer, & poor Israel the victim of its dastardly defamation. This is certainly the situation today, when Medinat Yisrael, & by extension, all of Am Yisrael, is viciously slandered with every kind of lie & false accusation. It is precisely because we are a moral people, because our army acts in such a holy fashion, because Right is on our side, the forces of evil are frustrated, & fabricate the most outrageous of charges against us.
Moshiach exists in every era; he represents us, he symbolizes us, he embodies all of us. He absorbs these verbal slings & arrows and he suffers because the world is so corrupt & vile in their hatred of the Jews & Hashem. He sits & patiently awaits the day when Truth will triumph, when the nations will come to their senses & treat G-d’s first-born with the respect & admiration we deserve.
He sits like an outcast, because WE are treated like outcasts. He is bandaged, because his nation is so sorely wounded.
Our Sedra also tells of the house which becomes infested by tzara’at, but when the Kohen orders it to be torn down, the owner finds gold & jewels hidden there by the previous residents, who fled in fear of the Israelites. Moshiach-Metzora is a sure sign that despite – or better, because – the House of Israel is "torn down" by our enemies, the golden treasure of Geula is close at hand.
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
