YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Ekev
Rashi focuses on the unusual word, "Ekev" – which can also mean "heel" - & comments that one should be very scrupulous in observing the "light" Mitzvot that people tend to trample upon with their heel.
Perhaps Rashi was moved to say this because in the previous Sedra we read the grandest of all the many Mitzvot in the Torah: The 10 Commandments & the Shma. Perhaps he felt people might feel a kind of "letdown" after such weighty & profound principles. So he wants to emphasize that the "little things" also count for a lot.
How right Rashi is! It is davka the seemingly insignificant things that we do in life, & in Judaism, that often mean the most. Consider the following:
- Each day, we say the Amida & then the Chazan repeats it. We can sit back, relax & simply answer, "Amen" to each bracha of his. Except, that is, for the "Modim;" that we must rise from our slumber & recite individually, because it says, "Thank you." And the act of saying those two words (just one word in Hebrew!) cannot be overestimated.
- The Gemara records that the sage Rav Yehoshua ben Levi was once walking in the market & spotted Eliyahu HaNavi. He asked him, "Who in this crowd will merit a high place in Olam Haba?" Eliyahu pointed to a particular man; Rav Yehoshua ben Levi then asked the prophet what made that man so special. "He makes other people laugh!" said Eliyahu.
- The Rabbis bid us to be friends, not enemies, with our fellow Jews. They define an "enemy" as someone you have not said "Shalom" to for three days!
- Yakov’s bracha of royalty given to Yehuda ends with the strange statement, "Milk will be between your teeth." Gemara Kedushin explains this to mean that people will see the white of his teeth – when he smiles! As king, he must be sure to smile to all his subjects & brighten their day.
In the course of our daily lives, we have innumerable opportunities to positively affect other people’s lives with the tiniest of gestures; a hello, a thank you, a joke or smile. Not much effort expended, but an awful lot of benefit.
Life itself may be no small thing, but it is made up of lots & lots of small things. So rather than be a heel, why not take that extra second & connect to another sole/soul?
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
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.
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.
