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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Noach
Having decided to "re-boot" Creation (a process that, once again, begins with water) Hashem tells Noach, "Asey l’cha….build for yourself an Ark." I am intrigued by the use of the expression, "L’cha – for yourself." The word "you" or "yourself" is extraneous; G-d could simply have said "Build an Ark."
What, therefore, is being added by this tiny word "L’cha"?
Rashi’s explanation is that Hashem wanted the local populace to focus on Noach – who must have been a well-known figure in his community - &, seeing him building this massive boat, they would inquire about it. Hopefully, they would then be brought to a higher moral level when told that they were standing on the Eve of Destruction.
Others explain the word as an indictment of Noach: "YOU failed to influence your neighbors, allowing them to continue their animalistic behavior; now YOU will forced to keep the company of real beasts & animals in the ark!"
But I see a more positive "view of the you." Note that Noach is connected to his successor Avraham (to whom he is usually - & negatively – compared); as well as to his future descendant Moshe (who also survives in a Tayva, an ark) by the use of the word "L’Cha:" Hashem tells Avraham, "Lech-L’cha; YOU go to Israel;" & He tells Moshe, "P’sal L’Cha; YOU hew stone tablets" (for the Luchot of the 10 Commandments).
But what exactly is the connection between them and the word "you?"
All three of these heroic figures were loners. Avraham is known as "Ha-Ivri," he who lives "on the other side." This is not just a geographical identification, informing us that Avraham lived across the Euphrates. It is also philosophical, telling us that Avraham was prepared to uphold his belief in One G-d even if he was the only one in the entire world who believed it, even if he was on one side of the divide and everyone else on the other.
And at the Akeida, as well, the Torah makes note of the fact that he & Yitzchak "walked alone."
Moshe, for his part, also was a most solitary figure. Was he an Egyptian, or a Hebrew? On the phrase, "And he looked this way & that & saw no man," Rabbi Cardozo comments, "He saw himself as ‘no man,’ devoid of an identity." Moshe himself cries to G-d: "How can I bear this People alone?!" Clearly, he stood apart.
Noach, too, is very much left on his own. A decent man in a corrupted, perverse world, he cannot "convert" a single person in the course of 120 years. But you know what? Sometimes, to be a hero is davka to stand apart from the masses, to blaze a new trail rather than go along with the crowd.
Tennyson perhaps said it best: "No thing is better than this, when known; that every hard thing is done alone."
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.