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Beit Midrash
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Gemara: One should not read by the light of an oil lamp [on Shabbat]. Rava said: If he is an important person, it is permitted. A question was raised from a baraita: "One should not read by the light of an oil lamp, lest he tilt the oil cup. Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha said: ‘I will read and will not tilt.’ One time, he read and almost tilted. He said: ‘How great are the words of the Scholars, who used to say that one should not read to the light of the candle.’ Rabbi Natan said that [Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha] read and tilted and wrote [after Shabbat] in his notebook: ‘I read and tilted the oil cup on Shabbat. When the Beit Hamikdash is rebuilt, I will bring a fat sin offering.’"
Ein Ayah: There are two intentions behind Rabbinical prohibitions that distance one from the situation in which he may come to violate a Torah law. The simple intention is to remove the practical stumbling block of a violation. According to this element, the goal of the Rabbinical prohibition is negated only when one ignored the Rabbinical law in a way that actually caused the violation of the Torah law.
However, there is a second intention behind the Rabbinical prohibition. The foundations of fear of Hashem and the fulfillment of the Torah depend on the quality of one’s high view of the loftiness of the Torah law in his heart. When one is personally careful not to put himself into a situation in which there is any concern that he will come to violate a Torah law, the steps that illustrate this concern engrave in his heart a strong imprint of the importance of Torah observance and the damage done by violating even one law of the Torah. This is the psychological result of one who is as careful to stay away from a situation of danger of violating the Torah as to avoid danger to his life or to protect a precious treasure from the remote danger of losing it.
In the inverse, when one places himself into a situation in which he is liable to violate a Torah law, even when in practice he is careful enough to not violate it, his behavior makes an impression in his heart of, in general, lowering the value of fulfilling the Torah. After all, he was not concerned enough to protect himself from a situation that could lead to a Torah violation. This act of laxness about Torah has an impact even if he does end up violating the Torah prohibition.
Therefore, the gemara asks that Rava’s approach that an important person may read next to an oil lamp is contradicted by the source about Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha, who read and almost tilted the oil cup. We see that even an important person could bring himself to violate Torah law, and therefore even if the person did not sin and there seems to not have been damage, there still was a weakening of the spirit of Torah observance by allowing himself to be close to a violation. That is why Rabbi Yishmael praised the Rabbis for making the Rabbinic prohibition on reading. The Gra (Dvar Eliyahu, p. 67) explains that by not including in the prohibition the reason of not coming to tilt the oil cup, the gemara illustrates that the prohibition is not just to avoid that the cup will be tilted, with the resulting Torah violation, but to avoid the situation (based on the second reason for the Rabbinic prohibition). The question that relates to the first reason behind the prohibition is from Rabbi Natan’s version that he actually did do the Torah violation, as we see that no one can rely on himself not to come to a violation.
Various Rabbis
Various Rabbis including those of of Yeshivat Bet El, such as Rabbi Chaim Katz, Rabbi Binyamin Bamberger and Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblat and others.
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: A Crown and its Scepter – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 294-5
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
