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Gemara: [The Rabbis said not to read by the light of an oil lamp, but some thought that it was permitted for a person who knows how to be careful]. … [He] read and tilted the oil lamp and wrote in his notebook: "I, [Yishmael ben Elisha] read and tilted the lamp on Shabbat; when the Beit Hamikdash will be built, I will bring a fat sin offering."
Ein Ayah: Writing in a notebook awakens a person to realize it is proper to remember, not forget, one’s sins. If all acts of sin would only have a temporary impact on one’s soul, it would have sufficed for him to repent at the time of the sin, rendering remembering the sin long term superfluous. In truth, though, a person’s spiritual powers and his personal actions are intertwined, and one sin can ruin much goodness. Each act of sin has a negative impact on several of a person’s good attributes and can cast away a person’s altruism from his heart, according to the level of the sin and the imprint it leaves.
A person’s spiritual powers are hidden, and some of their shortcomings are unnoticeable except when life arranges matters so that he needs to act by using that power, which he will then find to be lacking. Only at that time will the person be able to rectify the shortcoming by having the powers of goodness and sanctity, which are the foundations of repentance, overcome and thereby fix the shortcoming.
For this reason, a person should make sure that his sin will not be forgotten until he sees that his spiritual powers that relate to the area of the sin are complete and are not harmed either in attributes or in philosophies. Then he can be happy and know reliably that his sin has left him and has dissipated like a cloud.
Every action makes a different imprint on the soul, not just according to its value as good or evil, but also based on the situation and reasons that caused it. One cannot compare, for example, the impact of an action that was done when a person was in a good mood to one performed when in a state of heartache. It takes great study to know how to strengthen the position of goodness and sanctity in a person’s soul in relation to the damage that sin brought according to the essence of the sin and its circumstances. Therefore one should not only write down the essence of the sin but even the factors that brought it about. That is why Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha wrote that he was reading (the cause) and tilted the lamp (the action), stressing the noteworthiness not only of the action but even its causes.
The human body lives and survives with the help of its flesh and bones. The body’s fat provides some benefit that would otherwise be missing. Sin also is supported by factors that help bring about the sin. If a sin’s causes did not make a difference, then the fatness of the sacrifice brought to atone for it would not be significant enough to record and remember. Rabbi Yishmael realized that he needed to distance himself greatly from the decision to not heed the warning of the Rabbis. Therefore the fact that he decided to read by the light of the lamp had to be written with the fact that he needed atonement, even though the sin (violating Shabbat) has its own complete character without this specific cause. He also recorded the need to bring a fat animal to stress that he needed atonement for that which made the sin a "complete one," as his thought process was intrinsically lacking and required work. Every person needs to learn from this story and be vigilant to follow all of the injunctions of the Rabbis, without trying to find personal ways around them. Therefore, the circumstances that surrounded the sin needed to be recorded as part of the effort to receive full atonement.
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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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.
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.
