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Beit Midrash
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- Bereshit
- Vayigash
This is a unique moment in history; all eyes & ears are glued to the scene. What platitudes will they say to each other?
Alas, the exchange between them is puzzling, to say the least. Paro can only manage to mutter, "How old are you?" And Yakov’s response is: "The days of the years of my journeys is 130 years; few & bad they have been, not reaching the life span of my ancestors."
I am mystified by Yakov’s answer. Why does he give what seems to be such a bitter, depressing response, calling his life "short & bad," worse than that of Avraham & Yitzchak? Sure, I understand that Yakov lived from crisis to crisis, enduring the trials of Esav & Lavan, being separated from his favorite son for more than two decades, seeing his daughter kidnapped & raped. He certainly had what to complain about. But is this really the epitaph he wants as his last legacy? Why not focus on all the many positives of his life: His prodigious family, from which will emanate the entire Jewish People; his steely endurance; his victory over the angel; his reunion with Yosef?
I suggest the following: Yakov has been told by Hashem that his children are going into Exile. It is a "vision of the night," a dark portent of what we must endure during the "Gehenom of the Galut" (as the Bal HaTurim calls it). So Yakov, with all his family gathered around him, sends a thinly-veiled message, with words both spoken - AND unspoken! – that his children (if not Paro) can decipher & learn from. This is the message I see him sending:
"My years have been short & bad;" he says, "I’ve had to spend so much of my time away from our land, often among absolute scoundrels. And, unlike my father & grandfather, I will not even have the merit, the z’chut to die in Israel. But - I have survived everything life could throw at me & I have neither succumbed nor surrendered. I have maintained my faith & stayed close to G-d through it all."
"And now you, my children, are destined to spend much of your history in exile, where Jewish lives are often cut short & life is often horrendously bad. So I now charge you: Strengthen yourselves & follow my lead. Do not lose your faith; do not give up, no matter how gloomy things may appear. Survive - & return ultimately to our Land."
Yakov may have thought that he only lived 130 years, but he was wrong: His words live on and he still inspires us - Od Avinu Chai!
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.