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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Naso
The final section of the bracha, "May Hashem lift up His face to you" – is not easy to understand. Does G-d have a "face?" And what causes Him to "lift" it up?
The Gemara in Brachot makes the audacious statement that Hashem prays, (we also know that He wears Tefilin, as recited in Anim Z’mirot!), based on the verse, "I will bring them to My holy mountain & make them rejoice in the house of My prayer;" (i.e. MY prayer, & not just their prayer). And what, exactly, is that prayer?
Says Rav Zutra in the name of Rav: "May it be My will that My mercy conquers My anger."
The phrase in Birkat Kohanim now becomes clear. There are times when we are so angry with another person that we cannot even stand to look at them, for fear we will explode in fury and invective. And so we turn away from them. So, too, at times Hashem is so upset with us, His
children, at the way we have been acting, that He is ashamed & angry, and so He turns away from us. This is a phenomenon called Hester Panim, the hiding of the face, and it always presages a misfortune that is so disastrous for us that G-d Himself prays (to Himself, it seems!) to let His anger go, and show mercy to us.
But when G-d IS satisfied with our conduct, we can hold our head up high. We can walk tall, and proud, and can confidently meet His gaze as He looks us straight in the eye. That "meeting of the eyes" affords us true Peace, as we know we are acting in tandem with the Divine will.
The Gemara then discusses G-d’s anger. It is fleeting, lasting just a moment - a "rega" - and it can be devastating. But it is a necessary element in G-d’s world. For how can Hashem – and we – see injustice, cruelty, corruption & hypocrisy, and not become angry? What if Avraham had been indifferent to the worship of idols? What if Moshe had simply shrugged his shoulders in blithe resignation when he saw the Egyptian smiting the Hebrew?
Anger that comes out of an over-inflated ego is indeed destructive & counter-productive, and anything but a G-dly trait. But anger arising from righteous indignation over a wrong that should be righted - as long as WE control that anger, and it not control US - is not only acceptable behavior; it can also save the world.
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A Background Discussion about the use of Indian Hair
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.
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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!
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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.
