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Beit Midrash
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- Ein Aya
Ein Ayah: Hashem created man in a way that he is fit to seek wisdom, and being happy and at ease when studying Torah is fundamentally appropriate. However, man is no longer in his pure state because of his sins and the sins of his parents, resulting in the desire for knowledge being replaced by desires of lowly external matters. Therefore, when one begins to study Torah, he usually has to overcome obstacles stemming from his coarse nature instead of being able to experience joy alone.
It is fine to have to toil, for which man is born (Iyov 5:7). Once we have sanctified ourselves sufficiently in the ways of Torah, we return to the original natural state at which Torah study is pleasant. It is a mistake to try to make all levels of learning, including for beginners, fun. It is not through fun that a wild spirit turns into a scholar, but it is the Torah that one learns with hard work that does this (see Yalkut Shimoni, Kohelet 2). It is nice to learn Torah in a state of happiness, but one should not make it a priority, as it has only an external connection to wisdom, and it can come at a later stage. If one sees it as something to seek at an early stage, then it trains him to avoid the type of toil and search for truth that should characterize earlier stages. The divine gift of deriving joy from Torah study is reserved for those who have put in the work and familiarized themselves with the sweet light of truth.
Heat is a very useful force in the world, but it is destructive for he who tries to use it at the wrong time and manner. Similarly, a beginner student who still needs his teacher to expose him to the truth of Torah must have a measure of bitterness on his lips, for if he is looking just for pleasantness, then he will be burnt from the process. The idea of burning is appropriate from the perspective of approaching the "fire of Torah" in an inappropriate way. This will cause him to lose the possible intellectual/spiritual development that could have brought him true joy if he had acquired it at the right time.
A rose is the most beautiful of flowers. It excites the external sense of vision. The grandeur of wisdom and enjoyment that it can bring are pleasant. However, it is not external beauty that is important but the acquisition of internal good, such as grasping truth, which is represented by mor (a perfume), which impacts a person’s soul. The student who is beginning must know to concentrate on the internal and the depth of Torah and be ready to give up much comfort for that purpose. This is "mar over" (passing bitterness). If one tastes the bitterness, it will be passing, and he will merit that the wisdom will cause him great pleasantness and joy. This is on condition that he does not view the words of Torah as songs (see Sanhedrin 101a) and does not demand that they be entertaining from the beginning in a childish manner. Through toil and hard work in the beginning one arrives at great light and an area surrounded by rosebushes. Even in the beginning, it is only the lips, i.e., the external part, that experiences the bitterness, which one should accept with love. Internally, the soul benefits immediately from the efforts to acquire wisdom, as the pasuk says: "It is good for me for I have afflicted myself to learn Your statutes" (Tehillim 119:71).
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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.
