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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Matot
This maxim is directly illustrated in our parsha of Matot. In the war against Midian, 1000 soldiers are selected from each tribe to fight in the war. And later, Moshe stridently warns the Shvatim of Reuven & Gad – who desire to live in Trans-Jordan - that they must first fight alongside their brothers west of the Jordan, in conquering Eretz Yisrael, before they will be permitted to live on the east side. The message is clear: We are One People, & we stand & fight together for everything in which we believe.
Having just returned from a visit abroad, I was reviewing some of the local news I missed while away. And I came across a story in last week’s paper about a group of American rabbis, led by the Satmar community, that raised several million dollars – including $2 million in one day in Toronto! - in support of Jewish education for the children of French olim who recently came to Israel.
Sounds like a beautiful act, a lovely example of supporting our Jewish brethren, right? But not so fast.
The fund-raising was accompanied by a dastardly slur on the State of Israel. "We want to be sure these children are not led astray by the Jewish Agency," said the Satmar spokesman, "that their spiritual needs are provided for & they are not cast adrift by the Israeli Sochnut into ‘secular Israeli culture’ & told that just living in Israel is good enough."
Needless to say, representatives of the Jewish Agency condemned the ugly remarks, pointing out – quite correctly – that no French Jews are directed away from the type of school they desire &, quite to the contrary, the French are proudly pursuing their religious lifestyles here
-even starting new shuls catering to the French & opening kosher restaurants – in whatever places they settle, Ra’anana included (indeed, 3 new kosher restaurants have opened here in the last few months alone by French proprietors, one of whom just made Aliya and moved his establishment from Paris to Ra'anana!).
I feel sorry for all those good souls who were duped into giving money to these sowers of slander & divisiveness, who - despite their claim to be rabbis - don’t know another basic Halachic maxim: Ayn Mitzva ba liyday aveira - You cannot perform a Mitzva while at the same time committing a sin. Slurring Israel - which spends billions absorbing immigrants from all over the world - is one of the greatest of all sins, & negates whatever good intent they may have had.
Meanwhile, while they go back to Brooklyn & the Exile, the French olim, Baruch Hashem, are breathing Hashem’s pure air here in the Holy Land.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
