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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Hanukkah
- The Meaning of Hanukkah
could link them.
And yet, isn’t it interesting that for all eternity, we will read the story of Yosef during the days of Chanuka! And there is another hint: The Gemara Shabbat has a short discussion of Chanuka, including the law of how high or how low the Chanukiya may be placed. If it is too high or too low – at the bottom of a pit, for example - then others will not see it & there will be no pirsumei Mitzva, publicizing of the Mitzva. Suddenly, straight out of left field (where I sat during the Cubs game in the World Series, but that's another story), in the mitten d’rinum, the rabbis tell us that the pit in which Yosef was thrown had no water, but it did have snakes & scorpions! Are they winking perhaps at us?!
I suggest: Chanuka, in its essence, is the story of the righteous oppressed, the virtuous underdog, overcoming all the odds & emerging victorious. There was precious little oil for the Menora & yet – because it was pure oil – it
somehow stayed alit for 8 days. The victorious Maccabim were hopelessly outgunned by the Syrian-Greeks, but they were pure in their beliefs, staunchly determined to protect the faith or die trying. "Mi La’Hashem, Aylay! – Who is for G-d, let him come to me!" was their stirring battle cry.
Yosef was desperately alone in Egypt, a slave with no power of his own. Rejected by his brothers, maligned by Mrs. Potifar, he is thrown into one pit after another. Yet he does not lose his faith; he proudly identifies as an Ivri;
he refuses to commit crimes of moral turpitude. For this he is called "Yosef ha-tzadik," one of only 2 people in the Torah to earn this exalted title. He will rise to a position of great prominence that defies all logic. He, too. is pure oil, a valiant Maccabi who shakes off adversity & lights the way.
Yosef is the precursor to another hero inextricably tied up with the Bet HaMikdash. That is David, whose life story remarkably parallels Yosef’s. David is also rejected by his brothers, maligned & abandoned by them, forced to fight for his very life. He faces every possible trauma & crisis, but he never gives up or loses faith. "Though I walk in the valley, in the shadow of death, I fear no evil…..I will dwell in Hashem’s house forever," he writes in Psalm 23.
There are, by tradition, not one but two distinct Moshiachs: Moshiach ben Yosef, & Moshiach ben David. They come from different tribes, & each has his own particular task to perform. But they are united in their common resolve to place their trust in G-d & battle on, firm in their belief that they can achieve the seemingly impossible & unite all the branches of their Jewish family. In Israel, their spirit & their light lives on - look deep into the flames of the Chanukiya and you can see it.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
