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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.
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.
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.
