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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Ein Ayah
Gemara: What is bein hashemashot (halachic twilight)? From the time the sun sets, as long as the east side of the sky has redness. When the bottom side has darkened and the top has not, this is still bein hashemashot. When the top part darkens and is the same color as the bottom, this is night. The preceding is the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda.
Ein Ayah: The phenomenon of day and night and the transition and relationship between them reminds us of the approach to historical periods in the annals of the Jewish people that can be compared to day and night. Day represents times of liberation and glory, and night represents times of deterioration.
The fundamental difference between these periods is that in the time of greatness, matters relating to the collective have the greatest prominence, and all individuals find happiness and pride in the success of the collective. A situation of "daylight" means that the actions of society are so great that they swallow up the tendency toward individualism.
When the nation declines, destruction sets in. The people are scattered, their centers are destroyed, and the spirit of the collective is lost. "The sun sets, and night falls." Elements of national life disappeared when our Glorious House was destroyed and our unifying capital city lost its centrality. One needs to define the extent to which the national spirit declined in order to set new boundaries between public and private life and calibrate their interaction.
This is important because even after the kingdom ceased, the Temple was destroyed, and the nation was scattered, Hashem still preserved for us a situation in which there were rays of light and the "eastern sky had a rosy glow." The nation still remembered well its glory, and its connection to their collective successes lived powerfully in its heart.
In the first stage after destruction, the individual felt the loss, even in his personal life in regard to his material state, so that this part of his life could not be complete and full of light. However, in the element of his spirit, there was still a connection to the days of glory, and there was still a connection to the era of liberation.
As time moved on, any connection to the time of independence and national success disappeared, and the last vestige of connection to the national era was lost in the lower realm. However, as long as the individual still felt the spirit of strength and felt a connection to the spiritual grandeur that existed in the upper realm, it was still bein hashemashot. There was a mixture of exile and liberation interplaying within the person.
Once even the upper, spiritual realm only had a connection to the individual, not the collective, this already signaled the era of night, of exile. All of these matters are a function of time. As more time goes by from the previous period to the one in which people are now living, the connection lessens. Over time, the dominion of the collective is darkened, as this element of life is lost, and the life of the individual, with its focus on matters of little significance, takes its place. Then darkness of full night becomes fully palpable.
Various Rabbis
Various Rabbis including those of of Yeshivat Bet El, such as Rabbi Chaim Katz, Rabbi Binyamin Bamberger and Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblat and others.
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: A Crown and its Scepter – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 294-5
Ein Ayah There are Two Sides to Existence but One Right Place for Things
condensed from Ein Ayah, Shabbat 12:7
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
Shlach Lecha "Why So Many Don't Make Aliya?" - Parshat Shlach
This short article deals with the weird phenomena that every single time Am Yisrael is meant to enter the Land of Israel, throughout the Tanach, 2nd Temple and until today, they "chicken out" and look for excuses. What's the problem with this mitzvah that proves so challenging. The article, based on sources, suggests that the difficulties of Eretz Yisrael is precisely her secret and beauty!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 4
The class deals with Islam and how the Muslim tries convincing the King of the Khazars, and why he was also rejected.
Beha'alotcha JEWISH STATE= GUIDE TO G-DLINESS & SELFLESSNESS
A Jewish State not only is a good idea, but educates us towards selflessness, altruism and G-dliness in our daily lives.
Ein Aya In Zion Even the Smoke of the Bark is Sweet
Just as Jewish nationalism is different from others, so too our capitol of Jerusalem is totally different than other national capitols. Rav Kook beautifully explains the passage in the Talmud that the trees of Yerushalayim were cinnamon trees.