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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Shmot
- Shmot
The Jewish People has many outstanding qualities: Chesed, compassion, stubbornness, modesty, etc. We also are eternal optimists; in whatever generation we live, we believe in a better future. And, at all times, we look
forward to Moshiach and the era of ultimate perfection that will be ushered in.
Yet as we open Sefer Shmot, there is a great deal of pessimism, gloom and doom, in the air. Am Yisrael is enslaved, degraded, cast to the very bottom rung of society. How will we regain our former glory - no hope is in sight!
More than a century of slavery has sapped us of our positive thinking. Amram, the people’s leader, epitomizes this despair by deciding not to wed or bring more children into the world, for why subject yet another soul to suffering?!
Along comes Miriam (women always come to the rescue!) and convinces her father that he has it all wrong. Marriage, birth, new life always brings Hope. And thus Moshe is born; the ultimate leader who will rejuvenate and
redeem us.
And here is where the title Shmot-names comes into play. "Amram" is a combination of the words "Am" and "Rahm" – meaning "the uplifted nation." His wife’s name "Yocheved" contains the letters of "Kavod H’ ", the glory
of G-d. "Miriam" does contain the word, "Mar – bitter," but also can be read "May-rim - to lift up." And the name "Moshe" means "to extricate," or "pull out" (the Jews from Egypt).
Thus each and every one of the names of the central protagonists of the Exodus story connect to the idea of raising up, rising up and re-establishing the greatness of Am Yisrael, which may falter, but can never fail.
The lesson for us is eminently topical. We often face adversity; it seems at times as if the entire world is set against us. Just this week the proverbial 70 nations gathered together with the express purpose of pressuring
Israel and criticizing our policies. Did they meet to deal with Syria, where 400,000 people have been killed? Or Iran, whose evil Ayatollahs continues to foment terror worldwide? Or France itself, which cannot control its own anti-Semitic hatred? No, their target was little Israel, the foreboding "giant."
But no matter; we remain strong, stoic and supremely confident. We will face all the crises, and we will rise higher and higher; for THAT is the name we proudly carry.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
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Army and War "If Haredim Should Serve in the IDF, So Should You"
IDF Service for Young Jewish Men from America
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.
