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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.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
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.
