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Beit Midrash
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But before Bnei Yisrael exits Egypt, the Torah narrative is abruptly interrupted so that Hashem can issue a very unusual commandment, "Ha-Chodesh ha’zeh lachem," installing Nisan as the 1st official month in the Hebrew
calendar. Though the world was indeed created in Tishrei, life, in a sense, begins anew when the Jewish nation is launched. A very flattering proclamation – accentuating the centrality of the Jewish People – but one that seems a bit out of place. Why didn’t this come after the plagues were over, and we were out of slavery and out of Egypt, safely en route to Israel? Why is it davka injected here?
Chazal explain: Hashem was telling the people: "Until now your time was not your own; you were on someone else’s clock. But now, you will be in control of your own time and your own schedule – it will be "lachem," yours to
use or abuse. Your time, day by day, is a precious gift; what you do with it will determine whether you lead a life of liberated glory, or slavish irrelevance. This is precisely why I am freeing you!"
And so immediately after this command is given, Hashem lists all the many Mitzvot connected with Pesach, our most intricate, law-laden festival, so as to illustrate just how we are to spend our days and best utilize our time.
Now, one of these laws is to bake Matzot, which we would later carry with us on our journey to Israel. But the question here is obvious: If we were told to bake Matzot on the 1st of Nisan, and we only left Egypt two full weeks
later, why the need to bake it in such a rush, within 18 minutes?! Why not just take our sweet time?!
But this is exactly the point: The Matzot symbolize that time is fleeting and life is short, and we must make certain to utilize every precious moment of the life and time allotted to us by the Almighty. Just as the only difference between
bread and matza – which share the same ingredients - is Time, so, too, the difference between a life fulfilled and a failed life is how we spent our time on this Earth.
Chicago - and its suburb Skokie, where I studied in Yeshiva – can be a very cold place in the winter. But our classroom always had an open window, such that at times we wore coats and gloves while learning Gemara. "You’ll sleep in the next world," our rebbe, Rav Herzl Kaplan zt"l would often say. "In this world, you will do, not dream." The old cliche still says it best: It’s not the years in our life, but the life in our years that really counts.
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.
