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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Shmot
- Shmot
This phrase, this sentiment, perfectly describes Miriam, one of the great - maybe the greatest heroine - of the entire Egyptian saga. Miriam - a midwife (along with her mother Yocheved) who saved the newborn Hebrew boys from
being murdered by Paro’s assassins - literally "saw the unborn" as she delivered those babies. And while Miriam doesn’t always get the same "hype" as her older brothers Ahron & Moshe, she was the initial catalyst for all the miracles that were to characterize this wondrous "birthing" of our nation.
The Medrash recounts how Miriam boldly stood up to her father Amram, who had urged his fellow Israelites to refrain from having more children. "Why subject these innocents to a cruel death?" he had preached to the community, while he himself separated from wife Yocheved in the process.
But Miriam castigated his actions: "You are worse than Paro!" she sternly preached. "Paro decreed only against the males, while you decree against all the children! Paro deprived the babies of life in this world, while you deprive them of life both in this word and the next!"
And so Amram relented & withdrew his decree. This led to the birth of Moshe, who would go on to lead the nation, & put a stop to all the atrocities of Paro. In Hashem’s mastery of sweet irony, Moshe would be raised – even pampered – by the very same people who had sought his demise, as the very water of the Nile that was to be his deathbed came to be his river of salvation & deliverance.
Miriam’s courageous act teaches us several crucial lessons in life: Never give in to prophecies of doom & gloom, never give up on our faith in the eternity of the Jewish People. Moreover, be extremely wary of "making cheshbonot," i.e. plotting the course of human events as you think it will turn out. Human vision is mortal, & so by its very nature is "short-sighted;" it cannot fathom all the unexpected twists & turns that history invariably takes, confounding the well-intentioned calculations of the prognosticators, who more than not completely misread the tea leaves.
Most of all, never, ever discount the "G-d factor" that presides just beyond the curtain, meticulously moving the players on stage & directing - if not producing - the action. Where logic & knowledge end, there Emuna takes over.
Miriam gazed into the darkness & saw the light of new life. And where there is Life, there is always Hope.
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.
