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Upon waking, explains Rabbi Kook, one's heart is full of rapture due to the renewed encounter with God's great and bountiful creation. This leads to a feeling of exalted joy and a desire to express thanks to the Almighty for everything. The first word to come out of one's mouth is "thanks." Thank You. Thank God that He has restored my soul. This is how a person of faith awakes and begins his day - on an optimistic and joyful note, full of trust in the good and beneficent God. Such a person knows that God is the omnipotent Master of creation and that everything derives from Him.
A person of faith thanks God and blesses Him for everything. The first part of his daily agenda is prayer. The blessings in the prayer service give expression to our pondering of the Universe and its order. The blessing "He creates the constellations" expresses the vastness of God's creation: "How many are Your works, God; You made them all with wisdom, the earth is full of Your possessions," and God "renews every day, continually, the work of creation." How enormous and impressive are the constellations, the sun which renews its light for us daily. All of these things cause this blessing to burst forth from the depths of the heart, "Blessed are You...Who creates the constellations."
Foundations of Faith (51)
Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed
49 - 50. One Hundred Blessings
50 - 51. Beginning the Day
51 - Emuna From the Cradle
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After the blessing "He creates the constellations," which relates to God's creation, the supplicant is uplifted to an even higher level and recalls Israel's unique Divine greatness. This greatness is do to the fact that we are God's nation for whom God harbors an eternal love. This is why He drew us near to Him and gave us the Torah.
The Divine light which radiates from the Torah is incomparably loftier than the creation of the physical world. This is the backdrop to the blessing "An eternal love You have loved us, Lord our God." He has chosen us over all other nations. The world is renewed every day, and so is God's love for Israel - a new, vibrant, and burning love. This is what is felt by the believer, and he blesses God regarding this, saying, "Blessed are You...Who chooses His people Israel with love."
After these two blessings, the supplicant accepts upon himself the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. He is totally prepared to fulfill God's complete desire, no matter what this involves, and he will do this lovingly, wholeheartedly, and with complete self-sacrifice. He is ready to give all, as it is written, "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your possessions."
This is the way a man of faith begins his day - with an all-encompassing vista of the world, life, and the Almighty Creator. It follows that his entire day possesses quality, ideals, and meaning. Rather than being gray, superficial, monotonous, and empty, his daily existence is profound, rich, and full.
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Some of the text in the above article is taken from or based upon Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin's translation of The Kuzari (Jason Aronson Inc.).
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
