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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Passover - Pesach
- The Seder Night
Why did the Sages insist specifically on wine? First, free people drink wine, and drinking wine signifies freedom. In addition, drinking wine brings about special joy (Sefer HaChinuch, Positive Commandment 31). Wine makes a person rejoice, and when a person rejoices he can perform the commandments in a better way.
Furthermore, the enhanced joy brought about by wine hints at the way the redemption will come. Generally, when a person eats anything, the first bite is the most delicious, the second less so, and the third even less so. In the case of wine, it is the exact opposite: with each glass one’s joy increases. So, too with Israel’s redemption; thus with each of the four verbs illustrating redemption each stage is succeedingly higher: "I will bring you out" is the first stage, and this will be followed by "I will deliver you." That will be followed by "I will redeem you," and finally, "I will take you" – whereupon we are enveloped beneath the wings of the Divine Presence.
This, however, needs clarification. The Nation of Israel is generally opposed to the drinking wine. It is true that we drink a glass of wine for kiddush, but drinking four glasses seems to be a bit excessive. Is it appropriate for us to use a symbol that would seem to imply drunkenness, and at the Seder of all times? (Even on Purim, there are guidelines for how much one ought to drink!).
The answer is that the drinking wine on the Seder night expresses our freedom, our ability to use the material for a higher purpose. Wine, alcohol, is one of the most dangerous threats to a person's sense of control, one of the most widely abused substances in humanity's history.
Rather than abusing wine for lowly matters, we harness the potency of it through kiddush and use it to achieve spiritual elevation and holiness. Freedom signifies control! A free person knows how to control his passions and his body. The freedom of the Seder night teaches us to be free people throughout the year, by not losing control even though we are indulging in drinking wine.
However, on the Seder night itself we drink four glasses. On the Seder night our souls are free, and, therefore, four glasses of wine will not disturb our freedom. Rather, the four glasses allow us to channel our spirituality towards expressing our joy and gratitude to God.
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
