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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- The High Holidays
- The Month of Elul
The Torah study is dedicatedin the memory of
Hana Bat Haim
R' Chaim of Sanz's story deals with a person who has gotten "lost in the forest." It is about somebody who has gone astray, about sins and transgressions which stand in man's path and become a virtual forest of trees which block his way. At certain times, man feels the need to find his way out of the tangle which he has caused himself to become lost in. He feels as if he's in need of help. At exactly that moment another person passes who has himself lost his way. It subsequently turns out that even the man he turns to for help does not know his way out of the thick. He only knows how to say in which direction not to go.
This part of the story teaches us the need to harness the power of joint effort when striving for repentance. Indeed, this is the message with which the rebbe of Sanz finishes off his story: "My brothers, let us search out the new path together." The hassidim, the students, believe that the Rebbe has a clear picture of the way out of the forest. However, the rebbe makes it clear that struggling with sin and transgression is his own lot in life as well, and not only that of the hassid. Each of us faces his own forest in life, each individual must deal with his own entanglement, each of us must find his way out of the forest after having gotten lost.
The response of the man in the woods may appear somewhat disappointing: the individual who has just now gone astray is sure that he can be aided by this man to find his way out of his fix. Yet it turns out that he is only familiar with those paths which are not to be entered because they only lead further into the forest. It turns out that every pit bottom is liable to give way to an even deeper pit, and each fall is liable to be followed by an even greater fall. Even one who has already become ensnared by his sins must be aware of the still greater danger of becoming further ensnared.
Despite the fact that the man in the forest does not know the way out, he offers to show his partner which paths to avoid, and then, together, they will be able to look for the correct path. The approach offered by R' Chaim to his adherents transforms failure into a springboard for success: sin and its attendant complications can aid in teaching man; one may infer from the negative which is the true path that should be chosen.
The Sages teach that one cannot grasp the words of the Torah until he has first stumbled in them. Man's true achievement is wrought out of his struggle with failure. Precisely by learning those forest paths which must be avoided one is able to uncover the proper way. The search which follows the lessons of failure can be regarded as a cooperative lesson stemming from collective experience: "Let us go together to search out the way." The way will be found after the group, as a group, puts its mind to finding it through intense reflection upon both individual and communal shortcomings.
R' Chaim of Sanz's story is generally told in the month of Elul, when people are preparing themselves for the Day of Judgment. All are aware that the path to the Day of Judgment involves soul-searching and self-scrutiny. This manner of service is not easy. A person naturally feels ashamed at his own failures, his personal, self-inflicted ensnarement. The rebbe, like the man in the forest, stands at the crossroads of Elul, turns to those who have lost their way, and urges them to transform their falls and failures into a springboard of rectification and an opportunity for focusing in on points which need mending. He tells them to embark on a new path, a path born of the lessons learned from all of the failures.
The cry of the rebbe here, like the cry "Let us search and try our ways, and turn back to the Lord," (Lamentations 3:40) is made in the plural. One of the great keys to Rosh HaShanah lies in the power of communal search for the true path. The Kabbalistic work the Zohar points out that the power of the individual on Rosh HaShanah depends on the power of the community, in the sense of, "I rest amongst my people" (2 Kings 4:13). The various failures, errors, and reconsiderations join together and constitute a supreme force which propels the entire community to concentrate on searching out the new path.
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.
