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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Lech Lecha
Chazal identify the palit as Og, King of the Bashan, with whom Moshe fought in the desert hundreds of years later (Nida 61a), and he had escaped from the mass death of the flood. The midrash (Bamidbar Rabba, Chukat 19) explains that he escaped being killed or captured by the Mesopotamian kings, which is what enabled him to make it to Avraham and update him about Lot.
Before Moshe fought Og, Hashem had to reassure Moshe that he need not fear, as Moshe would conquer him and his nation. The gemara (ibid.) explains that Moshe had been concerned about Og’s merit for having helped Avraham. Chazal do not tell us in merit of what did he make it to that point in the first place, i.e., that he had not been killed in the flood or by Nimrod and friends. His merit in regard to Avraham is also hard to understand according to Chazal, who say that his plan was to draw Avraham into an unwinnable battle, so that after Avraham’s death he could marry Sarah. Is that a good deed that deserves merit?!
Let us answer with a look back at the social norms in the time of Sefer Bereishit. We are told that the powerful people took beautiful women without so much as asking anyone’s permission (Bereishit 6:2). Then the generation of the flood continued corruption in the field of adultery (Sanhedrin 57a). Avraham had reason to believe that Paroh and the Egyptians would kill him because of his wife and indeed they seized her without permission (see Bereishit 12:12-15). When these are the societal norms, Og’s plan to entice Avraham to go out to battle, without Og trying to kill Avraham himself, makes him better than the other giants and other powerful men of his time.
How do we combat these sinful tendencies that people at the time had? We see the answer in our parasha. Beyond the covenant with mankind about not destroying mankind with another flood, Hashem made a covenant with Avraham using the foreskin at the place of a man’s organ linked to sexual desires. It is not by coincidence that Avraham was told about this new covenant and about the coming birth of Yitzchak at the same place that he came in contact with Og. As it proved to be, in the merit of keeping to this covenant, Bnei Yisrael merited things such as conquering Og, who had much lower level accomplishments in these regards.
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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.