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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.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
