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Beit Midrash
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Yosef’s opening words are among the most famous in Jewish literature: "Ani Yosef; ha’od avi chai? – I am Yosef; does my father yet live?" If, as some suggest, Yosef once blamed Yakov for the turmoil with his brothers & their harsh treatment of him, he now is consumed with a desire to know if Yakov is alive & how he is.
Yet this is puzzling. Just a short while earlier (43:27), Yosef had inquired as to Yakov’s welfare – "HaShalom Avichem.…ha’odenu chai? – is all well with your father; does he yet live?" and Yosef had been answered in the affirmative! Does Yosef think he had been lied to previously, that perhaps the brothers were seeking his sympathy, & so now they needed to be asked once again? Or is there another, much more profound dynamic at work here.
Once there was a young boy, gifted & smart, whose father had abruptly picked up & left the family. This so traumatized the boy, who loved his father deeply, that he retreated inside himself & rarely spoke to others. One day, in Hebrew class, the teacher was discussing this very story about Yosef. He asked the students the same exact question we just posed: "Why did Yosef ask if his father was alive, if he already knew the answer?"
The class was silent & then, suddenly, the boy raised his hand & said, "I know the answer!" The teacher was shocked; the boy had never, ever volunteered a comment before. "Yes," he said to the boy, "please do tell us."
The boy stood up slowly. "Yosef is not asking if Yakov is still alive - he already knows the answer to that; he is asking the brothers if Yakov knows - if Yakov cares - that Yosef is alive! That is why Yosef earlier used the term, ‘Avichem' – YOUR father;’ but now he calls Yakov ‘Avi – MY father!’ He needs to know, ‘does my father remember me, does he think of me, does he love me as much as I still love him? Is he still my father as much as I am his son?!’ "
And with that, the boy broke down in tears & collapsed in his seat. The teacher, of course, understood that the boy was finally expressing his deepest feelings about his own, absent father.
But in truth, this is a question we should all be asking & crying over, especially when times are hard, when we experience tragedy, as in the horrendous attack on a pregnant mother this past week by Palestinian animals. We cry out to Hashem, our Father: "Do you remember us, are you there, watching over us, do you love us? And do you see how much we love You, how loyal & faithful we are to You, even when You seem so distant?
Avinu She’ba’shamayim: Please, please, let us be re-united.
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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.
