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Beit Midrash
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- Ein Ayah
The Main Purpose of Clothes
(condensed from Ein Ayah, Shabbat 8:30)
Gemara: Levusha (clothing) represents lo busha (no embarrassment).
Ein Ayah: Man has spiritual characteristics that are prevalent in him due to his special divine image. These characteristics indeed rule over the internal content of the way he leads his life. Due to this fact, when a person has a need which fulfills both a physical and a spiritual need, the spiritual need that is related to his spiritual stature is more impactful than the physical one because it is in regard to the spiritual that man is significantly different from animals.
There are multiple reasons for wearing clothes. It helps prevent the discomfort of exposure to excessive heat or excessive cold. However the gemara’s play on words stresses the important part about clothes. The internal emotional need of avoiding embarrassment is the most significant of the reasons for them. Embarrassment is, after all, a very important emotion, and it is related to the moral spirit of a person. That inclination is more important than the other factors, and they are subservient to this reason. For this reason, there is a connection between the word levusha and the words lo busha.
Beauty in Lack of Detail
(condensed from Ein Ayah, Shabbat 8:31)
Gemara: Gelima (a cloak) is related to the idea of making one like a golam (a chunk of clay).
Ein Ayah: Spiritual grandeur is not realized when each part of the whole of a matter that contains beauty, is stressed individually. It is possible that the special small parts of the matter add to its general beauty, when each part contains some specific grace. However, the main appearance of beauty relates to the general appearance, which overpowers the specific lines of the pieces of the whole.
All of a person’s limbs, and indeed all of the elements that act to accentuate the general picture of the body as a whole, join together in one appearance of unity. Therefore, the cloak, which is a wide article of clothing that covers all the other articles of clothing, envelops a person as a whole and gives him an overall picture of grandeur. This completes the appearance of overall beauty, which stems from a spiritual beauty, which itself emanates from the inclination toward good in spirit. Only certain parts of the overall being can have their specific elements viewed. But the main thing is the general element, which embraces the various individual elements that make up the whole. That is what is special about a cloak that does not allow the various shapes of the limbs to be seen. In that way, it makes a person like a golam, in the positive sense.
Various Rabbis
Various Rabbis including those of of Yeshivat Bet El, such as Rabbi Chaim Katz, Rabbi Binyamin Bamberger and Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblat and others.
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: A Crown and its Scepter – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 294-5
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
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.
