YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Yom Kippur
- The Essence of Yom Kippur
In the Torah reading on first day of Rosh Hashana, we read about Hagar & Yishmael, who had been cast off into the desert. The Torah says that Hagar placed the boy under a tree, & walked some distance away – some "bow-shots away" – then lifted her voice & wept. Suddenly, Hashem "heard the voice of the child" & sent an angel to save them both, via a well of water, & to bless Yishmael’s future.
What a puzzling episode! Hagar is the one who prays, & yet G-d hears "the voice of the child?!" Where in the text does it say that the child prayed?! And what is this business about "bow-shots?!" What can that possibly mean?!
I had the z’chut to have once had a long chat with Rav Shlomo Carlebach. He told me two great things that I shall always remember (one I share with you now; the other I will tell you IY"H in next week’s parsha sheet).
I asked him about his unique style of singing & story-telling at the very same time; how did he come to choose that approach & why was it so successful & penetrating. He told me, "Do you know the difference between adults & children? When you start to tell an adult a story that he or she has heard before, they immediately yell out, ‘Oh, I already know that story - you don’t need to tell it to me again!" But if you tell a familiar story to a child, he or she excitedly yells out, "Yes, I know that story! Please, please, tell it to me again, I love that story!"
"You see, the child is innocent, pure & unblemished; the adult, sadly, is cynical, pre-occupied & very full of himself. The story penetrates to the heart of a tender, soft child, but never gets past the hardened exterior of the adult. My music, and my stories, bring out the beautiful child in my listeners."
The prayer that Hashem heard was indeed the prayer of Hagar, but He heard the "child" in that prayer; the pure, simple, un-sophisticated child-like purity that Hagar’s soul expressed when she begged for her life. That struck home in G-d like a piercing arrow; that was the "bow-shot" that she aimed straight at Hashem’s loving heart.
The word, "Chatati" means, "I have sinned;" but it also can mean, "I have missed the mark." If we truly want our Tefilot to find their mark, to hit the right spot, we have to return to that innocent, pure, child-like neshama within us, & launch our prayers from there towards the Almighty. They then will invariably travel far, & fast, & almost certainly will reach their intended target straight-on.
May we - all the boys and girls of every age - send our Tefilot flying skyward; & may they return with the promise of Briyut, Brachot & Shalom.
Army and War "If Haredim Should Serve in the IDF, So Should You"
IDF Service for Young Jewish Men from America
Army and War "If Haredim Should Serve in the IDF, So Should You"
IDF Service for Young Jewish Men from America
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
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.
