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.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
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.
