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Beit Midrash
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- Bereshit
Adam wanted to follow his own individual path, as opposed to the one that Hashem set out for him from the outset. He wanted to find for himself that which is the good path [by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil], and he fell into the depths of sin and gave up hope [of spiritual redemption]. He was embarrassed and saw himself in full defilement. It was then that Hashem helped him by providing for Adam kotnot or. According to most commentaries, this referred to clothes that went on his body. However, the midrash (Bereishit Rabba 20:12) understands it as meaning kotnot ohr (with an aleph instead of an ayin as the first letter of the second word), which means that the garments were of lights. The Yalkut Shimoni (Bereishit 34) says that this means that He made him clothes that were like a lantern. What type of article of clothing is that?
What this means is that in the midst of the human coverings, which are ugly [in the way that they cover a person’s spiritual side], which includes a person’s aspirations and physical desires, there is a shining nucleus that can "light the person’s candle." This nucleus is gemilut chasadim. The Torah went beyond the letter of the law and revealed to man: "You shall chose life" (Devarim 30:19). This implies that the desire to do good and perform acts of kindness exists within man, and he just needs to be encouraged and aroused to action.
The Torah begins with gemilut chasadim – the Torah is a Torah of chesed. If a person does not approach the Torah with the attempt to uncover the chesed that is imbedded in the Torah, he will not reach his goal in the world.
There is worldly wisdom in the nation of Edom, and there is Torah in Israel (Eicha Rabba 2:13). Wisdom is distant and cold; it speaks about something without demanding full identification with it. Torah consists of instructions for life, and in that way Torah is "conceived and born" based on chesed.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
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.
