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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Purim & The Month of Adar
- Amaleck
As many of us get older, that blissful excitement quietly dwindles away until one day our birthdays become completely unremarkable or even grim — after all we are yet another year closer to death. Some of us will fret about where our lives stand compared to where it should stand.
But according to the Sages this is not how we should see such a joyous day!
The Talmud of the Land of Israel teaches us (Rosh Hashanah) that on one’s birthday a person does not readily fall. One should take note that this is not a mere psychological motivator, but an actual cosmic rule.
Amalek’s secret to military success lay in mobilizing people whose birthday fell on the day of battle. Moses had to confound the constellations so that Amalek could not tell what day it is.
The Sages of the Land of Israel teach us that on our birthdays we are blessed and endowed with a remarkable power of success. Our birthdays are a time to take advantage of that power and use it to advance our lives because on this day it is decreed that we will not readily fall. As each year passes we should look forward with optimism to new horizons.
May we always look forward to our next birthdays and the new horizons that they can bring on for us! May we never look back what could have been but strive forward to where we want to be.
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.
