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Beit Midrash
- Family and Society
- A Nation and its Halachot
- Army and War
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Bamidbar
So let’s put things in order:
1. Disturbances by Israeli Arabs and the attack from Gaza are not an immediate existential threat (!) to the State of Israel. Perspective. They are causing tremendous damage, but we are all not going to die today. The Israeli Defense Forces are strong, the State of Israel is stronger than any other force in our region.
2. The ability to eliminate these threats is essentially a matter of assertion. And that is what is definitely going to happen in the next few days.
3. These riots actually strengthen us for the long-term. Their main benefit is convincing all those of us who have been confused about who is the enemy and who is a friend. It is true that there is a part of the Jewish public who lost this, but they are an extinct minority (demographically and culturally), even if they have a strong presence in the media. The general Jewish public has internalized the danger and this will remain even after the riots calm down. The general Arab public will calm down. They have no choice, and most of them secretly want this.
4. The Creator has done an incredible kindness for us in that this clarification is being done under relatively favorable conditions. Imagine if this lesson would have had to be learned during an Iranian attack and thousands of Hezbollah missiles; and then the fifth column would be on a rampage. Here is a practice exercise before the trial by fire. The lessons will be learned with Gd’s help, and there too we will win.
5. Even on a personal level, each and every one of us has the opportunity to exercise the muscle of resilience. Composure, self-control and a lot of faith. Everything starts from here.
6. Always remember: we can go overcome and win everything! We have succeeded over thousands of years of history, we have recently beaten Covid. We cannot let momentary emotion obscure the eternal gaze: the State of Israel has been flourishing for decades in parallel with all the difficulties. We are not in the days of the Holocaust nor in the days of the riots of 1929, we are now living in the happiest period in the history of the Jewish people, and our grandchildren will live in an even more happy time.
For the Lord will not forsake His people; nor will He abandon His portion.
The bad will pass.
The good will prevail.
With God's help.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Israel and the Nations A Few Minutes & Many Innovative Ideas on Antisemitism & What to do About It
As we approach the High Holidays, this short lecture (18 minutes) deals with the unfortunate situation of how Israel and the Jewish People stand against antisemitism, analyzing its cause according to Rav Kook, and how to deal with the issue pragmatically & via our prayers.
Ha'azinu PURSUIT is PERFECTION
p. Ha'azinu, Shabbat Shuva
Rav Kook deals with the question of the seemingly hopeless nature of Tshuva. For G-d Himself knows that He created us with free will, which inevitably means we will sometimes make mistakes and choose wrong. This can easily be frustrating, freezing us into inaction and ye'ush (loss of hope). If one sins even once, does he chalila have no choice but suicide?! Moreover, our Godly conscience demands justice, righteousness and perfection, but we all know this is impossible, so what's the solution? Rav Kook's innovative thinking, strongly based on chazal (our sages), offers an inciteful and important aspect to this topic, especially this time of year!
Sukkot Bug-Free Sukkah: Essential Halachic and Practical Schach Guide
How to inspect, clean, and store bamboo mats and palm branches to protect your mitzvah and holiday meals.
