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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Re'e
The Torah study is dedicatedin the memory of
R. Avraham Ben David
2. Shechem
3. The place G-od shall choose
Torah of the land
After a long introduction of grand and general ideas, including undertaking the Yoke of Devine Government and the Yoke of Mitzvoth at the opening of Humash Devarim, in our Parasha we climb to the level of actuality: application of all of this content in actual behavior.
The list of the 52 Mitzvoth (almost one tenth of all the Mitzvoth) in our Parasha opens with the title - "These are the statutes and the ordinances, which ye shall observe to do in the land which the Lord, the God of thy fathers, hath given thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth (Devarim 12,1). This is the special print of Humash Devarim: building the Torah as a whole as a manifestation of the life of the nation on its land , as a spiritual content of life for a nation which lives full, independent life. This is also the axle around which the content of these Mitzvoth revolves. For example, the commands concerning the prohibition of paganism (Avoda Zara) are put as obligation to remove paganism out of our land.
Two places are chosen in our Parasha in order to express two levels of revelation of the holiness of Eretz-Israel: Mt. Gerizzim and Mt. Eival (the city of Shechem being between them) on the one hand and on the other hand - Jerusalem, "the place G-od shall choose". The content of the Parasha lies between these two stages.
Shechem
Shechem is the entering gate to Eretz Israel not only for our Father Abraham - "And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Schechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh"; and our Father Yaakov on is return safely from the house of Lavan - "And Yaakov came in peace to the city of Sechem"; but also for the People of Israel in the days of Yehoshua. The Gemara (Sotah 36) tells us that the covenant on Mt. Gerizzim and Mt. Eival was made in a miraculous fashion on the day of entering the Land : "Come and see how many miracles were done on that day - they crossed the Jordan and came to Mt. Gerizzim and Mt. Eival , more than sixty Miles, and no-one could stand on their way. Anyone who tried to interrupt them was seized with panic... and then they brought the stones and built the altar... and wrote the Torah in seventy tongues on them... and praised and cursed and took the stones and came to sleep in the Gilgal".
Shechem clearly and decisively signifies the fact that the Torah is an absolute covenant, not only between G-od and His people but an eternal covenant between the nation and its land with the Torah carved in it and spread over the whole span of life.
Here, on top of Mt. Gerizzim and Mt. Eival, we accepted the fact that the blessing of the land is realized just as much as we are worthy of living on it and use it according to its unique spiritual nature - the land of Life and the place of Devine Presence.
Shechem is a place designed for trouble (Midrash Raba): Her Dina was profaned, here Yoseph was sold, here Avimelech killed his brothers and here the kingship was split. But Shechem is also Joseph’s first-born present - "And I have given thee one shoulder (=Shechem) over thy brothers). It therefore signifies the complete connection of the tribes to Josef and his unique way of elevating everything secular to holiness ("The Lamentation in Jerusalem", The Articles of Harav Kook).
Out of this powerful covenant which lays between the two great mountains we are filled with courage and bravery to be walking on the ground of Eretz Israel, with the Divine blessing that appears on it spiritually and materially.
The place G-od shall choose
Out of our submergence in the air of Eretz Israel, taking hold of it and being held by it according to the guidance of the Torah - "For ye are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day" (ch.11, 31-32)- we become worthy of the concentration of the holy service in the chosen place: "Ye shall not do so unto the Lord thy God (Rashi: to worship God ‘on the high mountains and under every green tree’). But unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there" (11,4-5) - Jerusalem , the city of holiness.
A long way we have to pass until we are told the whereabouts of that chosen place. "Unto His habitation shall ye seek and thither thou shalt come "(v.5) - "...That you will have to travel afar and ask for the way leading to the house of G-od" (Ramban). The inner life of the nation is thirsty to discover its heart - the place G-od shall choose.
The place G-od shall choose to put His name there - later become known as Jerusalem - is the living heart of the nation. Here is the place of Service, here is the center of Torah and teaching, here is the place of prophecy and its origin, here is the place where the pan-tribal spiritual elevation is assembled, and this is also the place where once in every seven years the giving of the Torah is renewed on the ceremony of "Hakhel", which is like a repetition of the revelation of Sinai.
The reader of the Torah before the whole people in the "Hakhel" is the king of Israel. Jerusalem is also the center of kingship in Israel, for the Torah and the nation - the spiritual aspects and the public-political aspects are concentrated in it together. The choice of Jerusalem as place for G-od, the place of the Temple and of the eternal kingship of the house of David are one Eternal Devine choice.
And the spiritual-earthly covenant of Shechem on Mt. Gerizzim and Mt. Eival rises and sanctified by the eternal covenant of holiness and Devine presence of the kingship of Israel - in Jerusalem.
Peninei Halakha 11. Shaving One’s Beard During the Three Weeks
Chapter 8: The Customs of the Three Weeks
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
