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"Hashem made man straight, and they looked for many calculations (chishbonot)" (Kohelet 7:29). This implies that calculations represent a deterioration in man’s status. On the other hand, Chazal teach on the words "Come to Cheshbon" that we should make the "calculation of the world" (Bava Batra 78b).
The line leading from man to his Maker is innately straight, as a pure spirit yearns for Hashem, the source of his life and of goodness. However, if the line became crooked, it is necessary to make corresponding crooked lines (i.e., calculations) to get back to the desired place. We lost the knack of connecting directly, so we need to figure out through complex determinations where we are supposed to be.
That’s the reason that for someone like Moshe Rabbeinu, who had an ideal, natural relationship with Hashem, it is indeed simple to fear Hashem. But someone who is missing that relationship has to "learn to fear." The giving of the first Tablets, with the awe-inspiring display of divinity, put the nation on the cusp of being on the level at which fear of Hashem is trivial. It could have turned into something that lasted "all the days …" (Devarim 5:25). However, the sin of the Golden Calf complicated matters greatly, and made it necessary to "quarry for yourself" (ibid. 10:1), with the great effort involved to figure out how to get back "in synch" with Hashem. Even after the quarrying and the toil it symbolized, there was still a need for Hashem to write on the new tablets (see Shemot 34:1).
We can only create an opening to our relationship to Hashem like the crack of a needle, and the rest requires Divine Assistance. The point of Torah study is to fear Hashem, but that fear is not as great as that which is above it, as it says, "The beginning of knowledge is fear of Hashem" (Tehillim 111:10).
We spend so much of the year in mistaken activity, things that distance us from Hashem, almost as if we are again making golden calves and bowing down to them. The month of Elul is a time to make calculations and start bending back in the right direction. We ask Hashem to create a new heart for us (Tehillim 51:12). While we are incapable of creating such a new heart, which requires the ability to create, we are capable of desiring such a pure heart. May we serve Hashem in a manner that demonstrates the yearning to be pure once again.
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
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.
