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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- The High Holidays
- The Month of Elul
A. Elul is a time of awakening for teshuva, and every person must work to fix that which is within him. In the book Orot HaTeshuva, Rav Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook zt"l wrote several times that there are people for whom teshuva brings despair and weakens their mind ("Where do I stand?", "How much have I sinned?", and so on).
This is forbidden! A person must know that even if he stumbled once, even if he acted incorrectly, he should always strive forward. So if a person knows he has a set time to do teshuva - and there are Rishonim who think that doing teshuva is a mitzvah - then surely it should give a person strength and incentive to do teshuva.
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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.
