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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Nitzavim
- Jewish Laws and Thoughts
- Serving Hashem, Mitzvot and Repentance
- Repentance
The sedra reiterates the bond & covenant we have with the Eternal: You will be My people, & I will be your G-d. Then there is a rather fearful warning of what can (and will) happen to us if we stray from the path of Hashem - plagues, fire & brimstone, exile from our land, utter devastation - as well as the blessings that are ours when we keep the covenant: prosperity, an abundance of children, victory over all of our enemies & Redemption. All this in one of the shortest parshiyot in the Torah!
But I suggest that the key to all these momentous events comes in just a very few p'sukim where one basic word is repeated over and over again:
V'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha; "V'shav Hashem Elokecha et sh'vutcha; "V'shav v'kibetzcha mikal ha-amim; "V'ata tashuv v'shamata b'kol Hashem; "Ki tashuv b'chal l'vavcha u'v'chal nafshecha.
The word, of course, is "lashuv, to return," and it is the root & the very essence of Teshuva.
Our primary mission is to return. To return to a time when we were pure, innocent, without sin. When we were less cynical, less critical & more idealistic, more optimistic.
To return to Hashem, who loves us, who daily performs miracles on our on our behalf & passionately wants us to reach our potential, if only we choose to walk His path.
And to return, as a nation, to Israel - the only land created specifically for us, the land "upon which the eyes of G-d are focused," where our Divine destiny can be fulfilled.
"Teshuva," of course, has another meaning: The Answer. Ironically, even as we go forward to a New Year, we must at the same time also go back, we must work to return to the holy vessel, the person that we were created to be. That's the real answer to the challenge that lies before us.
May all of our tefilot be answered by Hashem for good – this year & all years.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
Jewish Laws and Thoughts Shul “etiquette:” can we honor Hashem while respecting our fellow congregants?
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
