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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Jewish Holidays
- The High Holidays
Our memories oftentimes play tricks on the mind. With the recollection of events, false memories can foster illusions, unwarranted criticism, and depressing thoughts about our present situation. Yet, it is impossible to face the present coherently and in a productive fashion regarding our present challenges, without relying on our memories and past experiences. This is especially true during this season of the high holy days when so much emotion is present within our families and our communities.
We all feel that it is not only those who are present that are commemorating the holiday, but also those who are no longer with us, who are also present in a very tangible manner in all our holiday activities and prayers. The events of past holidays weigh heavily upon the convictions of the commemoration and the celebration of the high holy days of this year as well.
When I was a child growing up in Chicago, I remember vividly that on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, my mother and I sat on the front porch of my grandfather's house. In front of me passed a sea of people walking to the Douglas Park lagoon in the neighboring park for the Tashlich service. Newspapers in Chicago estimated the crowds to number at least 40,000. Every Jew in the Lawndale area where I lived walked to the lagoon. There was no vehicular traffic on the street. People walked on the sidewalk, in the middle of the street, in the middle of the grassy Boulevard and all over the byway that led to the park.
It was the religious and social event of the year that united the entire Jewish community living in the area’s densely packed apartments and row houses. This was an opportunity to show their solidarity and connection the Jewish tradition and values. That memory, which was fixed into my young mind, has never departed or been diminished since. I don't know if there is any other such mass demonstration anywhere in the Jewish world outside of Israel today. It certainly is no longer present in Chicago.
I often think about the descendants of those 40,000 Jews that at one time walked to that lagoon to observe the custom of Tashlich. Tragically, I am certain that many of their descendants may no longer be Jewish, and, certainly, are not aware of this tradition. The ravages of assimilation over my lifetime destroyed much of the Jewish community, not only of Chicago, but also of America in general. But my memory of that Tashlich event still nurtures me until this very day.
The synagogues in Chicago engaged the services of the most famous legendary cantors of the time. Many of the synagogues had very large buildings that could accommodate thousands of worshipers at one time. The synagogue where my father was the rabbi, was perhaps the smallest of the large synagogues in the area. It contained about 1500 seats in the main sanctuary and in the women's gallery. On the high holy days, every seat was occupied and at certain points during the services, people stood in the aisles.
It was a generation mainly of Eastern European Jews, who brought that fervor and flavor to the high holy day services. When everyone stood to recite the prayer, there was a roar of sound and a sea of tears that I have never again seen equaled at any prayer service. These were plain simple Jews, struggling to make a living in an alien environment, and attempting, at the same time, to hold onto their faith. Most failed to accomplish this, but there was a minority who succeeded, and we are grateful to that minority for the restoration of traditional Jewish life throughout the world.
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.
