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Beit Midrash
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- Bereshit
The Torah twice in Parashat Bereishit describes the creation of man. In Bereishit 1:26-27, it describes that Hashem created him in His own image and that the creation was "male and female." This creation was a complete one, performed on Friday, soon before Shabbat. He was placed into a physical world that included mineral, vegetable, and animal, but man was the only speaking creature and the only spiritual one. This complex world is one that contains the potential for great downfalls, which require much work to overcome, as we will explain.
On the first day, a special light was created, with which one could see from one edge of the world to the other. However, it could be misused by the wicked, so Hashem hid away this light for the righteous in the World to Come (Chagiga 12a). So we see that from the beginning, the problems raised by evil had an impact on the world.
The second day opened up the door to multiplicity, which is a challenge to unity. As we see in Tehillim 104 (3-4), which provides many insights into creation, the angels were created on this day. This is as opposed to on the first day in which Hashem was alone in the world. On this day, Hashem also created the raki’a, the firmament, which separated between the "water that is beneath it" and that which "is above it" (Bereishit 1:6-7). At that point in the history of the world, the potential for dispute even not for noble purposes began. This explains the fact that gehinom was created on this second day (Bereishit Rabba 4). While there is no use for gehinom before there are sinners, the time of potential for conflict, which is behind sin, began.
The first sign of actual sin surfaces on the third day, but we will view it as potential sin because it was "perpetrated" by an inanimate object. The land was supposed to sprout trees that tasted like the fruit they produced, but it failed to do so (Bereishit 1:11-12).
The fourth day uncovered a new danger, the pursuit of dominion and honor, as the sun and the moon competed for the lead, and the "sinful" moon had to be reduced (Chulin 60b, based on Bereishit 1:16). This characteristic represents the root for many sins.
Evil takes on a much more real form on the fifth day, in which living things were created in the water, and the one that is mentioned prominently is the tanin. Many sources relate it to the snake or the leviathan (see Yeshayahu 27:1). Tehillim 91:13 stresses Hashem’s dominion over dangerous animals, including the tanin, and tradition has it that the world’s approach toward perfection must include the tanin’s destruction (see Bava Batra 74b). The trop (Torah cantillation) unnaturally separates (with an atnachta) the creation of the tanin from the rest of the pasuk, which ends off "Hashem saw that it was good" because of the problematic nature of the tanin.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
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.
