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Beit Midrash
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- The Life of Tzaddikim
- Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu
When he was involved with his work in the immigrant camps, the young Mordechai joined an underground group of youthful, idealistic religious activists who sought to stem the growing tide of secularism in the country.
The newspapers made a big ruckus about the young "fanatics," describing them like quasi-terrorists. The articles "exposed" the group's plans to make all kinds of trouble, insinuating that they wanted to go so far as to blow up the Knesset. Before long, the group was arrested and its members thrown in prison, including the young Mordechai, who was sentenced to nine months in jail.
Rabbi Yehudah Tzadkah, Rabbi Mordechai's uncle, later recalled that the prison's leadership even posted special guards to be on duty when the young "terrorists" arrived. These burly, truncheon-bearing policemen surrounded the prison gates, awaiting the arrival of the young "terrorists." But when the prisoners were brought in, the authorities saw a group of scrawny yeshivah boys with friendly-looking faces. These were the radical activists making headlines? These were the thugs bringing the country to its knees?
The prison warden made it his business to get to know the boys, who certainly didn't look like hardened criminals. He wanted to hear their stories and find out where they were coming from and what made them do what they did. Over the course of their imprisonment, the boys explained to the warden — and whoever else would listen — that their actions just came from a love of the Jewish people and out of a desire to preserve the holiness of the Land.
The boys truly inspired the warden. He learned about the responsibility of one Jew for another, about the beauty of caring for one another, and about the importance of performing acts of loving-kindness. Through them, the warden discovered the meaning of the mitzvot and, by the time the group was released, the warden was so inspired that he had decided to do teshuvah, to return and repent. The warden eventually became fully Torah-observant.
Years later, when discussing his imprisonment, Hacham Mordechai said, "If we went to prison just to help the warden do teshuvah, it was worth it!"
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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.
