Female LessonParashat HashavuaSeries'LibraryPiskei Din (Hebrew)Test YourselfThe Mishkan was a mobile sanctuary, constructed of gilded boards & covered by curtains. According to tradition, the Mishkan was erected on the 1st day of Nissan, in the year 2449, 3,333 years ago, & served as the center of Divine worship for about 500 years. It accompanied Bnei Yisrael throughout the wanderings in the wilderness until their arrival in Canaan. Gilgal, in the plains of Jericho, was the last station in the wanderings, the first in an inhabited land & it was there that the Mishkan remained throughout the period of the conquest of Canaan. (See Sefer Yehoshua IV). After taking possession of Israel, the Mishkan would serve as spiritual center until the erection of the First Bet HaMikdash by Shlomo HaMelech. It stood for 14 years in Gilgal, for 369 years in Shilo, & for 57 years in Nob & Gibeon. After the Bet HaMikdash was built, Chazal say the Mishkan was dismantled & its ancient curtains & other materials were hidden away in subterranean passages.
Rav Kook explains why that which is learned on Shabbat is considered so much greater than that studied during the week, and why creativity is that much greater on Shabbat, for better or for worse!
The class deals with not "resting on one's laurels", and that not a few people who lived their entire lives idealistically, "lost it" upon getting older. Similarly the importance of not focusing on luxuries but on the necessities of life.
Seemingly 'Strange' Rabbinical Decrees- Not What You Thought!
Rav Kook suggests a very innovative and important "eye-opening" way to understand some of the rabbinical decrees which are particularly difficult to understand!