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Beit Midrash
- Jewish Laws and Thoughts
- Middot - Character Traits
- Gemilut Chasadim
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- The Life of Tzaddikim
- Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu
One morning, Shmuel heard someone shouting in the area where the visitors would sit as they waited to be called. When he went to investigate, he saw a woman arguing with Rabbi Yehudah Mutzafi, Rabbi Eliyahu's assistant. Rabbi Mutzafi was telling her that Rabbi Eliyahu had to leave and that she should come back the following day. But she was insistent, explaining that her question was concerning a matter of life and death.
Rabbi Mordechai heard the shouting and came out of his room, telling the woman she could enter. She went in and consulted with Rabbi Eliyahu for some ten minutes — a considerable delay when he had already planned to leave. When she finally left the room, Rabbi Eliyahu called after her, "If that doesn't work, come back to me."
After she had gone, Rabbi Mutzafi asked Rabbi Eliyahu if it had really been a matter of life and death.
"Not exactly," Rabbi Eliyahu said. "But it was a very important question."
Rabbi Mutzafi asked what the very important question was, to which Rabbi Eliyahu responded, "The woman has a cat that hasn't eaten for several days. She's worried that it's going to die and she came to ask me what to do."
Shmuel couldn’t help but smirk as he asked his father, "What did you answer her?"
"I suggested that she change the cat's food and take it outside. I gave her a few suggestions, and I told her she should come back if none of them work."
"And that was the question that was so urgent that the rabbi had to miss his breakfast and will go hungry to the bet din?" Rabbi Mutzafi asked.
Rabbi Eliyahu nodded. "That was actually the most significant question asked to me this entire morning. The cat is the center of that woman's life. She was so distressed by her cat not eating. If it would die, she would be in tremendous anguish. We need to help each person in his or her place, wherever he or she is holding in life."
Years later, Rabbi Shmuel reflected on this story, saying, "At that time, this story confused me. But it has accompanied me through the years, and I preserve the memory of it as an important reminder to conduct myself with sensitivity, even to those who are so different from me."
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
