YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Behar
We are now in the midst of counting the Omer, as we go from Pesach to Shavuot, "elevating" ourselves from the purely physical redemption we achieved at the Exodus, to the even more important spiritual redemption that we achieved at the moment Hashem revealed himself at Har Sinai & bestowed upon us the Torah & its Mitzvot.
During these weeks ("Shavuot?!") it is customary to recite the six chapters of Pirkei Avot, the vital "lessons of life" imparted by our greatest sages. The first of these lessons, quoted above, records the chain of transmission from the giving of the Torah until today. What is the "lesson" implied here? That we can never sever our connection to the past; each of us is an irreplaceable link in the eternal chain of tradition; if we break that chain, our lineage is left dangling in time, cutting off our future.
But why does it say that Moshe received the Torah "from Sinai?!" Didn’t he receive it from Hashem?! One answer is that, while the Torah indeed emanates from G-d & is a thing of the Divine, it was given to we mortals on Planet Earth to study, dissect, debate & act upon. "Lo b’shamayim he," we say; the Torah is no longer in Heaven, it has come down to earth (symbolized by Mt. Sinai) & is now owned & operated by each one of us.
But there is another idea at work here. Har Sinai is a kind of conduit, a connector between Heaven & Earth. It’s message is that every act we perform, every Mitzva we keep, reverberates & impacts both above & below. It affects us, our fellow human being, & G-d all at once.
That, I suggest, is the meaning of Rashi’s cryptic reply to his question ("What does Shmita have to do with Har Sinai?’) at the start of our Sedra. He answers, "Just as the laws of Shmita were given at Sinai, so all the Mitzvot & their details were given at Sinai." Ok, but why choose Shmita as the example?! Why not Shabbat, or Kashrut?"
The answer, I offer, is that Shmita exemplifies a Mitzva that "connects" Man & G-d. On the one hand, it has to do with working the land, with produce we grow (or don’t), with plowing, planting, pruning. But at the same time, it is called a "Shabbat l’Hashem," G-d’s Sabbath! In the same vein, this parsha several times instructs us to treat others fairly ("al tono," don’t cheat, don’t oppress your fellow Jew; & then ends the pasuk with "Ani Hashem, I am G-d."
In short, folks, we can indeed move both Heaven & Earth.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
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.
