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Migdal Eider also comes up in Sefer Bereishit, as the region where Yaakov’s flock grazed upon his return from Aram (Bereishit 35:21). Targum Yonatan (ad loc.) says that this location of Migdal Eider is the place from where the Mashiach will be revealed at the end of days. The context of this mentioning of Migdal Eider is the aftermath of the burial of the matriarch Rachel and the traveling toward Hebron, where Yaakov settled in proximity to his father.
Experts in the geography of Eretz Yisrael have identified a hill overlooking the yishuv of Migdal Oz in the Gush Etzion region as the likely location of the biblical Migdal Eider. This hill has a special connection with Jerusalem, as it is the only spot between Hebron and Jerusalem from which one can see the distant Temple Mount. It is very likely, then, that this is the place at which we are told that Avraham, on the way to Akeidat Yitzchak, "saw the place from a distance" (ibid. 22:4).
It is also not surprising that Bar Kochva, whom Rabbi Akiva thought was Mashiach (Rambam, Melachim 11:3), set up his headquarters in this area. He was likely aware of the tradition that found its way into the Targum that this is a place which is fitting for the Mashiach.
From the time of Bar Kochva until 1927, this spot was desolate from the perspective of Jewish settlement. In 1927, the rabbi of Meah Shearim and a member of the Jerusalem Beit Din (and a Zionist), Rav Yosef Gershon Hurvitz (who happens to have been my great-grandfather) was part of a group that renewed Jewish settlement in this holy place. They organized a group of about 20 people, mainly new immigrants from Yemen, along with seven students of Rav Hurvitz, and formed a yeshiva in that place. This was considered a branch of the Yeshiva of Meah Shearim.
The winter of 1927 was very severe, and snow prevented supplies from arriving, putting the people in danger of starvation. Rav Yechezkel Sarna, rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Hebron, sent some food by donkey. The Arabs of the neighboring Beit Omar, with whom the settlement had good relations, also sent food. In the riots of 1929, the group feared for their lives, and, again, neighbors from Beit Omar helped, this time getting them to Jerusalem safely. In 1933, Shmuel Holtzman bought land, upon which Kibbutz Kfar Etzion was built. While the Jewish growth in this area came to a brutal end in 1948, since the Six Day War, the sound of Torah has returned impressively generally to Eretz Yisrael and specifically to Gush Etzion.
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.
