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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Igrot Hare’aya
Recipient: Rav Yitzchak Aizik Halevi, the author of a monumental history of rabbinic scholarship, Dorot Harishonim. See Rav Kook’s letter to him (#99).
Igrot Hare’aya (200)
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit
76 - More on Rav Kook’s Yeshiva Planning
77 - Connecting Disciplines in Torah Study
78 - Connecting Disciplines in Torah Study
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Body: Today the light appeared in my house, as I received a package containing a hidden treasure, your wonderful books, the four volumes of Dorot Harishonim. The letter that I received from my dear friend Avigdor Rivlin, the rabbinic representative of the Sha’arei Torah institution in our holy city of Yafo, indicates that these pearls were an unblemished present from you. It was a holiday for me when this bundle of precious light was revealed in my house.
It is true that I have previously heard a lot of the lofty reputation of the work, but I did not have the privilege until now to possess it permanently, so that I can imbibe its sweet fragrance whenever I desire. In practice, time has not allowed me, with all of my preoccupations, [to take full advantage], and I have also not given it over yet to be bound in a manner that befits the honor of such a treasure of light. [Yet, I do look forward to] broadening the scope of my study in certain topics within the many disciplines of the Torah, which are plentiful in your wonderful books, that are built as a fortification with the characteristics of a wall of fire that protects it from enemies who plan to uproot the Torah. Especially, it [restores confidence] in the words of the Oral Law.
In order to express my feelings of thanks to you, great scholar, I will present you with a short and general comment. It relates to a topic that you dealt with at length from chap. 15 to chap. 23 in the third volume of your shining books, regarding the relationship between the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud.
You are the first in our generation to open the locked door between chochmat Yisrael (an academic approach to Jewish studies), as it is understood in contemporary literature, and the depth of the wisdom of the Talmud (classical rabbinical analysis). Regarding the latter, we refer to the pure and straight understanding that is passed down as a heritage from generation to generation, based on the hard work done with dedication and love of the intellectual giants of all of the generations.
I think it is appropriate to present before someone of your stature that there is another fence that needs to be opened, so that people can "travel from one side to another." That is the distinction between the Torah disciplines of halacha (practical guidance on the actions a Jew should take and avoid) and aggada (the moral and philosophical elements of Torah). Just as the historical chochmat Yisrael in all of its elements draws its life from the deep and broad wisdom of the Torah, although the latter is also influenced by the former, so too, there is such a connection between the aggadic part of the Torah and the halachic part. The foundation of the aggada is the wisdom of the heart and the ideas, so that all the many halachot are connected to the ideas from which they emanate. Halacha is the wisdom of actions, and the two of them stem from the two roots from which the Torah comes, wisdom and prophecy. It has still not been explained well what the connection is between the analysis of the halacha and the Oral Law.
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit
Igrot Hare’aya Connecting Disciplines in Torah Study
Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook 103 – part III
P'ninat Mishpat A Commercial Rental for a Closed Business – part II
based on ruling 80047 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Igrot Hare’aya Trying to Arrange Purchase of Land in Eretz Yisrael – part II
#229 Date and Place: 13 Tishrei 5670 (1909), Yafo
P'ninat Mishpat Payment for Not Clearing Warehouse On Time – part II
based on ruling 75076 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Igrot Hare’aya The State of Religion in Eretz Yisrael – #277 – part II
Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook Date and Place: 9 Adar I 5670 (1910), Yafo
Igrot Hare’aya Worse on the Outside, Better on the Inside – #332
Date and Place: 26 Elul 5670 (1910), Yafo
Igrot Hare’aya Ties to Religiously Controversial Events/Organizations 1. #293
Date and Place: Iyar 5670 (1910), Yafo
Rabbis in Midrash
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Why does parshat Shoftim always come out during Elul? This innovative and central explanation is an eye-opener regarding many aspects of Judaism.
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(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
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: The Goal of an Agricultural Yeshiva – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh)
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh)
Chemdat Yamim The Goal of an Agricultural Yeshiva – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the cornerstone laying for the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh – 1938)
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the cornerstone laying for the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh – 1938)
Re'e NEVER EXTREME EXCEPT ISRAEL
Parshat Re'eh
Judaism is against extremism, so how can we understand the seemingly extreme statements found in our sages in favor of living in the Land of Israel and against living in Chutz laAretz? The article deals with the seeming contradiction between the strength of Free-Will and the strength of being influenced by our surroundings.
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Parshat Eikev
Description: The 7 Haftarot we read after Tisha B'Av ("Shiva D'Nichemta") surely get us excited that they're coming TRUE, and awaken us to yearn, dance & join the return to Zion! The short article also deals with the problems and solutions facing the American Jewish community as discussed at a recent panel, as well as the question why Jews come from America to Israel to help when we face problems, but Israelis don't come to aid Jews in America when they face anti-Semitism.
