Female LessonParashat HashavuaSeries'LibraryPiskei Din (Hebrew)Test YourselfPirkei D’Rav Eliezer quotes Rav Levi: The staff was created at dusk/twilight & given to Adam in Gan Eden. Adam then gave it to Chanoch & it passed over to Noach, Shem, Avraham, Yitzchak & Yakov. Yakov took it to Egypt & he gave it to Yosef. When Yosef died, his house was looted & the staff was brought to Paro. Yitro, one of Paro’s advisors, took the staff & "planted" it in his garden. No one could extract it until Moshe finally did, prompting Yitro to recognize Moshe's greatness & give him Tzipora as a wife. Some say "D’tzach Adash B’Achav" (the initials of the 10 plagues) were inscribed on the staff; others say it was the ineffable name of G-d. Some hold this was the same rod which Aharon used that miraculously blossomed (see Bamidbar 17:23) & would later be placed in the Mishkan near the Aron); others say the staff was eventually sliced into 12 parts that were given to the heads of each Shevet. One thing is clear: A leader is only as great as his staff!
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!