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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Tazria - Metzora
How do we do it? I suggest our Sedra, & the Sefira we are now counting, offer us a valuable insight.
Tazria opens by discussing the state of impurity known as Nida. A woman must (Biblically) count 7 days from the end of menstruation in order to again reach a state of Tahara, purity. Menstruation indicates the inability to bear new life (thus the status of Tuma), while its conclusion represents the chance to give birth once more (Tahara).
The counting of 7 rings a bell to us. For we are all now counting another 7; 7 weeks from Pesach to Shavuot. What is the connection between these two sevens?
I suggest that the Torah is telling us that life is a progression from tragedy to triumph, from Tuma to Tahara, from despair to deliverance. Only by enduring the blood do we ultimately achieve the birth; that is the history of Am Yisrael; the pattern that G-d imposed upon the universe.
And so, we could not climb the mountain of Sinai had we not first gone through the bitter Egyptian experience & all the travail it engendered. We emerged as a new creation, but we had to traverse a harsh birth canal to get there.
What seems difficult to understand is that the Torah also prescribes a state of Nida for a woman who has just given birth! This seems strange; should not this moment be one of pure joy, a celebration of absolute purity? The answer lies in the origin of childbirth. The Zohar tells us that in Gan Eden Chava conceived & delivered a child in the same day, with no pain at all! But then sin entered the world, Adam & Chava became mere mortals, & the trauma of labor & delivery became the norm. And so, even having a child is tempered by the knowledge that this same pattern of pain & pleasure will continue.
The good news is that it won’t always be that way. In the end of days we’ll restore the pristine perfection of Gan Eden, & then childbirth, as well as Life itself, will come with no suffering attached. For all those who have paid the supreme price for Israel - & so, for them, the celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut cannot be fully realized – we anxiously await the coming of Moshiach & Techiyat HaMetim, when all the souls will be reunited, the tears will finally disappear & complete joy will reign. May it happen soon, b’sha’a tova.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
