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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Va'etchanan
"Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and laws that I am teaching you to do so that you will live and come to and acquire the Land that Hashem is giving you" (Devarim 4:1). Toward the perek’s end (ibid. 40), it says: "You shall guard the statutes and laws I am commanding you today so that it will be good for you and your sons after you, and so that your days will be long on the Land Hashem is giving you all of the days."
These p’sukim teach us the formula of life and arichut yamim (lit., long days). Towards the beginning of this section, Moshe demonstrated what shortens life and what enables eternal life. "… for every man who followed Ba’al Pe’or, Hashem destroyed him from your midst" (ibid. 3). This means that when life follows only the material side, certainly in its lowest form, with illicit relations with the daughters of Moav and following their idols, their lives were greatly shortened (see Bamidbar 25:1-3). In contrast, the next pasuk in Devarim 4 says: "You are those who cling to Hashem; you are all living today."
Part of Moshe’s words focus on distancing people from anthropomorphism (attributing human physical traits to Hashem). The problem is not in limiting Hashem’s specialness. It comes to teach something else – Hashem is not part of the material world and His revelation to the nation at Sinai was in many ways a one-time event. Our conclusion should be to not relate anything physical to Hashem, who is the source of life. The only way to merit life is to connect oneself to Him, which requires following His attributes and being involved in Torah, both in study and in actions. When acting as the Torah prescribes, our use of the material world is not involvement in it but in the spiritual world, for which the material is an instrument.
Moshe also pointed out (ibid. 8-15) that Bnei Yisrael’s distinction as a great nation is due to the correct laws we follow, which teach us to fear Hashem as we live in the Land. We heard Hashem but did not see Him. Finally we should "be very careful for our souls, for we did not see any picture on the day Hashem spoke to us at Horeb from amidst the fire." This is not to protect Hashem but to teach us that realizing the limitations of the material world enables long life, in this world and the world to come.
The Rabbis took this last pasuk out of its simple context, teaching: we must protect our physical lives from danger (see Levush, Yoreh Deah 116:1). Then Moshe warned that following false gods will shorten our lives in the Land (Devarim 4:25-27). Even if Bnei Yisrael must undergo the national tragedy of exile, Hashem will uphold his covenant with them (ibid. 28-30).
Nationally, the physical world can be appropriate if it is in Eretz Yisrael, the holiest land. There we can be an eternal nation because the Torah finds ideal expression to the connection to spiritual world. At the end of the sefer, Moshe Rabbeinu promised a process of repentance and liberation at the end of days. That will ensure a return to Eretz Yisrael and, afterward, full repentance.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
