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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- The High Holidays
- Rosh Hashana
Judaism Has Its Own Form Of Virtual Reality, Particularly At This Time Of Year. Each Of The Special Chagim We Celebrate Utilizes V.r. To Create Or Accentuate The Mood We’re Trying To Establish. On Rosh Hashana, We Have Tashlich, A Long-standing (Controversial) Custom, As We Go Through The Motions K’ilu (As If) We Are Divesting Ourselves Of Our Sins & Sending Them To The Bottom Of The Ocean/sea.
Then, Just Before Yom Kippur, We Do Kaparot, Another Debatable Minhag Where We Swing A Chicken (Money, Let's Face It, Doesn’t Really Cut It) & Consider The Sobering Possibility That It Is We, K’ilu, Who Are About To Die, & Not The Poor Bird. Finally, Near The End Of This Long Holiday Period, During Sukkot, We Perform Hoshanot, A Mystical Ceremony That, In One Sense, Represents Our Fervent Desire To "beat Out" The Sins & Imperfections That Have Attached Themselves To Us, Leaving Us With An Unadulterated, Pure Neshama.
But There Is Another Application Of Virtual Reality That I Think Can Really Help Us To "get Into The Mood" & Appreciate The Gravity & Significance Of What These (40) Days Of Repentance Are All About. Close Your Eyes At Some Point During Rosh Hashana (Maybe As The Amida Is Repeated, Or Perhaps When The Shofar Is – Or Would Be – Sounded. Imagine That You Are Standing In A Courtroom At The Dock Of Justice. On One Side Of You Is The Prosecutor, Holding Your File. It’s Filled With Evidence Of Where You Might Have Strayed From Your Mission, From Your Better Judgment Or From Your Innate Knowledge Of What Is Right & What Is Wrong.
On The Other Side Is Your Defense Attorney Avidly Pleading Your Case, Bringing Character References, Arguing That You Tried To Do Your Best &, If You Failed, It Was Because Of Extenuating Circumstances, & Certainly Not Premeditated. And Then, Of Course, There Is The Judge, Who Is Actually On Your Side. The Judge Isn’t Out To Punish You, But Rather Wants You To Bravely Face The Many Challenges That Life Presents, & To Be The Very Best "you" Possible.
On Rosh Hashana, Virtual Reality Turns Into Actual Reality. We Are The Ones Who Control That; We Will "Sign Off" On Our Own Fate! May We Live To Create A Better World In 5784. Shana Tova.
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.
