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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.
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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P'ninat Mishpat 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: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
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.
