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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Shmot
- Bo
In this week's Torah portion, "Bo", we learn about the plague of firstborns. A "firstborn" is the emergence of life; the magical moment when human beings become father and mother. In order to get out of the bondage of Egypt, one must strike at the "firstborn": not to just initially love the baby unconditionally, but during their continuous upbringing; not to get hooked on in initial success but to direct mental resources to perseverance; to feel renewal, not just at high points, but all along on the long and winding road.
The same idea is also found later in the Torah portion in which we are commanded to redeem the firstborn of the donkey "pehter chamor". We take the primal physicality (play on the Hebrew word for chomer) and take care not to wallow in it. In the last verse of the Torah portion, we are commanded to put these texts into the tefillin boxes, "and they [the sanctity of the firstborn in addition to the story of the Exodus] shall be a sign upon your arm and an ornament between your eyes" – every morning we tie this idea on the arm close to the heart and on the head; to imprint on both the heart and the mind – that no matter how long the road is, we will win. They will not beat us so fast.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Rabbi Haggai Lundin
Family and Society There Will Not Be A Civil War!
(Told to the students of the Hesder Yeshiva in Holon)
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
