Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Vayigash
solemn oath that they will bury him in the Land
of Israel. Yosef – who will be the first of the
brothers to die - makes the same request, & Moshe
will take it upon himself to bring Yosef’s bones
to be buried in Shechem. So is burial in Israel a
great merit? While it certainly is for those who
live in Israel (or who die in Israel) it is a
different story for those who choose to live
outside Israel. The Gemara Yerushalmi records a
dispute between Rabi bar Kiri, who says that
burying non-residents in Israel defiles the Land
(as a corpse is the highest form of tuma,
impurity); while Rav Eliezer says it brings
atonement to all & "shortens" the journey to Olam
Haba (all souls must pass thru Israel on the
way). I would suggest that today, when Jewish
cemeteries around the world are constantly
vandalized & also in danger of being destroyed,
there is an added justification to burial in
Israel. BUT – living here is a much, much greater Mitzva!
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
Jewish Laws and Thoughts Shul “etiquette:” can we honor Hashem while respecting our fellow congregants?
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
