YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- The Four Parshiyot
- Zachor
who had pretty much everything anyone could ask
for (except maybe a sympathetic wife!) & yet he
just can’t leave well enough alone. He’s got to
develop a whole plot to kill the entire Jewish
nation. And why? Because 1 Jew wouldn’t bow down
to him?! I mean, is that over-reacting, or what?
The Gemara asks: "Haman min haTorah, minayin?
Where in the Torah is Haman mentioned?" Now, of
course, Haman lived long after the Torah was
given, so that sounds like a strange question.
But since the Torah is a living document - Torah
Chayim - & contains all the events in history
both past & present, there must be at least an
allusion to him. So what is it? The answer:
"Ha-min ha-etz asher tziviticha l’vilti echol
mimenu, achalta?" Did you eat from the tree (of
knowing right & wrong) in Gan Eden that I told
you not to?" asks Hashem. (Ha-min has the same
letters as Haman). That’s the source the Gemara
brings. But hang on; there are many words in the
Torah with a hay/mem/nun. Why choose davka this one?
Many personalities in the Torah are compared to
animals: Yehuda is a lion, Yosef is an ox,
Binyamin a wolf, etc. What creature connects to
Haman? The snake! So citing a Biblical story that
includes a snake does makes sense. But it goes a lot deeper than that.
Chava (& Adam) were given free reign of Gan Eden.
They had only one restriction to which they had
to adhere: Do not eat from the etz ha-dat. But
they just couldn’t resist it! It’s like telling a
kid: "You can have everything in the fridge
except that one black & white cookie - that's
off-limits to you." The kid will undoubtedly try
every which way to get to that luscious cookie.
So that slithery snake – a psychologically
sophisticated serpent with an uncanny ability to
know how people think – preyed upon Adam & Eve’s
unsatisfied desire to have that one single thing that was forbidden to them.
There is another significant reference to snakes
in the Torah. In parshat Chukat, the people
complain to Moshe about their "meager"
sustenance. But why should they complain?! They
miraculously get water from the rock, & the
marvelous Mahn tastes like almost anything they
desire. But there must have been 1 tiny problem –
there were indeed a few foods on the "no-no list"
- & that drove them crazy. So what happened as a
response? Snakes came & bit them!
Haman had a problem with one solitary Jew, & it
drove him mad. He ignored all the other compliant
citizens who bowed down to him, & focused only on
stubborn Mr. Mordechai, who would not budge on
his convictions. Haman would not relent & the
end, well, was "bad-noose" for him.
Texts of Jewish Thought Why are Tanach Heroes Also Physically Strong and Military Heroes?
Rav Kook, Orot Hamilchama - Part II
Repentance Why Ba'alei T'shuva Davka Shouldn't Become Anti-Zionists!
Rav Kook's Letter on Teshuva to Rav Charlap
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
Shlach Lecha "Why So Many Don't Make Aliya?" - Parshat Shlach
This short article deals with the weird phenomena that every single time Am Yisrael is meant to enter the Land of Israel, throughout the Tanach, 2nd Temple and until today, they "chicken out" and look for excuses. What's the problem with this mitzvah that proves so challenging. The article, based on sources, suggests that the difficulties of Eretz Yisrael is precisely her secret and beauty!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 4
The class deals with Islam and how the Muslim tries convincing the King of the Khazars, and why he was also rejected.
Beha'alotcha JEWISH STATE= GUIDE TO G-DLINESS & SELFLESSNESS
A Jewish State not only is a good idea, but educates us towards selflessness, altruism and G-dliness in our daily lives.
Ein Aya In Zion Even the Smoke of the Bark is Sweet
Just as Jewish nationalism is different from others, so too our capitol of Jerusalem is totally different than other national capitols. Rav Kook beautifully explains the passage in the Talmud that the trees of Yerushalayim were cinnamon trees.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 3
The second speaker invited to convince the Khazar King is the Christian, who presents their beliefs. Even before the questions of the King, "between the lines", the author R. Yehuda HaLevi already begins disproving them.
Ein Aya "Intimacy: Love, Life & Giving or Egocentric Taking & Expiration"
Today, many confuse between intimacy in marriage, based on love, giving and life which are diametrically opposed to empty "sex", pornography and prostitution which destroyed the Beit HaMikdash. The practical importance of clarifying this topic in today's western society is obvious, especially for young adults.
