Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Beha'alotcha
"Cushite." Kush (also mentioned in the Purim
Megila as one end of the Persian empire) is
usually the name for Ethiopia. Kush was the older
brother of Mitzrayim (Egypt) so that makes sense
geographically. Rashi says Tzipora was a
Midianite & not actually black-skinned; this is
rather a euphemism for her beauty (Kushit in
Gematriya equals Y’fat Mare’h; implying that just
as everyone acknowledges an Ethiopian as black,
so all would admit that Tzipora was beautiful.
Note that King Shaul was also called, "Cush ben
Yemini" (Tehilim 7:1) though he obviously was not
from Ethiopia. But it’s also possible that
Tzipora was indeed black, as there is a Midrash
that says Yitro bought her as a young girl from
the slave market, which had people from many
different countries. It’s also interesting to
note that Miriam’s punishment of tzara’at caused
her skin to turn "snow-white," perhaps
contrasting to the black skin of Tzipora, who may
have also been embarrassed by Miriam’s charge that she was neglected by Moshe.
Parashat Hashavua “It Was as the Ark Traveled”
(from speech at a hachnasat sefer Torah, 1987) based on Siach Shaul, p. 374-
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)
