Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Jewish Laws and Thoughts
- Jewish Laws and Customs
Gadol is challenged. G-d orders each tribe to
place their name on a staff; the one that
miraculously blossoms signifies that it is the
choice of Hashem. Ahron's staff, that of Levi,
blossoms first, with ripe almonds (this staff
stayed in bloom for centuries & was kept in the
Bet HaMikdash with a sample of the Mahn).
Almonds, "shaked" in Hebrew, signify zeal, speed,
& faithfulness. The almond tree is the first to
bloom in Israel, in the midst of our rainy
season, thus Chazal decided that the time they
bloomed (Tu B'Shvat) would be the New Year for
trees. When Yirmiyahu is shown an almond tree
(1:11-12), it is a sign that Hashem carries out
His word punctually. The cups on the Menora (some
say the Menora itself!) were shaped like almonds.
Israelis love & consume 7000 tons of almonds each
year. Marzipan, made from almonds, has its own
museum in Kfar Tavor, complete with a marzipan
sculpture of Jewish (some say!) icon Elvis Presley!
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Various Events FOR WHOM NOT TO VOTE
Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook stressed that Israeli politics is G-dly, so I have no problem answering this common question on a Torani blog. Also, Free-Will is a G-d-given right and obligation, to "destine one's fate" (R. Soloveichik, Kol Dodi Dofek, 67), so I obviously don't tell others how to vote. But once not a few (especially young) have already asked, a couple of personal words from experience and thoughts from chazal & Rav Kook which may be of help to others, mainly for whom NOT to vote.
P'ninat Mishpat Fallout from Failure to Install Elevator – part II
based on ruling 85007 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
