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Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Shmot
- Bo
The first boundary is place. One cannot live without a place, and one can be in only one place at a time. These limitations are not only true for individuals but also on the national level. A nation needs a land to serve as its homeland; without one, it is difficult to view it as a nation.
Time is also a boundary, which is significant on two planes. A person moves on a timeline. He exists in the present, which is like the batting of an eye. On either side of him, there is the past and the future. There would seem to be no way to break free from this limitation. An individual has his time from birth "to 120." This applies slightly differently for a nation. If a nation has no past, it has no future, and in general, it cannot last forever, as history teaches us. (You can assemble a long list of nations and empires that have disappeared.) We will now focus on two examples in the national realm that show how the Exodus from Egypt went beyond the normal limitations of time and place.
Parashat Bo begins with Bnei Yisrael still enslaved in Egypt, and Paroh continuing his intransigence despite the several plagues with which Hashem had hit the Egyptians. Am Yisrael still had next-to-no signs of nationhood, certainly not a significant time and place. Egypt was a place from which it was virtually impossible to escape to go to one’s own place, and slaves are people who lack control over their own time.
When Moshe commanded the people to sacrifice the Korban Pesach, he stressed their ability to breach both roadblocks. "You shall observe this matter as a statute for you and your offspring until eternity " (Shemot 12:24) – beyond the boundaries of time. "It will be when you come to the Land, which Hashem will give you as He said, you shall observe this service" (ibid. 25) – beyond the limitation on place, as existed at that time. This is a promise of the eternity of the nation with the gift of a Land that seemed beyond belief at that time.
Additionally, in the introduction to the commandment of Korban Pesach, Hashem instructed Bnei Yisrael to adopt a (lunar) calendar, even while they were slaves in a foreign land, even though a calendar is basically only feasible for independent people in their land. A calendar is a means to unite a nation in a manner that remembers the past and strives toward a better future. This commandment thus is a sign of the greatness that laid ahead.
Throughout our national history, often dispersed in exile, we clung to that calendar while being forced to live daily life under the realities of the local nation and its calendar. The p’sukim also prophesized an improbable phenomenon – non-Jews would want to join Bnei Yisrael (see ibid. 48-49). Who would want to convert to join a nation of lowly slaves? Yet they too would bring a Korban Pesach (see ibid.) and would enjoy full civil rights (see ibid. 22:20).
The first Rashi on Chumash made a point to look ahead to better times. During times when Christians and Muslims vied for control of the Holy Land, Rashi wrote about the rationale for Jewish sovereignty over it!
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
