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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Igrot Hare’aya
Body : I am writing to you with tears and the blood of my heart. This is one of several times that I have received from you letters full of painful matters. However, I judge you in a meritorious way, as I am assuming that [concern for] the Torah makes you upset. On the other hand, it is possible for a Torah scholar, especially one who lives in Eretz Yisrael, to choose a more pleasant and proper writing style.
Believe me that I never thought of being one who fights with others, Heaven forbid, and it is always my way to go against my opinion because of the opinions of my friends. If I would have had an inkling that the matter of the sesame oil [for Pesach use] would be the basis for grudges and quarreling, I would not have gotten involved in it at all, even though my opinion is that the leniency is simple. However, since I and our rabbinical court (of Yafo) already issued the ruling, how can I turn myself into one who changes his mind, when in truth I have not changed my mind at all? I do not have time now to answer you on all of your specific halachic claims, and truthfully all of the points are superfluous on this simple matter. Even if I would have, Heaven forbid, made a mistake on the matter of a doubt regarding the minhag [of kitniyot], it would have been proper to be tolerant of me and to gloss over the matter with love. This is especially so since my rabbinical approbation was only for Yafo and the moshavot, and if people elsewhere use it, it is not my responsibility to protest the matter.
Regarding [selling fields to non-Jews before] Shemitta, I was not, after all, the first one who ruled leniently, and the path was already paved by the brilliant rabbis, Rav Yitzchak Elchanan of Kovna and the Sephardi rabbi, Rav Yaakov Shaul Elyashar. My father-in-law, "the Aderet," agreed to it for the previous Shemitta year. Notably, if not for the rabbinical permission, people would have worked the land in violation of Halacha, and the matter would have caused major breaches in other matters of Judaism. This is because one who acts on his own to violate the Torah will sink into all sorts of bad things, Heaven forbid. In contrast, if they act based on a lenient ruling, even if it is a tenuous one, it does not cause breaches. I followed that which I believed in, and I think that it is proper for you and every Torah scholar to judge me meritoriously.
Regarding the milk, I did what I could. I called the owners of the milk and threatened them, and they agreed in writing and with a solemn obligation that they would be present when the milking took place. What else could I have done? Hashem knows that I desire to fix whatever I can in halachic matters, it is just that I do not have the power to do it. Also regarding ketubot, it is difficult for me to reverse old matters, which have already been entrenched in many holy cities. Still, I raise the matter at every opportunity that it is better to write ketubot by hand than to rely on printed ketubot, and whoever listens, listens.
Igrot Hare’aya (200)
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit
197 - Excerpts of Letter on Shemitta – #289 – part II
198 - Deflecting Criticism – #291
199 - Ties to Religiously Controversial Events/Organizations 1. #293
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Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit
P'ninat Mishpat Profits from Formerly Joint Swimming Pool – part
(based on ruling 81110 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
P'ninat Mishpat Repercussions of a Sale that Turned Out Not Happening – part III
(based on ruling 83045 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
P'ninat Mishpat Limits of Interest Rate for Loan with Heter Iska – part I
based on ruling 80033 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Igrot Hare’aya Connecting Disciplines in Torah Study
Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook #103 – part II
Igrot Hare’aya Description of New Yeshiva’s Goals to a Supporter – #328
Date and Place: 12 Elul 5670 (1910), Yafo
Igrot Hare’aya The State of Religion in Eretz Yisrael – #277 – part II
Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook Date and Place: 9 Adar I 5670 (1910), Yafo
Igrot Hare’aya Public Letter on Observance of Shemitta – #287 – part II
Date and Place: 4 Nisan 5670 (1910), Yafo
Igrot Hare’aya Keeping Shemitta Partially – #272
Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook; Date and Place: 2 Adar I 5670 (1910), Yafo
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
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.