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Speech gives man special standing within creation, which consists of the inanimate, growing, living, and above that, speaking. When the Torah describes Adam’s passage from "living" to "speaking," it says "He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living spirit" (Bereishit 2:7). Onkelos translates this as: "… man became a speaking spirit." We note that the same root is used for the blowing that Hashem did to give us our soul, which comes "directly" from Him. Man’s spirit finds expression in practice in speech, as his "lips" give an outlet to his cognitive side. Rav Kook, in Orot Hatorah (1:2), wrote that the root of the Oral Law is higher than that of the Written Torah. Following in Rav Kook’s footsteps, we suggest that the expression Torah Sheb’al Peh (Oral Law, literally, on the mouth) stresses the importance of speech and its connection to the mouth. Since the mouth’s main job is to grant access to da’at, we can appreciate the pasuk "the lips of knowledge are the precious vessel."
Da’at is important even before it enters the physical world through the mouth. Thought is man’s way of connecting to the world that is beyond physicality. The more abstract a thought, the more transcendental it is. The great riddle is how someone who is "created from earth" can approach the Maker. The pasuk of Hashem blowing a soul into an earthen body is part of the paradox.
The answer is that thought allows us to connect to Torah, which is our entrée to "divine thought." It enables us to express our thoughts within the world of the Oral Law. Prophecy, which is an expression of great closeness to Hashem, is often called "davar," which shares a root with dibbur (speech). Yeshayahu prophesies that Mashiach will possess a spirit of Hashem, various types of wisdom, and fear of Hashem (11:2). He will usher in a period of da’at filling the land "like water covers the seabed" (ibid. 9). Our generation has thankfully seen a "flood" of Torah, with more people studying it seriously than ever before. The goal is to grow our connection to our Creator. At Creation, water covered the whole world and a divine spirit hovered over the water.
We now need to make the importance of Torah study not just clear to certain sectors, but to the whole nation. This requires that those who are involved in Torah join in the country’s security obligations, and thereby avoid a perception that a life of full-time Torah is a tool to receive special privileges. Rather, the da’at that the Torah engenders must spread great light and a special uniting between Hashem and His nation.
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
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P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
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.
