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Beit Midrash
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- Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions
Answer: Joining would make you sacrifice the following: 1) Not being part of a minyan for Shemoneh Esrei (see Living the Halachic Process (=LTHP) V,A-1). 2) Having to skip, daven quickly, start Shemoneh Esrei when you probably should not have (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 109:1) and/or have compromised concentration considering your need to be at good places to answer devarim sheb’kedusha. 3) Makom kavu’a, perhaps (LTHP I,A-1). Your "hosts" gain was only moderate because: 1) Vatikin without a minyan (LTHP II,A-5) done in shul (LTHP V,A-3) has significant value without a minyan; 2) The level of their tefilla b’tzibbur with you lagging behind is questionable (LTHP VII, A-2). 3) The likelihood of their having enough people answering all of chazarat hashatz is shaky (LTHP I,A-10; VI,A-8). Presumably, most of them could have davened at a later minyan, although we can imagine their inconvenience/disappointment.
Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions (654)
Rabbi Daniel Mann
635 - Ask the Rabbi: Selecting Things to Use Later on Shabbat
636 - Ask the Rabbi: Sacrificing Davening to be the Tenth Man
637 - Ask the Rabbi: Finishing to Eat but Continuing to Drink
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What the vatikin minyan had going for them is that Halacha gives great weight to the needs of a group of people who are just short of a minyan. The gemara (Berachot 47b) justifies releasing an eved k’na’ani, even if that is usually forbidden, so that he can become the tenth man for a minyan, calling the minyan a mitzva of the rabim. (Rishonim, including Tosafot, Bava Batra 13a, deal with the apparent contradiction to the rule not to sin for another’s religious gain; this is beyond our present scope.)
Closer to home, the Rama (OC 55:22, based on the Rivash 518) rules that one can force a tenth man in town to come to shul to ensure a minyan. The presence of a minyan in a community is powerful and the lack thereof "upsets" Hashem (Berachot 6a-b). Some claim that this is only for the only minyan in town (Aruch Hashulchan, OC 55:26). Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe, OC III:16) is among several poskim (see LTHP VI,A-3) who learn from the following ruling that it is important to strengthen shuls even when there are other minyanim in town. The Eliya Rabba (55:22, brought by the Mishna Berura 55:73) cites a ruling that yeshiva students should daven in the local shul which needs them for a minyan rather than daven in their beit midrash, even though, theoretically, the members of the shul could have gone to the beit midrash. This is particularly instructive because the students were asked to sacrifice both their learning and their davening (see Shulchan Aruch, OC 90:18). On the other hand, these sources refer to cases where the minyan in need was important for the community and/or the "tenth man" had a connection to it (Shut B’er Sarim 34).
So, on the basic halachic level, you did not have to join the vatikin minyan. The "equation" is different if you are recruited to an avel’s minyan, whose creation is a special mitzva (see Pnei Baruch 10:(32)) even if they will not wait for you to catch up. If a minyan adds something significant to a neighborhood (e.g., it is the only vatikin minyan in a nice-sized community), sacrificing for it from time to time is laudable. Remember also that employing compassion and avoiding angering stressed-out minyan seekers should be quite a "Jewish thing." It is difficult to spell out clear guidelines.
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.
