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Beit Midrash
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Body: [The gemara (Avoda Zara 17a) that learns from Mishlei 2:19 that whoever embraces heretical ideas will not be able to "return" disturbed Rav Milstein.] [I am optimistic because] after so much time that that the Torah’s sanctity has sweetened the "air of the world," the "shell’s" power is weakened so that it can no longer prevent those who strayed into heresy to return. The reason for this is one of the loftiest ideas, with sources in the holy secrets of the Torah, to which I will hint in brief.
Igrot Hare’aya (200)
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit
235 - Good Work, Regrettable Language – #330
236 - Worse on the Outside, Better on the Inside – #332
237 - Asking Restraint from Insulted New Yishuv – #334
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When we were far from the "liberation," the shell could be strengthened by bad beliefs, such as idolatry and witchcraft. Heresy is a bad belief, the worst part of idolatry. When it "swallows" a spirit, it surrounds it with traps and sucks out all of the soul’s spiritual lifeblood. This resembles a spider holding on to the walls with its hands (see Mishlei 30:28). However, as liberation approaches, the shell cannot create bad beliefs; rather, it weakens the light of belief in weak hearts. While those trapped in this state view it as heresy and believe they are trapped in an inescapable net, they are actually only missing understanding and the light of intellect and emotion. So, as soon as they are shown the light of Hashem’s path, based on the ways of good intellect and emotions, the light impact them so that they will return to proper behavior. These are the ones who return from sin within Yaakov, upon whom the Liberator will come (see Yeshayahu 59:20).
We should be certain about Hashem’s kindness. He remembers the kindness of our forefathers to bring liberation to their descendants and [help] all of our children, even those who appear lost, become learned in Hashem’s ways. The pasuk says: "You will remember me at a distance, and the children will have life and return" (Zecharia 10:9). This is because their bad side is only external, and their inner soul is all good and holy. Therefore, they are inspired to some thoughts of rectitude and justice, although they wander onto wrong paths. Many of them cling to the nation and are proud of being Jews, without knowing why this is. Although they imitate other nations to whom they feel kinship, still the root of Eisav is wildness and bitterness. It is the source of evil, bloodshed, and destruction. The root of Israel is holy and good, ready for rectitude and justice, as Hashem intended for the world.
This is the secret behind "a poor person riding on a donkey" (Zecharia 9:9), which the Tikkunei Zohar says applies to the generation that precedes the Mashiach, which is "good on the inside and bad on the outside." This is the secret behind "it all turned white, it is pure" (Vayikra 13:13). Although a donkey has more signs of a non-kosher animal than non-kosher animals that have one sign of kashrut, internally it has sanctity, as it has the holiness of a firstborn, albeit very hidden sanctity that is revealed through the redemption process.
These things cannot be fully explained except orally at the correct time for those who "sit before Hashem."
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit
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 III
Igrot Hare’aya Departure of an Uncle to Eretz Yisrael
Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: Vol. I, #1 , p. 1-2 – part II
P'ninat Mishpat Who Breached the Contract? – part IV
Based on ruling 81087 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Igrot Hare’aya Possibilities of Creating Religious Moshavot – #284 – part II
Date and Place: 1 Adar II, 5670 (1910), Yafo
Igrot Hare’aya The Need for a Broader Education – #274
Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook Date and Place: 8 Adar I 5670, Yafo
Igrot Hare’aya Excerpts of Letter on Shemitta – #289 – part I
Date and Place: 6 Nisan 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
Rabbis in Midrash
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
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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.
