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Beit Midrash
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We should fully appreciate the loftiness of Yehoshua’s vision, some 3,500 years ago, when the world was at such a low spiritual level, to anticipate a perfected world, with all the nations joining us in service of Hashem. To the average person, this would have appeared unfathomable!
In our generation, that of the beginning of the ultimate liberation, we need to act on two planes:
1) We need to strengthen the already-existing movement of non-Jews who want to keep the seven Noahide mitzvot. (We commend Rav Uri Cherki’s exceptional work with Noahides.) These groups of good people use these mitzvot for doing their part in making the world a place of justice and respect for human rights. Such people also appreciate Am Yisrael, who accepted upon themselves 613 mitzvot.
2) We should encourage additional converts, who are truly and fully interested in joining Am Yisrael for the right reasons, not for benefits such as economic advantage in Israel. It is important to learn the halachic sources on this matter seriously. On the one hand, Chazal set as a rule that it was wrong to accept converts in the times of David and Shlomo, due to concern that people were motivated by fear and awe of the kingdom’s grandeur/success, respectively (see Yevamot 76a). Commentaries ask from a different gemara, which states that 150,000 converts joined Bnei Yisrael at the time of David. The Maggid Mishneh answers (see language of Rambam, Isurei Biah 13:15) that those converts were accepted by improperly trained courts. This is a difficult answer, as there is no hint to this distinction in the gemara.
What happened to all of those converts? In Shmuel II, the navi tells of a harsh famine, and David received a divine message that it was because of the complaints of the Givonim, some of whom Shaul had killed during his reign. When David tried to appease them, they demanded to take revenge through the killing of a number of Shaul’s family members. The gemara (Yevamot 79a) justifies the unusual steps taken against the royal family because the Givonim had joined Bnei Yisrael, albeit through trickery, after being impressed by the miracles Hashem did for them at the time of Yehoshua. It says that the reason the bodies were hung publicly for an extended amount of time was to demonstrate how seriously Bnei Yisrael took the responsibilities toward converts. We see that even at the time of David, converts existed and their concerns were addressed.
Regarding the contradiction, the Ritva says that while there was concern that people would convert for the wrong reasons, when one proved they were doing so for the right reasons, they were accepted. In our days as well, when candidates demonstrate their sincerity, they are to be warmly welcomed and protected.
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
