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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
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We will use two Talmudic accounts to understand another national change, almost 2,000 years ago, at the time of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi and Rabbi Chiya (Hagadol) and his sons. R. Yehuda formed the Mishna, turning the Oral Law into a written law, which ensured the transmission of the Oral Law. This protected the world of scholarship from the effects of mass migration and periods of horrible persecution (e.g., Crusades, Inquisition, Holocaust, …) that could have destroyed the wholeness of the tradition. R. Chiya continued this effort by gathering important Tannaic teachings that did not make it into the Mishna and creating the complementary Tosefta. Reish Lakish was a great admirer of "R. Chiya and his sons," comparing R. Chiya’s contribution to the survival of Torah scholarship at perilous times to that of Ezra and Hillel (Sukka 20a).
Elsewhere (Bava Metzia 85a), we learn again of Reish Lakish, to whom Providence demonstrated he was no equal to R. Chiya. A heavenly voice told him that he was as erudite as R. Chiya but did not disseminate Torah to the degree that R. Chiya did. It goes on to describe a grass-roots approach to educating the masses, not just the intellectual/spiritual elite, that R. Chiya undertook. The gemara goes on to tell how Eliyahu Hanavi attributed incredible reverence in the World of the Souls to R. Chiya and to his sons, even seeing them as equivalent to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. In that way, they eclipsed the greatness of R. Chiya’s great colleagues, R. Yehuda Hanasi and Rabbi Chanina.
What was so special about R. Chiya’s approach is that they stressed connecting as many Jews as possible to Torah study on a consistent basis. Even if they would not become great scholars who could continue the greatness of R. Yehuda and R. Chanina, these simpler people would live their lives as complete Jews for whom the Torah is the center of their lives. They would not have to deal with the question of using the Torah as a "tool" – using it to justify neglecting the obligations of supporting their families or defending their nation. That level of connection to Torah is appropriate only for a tiny cadre who can reach the highest level of depth in Torah scholarship if given the opportunity. These great scholars, upon completing their rise to the desired level, go out to teach the Torah they learned and even defend Am Yisrael if the need arises. (In the soon-to-be-published Tzofnat Shmuel we will deal with other elements of the disagreement between R. Yehuda Hanasi and R. Chiya and his sons.)
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.
