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Another poignant pasuk on water is, "You shall draw water with joy (b’sason) from the wellsprings of salvation" (Yeshayahu 12:3). A unique characteristic of a wellspring is that the water flows away from its source and is replenished. At times, the wellspring has a weak flow, and it can appear that it is drying up, but then soon thereafter a new flow appears and the spring is restored to its former state.
They would also say at the Simchat Beit Hashoeva: "Our fathers who were in this place (the Beit Hamikdash) had their backs to the Holies and their faces eastward, and they would bow down eastward toward the sun, but our eyes are toward Hashem." Rabbi Yehuda claimed that they would repeat the matter and say: "We are to Hashem, and our eyes are to Hashem" (Mishna, Sukka 5:4).
Along these lines, the "wellsprings of Israel" never dried up. Against all calculations, matters develop in a different direction. Many times, the wise men of the nations of the world "stood with their watches in their hands" to see the end of Am Yisrael, but it was they who disappeared. Many times, cynics within our nation stood up to see when the Torah of Israel would cease to be preserved, and they were proven wrong. At different times, we have seen those who see everything that has to do with Israel and its Torah as antiquated. They bow down to the sun in the east, representing that they see the "rising sun" among the nations, whereas they see the holy in Israel as something to turn one’s back on. This is not just incidental distancing of oneself, but purposely turning the head away. Nevertheless, that period was over [by the time of this declaration], and a new generation arose. The new generation had people who acted appropriately from the time of their youth, and others, as described in the gemara, who began acting properly later on, so that their older ages had to bring atonement for the sins of their youth. But one way or the other, both types came to the Beit Hamikdash to celebrate.
The explanation is that the Jewish spirit is not satiated by the vanities that the gentile world has to offer. At the end of the historical process, they became tired with the wild partying, which does not have any real content. Rather, it only incites people to acts of sin and causes the foundations of Jewish society to crumble.
The gemara (Sukka 48b) tells of a heretic whose name was Sason, and he exclaimed based on the aforementioned pasuk of "You shall draw water with joy (b’sason) from the wellsprings of salvation" that in the World to Come they would draw water for Sason. They responded to him that the pasuk did not say "l’sason" (for Sason) but b’sason (with joy). The message behind this story is that for us, sason is but a means of encouraging proper action. As such, it is usually hidden from the eye. The life of a Jew involves hard work and never ceasing tension. When the time for sason comes, it is "with sason," as a means towards an end – to sum up what happened in the past and to use it to strengthen our resolve toward the future.
Moreshet Shaul (46)
Various Rabbis
11 - Moreshet Shaul: The Ethics of the Torah
12 - Moreshet Shaul: With Sason, Not for Sason
13 - Moreshet Shaul: To Learn and to Be Happy – part II
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Various Rabbis
Various Rabbis including those of of Yeshivat Bet El, such as Rabbi Chaim Katz, Rabbi Binyamin Bamberger and Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblat and others.
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: A Crown and its Scepter – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 294-5
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: Character Refinement – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p.154
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: Character Refinement – part V
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p.154
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: Responsible Innovation in the Oral Law To Learn and to Be Happy
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 27
Army and War "If Haredim Should Serve in the IDF, So Should You"
IDF Service for Young Jewish Men from America
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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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.
