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Beit Midrash
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- Moreshet Shaul
We should admit that socialism has more in common with Israel than with other nations. The concept of equality among people was developed amongst Jews, and it received practical expression in daily commandments to the point that it left a special place in the Jewish spirit, even for those who abandoned the practical mitzvot that developed the concept of equality. Pioneer spirit and self-sacrifice make a splendid page in Jewish history, and kibbutz life contains elements of Judaism, even when its members do not recognize this. However, the [continuation of kinship between Jewish practice and external philosophies] cannot last long. They take out things from Judaism without putting in [proper things within them]. They thereby waste that which was acquired during thousands of years, wasting power and beauty without replacing it by putting something else into the "treasure house."
A person can find his contentment by nullifying his personal interests and integrating his life with that of his community, with concern for communal welfare and social justice. This can make him feel fulfilled. He sees in himself a special uplifting, a certain lofty aspiration that he did not find by his father or grandfather. He saw them as those who pray in a set and rote fashion and act without thought but based on a certain book, like a table that was set by someone else. [He sees in himself something new and special.]
However, he is making a great mistake. A person does not receive things from that which is unowned. Even if an unowned area is full of precious stones, the one who gets them will have some sort of special connection to the area. [So too,] a person inherits his nature and his contentment from his forebears over many linked generations. In the final analysis, that which he sees in himself, he should not attribute to the purity of his spirit without regard to his forbears. If he indeed has something special about his character, he should recognize that this comes from the greatness of the spirit of his predecessors, who bequeathed it to him, sometimes even when it did not fully find expression in them. If one does indeed find something more ideal about his actions and his approach than in his father’s, he should realize that this just means that what was stored hidden in his father’s spiritual storehouses came to the surface in him.
However, the revelation of the positive characteristic can actually be a sign of death. As long as the spirit is involved in creation, it is hidden. When the wellspring of creativity is closed, the character becomes revealed. This is a sign that there is no activity and the spirit is living off that which was prepared in it in the past, and is thus wasting that which was prepared for him.
We will continue next time.
Moreshet Shaul (48)
Various Rabbis
13 - Moreshet Shaul: To Learn and to Be Happy – part II
14 - Moreshet Shaul: Inability to Pass on Abandoned Tradition – part I
15 - Moreshet Shaul: Inability to Pass on Abandoned Tradition – 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: Members of the Nation Who Are in The Fields
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 95 (from 1942)
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: Eretz Yisrael in Halacha and in Sanctity – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 137
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
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.
