Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Tzav
Tannaim debate when this arvut obtained full force (see Sanhedrin 43b). R. Yehuda maintains that national liability for hidden sins did not begin until Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael. R. Nechemia asserts that Bnei Yisrael were not liable to punishment for even revealed sins before crossing the Jordan. This phemonenon heightens the impact of Eretz Yisrael from both a national and a spiritual perspective.
The covenantal (brit) element of Sinai is repeated at Mt. Grizim and Mt. Eval, as Moshe commanded Yehoshua. The nation accepted the blessings and curses with an affimation of "Amen" (see Devarim 27, Sota 32a), and the dynamic of the involvement of the various tribes, and the arvut engendered in it, are major. The gemara (ibid. 37a-b) continues to show the vastness of the covenant – encompassing the individual and the collective, the elements of learning the mitzva’s details, teaching them, and the dedication to and performance of the mitzvot. Including the brit at Sinai and before entering the Land, every mitzva of the Torah was confirmed with 48 britot of all six-hundred-thousand plus Jews. This comes to tens of millions of britot upon which we are all arevim.
Even if we do not adopt the literal element of the numerical magnitude of the mutual responsibility, the responsibility toward the spirituality of our brethren, the House of Israel, is uniquely powerful. Tragically, the fire of dispute and fragmentation is spreading these days like a wildfire, and it is in complete contrast to what, as we have seen, is our basic national responsibility.
This time of the year, we are noting our entering the Land, which occurred soon before Pesach (10 Nisan – Yehoshua 4:19), in addition to the freedom from enslavement, physical and spiritual, on Pesach. Soon thereafter, we commemorate the giving of the Torah. In our generation, new important commerations arose – remembrances for the victims of the Holocaust and victims of the struggle for the creation and upholding of our national independence in the State of Israel. This is a great backdrop to remember our obligation of mutual responsibility. This is a reason to increase love of our nation and our fellow Jews, and to try to speak positively about all of them, even if we do not agree with the actions and philosophies of some. If we focus on our stake in the welfare of every brother and sister, we can reach understandings with 90% of the population on the matters that challenge our unity. This is the way to proceed to make us fit for the coming of Mashiach.
We conclude with a homiletic point – arvut is hinted at already in Creation, with the words "It was erev (evening) and it was morning, day one" (Bereishit 1:5). Let us say – if we will each be an arev, we will see the dawning of the long-awaited day of redemption, the day of Oneness, when Hashem will be One and His Name will be One (Zecharia 14:9). Then we will see victory, when Hashem judges the mountain of Eisav and restores His full Kingdom (Ovadia 1:21).
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
