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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Chukat
Whereas the clouds are mentioned in various contexts throughout the Chumash, the well and its water disappear from discussion until our parasha. Here, the Torah tells of Miriam’s death (Bamidbar 20:1), the shortage of water (ibid. 2), the complaints, divine intervention, and the mistake of Moshe and Aharon (ibid. 3-13). The gemara (ibid.) derives from the proximity of events that the water must have been in Miriam’s merit, which is why it disappeared when she died. The same pattern appears several p’sukim later – Aharon died (ibid. 29), and Bnei Yisrael became vulnerable because of the disappearance of the protective clouds (see ibid. 21:1 with Rashi). This too was the proof that the clouds had been in the merit of Aharon.
This should inspire an important lesson. When things are going well, we forget the blessings we have, and even when we think about them, we do not always know who to thank for them. Sometimes, only when the people who deserve recognition are gone, do we realize that had we noticed, we could have thanked them all along. Similarly, the impact of the Beit Hamikdash on Jewish life was clear on many levels at its time. However, Chazal tell us that when it was destroyed, all sorts of deficiencies and curses came up (Sota 48a). Presumably, the nation were unaware that the absence of these problems was thanks to the Beit Hamikdash.
There, though, is a difference between the hidden value of Miriam and that of Aharon. Aharon was, after all, a visible part of the efforts to bring about the Exodus, and throughout the time in the desert, he was the kohen gadol. When he died, the Torah says that everyone cried (Bamidbar 20:29). Miriam is barely mentioned throughout the Torah, and upon her death, we are not told that the nation cried. In her first mention in the Torah, watching her baby brother on the Nile and arranging his reuniting with his mother (Shemot 2:4-9), she is called only "his sister." Chazal teach us that Miriam is also Puah, who helped with childbirth (Rashi to ibid. 1:15). She is also the "uncredited" one who convinced her father and, through him many others, to return to childbearing (Rashi to ibid. 2:1). Miriam changed Bnei Yisrael, and was happy to do it behind the scenes and anonymously, only stepping forward into the limelight, when there was a rare need to act publicly by example, leading the women in song and dance after the Splitting of the Sea (Shemot 15:21).
In their own way, many women, and some men, are able to make their greatest contributions anonymously and behind the scenes. At the end, each will get their reward, either to be belatedly recognized, or to receive the deserved reward from Hashem alone.
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.
