YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit MidrashAsk the RabbiCalendarWikiDedications
Eve of Thursday 23 Menachem Av 5786

Dedicate the study in the website

Dedicate

YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
 Beit Midrash

Beit Midrash
  • Sections
  • Chemdat Yamim
קטגוריה משנית
undefined
0
Shorts AreaFemale LessonParashat HashavuaSeries'LibraryPiskei Din (Hebrew)Test Yourself
Rashi (Bereishit 37:1) brings two Rabbinical statements in the beginning of Parashat Vayeishev. One is optimistically written, about one who wondered how he would get a lot of flax into the storehouse. He was told that the matter was well within the capabilities of him (Yaakov) and his son (Yosef): “Fire will emanate from Yosef and destroy and burn all of it”. The other is pessimistic: “Yaakov sought to live in tranquility. The anger surrounding Yosef pounced upon him.” Indeed, both are true. Judaism requires constant effort and self-evaluation, a discerning eye and constant calculation. Yet, with proper care, all of the mountains of constraints are like nothing in the face of the “sparks” emanating from them. In the present state of confused philosophies, it is good to determine which is correct in grasping Judaism. Even within the community, it is impossible to properly converse. While we expect that everything within the community will go smoothly, there are internal competition and varied paths. It appears out of our reach to fulfill the role of a reliable representation of how Torah observers should look. Apparently, a lack of understanding of the essence of Judaism creates all the impediments. Rav Kook (Igrot Hare’ayah 555) defines Judaism as based on two foundations – 1. The national foundation; 2. The foundation of Torah. These act like the tiyomet, the top leaf of the lulav’s spine, which has two sides that connect together, with each complimenting the other and creating one unit. Along the foundation of legacy, the essence of the Jewish nation is to be the offspring of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov. It is what Hashem said about Avraham: “For he shall command his sons and his household after him, and they shall follow the path of Hashem to do charity and justice” (Bereishit 18:19). It is immersed in the foundation of the spirit of Israel to be reviled by evil and to act with appropriate charity and justice. However, guidance and discipline are needed, for not everything that seems superficially to be such is in fact such. This is clarified by the Torah, in whose merit we are confident about our truth. It provides us the power to stand by our beliefs until the opposition retreats from us and the spark of fire reduces piles of flax to nothingness. Without the national foundation, which is the main one, we are susceptible to the inclination to break up, to build walls around a limited community that engenders the main parts of Judaism. Because of this, a philosophy develops that anything that happens in the nation, including the creation of a state, is insignificant, except to the extent that it impacts the individual. They fail to see that everything that happened, transpired only with the agreement of Divine Providence. This means that we have a responsibility to influence the state’s path through the power of belief and the realization that we must not let the “ship” of Judaism be destroyed by evil “waves.” We got to this point through the power of Providence. This requires us to proceed proactively to steer the ship until it reaches safe harbors. We must stress that there is a spark of Judaism in the heart of every Jew. Jewish brotherhood is based on a tradition that continues through our joint history of suffering and hope for a bright future. We see the result of fracturing before our eyes. On the one hand, one who says that he has only Torah does not even have Torah (Yevamot 109b). On the other hand, if one embraces only nationalism, he does not have even nationalism. The struggle today is focused on the question of: Who is a Jew? Ostensibly there is nothing simpler than this. Yet, we see a united group that voices hysterically the accusation that we are hurting unity. In truth, the source of unity, “The nation encamped as one opposite the mountain” (Shemot 19:2), is found in the context of accepting the Torah. If one word is enough to be included in Israel, then in one word, it is possible to exit it.
Chemdat Yamim (3141)
Rabbi Yossef Carmel
1 - The Right Pace to Leave a Holy Place
2 - An Individual Who is a Community
3 - Giving More Than You Have?
Load More
Chemdat Yamim
Chemdat Yamim
Popular Lessons
Popular Lessons
Recent Lessons
Recent Lessons

Rabbis in Midrash

Lessons
fast navigation
  • Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed
     Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed
  • Rabbi Eliezer Melamed
     Rabbi Eliezer Melamed
  • Rabbi Avraham Shapira Zt"l
     Rabbi Avraham Shapira Zt"l
  • Rabbi Uri Sharki
     Rabbi Uri Sharki
  • Rabbi Hillel Geffen
     Rabbi Hillel Geffen
  • Rabbi S. Yossef Weitzen
     Rabbi S. Yossef Weitzen
  • Rabbi Chaim Yerucham Smotrich
     Rabbi Chaim Yerucham Smotrich
  • Rabbi Yehuda Leib Gruner
     Rabbi Yehuda Leib Gruner
  • Rabbi Shabbtai Sabbato
     Rabbi Shabbtai Sabbato
  • Rabbi Ya'akov Katz
     Rabbi Ya'akov Katz
עוד Lessons
Personal area

Join now to watch your latest lessons and questions and continue watching series' of lessons right from the time you left them.

את המידע הדפסתי באמצעות אתר yeshiva.org.il