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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Bereshit
The great gift of God to humans - the Shabat - is part of this week’s parsha. Shabat is the ultimate renewal, the weapon of resilience and freshness. It allows us on a weekly basis to make a new start and to shake off the disappointments and defeats of the past week. It is therefore no wonder that the Midrash assigns to Adam the authorship of the great psalm that begins "a song of melody to the day of the Shabat". For Adam now becomes the human example of psychological resilience, of raising one’s self somehow from the depths of guilt and depression and regaining purpose and focus and hope in life. Shabat is the symbol of the new week and of new opportunity and further accomplishment. Without the day of rest that renews us we are always destined to be jaded, tired and ultimately sad. The mantra of Judaism is the verse in Mishlei/Proverbs "the righteous may fall seven times but they always arise thereafter." The difference between righteousness and wickedness is apparently not in falling but in arising thereafter. Adam should therefore be remembered not as the forlorn and tragic figure as he is usually portrayed but rather as the first human to taste the beauty and renewing vitality of Shabat. Unfortunately but realistically, the past cannot be undone. But the future still awaits our creative efforts and talents to shape it and bring it to reality.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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D'varim Judaism’s Social Vision
Re’eh
Giving is more than an act of generosity—it is an essential part of human dignity that belongs to everyone, rich and poor alike. The ultimate goal of help is to empower others to stand on their own.
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.
