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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Shmot
- Mishpatim
"And I will set your borders from the Sea of Reeds to the sea of the
Philistines and from the wilderness to the River..." (Shemot 23:3)
Philistines and from the wilderness to the River..." (Shemot 23:3)
The geographic borders of the Promised Land are described many times in the Torah, sometimes in general terms and sometimes in greater detail. In Bereishit we are told:
"In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying: To your seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates." (Bereishit 15:18)
See also Bamidbar 34:1-12 and Devarim 1:7.
These descriptions are the "ideal" or perhaps the potential borders of Israel. Already in the days of Joshua we learned to accept the geo-political realities as well as the spiritual condition of the people, and to live within the real borders that these factors made possible.
However, the borders of the Promised Land were always open ended, just as the possession of the land itself was conditional. While in some directions the borders seemed fixed by nature, in other directions they remained undetermined.
"Every place whereon the sole of your feet will tread, shall be yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates even to the last sea shall be your borders" (Devarim 11:24).
here is a suggestion here of unlimited expansion. Indeed the request of the two and half tribes to settle on the east bank of the Jordan was granted even though that had never been part of the original plan of the land of Canaan.
Wherever the borders will ultimately be drawn, they will reflect "wherever the sole of your feet shall tread," that is to say, wherever our people have walked, lived and settled. Claims to a land cannot be based solely on Divine promises or historical documents. The promise of the land will be fulfilled when our people seize every opportunity to return and build a national life as we are doing today.
We read in Tehilim
: "You will rise and have compassion upon Zion. For it is time to be gracious unto her for the appointed time is come. For Your servants take pleasure in her stones and love her dust" (Tehilim 102:14-15).
Jerusalem will be rebuilt only when the people of Israel yearn for it to such an extent that they embrace her stones and dust. And Jerusalem will remain ours only as long as our people’s love for the land leads to Aliyah. Every Jewish family must have at least one of its members living in Israel!
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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.