Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Vayechi
Jefferson in the American Declaration of Independence stated that truths are self-evident. If we merely contemplate, even on a superficial level, the events as described in the book of Bereshith, we must stand back in awe to realize the power of truth and the tenacity of individuals who pursue it and live by it. How easy and understandable it would have been for any of our patriarchs and matriarchs to have become disappointed and disillusioned by the events of life that befell them. Yet their ultimate faith that truth will survive and triumph dominates the entire narrative of this first book of the Torah. Bereshith sets the pattern for everything that will follow it. All of the Torah is a search for and vindication of truth. God’s revelation at Sinai was an aid in this quest for truth for otherwise so many people could not at once arrive at the moment of truth. But falseness, human nature, greed and apathy continually whittle away at the idea of truth as being the centerpiece of human endeavor. The rabbis therefore taught us that the acts of the patriarchs, which are the main story of the book of Bereshith, are the guidebook for all later generations. This Shabat we will all rise and say "chazak" - be strong - at the conclusion of the Torah reading. The never ending pursuit of truth requires strength of purpose and will. May we really have the strength of purpose and belief to "be strong."
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)
