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Beit Midrash
- Jewish Laws and Thoughts
- Serving Hashem, Mitzvot and Repentance
The Jewish people, individually and collectively, have traveled over the entire world for millennia. Some of the trips were voluntary journeys of immigration to lands of better conditions and opportunities. Many of them were coerced journeys forced upon us by expulsions from countries where we had resided for centuries. In the luggage of our historic suitcases the Torah, our traditions and values were always packed and accompanied us. But in the nature of human beings, our luggage also contained items that were not really necessary for our well being and survival. Customs, mores, and habits that came to us from the outside - from the countries and societies that served as our "hosts" for centuries on end. Many of these, since they were packed in our suitcases came to be regarded as being as vital to our survival as was the actual Torah itself. The wisdom of the rabbis was and is that the Jewish people must safeguard the baby - the Torah - even when it means that we are also carrying around a great deal of bathwater with it as well. Thus folkways that may originally never have been of Jewish origin have become hallowed in Jewish life and experience so that they are today part of the very fabric of Jewish life and practice. The problem therefore never was the accumulation of bathwater, heavy and burdensome as that might be, but rather the single mindedness to preserve the baby - the Torah - to remember to bring along the jacket! And this therefore has led to the Jewish people having a lot of luggage with them wherever they went. Witness the scenes daily at Ben Gurion airport!
The unfortunate story of much of Jewish life in the eighteenth century till the present day has been the attempt to lighten our luggage, to ease our load, so to speak. In attempting to get rid of the bathwater, the baby itself was thrown out. Intermarriage, assimilation, abysmal ignorance of Judaism and core Jewish values and practices, all have lightened our luggage to the extent that we run the risk of arriving at our destination without any luggage at all. For many Jews, their bags were simply lost enroute. Because of this spiritual and social disaster, the traditional Jewish world has hunkered down and is loath to discard anything at all from our collective luggage, even items that we realize that we may never need and probably originally never belonged to us and somehow found their way into our suitcases. There have been and there are continuing efforts to discard the bathwater while preserving the baby. In order to distance ourselves from customs which are today non-Jewish the Gaon of Vilna advised disregarding even those customs that were originally Jewish but not how have become part of the non-Jewish world’s religious practices. In spite of the towering stature of the Gaon of Vilna in Jewish life, this opinion of his has in the main not been followed. Once an item is packed into our suitcase it is never easily removed and it accompanies us on all of our journeys. But the main purpose has been accomplished. The Torah and tradition, values and worldview has been preserved and is safely ensconced in our luggage. We should all be grateful for that.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
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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.
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.