Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Beha'alotcha
Moshe Rabbenu: My dear father-in-law, Yitro, we are on our way to the place that Hashem has promised us. We have nowhere else to go, for Eretz Yisrael is our destiny. You have other alternatives, but we ask you to come along with us. We will provide you with material wealth, as we all love you ("Chovav" = beloved) and Hashem has instructed us to be kind to those who have joined our ranks.
Yitro: I appreciate your offer, but I must return to my birthplace. I have all that I need and I will have a better life back in Midyan.
Moshe Rabbenu: I understand, but don’t forget that Hashem will bestow upon us spiritual blessings as well, and you will also benefit from them. In fact, "vehayita lanu le’einayim" (literally, "you will be our eyes") - your progeny will serve in the Sanhedrin that sits in the Lishkat Hagazit of the Beit Hamikdash; your descendants will be included among the future spiritual leaders of the Jewish people.
It is this last argument which convinces Yitro to go to Eretz Yisrael. As the Kli Yakar points out, not only did Yitro have the opportunity to lead a comfortable life in Midyan, but he also felt an obligation to bring others in the "old country" to recognize Hashem. Nonetheless, the possibility for spiritual growth that awaited him and his family in Eretz Yisrael outweighed all other considerations.
Just as Moshe Rabbenu learned important lessons from Yitro, we too should do the same.
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)
