Beit Midrash

  • Torah Portion and Tanach
  • Bereshit
קטגוריה משנית
To dedicate this lesson
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All of the problems of humankind and life itself are revealed to us in this opening parsha of the Torah. Desire, greed, violence, murder, jealousy, paganism and tragic disappointment mark the events of this parsha. The human story and its history over the ages is not necessarily a pleasant one. All of the disappointments that appear in this week’s parsha recur in every generation of the descendants of Adam and Chava. Nevertheless, we see that the Lord Himself, the Creator and sustainer of all life, so to speak, never loses heart. The Torah emphasizes that out of the original mess that mankind has made of its beginnings there does emerge a righteous individual. The final words of the parsha are that Noach found favor in God’s eyes. Thus at the beginning of the Torah itself, we are taught a basic lesson in Jewish thought and values - the worth of one individual. As the rabbis in Avot phrased it: "There were ten generations from Adam to Noach and each generation was more corrupt and provocative than the one before it until Noach came along and reaped the potential reward of all of those generations." One person can collect the reward for millions of others who do not appreciate or obtain that reward that awaits them. In fact the entire book of Bereshith whose reading we have just embarked upon in the synagogue is a story of individuals. The backdrop to the story are great world events - floods, wars, famines and changing social societies - but the main story and certainly its heroes and heroines are individuals.

The Talmud asks: "Why was only a single human being created to begin life on this earth?" The Talmud gives a number of important answers, mainly that no one should be able to lord it over another human being because of ancestry or genealogy. But one of the ideas implicit in the creation of only one individual is to teach us that very fact of the worth and importance of an individual. In our world of billions of people it is quite easy to forget this basic lesson of the Torah - that a person is worth everything. In the past century we were witness to ideologies and their protagonists who destroyed tens of millions of people in order to implement a concept, philosophy or social order. This complete disregard for the worth of an individual and the human life that that individual possesses is one of the sorriest stories in the human saga. The Jewish people are small in number relative to other nations and faiths. Yet our value is counted in our worth as individuals, in our personal behavior and in our devotion to our eternal Torah values and its way of life. We truly believe that there are great things that each individual can accomplish, achievements that can and will live on long after one’s years on earth are ended. At the beginning of this great and good year that is now upon us let us resolve that we value ourselves and others as individuals of worth and abilities. This will mark a very good beginning to our year.
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Lessons
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    3 min
    Shlach Lecha

    For God's Sake Don't Go To Israel

    Israel National Torah

    Clarifying the spies' argument for not entering the Land of Israel...and then clarifying why it's so important to enter the Land anyway.

    Baruch Gordon | Sivan 19 5780
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    Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions

    Serving as Chazan on the Shabbat Before a Yahrtzeit

    How important is it for someone to be chazan on the Shabbat before a yahrtzeit? Is it is just for parents, or also grandparents/in laws? Some people in my [the rabbi] shul feel that people use it as an excuse to “grab the amud.”

    Rabbi Daniel Mann | Tevet 2 5777
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    Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions

    How Many Eggs Should be Boiled Together?

    When making hardboiled eggs, may one cook one or two eggs or must there be at least three? Also, does it make a difference if there is an even or odd number

    Rabbi Daniel Mann
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    P'ninat Mishpat

    Introduction and Biography of the Noda B’Yehuda

    After an extended period of presenting ideas of the Chatam Sofer on monetary disputes, we move on to a shorter series on the works of Rav Yechezkel Segal Landau, often called the Noda B’yehuda. (Although Rav Landau served as a dayan for many years, poskim do not usually publicize their rulings on cases in which they served as a dayan, but on questions asked by other rabbis. The Noda B’yehuda did not include many such cases in his reponsa.) Many view the Chatam Sofer and the Noda B’Yehuda as two of a kind. They were in the same basic time period (Rav Landau was around 50 years older), they were important rabbis of important communities at critical times, and the works of each are among the most respected and quoted by Acharonim.

    Various Rabbis | Tevet 8 5776
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    Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions

    Working in a Non-Kosher Establishment

    Rabbi Daniel Mann | Sivan 14 5775
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    Prayer

    Birkot HaShachar – The Morning Blessings

    Chapter nine-part one

    Chapter nine-part one

    Rabbi Eliezer Melamed | 5775
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    Jewish Holidays

    The Twentieth of Sivan

    "I noticed that the back of my siddur contains a large section devoted to selichos for the 20th of Sivan, yet I have never davened in a shul that observed this day. What does this date commemorate?"

    Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | Sivan 17 5780
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    Additional Lessons

    The Laws of Tumas Meis

    When the Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt, bimheirah beyameinu, the laws of tumah will affect us all, since we will be required to be tahor in order to enter the Beis Hamikdash, to eat korbanos and maaser sheini, and in order to separate challah and terumah.

    Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | 5772
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    Various Subjects

    Redeeming a Firstborn Donkey!

    The Mitzvah of redeeming the first born Donkey - a long lost Halacha or a practical law for Donkey owners and riders in today's times ??

    Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | 5770
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    Basics of Financial Laws

    How Does a Heter Iska Work?

    What is the prohibition of "Ribbit"? who does it apply on? How does the "Heter Iska" bypass the prohibition? and more...

    Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | 5770
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    Marriage and Relationships

    Relationships during the Time of Engagement

    A young engaged man and his fiancée naturally have very strong feelings for each other. It goes without saying that these will be expressed after the wedding, but what expression, if any, is permitted in the meantime? And while we're on the subject, is the attraction of men and women to each other really a good thing to begin with?

    Rabbi Elyakim Levanon | 5770
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    Brachot on Food and on Smell

    Pizza, Pretzels and Pastry

    When is the Bracha Hamotzi and when is it a Mezonot?

    Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff
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