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שבת שלום - פרשת ויצא
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch
Rav Yaakov Arram's shiur about Rebbe Nachman MeBreslov |
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News and Notes
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The entire yeshiva
wishes mazal tov to Matt
Karlin, on his engagement
to Sarah Sushner!
We
also wish mazal tov to
Etan Rosenberg, on his
engagement to Melissa-Aliza
Ohlmann!
Shetizku livnot
bayit ne'eman b'Yisrael!
On
Thursday - during a "Thanksgiving-style"
turkey lunch - Dovi Muchnick
completed Shas Mishnayot
for the third time.
Shmuly Reece also celebrated
his completion of Seder
Nashim with a siyum this
week. We eagerly anticipate
their continued growth
in Torah, and the completion
of many more sefarim
by our talented students.
We
welcome back Rav Kahn,
who returned from his
successful recruiting
visit on Wednesday night.
Rav Yaakov Arram and
Rav Adi Krohn will be
traveling to the United
States and Canada this
Monday night. If you
would like to speak with
either of them, please
contact the yeshiva office
at yeshiva@yesodei.org.
Last
night, Rav Kahn gave
the sicha ruchanit on
the topic of "Judging
Favorably". Later, during
mishmar, Rav Wolicki
gave a shiur on the topic
of Gezeira Shava, as
reflected in the Gemara
which speaks of the establishment
of Shacharit, Mincha,
and Maariv. Rav Arram
explicated a fascinating
aggadata in Masechet
Sanhedrin, while Rav
Daniel Krentzman continued
his series on Mashiach
Ben Yosef.
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Letting Him In
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
Yaakov Avinu, running away from his murderous brother, dreamed of a ladder, its legs on the ground and its top reaching toward the heavens. This took place at Mount Moriah, the future site of the Beit HaMikdash:
"'[Yaakov] happened upon the Place' - The Torah does not mention which place; thus, it means the place mentioned elsewhere - namely, Mount Moriah, about which it is written, '[Avraham] saw the Place from afar.'" (Rashi on Bereshit 28:11)
The Torah also tells us that Yaakov dreamed his dream in the city of Luz:
"He called the name of the Place Beit El; however, Luz was the city's original name." (Bereshit 28: 19)
Rashi acknowledges this contradiction, and presents an interesting solution:
"[Chazal] also said that Yaakov called Yerushalayim, 'Beit El', yet this is Luz rather than Yerushalayim! Where did they learn to say [that Beit El refers to Yerushalayim]? I assert that Mount Moriah uprooted itself and came [to Luz]; this is the 'jumping of the land' refered to in the Talmud - that the Beit HaMikdash came to greet him in Beit El. That is what is meant by, 'He happened upon the Place.'" (Rashi on Bereshit 28:19)
What are Chazal telling us by insisting that the Temple Mount moved to the city of Luz?
The answer can be discerned by recognizing the theological innovation of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. They are popularly credited with discovering monotheism, and teaching the world the reality of the One G-d. Nevertheless, this cannot be the essence of their discovery, for there clearly were other individuals who believed that G-d is One. Indeed, the Rambam opens his discussion of the laws of idolatry with an historical overview which claims that monotheism was the original belief system of all mankind; only several generations after the world's creation did people begin to worship entities other than G-d. Moreover, Chazal explain that Yaakov himself studied in the beit midrash of his ancestor Eiver. What, then, was our ancestors' grand discovery?
Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov recognized not only that G-d is One, but that His Oneness is absolute such that there is no difference between heaven and earth. Whereas there had once been broad acknowledgment that there exists One G-d in the heavens above, our forefathers strengthened the idea that G-d exists equally above and below. If G-d is in heaven - if His true domain is the realm of the infinite - our ability to relate to Him through our finite world is necessarily limited. When He is understood as transcending even the infinite, then He is equally close to the heavens and the earth. Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov did more than point to G-d's unity; they brought G-d into finite existence.
Once the concept of G-d's constant presence - below and above - is firmly established, the idea of the holy acquires a new meaning. Holiness is not a reflection of G-d's greater presence, but rather of our enhanced ability to recognize that presence. A "makom kadosh" - a place of sanctity - refers to a point in space where G-d's reality can more easily be felt, not to a place with an objectively greater connection to the Divine. Certainly, G-d Himself has established certain places with greater or lesser holiness; a dirty alley does not have the Halachic sanctity of the Temple Mount. Nevertheless, these locations are distinct in the way G-d demands that we treat them, not in their actual proximity to the Divine. (See Nefesh HaChaim Shaar 3 for an extensive discussion of this paradox.)
Holiness, then, refers to our ability to sense the presence of G-d - and the ability to sense G-d is largely predicated upon our own willingness to bring G-d to us. G-d is already here; sanctity is created by our following the Divine will, which opens up the possibility of perceiving that sanctity. In the words of Rav Soloveitchik zt"l, "When halakhic man pines for G-d, he does not venture to rise up to Him but rather strives to bring down His divine presence into the midst of our concrete world." (Halakhic Man, p. 45) G-d is everywhere, below as much as above, and our role is to make His presence felt by fulfilling His will.
This is the message of Mount Moriah's traveling to Luz. Mount Moriah represents the ultimate in religious sanctity, and is the Place in which G-d's presence is most consistently experienced. Yet even the town of Luz, heretofore unremarkable, can acquire the holiness of the Temple Mount itself. Every place is the home of G-d; our responsibility consists of making that potential holiness manifest. Through our vigilance in upholding G-d's commands, we invite the Temple Mount to come to us, too. The sanctity of Mount Moriah can be felt in some degree in every locale, as long as we welcome that sanctity into our lives.
The famous Chassidic thinker, Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, once asked his followers where G-d is. His surprised students answered that surely G-d is everywhere. The Kotzker shook his head and replied, "No - He is wherever man lets Him in."
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