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שבת שלום - פרשת במדבר - שבת מברכים
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the video shiur by
Rabbi Scott Kahn about ברכת החמה |
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News and Notes
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On Wednesday afternoon,
the yeshiva was proud
to host Rav Moshe Trachtman,
a tremendous baki in
many areas of Torah knowledge,
who taught his specific
methodology for increasing
one's learning capacity,
and improving one's ability
to remember that which
he has learned.
Click Here to hear Rav Kahn's shiur - Land for Peace: Asur, Mutar or Chiyuv?
On
Thursday morning, in
anticipation of Yom Yerushalayim,
the yeshiva hosted Joe
Hyams, the managing director
of HonestReporting.com.
Mr. Hyams gave a multimedia
presentation demonstrating
the importance of combatting
media bias against Israel,
and offered tips to enable
those students who will
be attending secular
colleges next year to
properly defend Israel
on campus.
On
Thursday evening, Rav
Moshe Lichtman hosted
Yesodei HaTorah's first
annual "Yom Yerushalayim
Multimedia Tisch" in
the Beit Midrash. Along
with delicious food and
singing, Rav Lichtman
told divrei Torah and
stories about Yerushalayim,
discussed the miracles
of Israel's victory in
the Six Day War, and
showed video clips of
newsreels and other footage
from 1967. Following
maariv, the yeshiva provided
transportation to enable
our students to participate
in the annual March to
the Kotel from Yeshivat
Merkaz HaRav.
Beginning
in the middle of the
night, thousands marched
through the streets of
Yerushalayim, culminating
with a sunrise shacharit
at the Kotel.
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Every Jew a Flag
By Rabbi Pesach Wolicki
Sefer Bamidbar opens with a description of the setup of the camp of
Israel including the mention of the various tribal banners.
Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook (Midbar Shur p. 24-25) quotes a
Midrash that relates to these flags:
"Rabbi Yochanan said: At the time that G-d revealed Himself to Yisrael
at Har Sinai, twenty-two thousand chariots of ministering angels
descended with Him and all of them were flags. When Yisrael saw them,
they immediately yearned to become flags like them as it is written,
'He brought me to the house of wine and His banner of love was over
me.' (ShirHaShirim 2:4) G-d responded, 'You can be certain that I will
make you into flags as you have desired.'"
Rav Kook explains this cryptic Midrash as follows:
A flag is a statement of identity and purpose. To identify "under a
banner" means that one is a part of a specific group with a specific
goal. Angels, in this Midrash, are referred to as flags because angels
have no identity outside of their specific purpose.
An angel is defined by the task G-d has given it. It has no other
essence.
When Bnei Yisrael received the Torah at Sinai, they saw how awesome
and vast the Torah is. They understood that the purpose of the Torah
is the perfection of the world through their fulfillment of it. While
they all received the same Torah, they realized that in order to
fulfill the Torah's lofty purpose each and every member of Israel
would need to utilize his or her specific strengths to fulfill his or
her own specific task in this great enterprise.
This is the meaning of the Midrash stating that they yearned "to
become flags like the angels." Every person standing at Sinai desired
to know what his specific role and purpose in Torah would be.
Rav Kook explains that the verse from Shir HaShirim metaphorically
refers to Sinai as "the house of wine" because wine brings out one's
true essence. As the Talmud states "Wine enters, the secret comes
out." (Eruvin 65a) Wine has the effect of removing inhibitions and
false externalities and emphasizing one's inner emotional state. Bnei
Yisrael were asking G-d to make the giving of the Torah a personal
experience of self-discovery for each and every one of them.
In the Midrash, G-d responds that He will heed their request.
Externally, in terms of the specific rules and text, every one of us
received the identical Torah at Sinai. We all drank the same wine. At
the same time, the secret that emerges from this wine is unique to
each person.
Each of us has a special task and purpose in the great project of the
perfection of the world. Each of us flies a slightly different flag.
To find that personal identity within Torah we need to accept Torah
and seek the truth through Torah. We need to drink the wine.
Then, in the context of the same words and mitzvot, we will each find
our uniqueness and purpose.
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