The World Is One Unified Life Force

by Rav Moshe Kaplan, meirtv.com/en

Rav Moshe Kaplan talks about the illusion of fragmentation in this world, and the true underlying unity that all of Creation shares.

Noah: How to Overcome the "Noah Complex"

by Rav Yehuda HaKohen, visionmag.org

Flood

“Noaḥ, with his sons, his wife and his sons’ wives with him, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.” (B’reishit 7:7)

Rashi comments on this verse that Noaḥ was a man of inadequate faith. He believed yet at the same time did not believe that the flood HaShem warned of would actually come about. He therefore hesitated to enter the ark until the waters had come and forced him inside.

“Rabbi Yoḥanan said, ‘Noaḥ lacked emuna. Had the waters not reached his ankles, he would not have entered the ark.’” (B’reishit Rabbah 32:6)

Breishit: Connecting Creation With Sovereignty

by Baruch Gordon

Baruch Gordon explains the connection between the Creation story in Parshat Breishit, and the Jewish People's right to sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

Q&A: Is Emuna a Matter of "Comfort"?

Q: I am currently seeking to build myself a solid base of faith and Torah. I participate in many Torah classes, and read much, but I have not yet found an answer to the following question: Can it be that it is simply "comfortable" or "convenient" for us to believe in a G-d that sees and guides all, as this gives meaning to our lives? Perhaps it is simply "comfortable" for us to believe in something that is beyond mere materialism? Maybe it is this nice feeling that causes us to believe in G-d in the first place? We know that many baalei t'shuva [Jews who have adopted a Torah observant lifestyle] say that they were looking for meaning in their lives and that they found it in their new faith.

Sunset sky (Credit: thebirdsings.com)

[Answered by Rav Elyashiv Kafka, https://www.yeshiva.org.il/ask]

Why Learn About Redemption?

by Rav Moshe Kaplan, meirtv.com/en

Rav Moshe Kaplan delves into the question of why it is so important in this era to learn about Israel's redemption from Torah sources.

Breishit: The Goal of Creation

by Rav Yehuda HaKohen, visionmag.org

Breishit

HaShem's Divine Oneness and the harmonious unity of existence within Him is the deterministic blueprint of all human history that will be revealed to mankind through the story of Israel.

The Torah begins with the dawn of Creation. To fully appreciate this narrative, one must recognize history to be more than a mere series of coincidences. There is a purpose to existence and a mission incumbent upon Israel to fulfill.

The Kabbalistic Secret of Visiting Israel

by Baruch Gordon

Baruch Gordon describes one of the last scenes in the Torah - when Moshe looks out at the Land of Israel - and explains what the Kabbalists understood to be a power of the Jewish People - their ability to affect the Land of Israel and what happens there through their physical interactions with it.

V'Zot HaBrakha: What the Torah Is Really About

by Rav Yehuda HaKohen, visionmag.org

Torah scroll

The foundation of Israel’s Torah is not merely some holidays and disjointed ritual precepts but rather the Divine Ideal from before existence placed into this reality for the sake of elevating our world beyond its current limitations.

“Fortunate are you, O Israel: who is like you! O people delivered by HaShem, the Shield of your help, Who is the Sword of your grandeur. Your foes will try to deceive you, but you will trample their haughty ones.” (D’varim 33:29)

These were Moshe’s last words to Israel. After warning and chastising the Hebrew tribes at length, the prophet now expresses his true feelings for his people. His final message is one of optimism, love, praise and encouragement. As history can attest to the many hardships Moshe warned of, we can be certain that these words of reassurance will reach fruition.

Perhaps no man in history has surpassed Moshe in his unyielding love for the Children of Israel. The patience he exhibited in the face of our shortcomings through all of the decades together in the wilderness is a testament to his stature as our greatest national leader. It is precisely this patience for the whole of the Hebrew nation that we must all strive to emulate – to learn from Moshe that all of Am Yisrael is holy and deserving of our love.

Genuinely experiencing this love for every Jew becomes considerably easier once a person attains a heightened awareness of Israel’s true inner essence. The Hebrew nation is not the sum total of every individual Jew but rather one colossal spirit that manifests itself in this world through millions of bodies in space and time. While human beings each possess a personal soul, Israel shares one massive national soul – like a giant tree of which each Jew is an individual branch.

Rabbi Avraham Yitzḥak HaKohen Kook teaches that the highest attainable level of Ahavat Yisrael (love for Israel) results from obtaining the belief, knowledge and deep understanding of Israel’s true inner essence. It involves far more than merely loving individual Jews because they might be smarter, stronger or more good-natured than some gentiles. This is obviously not always true and is certainly not what makes Israel unique. The Segula of Israel is the collective national essence that precedes the individuals. It is the Divine light planted within the national Israeli soul and revealed in human history through the Jewish people. Rather than attempt to love each and every individual Jew, one can learn to recognize and love the source of Israel’s essence – the Segula – which then allows this love to flow out to every distinct piece of that national collective.

A man who loves his son doesn’t simply love the sum total of each limb. He loves his child as a single person and therefore loves every individual piece of that person. He can see each finger, leg and ear as a unique expression of the single entity he knows to be his son. Similarly, Knesset Yisrael is one giant spiritual organism revealed through individual Jews scattered in space and time. The attainment of true Ahavat Yisrael necessitates a conscious awareness of and appreciation for Israel’s collective spiritual essence.

Moshe’s greatest legacy was his being the man elected by the Kadosh Barukh Hu to lead Israel out of slavery in order that we receive His Torah, establish His Kingdom and bring all of Creation to perceive His Divine Oneness. Israel now completes the yearly cycle of reading the Torah and celebrates the event with great national festivities.

On Simḥat Torah, every Hebrew male is offered the chance to be called up for an aliya to the Torah and recite the blessing “asher baḥar banu mikol ha’amim v’natan lanu et Torato” – “Who chose us from among the peoples and gave us His Torah.” This is what Israel celebrates, filled with joyful exhilaration from the incredible reality that HaShem – with an extraordinary love – fashioned us unique among the peoples of this world in order to make us worthy of manifesting His Ideal.

Israel celebrates the fact that we are the nation specifically created to bring HaShem’s light to mankind and to elevate existence to a level where every creature will acknowledge its Divine Source and fully actualize its unique potential in this life. Only by internalizing our Divine election and mission as the national expression of HaShem’s Ideal for this world can we hope to appreciate the Torah’s full splendor.

There are people – even great scholars – who mistakenly regard our Torah as merely a guide for performing dry rituals, devoid of any metaphysical world-altering significance. Some view the Torah and the practice of its “religion” as mere prayer, holidays, dietary laws and study, without recognizing the Divine Ideal shining through each of these details. This fundamental misunderstanding stems from a fragmented view of Torah that cannot succeed at recognizing Israel’s national purpose and true revolutionary function in this world. And it is precisely this error that prevents many of our people from rising up to the challenges confronting Israel today.

The foundation of Israel’s Torah is not merely some holidays and disjointed ritual precepts but rather the Divine Ideal from before existence placed into this reality for the sake of elevating our world beyond its current limitations. The Israeli nation is the vehicle meant to free mankind from the spiritual shackles of the world’s current state in order to usher in a new era of universal fulfillment. Because the Hebrew mission can only be achieved through a holy nation – through Am Yisrael and not a collection of individual Jews, Israel must unite on our native soil and organize our society in such a way that will reveal the inherent kedusha in all material aspects of national life and realize the lofty goals for which we received the Torah in the first place.

A more holistic understanding of our Torah first necessitates a deep appreciation for Israel’s historic mission. Mankind’s ability to reach the goal of Creation is uniquely built into Knesset Yisrael. Through the Jewish people reclaiming sovereignty over our homeland, we bring the entire world closer to history’s ultimate purpose.

Universal peace and human perfection can only be achieved when Am Yisrael is independently situated in Eretz Yisrael with HaShem’s Temple crowning the city of Jerusalem. Only from Zion can the Torah be fully illuminated – infusing the totality of personal, national and international life with kedusha – and properly transmitted to the whole of mankind.

This conscious awareness deepens our enjoyment during these festive days by permitting us to focus on our deepest national aspirations. Simḥat Torah exhibits how the highest ecstasy we can possibly experience is defined by our service to HaShem as expressed by His Torah.

After emerging from the Days of Awe purified and dwelling in the Sukkah (demonstrating a pure reconnection with nature and trust that the greatest protection of all comes from the Kadosh Barukh Hu), Israel is now strengthened to embark on yet another year aspiring to fully express our inner Segula and advance our collective mission of perfecting this world. When Sukkot comes to an end, Israel immediately moves to channel our love for HaShem into a celebration of Torah and loyalty to the Hebrew mission – to establish His Kingdom in the whole of our land and to shine His Divine blessing to all of humanity.

For Jews, There Is No Private Connection to G-d

by Rav Moshe Kaplan, meirtv.com/en

Rav Kaplan explains how Torah is really meant to be used by individuals, and with what intentions, as well as what we are meant to achieve by studying and practicing it - for the individual, for the nation, and for the entire world.

Sukkot: Encountering the Challenge of Trust

by Rav Yehuda HaKohen, visionmag.org

Etrogim

The festival of Sukkot takes on an entirely different dimension when celebrated on our native soil.

Immediately following the transformative intensity and spiritual cleansing of Yom Kippur, Israel begins preparing for the weeklong festival of Sukkot. These preparations involve an active reengagement with nature, living in temporary outdoor huts (sukkot) for seven days, and obtaining palm branches, myrtles, willows and citron fruits, paying special attention and care to the details of each.

Although the power of the days spanning from Rosh HaShana to Yom Kippur create the necessary mindset for atonement, self-improvement and growth, these days also deplete our sense of spontaneity and joy, causing life to be experienced as somewhat rigid and unnatural. Sukkot – “the festival of our joy” – then forces us to reconnect with nature in such a way that infuses us with vitality and a childlike appreciation for life.

Ha'azinu: 7 Pounds of Dates for Love

by Baruch Gordon

Baruch Gordon looks at a verse in this week's parsha to explain his own personal addiction to...the fruits of the Land of Israel.

Forget Torah When You Make Aliyah!

by Rav Moshe Kaplan, meirtv.com/en

Rav Kaplan explains why the Gemara discusses the story of Rav Ze'era, who does 100 fasts when he makes Aliyah to the Land of Israel in order to forget what he learned in the Talmud Bavli! Why must one forget his Torah when he moves to the Land of Israel?? Watch below to find out...

[10-minute video]

Sukkot: Torah, Happiness, and The Land of Israel

by Rav Eliezer Melamed, Rosh Yeshivat Har Bracha, yeshiva.org.il

[Translated and edited by Hillel Fendel]

Sukkah in the Land of Israel (Credit: Israel National News)

The Joy of Sukkot

Following our atonement and purification before G-d on Yom Kippur, we are able to rejoice fully before Hashem on Sukkot just a few days later. Without the Yom Kippur repentance, the sense of "something lacking" that stems from from our sins would not allow us to truly rejoice. And if we would try to simply ignore our sins and rejoice as if "I'm OK, you’re OK," this would not be genuine joy, but simply wild partying with no meaning. Only after our repentance of the Days of Awe can we truly rejoice on Sukkot.

Ha'azinu: A Song of Historic Revelation

by Rav Yehuda HaKohen, visionmag.org

Compass

Human history – like any great piece of literature – presents a story that is not only inspiring and dramatic on the surface but also allegorically rich with hidden meaning and deep moral lessons.

Vayeilekh: What Torah Says About Secular Israelis

by Baruch Gordon

Baruch Gordon looks into Parshat Vayeilekh to answer the question: "If it's a foregone conclusion that the Jewish People will transgress the covenant and defile the Land of Israel after they enter it, is it not better that they remain devout in their observance in Galut [Exile]?"

The Necessity of Learning Emuna

by Rav Moshe Kaplan, meirtv.com/en

Rav Moshe Kaplan explains why simply performing the commandments isn't enough to adequately serve HaShem, and why one must learn emuna* in order to understand the deep reasons and spiritual forces that lie behind the performance of the commandments.

 *Emuna is "...the study of the profoundest truth, and the understanding of matters which stand in the most exalted reaches. It encompasses the truthful illumination of logic, of science, and of the Divine...It is a profound wisdom [and certainty] which requires deep probing"

-Torat Eretz Yisrael, by Rabbi David Samson and Tzvi Fishman

[15.5-minute video]

What to Think About on Yom Kippur

by Rav Eliezer Melamed, Rosh Yeshivat Har Brakha, yeshiva.org.il

[Translated by Hillel Fendel]

Rust-covered chain and padlock (Credit: Benjamin Lambert on Unsplash)

Teshuvah Breaks the Shackles
During these Ten Days of Repentance leading up to Yom Kippur, it is important to internalize Rav Kook's classic teaching: T'shuva frees us!  It releases us from the bonds of the yetzer har'a [evil inclination] that so restrict us. Our soul in thus revealed in its true freedom – for t'shuva is the essence of our striving for Divine liberty and freedom that bear no servitude. (See Orot HaTeshuvah 5,5 and 7,4.)

What does this mean in a practical sense?

Vayeilekh: Why Moshe Couldn't Enter the Land

by Rav Yehuda HaKohen, visionmag.org

Kippah with American flag on it

Although he had been raised in Pharaoh’s palace and had never in his life actually seen Eretz Yisrael, Moshe was held accountable for allowing himself to be referred to by others as “an Egyptian man.”