Podcasts about bereshis

One Fish Two Fish Why fish? What was so special about Menashe and Ephraim? What is the central theme of the book of Bereshis? As we are at the close of the book of Bereshis what lessons can we take from it?

Bereshis 5784 make-up episode

A Gutten Erev Shabbos Parshas Bereshis - Divrei Torah, stories and Chizuk.Visit our website Follow us on Facebook Subscribe to our YouTube channel If you would like to sponsor an episode Email info@jfoundations.com.Contact JFoundations:Email info@jfoundations.comWhatsApp +972 55-711-6220

It's a lot of pressure so what does it mean?

נתכסה הלבנה לפני שבירך כתב המשנה ברורה (סק"ג) דאם התחיל לברך ונתכסה הלבנה גומר ברכתו, אבל אם יודע הוא שבעוד רגע כמימרא הלבנה תתכסה לא יברך. ומקור הלכה זו אף היא ברדב"ז (שם והביאו המג"א שם סק"א). ובהגהות הגאון רבי חיים צאנזר כתב דאם ראה את הלבנה בחידושה, אף שנתכסה טרם התחיל לברך, יכול לברך תוך כדי דיבור על מה שראה מקודם. והביא ראיה מהמבואר (סימן רכ"ז ס"ג) דאם שמע קול רעם בהיותו בבית הכסא דאם יכול לצאת ולברך תוך כדי דיבור מברך, והוא הדין בנידון דידן, והמשנה ברורה הביא דבריו בביאור הלכה וכתב דיש קצת לחלק, דברכת הרעמים היא על מנהגו של עולם משא"כ ברכת הלבנה שאינו מברך אלא אם כן נהנה מאור הלבנה ואיך יברך לאחר שחלפה ההנאה, והרי זה דומה לברכת המוציא שאם לא בירך בתחילת הסעודה וכבר גמר לאכול דשוב אינו מברך כמבואר בשו"ע (סי' קס"ז ס"ח), עי"ש. אך באמת מסתבר כדברי הגר"ח צאנזר, דשאני ברכת הנהנין דודאי אי אפשר לברך לאחר שכלתה ההנאה, אבל ברכת הלבנה הוי ברכת השבח, אלא שתיקנו דאינו יכול לברך אלא אם כן יראה את הלבנה ויכול להנות ממנו, וכיון שראה למה לא יברך, והרי זה דומה לברכת הרעם שאף היא ברכת השבח ואף בה אינו מברך אלא אם כן שמע, ומה בין ראיה לשמיעה, וכשם שהשומע את הרעם יכול לברך תוך כדי דיבור לאחר שעבר ובטל מן העולם, כך גם הרואה את הלבנה יכול לברך תוך כדי דיבור לאחר שנתכסה הלבנה. אך הרדב"ז והמגן אברהם וכל גדולי האחרונים בעקבותיהם נקטו דלאחר שנתכסה הלבנה שוב אי אפשר לברך עליה, ואף לא יתחיל לברך אם ברור שהלבנה תתכסה לפני גמר ברכתו. ןבטעמא דמילתא נראה דעיקר ברכת הלבנה על שהעולם נהנה מאורה, ומשו"כ אין לברך לאחר שנתכסה ואין נהנים מאורה, ודו"ק בכ"ז

Amazing insight on Parshas Bereshis- Toldos!

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A Gutten Erev Shabbos Parshas Bereshis - Divrei Torah, stories and Chizuk. Visit our https://www.jfoundations.com/ (website ) Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/JFoundationsPodcasts (Facebook ) Subscribe to ourhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCitsR5dxaZMAiWKlVOb2KSA ( YouTube channel ) If you would like to sponsor an episode Email info@jfoundations.com. Contact JFoundations: Email info@jfoundations.com WhatsApp +972 55-711-6220

Parshas Bereishis, the dichotomy of emotion This week's Parsha Perspective is in honor of the Refuah Shlema of HaRav Amitai Ben Shoshanna, Leah Mintche Bas Gittel, and Shaul Ben Berta. This week's Parsha Perspective is in loving memory of Edward Ben Efraim, Shlomo Ben Edward, and Yirachmiel Daniel Ben Gedalia. May their souls be uplifted and their memories a blessing. This week's Parsha Perspective is in honor of Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, known as a lawyer of the Jewish people. The anniversary of his passing, his Yahrzeit, is on the 25th of Tishrei. May his memory be a blessing! Click here to listen, watch and connect! Parshaperspective.com As we enter the new year with a clean slate, we also restart the cycle of reading the Torah from the beginning with Parshas Bereishis. However, we must understand that it is not just a physical but spiritual cycle. We have the opportunity to gain a more profound understanding of the Torah and its lessons. Each year, a unique level of spirituality is given to the world, which is relevant to that day and age. The Torah begins with the words "Bereshis bara Elokim es hashamayim ve' es ha'ares-In the beginning, G-d created the heaven and the earth." The Parsha then goes through what was made each day. We find out why we Torah details the process of creation. We learn the true intention and purpose of creation.

Welcome to a new Season of Toras MS! Listen weekly for new parsha insights. New episodes drop Thursdays.

What's so special about this Shabbos?

This is Episode 436 of the My Morning Devotional Podcast Join me, Alison Elizabeth as we read out of Genesis 1:1 in the Orthodox Jewish Version which is Bereshis 1:1 and that says "In the beginning Elohim created hashomayim (the heavens, Himel) and haaretz (the earth)."Today we kick off a new series as we dive deeper in learning all about our heavenly father and His different names and attributes. We start off with the first name we read, Elohim. Tune back each day this week and next as we dive deeper into his different names and how we can apply them to our lives. Quick Links: @mymorningdevo on IG: https://www.instagram.com/mymorningdevo/@alisonelizabethco on IG: https://www.instagram.com/alisonelizabethco/Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/mymorningdevotional/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/mymorningdevo)

00:00 How can we reconcile the Gemara in Sukkah saying that certain actions bring about eclipses and the astronomical cycle of such eclipses?   06:37 How do we reconcile the fact that we're a light unto the nations if translating the Torah is seen as bad, and why are so many important Jews secular?   14:00 Why is Havdalah related to (the bracha of) wisdom?    22:14 Has the Rav been positively affected by secular culture?   31:10 How can a Jew be involved in a career in creative writing?   42:00 How much do I have to wrong someone in order to require forgiveness?    46:28 What's the difference between Olam Haba and Olam HaNeshamos?   48:38 In terms of “rodef,” could someone kill a doctor who is about to pull the plug on a patient?   54:08 Is the rav excited about Roe v Wade possibly being overturned?   1:03:06 What are the rav's thoughts on men educating women when there are a lot of allegations and abuses?    1:12:35 Why did Hashem have to hold the mountain over the heads of the Jews? Were we forced into accepting it?   1:15:38 How do we view political campaigns that employ lashon hara?   1:21:00 Is sinas chinam still happening today?   1:21:46 Why are Pharoahs in the Torah not named?   1:22:42 How is removal of the spleen allowed with Adonyahu?   1:27:08 Does lashon hara extend to social media being allowed?    1:28:22 Shovavim eitzah for yeshiva bachurim?   1:31:37 When it comes to men wearing women's garments or the like, what is kosher in terms of grooming?   1:36:00 What's the message of growing out a beard?    1:40:05 Why is there not a more mainstream obligation to receive the COVID vaccine according to the gedolim?   1:42:43 Why should I listen to a gadol about medical advice?    1:47:54 Where is America headed in terms of Yiddishkeit?   1:51:50 How can there be other worlds in our world if Hashem created the beginning in Bereshis?    Comments? Feedback? Would you like to sponsor an episode? A series?   We'd love to hear from you : podcasts@ohr.edu https://podcasts.ohr.edu/ Visit us @ ohr.edu !   Produced by:

Series: Be'erot, Love & Relationship with God.   Episode Transcript:   We saw the beginning of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's relationship with man, and it was very important to us to take a look at how that begins because we're really looking in this series at the most primary points of contact between us and Hakadosh Baruch Hu and they are rooted in the way man is created and in the first interactions between us and Gd. The reason that's important to us is because we're sort of promoting or claiming a certain position and that is that primary relationship that Hakadosh Baruch Hu seeks between us and him as a relationship of love and that in His expressing His love towards us so then we become carriers of that love into the world by the way in which we express it and manifest it towards others and towards the planet. So we become the vessels of His expression of that love which He himself has for his creation and which He desires for His creation to reflect back to Him. And this for me is a very exciting re-orientation of Judasim, to be honest, for those of us who are used to the laws, the mitzvos, as being primary—well, that's certainly the case, that they are the primary vehicle for that relationship. But unfortunately we often lose the core of that, and that's what I hope to rekindle and re-establish in these teachings. The way we are going about it is by looking at these primary points and getting clarity on not only what those primary points are, and what are the factors of our own being in the world, what our perspective and experiences that will bring about what it is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is seeking that we should know that love of Him, know His love for us and spread that through the means which he has provided us.         There is no secret that there is a spin-off from Judaism which is called Christianity, which actually took this very prime point and distorted it by…Well, you know I was just walking through the Old City the other day and I was listening to a monk give a tour to Christians who had come over and all he could talk about was the “spirit of the Law, the spirit of the Law, they had lost the spirit of the Law”, that Paul had come to re-establish the spirit of the Law, etc. I thought this was very interesting because there is a possibility, not just a possibility but a lived reality of the both spirit of the Law and the actual fulfillment of it. It's actually a perversion to disembody the Law like it's a perversion to disembody a human being, and I suppose that that monk's life is a reflection of that on a certain level—celibacy is not part of our parlance because of that commitment to the embodiment of all this in a lived way.         So, leaving polemics aside, (sigh) it's getting easier and easier to talk about these things, but there's still vast regions of yiddishkeit that don't really orient themselves this way. In any case, I want us to be as solid as we can be in terms of our exploration in establishing these points, B'ezrat Hashem. So what we looked at last time was the first creation, and I want to take a look back at that just to remind us of a certain, not only query that Rashi makes into the pasuk, but a paradigm which he establishes about the way we are with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So if you remember, we were in the second chapter of Bereshis, and there we have in verse four: That these are the unfoldings of heavens and earth….. And then we have the description there, there is no siach ba sadeh, there is no esev ba sadeh, because there is no man there to work the ground and we saw that from that verse it seems quite clear that man has to come to the planet in order that things should grow. He's going to be created now in order to solve a problem, in order to make a tikkun, on order to allow for things to be blossoming. And that inversion of perspective was important to us, as we're used to the planet serving us as being the way we look at things but here we have man here serving the planet. But as we became more deeply cognizant of what's happening here, we really that that kind of dichotomous thinking is really the product of a wrong attitude, and that is that somehow we are not of the planet. As if in serving the planet we're not also being served by the planet. And when the planet serves us, it's as if we're not serving it. That comes from a perspective that has us as if we are not part of the planet. (Laughing) That's a product of a certain kind of an attitude and thinking which divorces our consciousness from the very being of the existence which Gd has made. And although we are of different stuff when it comes to our soul, and also to a certain extent when it comes to our mind, nevertheless we are very much a part of the created reality. And so, in the course of our learning together we realize in fact that it's wrong to look at that kind of a split that way, as if it's one or the other. And as we're going to learn a little bit more today, what actually transpires in us is transpiring in the planet. But we'll come back to that. So what we saw was, that man should be created, such that there should be rain, such that things should grow, and if you remember we pointed out that that won't happen unless his knowing of the need of the planet is intimate.[1] And the way his knowing of the need of the planet is intimate, is both by him being created of the planet—in other words, you're just dirt of the ground with the water added so that Gd should knead you together into what you are. That means that you are taken from the earth. So, it couldn't be more intimate to know what the earth needs, then by your having been taken from it. That was one aspect. And the other aspect is that Gd sets it up that for us to know that the world needs rain comes about by virtue of our working the ground. And that was how the verse worked, remember? That we are told there is no rain, and there is no man to work the ground. If you're looking for man to pray for rain so that it should rain, so then make man and he'll pray for rain. Why do you have to have him working the ground? Unless, as we said last time, that there's knowing, and there's knowing. There's knowing that there needs to be rain, which is where the intellect looks at things from the outside, analyzes them and then reports what the earth needs, and then there's being thirsty…and sweating…and hoeing…and plowing…and waiting for the rain.         Content-wise there's no difference. Both people know that there needs to be rain. Connectedness-wise, it's an entirely different consciousness. So the verse is very careful to say Gd has not made it rain yet for there is no man to work the ground, not because there's no man to pray for it. And this is crucial, crucial, crucial as we'll see as we progress because that means that prayer, awareness, knowing, are really not so important to us as some kind of external observation. But only when they become en eternal experience and connectedness do they really have the import that Hakadosh Baruch Hu intended for them to have. I can't stress this enough because so much of what's been lost to us in terms of Hakadosh Baruch Hu is a product of quite a few processes but certainly one of them is the rise of scientific thinking, which gets the idea that knowing the greatness of Gd's creation, that means science and cold analysis and picking apart so that you see how it works, and then you'll appreciate HIS,, is doesn't work that way. I'm not saying it isn't a valuable enterprise, I'm not in any way anti-scientific on the level of that project being a significant project. But when that project becomes the singular project and the connectivity to what is is lost, that's when you lose the intensity of connection that is meant for us, And if it's not going to be from working the ground, which for most of us it isn't, then it's going to have to come from some other way that we have a shift in consciousness so that that kind of intimacy is recovered. Then we began to look deeply into how the chachamim analyze this verse. And they tell us what is meant to happen. What will be, Rashi tells us, is that there will be created a man who will be…I'm reading at the end of the Rashi in verse 5 where Rashi gives us three statements about what man is going to be. Well, actually four. There needs to be a man to work the ground, to recognize the goodness of rain, (keeping the distinctions of the Hebrew) and then pray for them. There are four stages here. One is a real and direct involvment in what is, he's working the ground. Two, is he recognizes the goodness the rain, that's the starting point. Three, he sees the need, and four, he prays, connect to Gd, has intimacy with Gd. So, be involved, connect and be involved, it matters, there's caring by being involved. It's a principle in avodah so that it's intimate and real, there's recognizing the good (and seeking it) there's coming to know the need, and there's asking, turning to the source. All these in order to have rain, and to put it a different way, all these because there is no rain. By there being no rain, all this can happen. Apparnetly had there been rain, there would be missing intimate involvment, an appreciate awareness, a compassionate stance, and a connection to source. In other words, these four elements are why there's no rain, so they should be elicited is one way to look at it. The simpler way to look at it is because there is no rain all these processes have to happen, but I think that Rashi gives it away that we're not just talking about rain when he says, “veyn makir btovatam shel geshamim. I think that's the giveaway in the Rashi, that if there's no man working the ground, then there won't be someone to recgnize the goodness. That is to say, we're not just talking about someone coming here to pray, we're talking about someone who can recognize the goodness, that's what we're after. If what we're after is getting the rain to fall down, then you wouldn't have to make a world in which people had to pray in order to get it, I mean you want things to grow, Gd, You created it, it's what it's for, I mean why did you create a world where people had to recognize the goodness and go through all of this. Clearly, it begs the question “man for world or world for man”—it becomes a silly point. It's all one entitity, one organic reality in which there is a conscious element, which is the one God is waiting for a coming to a recognition of the good in order for the whole planet to function. When that happens, then creation is fulfills. I want to tell you, it's not only that when that happens, then creation is fulfilled' we need to get deeper into what this means but we actually have a something of a repeat of this in the parsha which describes the Jewish people coming inot the land of Israel and what this needs to be. I'm talking about Parshat Ki Tavo nmuch later in Devarim, where we have a repeat of a similar phenomenon where we're waiting for man to be “makir…tov” Take a look there in Parshat Ki Tavo. In chapter 26, and then at the end of Ki Tavo, put your finger in chapter 29…. Let me summarize up until now this thing Rashi has taught us. There needs to be intimate connection or involvment, awareness, but it's an awareness of tov, compassion, like a compassionate knowing, the world need him—that ‘s the compassion, and it's da'at, and then finally a connection to source. Becoming a channel or arousing the source of the water to give it. As most things with four, it parallels the structure of the divine name, with the lower heh being the intimate connection in reality, the vav being da'at, being makir be tov, as we'll see later, and then knowing that the world needs him, something needs to be brought out, and finally connection to Source, the upper yud. That's for the advanced students (laughing). What I want to show you, just like at the beginning, so to speak, at the end. By the end, I mean when we finally get to the land of Israel, leave this, complete the process of redemption which has taken us through the desert, we get to Israel: “Vhayah ki tove, when you get to the land…which got has given you as a nachalah, and then you're going to take from the first fruits of the land to bring them to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and then you're going to  to the Cohen who's there certain things about where you've come from and what has been up until now. And Rashi say, “Why are you doing this? Why do you have to make the declaration to HaKadosh Baruch Hu: Why isn't it enough just to bring the fruits? If this is like another korban, if this is like another sacrifice, so just bring it, to the cohen, like you bring him trumah, like you bring to the Levi ma'aser, like you bring when you have to bring a sacrifice, you bring it to the Cohen and then you're done—you don't have this whole verbiage of declaring, boy it's been a long trek. So why do you have to say it? So Rashi says that the reason why you have to say it is to declare (end of verse three) you are not someone who is the opposite who is opposite of makir b'tov. A cafui be'tovah is someone who is covering over the good. In the Mishnah, lichpot et hacli is covering a vessel. Nowadays, cafui ley har caguiguit at Har Sinai. Most people think that He forced them, using the guiguit. But really in the language of chazal, he covered them over with a guiguit, a pail. C'fiyah datit, nowadays, is a usage of force which originates in covering over. In any case, you come and the reason you have to declare to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, it's been a long trek, it was fantastic, we've made it back, is in order to declare that you are not a cafui tovah. It's basic…Because it's basic, it's profound, but it's really very simple (laughing). And that is the declaration: I recognize the goodness. I'm not a cafui tovah. And there's a reason why he sayd I'm not a cafui, and we'll get into that deeper, we'll come to that more. What I just want you to see is that you get to Israel, that's what you declare. It's something like a re-entry into the God (whoops) Gan Eden where the condition for coming in has to do with … b' tov. Now look how it ends, parshat Ki Tavo in Chapter 29. Moshe Rabbeinu says very explicitly, why we had to wait forty years to get back. And that declaration of why it took us forty years to get back is the same declaration of why we had to wait so many years to get back and are still waiting to get back. Because look at the beginning of chapter 29, “and Moshe called to all of Yisrael and he said to them You are the ones who saw everything that Gd did in front of your eyes in Egypt. You've seen all the great wonders, the miracles, etc. And you know what, Gd didn't give you a heart to know, and eyes to know and ears to hear until today. That's why I took you forty years in the desert so that your clothes wouldn't wear out, and you didn't have to eat bread, and you didn't have to drink wine, in order that you should come to da'at that I am your Gd. “  So I look at these verses and I ask, What is it that took so long? Well, I didn't have eyes to see and ears to hear. But you just told me that they had eyes to see the great wonders and miracles—they saw them! Didn't they see them?! Nah. They didn't see them. Why? Because really seeing requires a lev lada'at, a knowing heart. Now, what is this knowing heart? What does it mean to have a knowing heart such that now you have eyes to see and ears to hear, Such that Gd says I took you through the desert so that you should come to da'at. Without da'at you can't come in. Without da'at, you can't be here. So, again Rashi tells us something so deep and crucial. In verse three there, Rashi tells us what lev lada'at is. Lehakir….bo. To recognize Gd's goodness and to have devaykut with him. Language of communion and clinging. It's amazing. So Rashi tells us what lev lada''at and it's what we need to wait forty years in the desert to get. It's what all galut is waiting for us to achieve. And that is how to… (not clear) achieve da'at? Which allows ledavek bo. I have a guide. A guide, we've seen that man has been created to be l'hakir tov be geshamim, same thing as when we come into Israel to be makir b'tov, makir b'chasdei Hashem, l'davek bo… Where did Rashi get the lhidavek bo from ? Did the verse say lehidavek bo, to cling to Him? The verse said, it's about knowing, right? Unless we're talking about a knowing which is a clinging, unifying, communing knowing and it's clearly what Rashi means, because otherwise he has no source for saying lehidavek bo, that wasn't there. Lehakir bo, I can get from the verse, but lehidabek bo? Ah, that's the lev ha'da'at. It has to do with knowing the goodness. And I want to tell you something. It's not always so simple to know the goodness. And the reason why it's not so simple to know the goodness is because human beings have a pension for insisting that they are self-made. By which I mean, it's very difficult to accept from another in which that acceptance implies that that other is participating in making me. Most of us prefer to think of ourselves as being self-made by which I mean, I'm my own person. It's a very profound opening and maturing to recognize that in my selfhood I am interpenetrating and interpenetrated by the reality that I'm a participant and part of. There is no, so to speak, independently self-made me. And so we have a tendency to try to cover over and step aside from and avoid the goodnesses which we were given. And I believe it takes a particular midah,  trait to develop which I want to talk about and I believe we're going to see(k) profound things in a particular personality, maybe that of Avraham, that's able to accept goodness, but  the “I am a rock, I am an island” kind of a mentality, which is a kind of in physics, it's sort of a Newtonian vitality?, actually before Newton, that the construction of reality is these myriad impenetrable atoms that everything is made of, these, like, particles. I think it was Lucretious who invented the paradigm. So it was like a particle-ized reality, which is really coming to an end in physics, where it's not a particle-ized reality. It's like a stream of energy that takes different dancing formations. That has vast implications. Also in terms of how we relate to one another and our connection and our participation in all that is. I really feel like it's the movement toward a lev l'da'at, as the paradigm for all that is shifting. I mean, on one level there's me and you, and we're separate and apart. But there's another level in which that's not an accurate depiction of how that all works. We're all interconnected all of the times and participating in the making of each other. In higher or lesser frequencies or intensities. In other words, a shift from an individuated and particle-ized sense of reality to one of a mutual sharing is what a lev l'da'at is all about. And that , if we put that back into a sort of avodah, it comes down to l'hakr be tovatam. To be makir the tov. In Hebrew, it means on one level or another, to appreciate.  But it's better translated into recognizing the good, always connecting. I'll put it to you this way. If you're always analyzing, like in a scientific way, so you won't connect to it, but if you appreciat it and recognize how good it is, then you become connected to it. In Kabbalistic language, tov is the midah of yesod. Yesod is the connecting point. This is why when we're told by HaKadosh Baruch Hu his evaluation of Creation, --I'm going to return now to something more simple and direct-- so we're told that Gd looks at everything and He says that it's good. The first thing that Gd does is that He is makir b'tov. He's connecting to it, we'd say today. That's what we do, if we appreciate it, we connect to it. If you're just analyzing it, you're not connecting to it. If you criticize it, then you are relating to it, but you're not connecting to it. But, oh, that's good. Somehow that means that this is a reality that is serving existence. My existence, the formation of that which is meant to be and exist. That's why I connect to it because I'm participating in that manifestation of reality, it's good, it's good. Just a simple thing. If you're looking at this cup and you're thinking bad things about it, you're going to disconnect. If you're looking at this cup and you appreciate it… If you're looking at this notebook and you say (makes a nasal voice) “It's too small, I don't like that color, too many pages—disconnect. But if you appreciate it, you know, what a good feel it's got, they really designed it right so that it will fit into the pocket, etc. so being makir b'tov is another language for connecting to.  From experience, that's the way it is. Very simply the Chumash says a very beautiful thing. Does everyone see how beautiful this is, it began with the creation of man, with Gd making a creature who is makir b'tov. We can't get back to the bechinah of Gan Eden, which is Eretz Yisrael, we can't get out of the desert, the disconnect until we learn the bechinah of makir b'tov. You can see the all the miracles in the world, Gd says, and you have seen them all, but you haven't had a lev l'da'at until now. (Responding to student question) That's true. That needs work and understanding. (Looking for a Gemara) But I think what Chaya's pointing out is, what is the nature of our participation in making a lev lada'at? If it seems that it is divinely conducting, whether we get it or not. Let's leave that ze tzarich iyun. I'm not sure what to say about it, I think she's right… (Student comments) What we saw there is that coming into the land of Israel requires of us having hakarat hatov l'hidabek bo. And here the fullness of the picture was all about communion. Gd has done these miracles, these beautiful things. As long as you're not communing with Him by virtue of them, then the purpose has not been served. So it's not positive thinking, and it's nice to be appreciative, those are all good midot. They are not particiapant in the redemptive process until those midot because participant with the ultimate purpose of communing with Gd. But that can come on levels of communing which are going to happen and they can come by virtue of communing right in this world with other human beings. Do you understand? If this were a mussar shmooze I'd be talking to uou about appreciating. But as a spiritual teaching, which is rooted in what it is that man's purpose is, we are being informed by Rashi that it's about lhakir et chasdei Hashem lhidabek bo. And I believe that from the very beginning of what that's for. So, you can actually see this in the way that the Chumash uses the word, in the pasuk that you are all familiar with, I'm sure. And that is where Hakadosh Baruch Hu has looked at all the things in Creation, and then finally he looks at the fact that man is alone and he says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” It's a very deep description. Because it means that everything in Creation has been good. It means that everything in Creation has been participant in this connective reality, except for one, and that is man's being alone. That is “lo tov” but what I want us to un is that lo tov, it's not thwat it's a bad thing in a moral sense. It is the embodiment of lo tov. The emb of lo tov is being alone. It's not that it's not good to be alone. Right? Which is also true, I mean, what do you mean like that? I don't like it, it isn't pleasant. Or, not good, in an ethical sense. Like you have a job to do. It involves getting married and having kids, what is going on with you? Get going. We all heard enough of that. But what I'm saying is, just like Gd looks at all things and says they are good that's what's called in philosophy an ontological statement, it's a description of the reality so also this is a description of reality, meaning that there is by definition lo tov in being alone. That's what it means. Tov means being together. Lo tov means being alone. And the amazing thing is that Rashi again one of the advantages of learning with me is that I'm always very simple. Chumash, Rashi, it's enough for me but that's also the disadvantage. Because it's so simple, it's hard to get a grasp on it. But I hope you're with me on this. I was you to see the Rashi. Rashi says something so pertinent, Rashi says on that verse: What does that mean “lo tov…l'vado”? People are going to come to say, they shouldn't say….One way to read that is it's not good because it's going to produce a mistake to think that he's Gd. You know, there's a Gd up there and there's a Gd down there. But the deeper teachng that Rashi's giving us is that lo tov means that the reality will be particlized into two reshuyot.Two domains. There's not two domains, there's only one domain. It's all one field. It's all one interconnected reality. That they would come to see reality as particle-ized. They wouldn't see reality as an interconnecting field. (Answering student) That is so deep and so crucial for us to realize that it's in creation of another that we do away with the mistaken consciousness of two reshuiyot as long as I'm standing alone, I might think that all is separate. But it's when I'm standing together with that I know that all is One. That's the way our consiousness has been designed. You have no concept of oneness in standing alone. You can only achieve a consciousness of oneness, of one domain, when you're standing with another. And it's all a matter of makir b'tov but that word has come to mean far more than we had originally given it weight for meaning. So now when we come back and swe see the other element in Rashi here, is that it's Gd's interest that there not be that consciousness of dichotomoy of shty reshuyot Like nowadays to say, like it's not that you're single, it's not good for you. No, this is the Creation, this is what the Creation is about. This is what Gd is seeking, is that there should be a conscious (?) self, one reshutand the way He is bringing this about is that there should be creating down here  a relationship between man and woman which will now create a consciousness of one reshut and both express His desire for unity and realize it. This is big stuff here. This is so Jewish! I have no idea, what do the goyim do, what do Christians do with this pasuk, that believe in celibacy. What do you do with a verse like this that makes it so crucial for creation.  So, what we saw last time, and we're going to B”H see how this parallels human life and, so to speak, in our relation with the divine… We already began to see one beginning element which is really deep, and now we can much more appreciate how crucial to this process of tov, and that is the first thing that Gd does with man is that He gives him a choice. And what I'm reminding you of is, that the first time Gd speaks to man, according to Rashi, is where it says, “Vayikach (2:15) And Gd took man and placed him in Gd Eden, and then He commanded him. So again it looks like He took, He took him and then put him down. He spoke to him attractive things and tempted himl orseduced him into the Garden of Eden. This is amazing on two crucial account. Namesly one, that man is beign given a choice. There is no picking him up, taking him and putting him down into the Garden of Eden. You will not be in the Garden of Eden unless your heart is there. He has drawn him there. Rashi is so deep because you can't be in the Graden of Eden any other way. Imagine being in the Garden of Eden by force? That's hell! But more deeply, the first interaction between Gd and man is when man's ability to say no is respected. One side of that is of course, he's being given his independence of entity, which is of course crucial for a loving relationship. Rape is not a loving relationship.  OK, that's an obvious point, but that deserves investigation. The other point which is more relevant to us and where I want to follow things is that Gd himself ahs made himselfe vulnerable in giving man a choice. We ended with my granddaughter saying no, I'm not going to give Saba a hug. And I end up hanging there like a jerk. Well, it's not quite that bad, but it feels pretty stupid. Here I am fifty years her senior, and she's saying no to me, that's it, I'm done, but that's what happening to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, if man had said no, done! HaKadosh Baruch Hu has made himself vulnerable. But it's in that vulnerability that availability happens. And it's in availability happening that connection can become, and there can be tov. I'm not going to be open to the possibility of a no and the yes will really have no substance, significance, connection. And that's clearly part of the lev la da'at. And that is indeed the other meaning of eni cafu letovah, and that's why Rashi said in Ki Tavo, he didn't say “ani makir b'to” when he brings the fruits, but rather eni cafui tovah, I don't experience this tov as being something that's been imposed upon me, cafui in sense of imposition. In other words, I'm not one who covers it over, but I'm also not one who is covered over by it. Because cafui tov means to be covered over, not I'm not cofei hatov, it didn't say, that I covered the tov, but rather I'm not cafui tov,  that I'm not covered by it, meaning I'm not being forced by it, that's what you have to say when you come into the Land of Israel, I am  willingly and openly accepting this. I don't experience it as being imposed upon me as if it is an antagonism to my project of self-made person.  I recognize that I am ready to join you in a joint and mutual project of creation of my selfhood, and I see you Gd, you're not forcing this upon me. I have a lev la'dat to know that it is given to me from your own, so to speak vulnerability of having given me the chance to say no.   More teaching from Rav Daniel on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ravdanielk

Why there is no "Vayomer" in Bereshis, and what was created with this word? Source Sheet --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/yechezkel-hartman/support

Sacks-Studies in Spirituality-Bereshis

In today's world social pressures can easily derail us from our unique path of growth and success...

In this mini-series, I consider some of the most important and difficult questions posed by various figures in Jewish philosophy on the weekly Parasha. Here is a link to the section of the Guide that I discuss in this podcast: https://www.sefaria.org/Guide_for_the_Perplexed%2C_Part_1.2?lang=en

Parshat Bechukotai - Judaism, along with most religions, favors consistency in practice and steadfast faith… or does it? Focusing on a single verse that has been used to support this position (Leviticus 26: 21) we argue for an alternative. Geoffrey Stern and Rabbi Adam Mintz explore happenstance, serendipity, temporarily fealty, chance, accident, the unintentional, the unexpected, or as the King James translators have God put it ”adventures with Me”. We contrast those who acquires their share in the World-to-Come only after many years of toil, and those who do so in one moment. בשעה אחת --------- ויקרא כ״ו:כ״א (כא) וְאִם־תֵּֽלְכ֤וּ עִמִּי֙ קֶ֔רִי וְלֹ֥א תֹאב֖וּ לִשְׁמֹ֣עַֽ לִ֑י וְיָסַפְתִּ֤י עֲלֵיכֶם֙ מַכָּ֔ה שֶׁ֖בַע כְּחַטֹּאתֵיכֶֽם׃ Leviticus 26:21 (21) And if you remain hostile toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will go on smiting you sevenfold for your sins. רש"י על ויקרא כ״ו:כ״א:א׳ ואם תלכו עמי קרי. רַבּוֹתֵינוּ אָמְרוּ עֲרַאי, בְּמִקְרֶה, שֶׁאֵינוֹ אֶלָּא לִפְרָקִים, כֵּן תֵּלְכוּ עֲרַאי בְּמִצְווֹת: Rashi on Leviticus 26:21:1 ואם תלכו עמי קרי — Our Rabbis said (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 5): this word signifies “irregularly”, “by chance” (מקרה), which is a thing that happens only occasionally; thus this means: if you will follow the commandments irregularly. Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 5 5 (5) 5) (Vayikra 26:21) ("And if you walk with Me laxly and do not desire to listen to Me, then I shall smite you even more, seven-fold according to your sins.") "And if you walk with Me laxly and do not desire to listen to Me": You made My Torah "incidental" in the world — I, too, will make you "incidental" in the world. "then I shall smite you, even more, seven-fold according to your sins": You transgressed seven transgressions — come and accept seven calamities. According to Samson Raphael Hirsch “keri” means “accident”. “keri” derived from karah (see Commentary, Bereshis 24:12) – denotes anything that happens without intention or beyond our reckoning. Accordingly, it is a purely relative concept. Something in it self can be intentional and premeditated, yet we did not intend it or plan it; it just happened to us and came to us by chance…. Your going with Me is only keri. Your acting in accordance with My Will is not your only intention and is not the result of a decision on your part. Your foremost resolve is not to obey ME, not to do only My Will. You no longer are opposed to My Will as a matter of principle, but My Will is not important to you. Other considerations determine you way of life, and you leave it to chance whether this brings you into conflict or accord with Me. The troubles that befell Israel accomplished at least one thing; their defection ceased to be extreme opposition, directed – as a matter of principle – against God and His Torah. But heeding God is still not their first and only aim. The illusory interests of prosperity and power remain their primary concerns. Their walking with God remains incidental: they keep God’s commandments only if these happen to coincide with their own interests. Baruch A. Levine writes in his commentary to Leviticus that the correct translation of “keri” is hostility. “Hebrew keri, “hostility” and the idiom halakh ‘im … be-keri, “to walk with … in hostility,” are unique to this chapter. Targum Onkelos translates be-kashyu, “with hardness, obstinacy” deriving keri from the root k-r-r, “to be cold.” Compare the noun form karah, “cold wave,” in Nahum 3:17, and mekerah, “cool chamber” in Judges 3:24 Shmuel David Luzzatto in his commentary to this verse, wonders why there is so much conjecture on the part of the commentators as to what keri means since, after all, Onkelos preceded them all and not only gives an obvious translation, but also clearly follows the translation that was accepted on the street, at the time. [I’m no expert in ShaDL, but he seems to take real offence at the mistranslation… he calls it a “perversion” עיוות ) שד"ל על ויקרא כ״ו:כ״א:א׳ ואם תלכו עמי קרי: נפתלי וויזל פירש אם תלכו עמי קרי, שגם במקרה הרעה הזאת שקרה לכם תלכו עמי כמו שהלכתם עמי קודם לכן; ולפירושו העיקר חסר, שהרי שיעור הכתוב לפי פירוש זה הוא "אם גם עם המקרים והמכות האלה שהבאתי עליכם עדיין תלכו עמי" ומה טעם תלכו עמי, שהיא מליצה קרובה למליצת את האלקים התהלך נח? ורמבמ"ן פירש לשון התנגדות, מגזרת לקראת, תלכו נגד רצוני, תשימו מגמת פניכם לעשות הפך רצוני; אבל לא מצאנו מלת לקראת בענין התנגדות, ובהפך מצאנו ולא הלך כפעם בפעם לקראת נחשים, שענינו ולא הלך אחרי נחשים: ומלבד זה, הנה כשהגיע אצל והלכתי עמכם בחמת קרי לא מצא ידיו ורגליו, כי מה טעם בחמת התנגדות? וכל חמה היא התנגדות, והוצרך להפריד בין הדבקים, ולתרגם בחמת קרי כאילו כתוב בחמה בקרי, ואין זה פירוש אלא עיוות הכתוב. ומי יתן ואדע מה רבו כל החכמים האלה לפנות כה וכה למצוא להם דרכים צרים ודחוקים לפרש מלת בקרי, אחרי אשר קדמם המתרגם החשוב אנקלוס ע"ה, הראשון בזמן ובמעלה בקהל המפרשים, אשר על פי הקבלה שהיתה בידו תרגם מלת בקרי במלת בקשיו, ומלות בחמת קרי במלות בתקוף רגז, והוא פירוש המתישב על פשוטו של מקרא בלי שום דוחק כלל. ואם תאמר: מאין באה למלת קרי הוראת הקושי? - אחשוב שזה נמשך ממלת קורָה, ואולם יהיה איך שיהיה, אין ספק שהיתה המלה האת ידועה לקדמונינו בקבלה מקדמוניהם, והם ידעו שהוראתה על הקושי. (בה"ע תקפ"ט עמוד 89). Shadal on Leviticus 26:21:1 ... בראשית כ״ד:י״ב (יב) וַיֹּאמַ֓ר ׀ ה' אֱלֹקֵי֙ אֲדֹנִ֣י אַבְרָהָ֔ם הַקְרֵה־נָ֥א לְפָנַ֖י הַיּ֑וֹם וַעֲשֵׂה־חֶ֕סֶד עִ֖ם אֲדֹנִ֥י אַבְרָהָֽם׃ Genesis 24:12 (12) And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, grant me good fortune this day, and deal graciously with my master Abraham: “Nothing is farther from the Jewish concept of “MiKreh” than the idea of “chance”, with which it is usually taken to be associated.” Samson Raphael Hirsch on the verse There is a clear bias against happenstance, serendipity, temporarily fealty, chance, accident, the unintentional, the unexpected, or as the King James translators put it in their notes as an alternative translation of “keri-contrary.” if ye walk at all adventures with me. (Leviticus 26: 21 King James Translators’ Notes) בראשית כ״ח:י״א (יא) וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃ Genesis 28:11 (11) He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. ספורנו על בראשית כ״ח:י״א:א׳ ויפגע במקום קרה לו שהגיע אל מקום שלא כיון אליו וענין המקום הוא מקום ללון לאורחים שהי' מתוקן אז בכל עיר ועיר ברחוב העיר על הרוב ועל כל זה אמרו המלאכים ללוט כי ברחוב נלין וכן בענין פלגש בגבעה רק ברחוב אל תלן: Sforno on Genesis 28:11:1 ויפגע במקום, it happened that he came to a place he had not intended to go to at all. The meaning of the word המקום is that it was a place designed to accommodate travelers overnight. Every town had such an inn in its public square. This is also why the angels who came to Lot said (19,20) כי ברחוב נלין, “we will sleep in (the inn) in the public square. The same expression is also used in connection with the פלגש בגבעה in Judges 19,20 where we read רק ברחוב אל תלין “only do not spend the night in the public inn.” משנה אבות ב׳:י״ג (יג) רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי זָהִיר בִּקְרִיאַת שְׁמַע וּבַתְּפִלָּה. וּכְשֶׁאַתָּה מִתְפַּלֵּל, אַל תַּעַשׂ תְּפִלָּתְךָ קֶבַע, אֶלָּא רַחֲמִים וְתַחֲנוּנִים לִפְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם בָּרוּךְ הוּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (יואל ב) כִּי חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם הוּא אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וְנִחָם עַל הָרָעָה. וְאַל תְּהִי רָשָׁע בִּפְנֵי עַצְמְךָ: Pirkei Avot 2:13 (13) Rabbi Shimon said: Be careful with the reading of Shema and the prayer, And when you pray, do not make your prayer something automatic, but a plea for compassion before God, for it is said: “for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in kindness, and renouncing punishment” (Joel 2:13); And be not wicked in your own esteem. מִקְרָא miqra: a convocation, convoking, reading https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4744.htm מִקְרֶה miqreh: accident, chance, fortune https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4745.htm ויקרא א׳:א׳ (א) וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר ה' אֵלָ֔יו מֵאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר׃ Leviticus 1:1 (1) The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying: ויקרא כ״ג:כ״א (כא) וּקְרָאתֶ֞ם בְּעֶ֣צֶם ׀ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֗ה מִֽקְרָא־קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם כָּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ חֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָ֛ם בְּכָל־מוֹשְׁבֹ֥תֵיכֶ֖ם לְדֹרֹֽתֵיכֶֽם׃ Leviticus 23:21 (21) On that same day you shall hold a celebration; it shall be a sacred occasion for you; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a law for all time in all your settlements, throughout the ages. עבודה זרה י״ז א:ט״ז בכה רבי ואמר יש קונה עולמו בכמה שנים ויש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת ואמר רבי לא דיין לבעלי תשובה שמקבלין אותן אלא שקורין אותן רבי Avodah Zarah 17a:16 When Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi heard this story of Elazar ben Durdayya, he wept and said: There is one who acquires his share in the World-to-Come only after many years of toil, and there is one who acquires his share in the World-to-Come in one moment. And Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi further says: Not only are penitents accepted, but they are even called: Rabbi, as the Divine Voice referred to Elazar ben Durdayya as Rabbi Elazar ben Durdayya.

This weeks FUNDAMENTALS episode marks the completion of the Ramban's hakdamah to Sefer Bereshis. To follow along inside click HERE.

In this week's episode of FUNDAMENTALS the mashgiach continues with the Ramban's hakdamah to Sefer Bereshis. To follow along inside click HERE.

Upon completing the hakdamah to the Sefer HaChinuch, Rabbi Stark's FUNDAMENTALS moves on to the hakdamos of the Ramban on the Torah. The Ramban has a different hakdamah for each of the 5 books of the Torah, and each hakdamah introduces that specific sefer. FUNDAMENTALS with Rabbi Stark begins the hakdamos of the Ramban with his hakdamah to Sefer Bereshis. To follow along inside click HERE.

Does 'Bereishis' really mean "In the beginning"?

A gutten Erev Shabbos Parshas Bereshis Shabbos Mevarchim Mar Cheshvon - Divrei Torah and Gedolim stories.

Bereshit 5781

We often think of raising children in terms of disciplining them and reining them in. But what about teaching them to be a little bit wild once in a while? Is there a place for that as well? A profound lesson in education is taught to us at the very beginning of human history as […]

We often think of raising children in terms of disciplining them and reining them in. But what about teaching them to be a little bit wild once in a while? Is there a place for that as well? A profound lesson in education is taught to us at the very beginning of human history as the deeper meaning behind the fact that both Kayin and Shais had descendants named Chanoch. (Based on Likkutei Sichos Vol. 35 pp. 7-14.)

Torah in the Garden Bereshis Please help support our efforts to spread HaShem's Light by supporting the Academy of Shem and our Rabbis & Instructors HERE --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

How did the Garden of Eden create a world of moral complexity? As we begin the Torah anew, our hosts ask some of the bigger questions about the Bible's opening story, as well as how to appropriately apply complex moral choices to the grey areas of our daily lives.

Rabbi Hoberman and Rabbi Genack discuss what makes something "good" vs "very good", and what that has to do with creation and life. Also, starting pitching?

Inspiring divrei torah ideas thoughts torah vort and chizuk on this weeks sedra torah portion bereshis בְּרֵאשִׁית The torah delight podcast presents short inspiring divrei torah for בְּרֵאשִׁיתbereshis inspirational ideas in english on the weeks parshaany comments please email us at info@netfurniture.co.ukenjoy and shabat shalomzev See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Summary of the very first Parshah in the Torah and a beautiful insight into what the first letter in the Torah teaches about making life decisions.

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From the "Bereshis to Yetzias Mitzraim" series recorded at the Young Israel of Woodmere. For all sources please visit www.aribergmann.com

From the "Bereshis to Yetzias Mitzraim" series recorded at the Young Israel of Woodmere. For all sources please visit www.aribergmann.com

From the "Bereshis to Yetzias Mitzraim" series recorded at the Young Israel of Woodmere. For all sources please visit www.aribergmann.com

Parshas B01 

Parshas B01-

Creation's resistance

From The Old City - Intro And Parashat Bereshit

The snake and the Satan

Subduing the Ego

Spiritual desire