Rebbe Yehoshua ben Chananya: the Redemption of Rebbe Yishmael
Rebbe Yehoshua ben Chananya was one of the chief disciples of Rebbe Yochanan ben Zakkai. As we discussed last week, he lived through the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and loyally carried his rebbe out of the holy city in order to facilitate an eventual salvation for Torah and Yerushalayim. The Gemara Chagiga informs us […]
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Rebbe Yochanan ben Zakkai: Redeeming the Sparks of the Arzei Levanon
Rebbe Yochanan ben Zakkai, one of the greatest disciples of Hillel haZaken, was the chief Torah leader who witnessed the darkest period of churban. As Jerusalem was being torn apart by rebel-infighting and Jewish self-hatred, Rebbe Yochanan ben Zakkai hatched a plan to escape the city and convince the Romans to allow for the survival […]
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God’s Divine Irony and the Arch of Titus
Commissioned by the Emperor Domitian in honor of his now “deified” brother Titus, the famed Arch of Titus still stands on the “Via Sacra” (Sacred Street) of Rome. The arch depicts the triumphant march of the Romans as they sacked the Second Temple and destroyed Jerusalem. It depicts the holy vessels of the Beit HaMidkash […]
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Hashem’s Tefillin and the Tiferet of Jerusalem
The Gemara Berachot (6a) famously makes a fascinating and astounding assertion. HaKadosh Baruch Hu “wears” tefillin that contain verses referencing Klal Yisrael’s unique greatness. Just as we don our tefillin which contain chapters that declare Hashem’s unity and greatness, God in turn “dons” tefillin that declare, “who is like Your nation Yisrael, one nation in […]
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The Arzei Levanon of Jerusalem: Rebbe Yishmael Kohen Gadol
Last week, we discussed the martyrdom of Rebbe Shimon ben Gamliel, the first of the asarah harguei malchut. Hazal tell us (Otzer Midrashim, Asarah Harugei Malchut) that the brutal beheading of Rebbe Shimon occurred in front of Rebbe Yishmael, the great sage and high priest in Jerusalem, as he himself awaited his execution. Rebbe Yishmael […]
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The Arzei Levanon of Jerusalem: Rebbe Shimon ben Gamliel
We famously commemorate the ten great martyrs, known as the asarah harugei malchut, every Tisha B’Av and Yom Kippur. These giant Torah sages, likened to towering cedar trees, were cut down by the Romans in brutal fashion. As we near the Three Weeks and the period in which we mourn Jerusalem’s destruction, I thought it […]
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Jerusalem in Ashes
Despite Chazal clearly explaining that the true reasons for the laws of parah adumah are ultimately inscrutable, the midrash provides various symbolic interpretations of the laws of our parsha’s opening passages. In one of the Midrash Tanchuma’s renditions of the scriptural passage, it describes the Red Heffer process as a metaphor for the sinful failure […]
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Every Jew is Holy: the Fundamental Error of Korach
In modern day Jewish discourse, it is a given that every Jew is holy. The inalienable sanctity of every member of Klal Yisrael is a fundamental baseline for how we interact with and talk about other Jews. The Gemara (Moed Katan 25a) states that if one is present during yetziat neshama, the departing of a […]
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Sinai and Moriah: Klal Yisrael Unites
Over the past months, I have written much about Jerusalem’s unique capability to unite Jews and bring Klal Yisrael together. As all Jews ascend to the makom HaMikdash for the festivals, even the amei ha’aretz are considered to be chaveirim, friends and colleagues, of the Torah scholars. On the regalim in Jerusalem, the normal boundaries […]
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Sinai and Moriah: The Curtain Lifts
Last week, we discussed the metaphysical connection between Har Sinai and Har Moriah. The mountain on which the Torah was given will eventually be combined with the mountain on which the Beit HaMikdash will be built. We explained why limmud HaTorah is so essential to revealing the reality of Ein Od Milvado; HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s […]
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