On the night of Shavuot, the holiday of the giving of the Torah, we are witnesses to the arousal of many thousands of Jews from all parts of Jewish society learning Torah, each in accordance with his level. The Sinai Revelation was likewise an occasion involving the entire Jewish People ? because the Torah was given to all of Israel. The Torah is first and foremost the heritage of all Jews, as it says, "Moses prescribed the Torah to us, an eternal heritage for the congregation of Jacob." (Deuteronomy 33:4)
Our sages instructed us that we have to recite blessings over the Torah, and the most lofty of the three blessings is: "Blessed are You? who chose us from amongst all the nations and gave us His Torah." (Berachot 11b) Our sages comment, "Why was the Land lost? Because the Jews did not recite the blessings before studying Torah." Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook would deduce that the meaning of this blessing is so important that without it, our Torah learning is flawed, and this leads to a lack of faith, spirit and ethics. In fact, it ultimately leads to exile and the loss of our Land.
We have to know what we are ? a holy people and a nation of priests. We have to be aware that G-d chose us from amongst all the nations and gave us His Torah. Moreover, we have to realize that our national and historic destiny is to bring light and bounty to the whole world through study and practice of the Torah in Eretz Yisrael. This awareness is an inviolable precondition to our Torah learning. Through this awareness, we will become more and more worthy of seeing with our own eyes G-d's fulfillment of His promise to Abraham: "I shall make you a great nation? and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:3)
Today, we are privileged to see the many hundreds of thousands of righteous Jews who are returning to their land and to our holy Torah. The number of Jews studying Torah all through our land, in the towns and villages, synagogues and study halls, is constantly on the rise. More and more Jews, with a full heart, are reciting the words about G-d's having "chosen us from all the nations and given us His Torah." The more their numbers increase, the more we will merit a new light over Zion.
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To mark their 30th anniversary, Machon Meir institutions are holding a gathering of all alumni from 1974-2004 on Tuesday Tammuz 3 (June 22) at Jerusalem's Givat Ram stadium, 5:00-10:00 PM. For more info: torah@machonmeir.org.il
Our sages instructed us that we have to recite blessings over the Torah, and the most lofty of the three blessings is: "Blessed are You? who chose us from amongst all the nations and gave us His Torah." (Berachot 11b) Our sages comment, "Why was the Land lost? Because the Jews did not recite the blessings before studying Torah." Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook would deduce that the meaning of this blessing is so important that without it, our Torah learning is flawed, and this leads to a lack of faith, spirit and ethics. In fact, it ultimately leads to exile and the loss of our Land.
We have to know what we are ? a holy people and a nation of priests. We have to be aware that G-d chose us from amongst all the nations and gave us His Torah. Moreover, we have to realize that our national and historic destiny is to bring light and bounty to the whole world through study and practice of the Torah in Eretz Yisrael. This awareness is an inviolable precondition to our Torah learning. Through this awareness, we will become more and more worthy of seeing with our own eyes G-d's fulfillment of His promise to Abraham: "I shall make you a great nation? and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:3)
Today, we are privileged to see the many hundreds of thousands of righteous Jews who are returning to their land and to our holy Torah. The number of Jews studying Torah all through our land, in the towns and villages, synagogues and study halls, is constantly on the rise. More and more Jews, with a full heart, are reciting the words about G-d's having "chosen us from all the nations and given us His Torah." The more their numbers increase, the more we will merit a new light over Zion.
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To mark their 30th anniversary, Machon Meir institutions are holding a gathering of all alumni from 1974-2004 on Tuesday Tammuz 3 (June 22) at Jerusalem's Givat Ram stadium, 5:00-10:00 PM. For more info: torah@machonmeir.org.il