This lecture is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation

"Exodus, Exile and Redemption" is a study of the profound significance of Judaism's history. Written essays are published bi-weekly here: https://shnayor.substack.com/s/from-e... Please subscribe! This series is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation. To support this and other ongoing projects of the foundation, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to the Substack newsletter or making a donation via Zelle to jacoblightsfoundation@gmail.com.

This lecture series is a project of כרם בין תורה לחכמה, generously sponsored by R' Yoel Werzberger.

0:00 Man is both a composite of body and soul, and pure soul

2:30 The question of the eternity or createdness of the world underpins the two different ways of viewing human beings

7:00 Seth was similar to Adam, who was the only man created ex nihilo and therefore uniquely spiritual

11:00 Why bodily affairs matter

What would it take for a land to become a dwelling-place for God and how could humans make it so? 

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How do you learn to see as Hashem does? And what will this do to you?

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and here:

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To access the shiurim on Kol Halashon, via phone:

Dial (718) 521 5231; press *7; and then code 912147

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Eretz Yisrael is so central to the Torah. But why? Learn the meaning of "דעת אלהים בארץ," how to experience Hashem and His Divine attributes in the Holy Land – and how to achieve this. 

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and here:

הארץ אשר אראך: Rabbi Shnayor Burton: 9798218080600: Amazon.com: Books

To access the shiurim on Kol Halashon, via phone:

Dial (718) 521 5231; press *7; and then code 912147

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Eretz Yisrael is so central to the Torah. But why?  

Learn the meaning of "הארץ אשר אראך"; how we can learn to see things from Hashem's perspective.

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The sefer about the mitzvah of living in EY is available for purchase here:

Ha'aretz Asher Arecha - R. Shnayor Burton הארץ אשר אראך - חובת הישיבה בארץ ישראל | eBay

and here:

הארץ אשר אראך: Rabbi Shnayor Burton: 9798218080600: Amazon.com: Books

To access the shiurim on Kol Halashon, via phone:

Dial (718) 521 5231; press *7; and then code 912147

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We have finally reached the answer to the question that we set out to answer: Should we live in Eretz Yisrael? All of season 2 is summarized in this episode, and matters are brought to their crystal-clear conclusion.

For the chart of season 2, click here.

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The sefer about the mitzvah of living in EY is available for purchase here:

Ha'aretz Asher Arecha - R. Shnayor Burton הארץ אשר אראך - חובת הישיבה בארץ ישראל | eBay

and here:

הארץ אשר אראך: Rabbi Shnayor Burton: 9798218080600: Amazon.com: Books

To access the shiurim on Kol Halashon, via phone:

Dial (718) 521 5231; press *7; and then code 912147

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Exile was punishment for being lax in giving ma'aser. Does it follow that we shouldn't attempt to return to Eretz Yisrael before we rectify our deficiency in that regard?

Explore what the sources in Chazal teach us about this matter, and learn what we can do to remedy this shortcoming. 

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The sefer about the mitzvah of living in EY is available for purchase here:

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Rabbenu Chaim Kohen said that due the insurmountable challenge posed by the commandments associated with the land – terumos, ma'asros, shemittah etc. – there is "currently" no mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisrael.

What is the underlying logic of this position?

Did he intend this for his time or for our time too?

Is this the halachah?

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Does exile serve a constructive, divine purpose in history, or is it merely a problem to be rectified? Will the post-exile era of redemption look the same as the pre-exile era, or will something be fundamentally different?

Come study the sodos of Jewish history. 

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The relationship between Hashem and His people is portrayed dramatically in the Song of Songs, a parable about love, which ends with a climactic trial: is the woman (Knesses Yisrael) faithful – a "wall" – or not?

Did the nation pass this great trial or did it fail? What are the ramifications for how we understand our state of exile today, and how we should act vis-à-vis Eretz Yisrael and redemption?

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The return of the Babylonian exiles to Zion was supposed to be miraculous, like the first coming in the days of Yehoshua, but the "sin" had its effects and the Jews returned only by the permission of Cyrus, King of Persia. 

What was the sin? Where did we go wrong? And what should we do to make things right? 

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This lecture series is a project of כרם בין תורה לחכמה, generously sponsored by R' Yoel Werzberger.

00:30 Moses perceived the whole of the universe, which is "all of God's goodness"

2:15 In order to understand the true nature of reality, one has to transcend the body

10:00 Was Moses' great perception the whole of the created universe or God's transcendence?

14:00 One cannot understand God's transcendence without understanding the whole of the created universe; and one cannot understand the whole of the created universe without understanding God's transcendence

21:00 What is actually meant by "God saw that it was good"?

24:00 The world is right but by no metric

29:30 To see the goodness of the world is to be blinded

33:30 Everyone perceives evil since they perceive reality through the lens of the body

35:00 The perception through the lens of the body is also important and a part of nature

42:00 The hamoni in the Guide is not the other guy – everyone has some hamonism within themselves

44:00 The tension between whether man is defined by his intellect or by his body as well

45:00 How to prevent evil actions – through knowledge or character training?

48:00 Does human perfection involve intellectual perception or doing good?

Are we awaiting Hashem, or is He awaiting us?

The Kuzari maintains that our connection with Hashem depends on us. He awaits our interest; when we embrace Eretz Yisrael, the Shechinah will return and dwell amongst Yisrael. 

Is this in fact the case?

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We can attempt deduce the Divine plan – when and why we are supposed to be in exile – from various midrashim and statements of Chazal.

Are we supposed to engage in that kind of speculation in order to determine how we should act?

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The Babylonian Jews who neglected to return to Eretz Yisrael during the Second Temple Era were unwelcome there afterward. They were denigrated and ostracized. Why would Jews be unwelcome in their Holy Land? And for how long were they expected to stay away?

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The best and brightest of the Babylonian Jews stayed behind and didn't join Ezra in rebuilding the Temple and resettling Eretz Yisrael, thereby earning themselves the reprobation or Reb Yochanan, Resh Lakish and others. What is this machlokes all about?

Why did generations of great Jews and their leaders decline to return to Eretz Yisrael during the Second Temple era?

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Throughout Jewish history there were generations of people both simple and great who chose not to return and live in Eretz Yisrael. What can that teach us about the Mitzvah to live there?

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Should we passively await a miraculous event of divine redemption? Or should we actively bring it about ourselves?

This episode has been generously sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Ben Zion Jacobs, לעילוי נשמת R’ Avrohom Yisochor Krakowski ז"ל

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What is Eretz Yisrael without the Bais Hamikdash and the presence of the Shechinah? Is it special?

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Hashem decreed that His nation should be exiled from its land. What are the implications of that for the mitzvah to live there?

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What does keeping the oaths mean in practice? Would they proscribe moving to Eretz Yisrael en masse today? 

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This lecture series is a project of כרם בין תורה לחכמה, generously sponsored by R' Yoel Werzberger.

Highlights: 00:00 The meaning of "good" according to Crescas; Plato and Aristotle on the meaning of "good"; Maimonides' strange silence on the issue

18:30 Maimonides shifts theodicy from ethics to metaphysics

20:00 Privation as a principle of reality

31:00 The dynamic interplay between being and non-being

37:00 Understanding the nature of being is how beings learn to appreciate being

50:30 Why do all humans think there is evil if there really isn't any?

54:00 Knowledge and the forms are eternal

57:00 Privation and its association with matter

59:30 Humans can't help but see evil since they are embodied

The spiritual aspirations of the Jewish people can be threatening to the other nations of the world and can also be detrimental to the Jewish people – politically, socially and economically. The 3 oaths teach us to be aware of these broader issues and to consider them well before actualizing our great aspirations.

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Rambam explains the 3 oaths as warnings of the gravest danger that the Jewish people face if they attempt to retake Eretz Yisrael and don't succeed.

This is explicit in the Letter to Yemen, can be inferred from the Mishneh Torah, and also explains the text of the Gemara perfectly.

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Chazal record numerous severe and fearful oaths against engaging in Messianic activities, such as rebelling against the nations and retaking Eretz Yisrael. 

What are these oaths all about? Is there some grave sin in retaking Eretz Yisrael, or is it a matter of grave danger?

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Ramban counts living in Eretz Yisrael as one of the 613 commandments.

But BH"G, RS"G, Ibn Gabirol, Yereim, Rambam, SM"G and Chinuch don't.

Does it make any practical difference?

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and here:

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To live in Eretz Yisrael, or not to live in Eretz Yisrael: that is the question this series will answer.

This introductory episode will give you a sense of the issues involved, some of the sources, and an outline of what to expect going forward in this season. 

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The sefer about the mitzvah of living in EY is available for purchase here:

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Should we look for reasons for God's mitzvos?

The Rambam says we should, and himself did so at length. But he also says that God’s wisdom is inscrutable and that we humans can’t understand His motivations. 

The resolution of this contradiction opens up a world of depth to the Torah and shows how the reasons for mitzvos are dynamic, changing with time and place.

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What is so special about Eretz Yisrael? What makes it holy?

Its people, says the Rambam. Those who serve Hashem should live together and form a society suffused with His knowledge and worship – that’s what makes a land holy.

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Sponsored by R' Zeev Shub in memory of his father, Yeshaya ben Berach

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The Rambam’s twelfth principle of faith involves believing in and hoping for the arrival of both a person and an era. Messiah, scion of King David, will restore the great dynasty to its original glory, and also usher in an era of peace, prosperity and independence, when people will focus exclusively  on knowing Hashem.

Learn why the Davidic dynasty is needed in order to initiate this great era – which will then outlast the very kingdom that initiated it.

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Chanukah reclaims the true light for the descendants of Shem. The Greek descendants of Yefes and their darkness were vanquished; the Menorah and its miraculous light symbolize the return of prophetic clarity.

But did we truly reclaim the original light? Prophecy didn't return and the Shechinah didn't dwell in the Temple; true redemption is still elusive. This lead some of Chazal to deemphasize the Menorah of the Chashmonaim and instead to emphasize our hope and waiting – for the perfect and eternal light of Hashem.

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Chanukah reclaims the original holiday of light established by the first man, Adam. 

When evil got mixed with goodness, darkness got mixed with light. Man lost his ability to see clearly: the pure, primordial light was hidden away. He thought that he would die in darkness, the days getting progressively shorter until all would fade away and be gone; when the days lengthened again, Adam instituted a holiday of eight days to celebrate the goodness of light.

This holiday for Hashem was lost and became a pagan festival, reclaimed after the miracle of the Menorah proved that we still have access to Hashem's light and can see the goodness of His creation. 

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This lecture series is a project of כרם בין תורה לחכמה, generously sponsored by R' Yoel Werzberger. Highlights:

1:00 Goodness is what is real, and evil is privation

3:20 The goodness of the universe is the foundational notion of the whole Torah

9:00 Are the masses of today similar to the masses in the past?

11:30 Existence is good as judged by all existents

14:45 Creation ex Nihilo and evil as privation

16:45 Non-existence is evil only relative to existence

28:30 Confronting evil is confronting the nothingness that preceded Creation, and induces fear of God due to its absurdity

33:00 Confronting evil is confronting the notion that perhaps nothing at all should exist; fear of God is the antidote to evil

38:00 When a person judges existence to be good, existence is judging itself; God does not "exist," and therefore He doesn't judge things to be good

46:00 The Torah talks about God as if he is part of the same system of existence as everything else

Perception shapes language – how we think influences how we talk.

Accordingly, Chazal considered Hebrew and Greek antithetical; the "Holy Tongue" is a verb-centered language and reflects a dynamic world of Godly action, while the “Beauty of Yefes” is focused on the visual and reflects a static world of objects in space. 

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Are there really words that have magical powers?

Explore the lost art of how to use the secret names of Hashem, the subject of extensive discussion by the Mekubalim – and also of Rambam's scornful dismissal.

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What are angels and what is their function?

According to Rambam, they are immaterial, disembodied intellect; Raavad and others consider them to be composed of rarefied matter that sometimes becomes visible to humans.

These mysterious divines that fill the Torah’s pages are the intermediaries of the transcendent God, agents through which He interacts with the universe.

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The Mekubalim teach that God is unified with His attributes. His creation is unified as well, and the entire historical process is but the demonstration of this grand unity. 

The mitzvah of loving Hashem is to experience and live with this unity – to partake of and to further this great cosmic project.

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Why are the stories of a father, his son and his grandson so central to the Torah?

Come see how the three forefathers found and founded the knowledge of Hashem, each in their own way; how this knowledge became the subject of the history of their descendants, the Jewish nation; and how the key to the future redemption lies in the relationship between these three great men.

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It is the pinnacle of divine worship, but what exactly is love for God and how is it achieved?

Explore the distinctive paths of love charted by the Rambam and the Chovos HaLevavos, the one rooted in intellectual perfection and the other in purity of spirit, and learn how love unites us with Hashem and evokes His love for us.

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Hear O Israel, Hashem is one; one and not two, one and not composite – that is the simple meaning.

But the Mekubalim say: Hear O Israel, Hashem is unified.

This mystical unity of God with His Attributes gives unity to the entire creation and history, all rooted in one God and tending towards one good.

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On Sukkos we’re judged regarding water. The basis of life, it plays a central role throughout the Torah: Eden, Sodom, Egypt and Eretz Israel are each defined by their water sources.

In a cryptic statement about the unique mitzvos of Sukkos, Chazal allude to a little-known journey from the rivers of Eden to the waters of Sodom, and to the stream that will one day flow from the Holy Temple.

Learn how Sukkos is part of this journey and why water is so pivotal to our relationship with Hashem.

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How does repentance work? Can a wrong be made right with no more than regret and a commitment to be better?

Teshuva goes much deeper than regret and commitment, teaches the Avodas Hakodesh. The sinner who engaged with evil must reconstruct God’s divine world by understanding the roots of good and evil; by facing his evil and repudiating it, he strengthens the connection between Hashem and His creation. This endeavor secures atonement and redemption for him and the whole of creation.

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What exactly is determined on this awesome day?

A deep reading of the sources shows that the judgment of Rosh Hashanah isn’t, essentially, about what will happen to man; it is about man himself.

On the very first Rosh Hashanah Hashem saw everything that He created, and it was all very good in His eyes. The creation was all goodness, but man introduced evil and became evil himself. On every subsequent Rosh Hashanah Hashem again reviews each individual man, looking at him and seeing if he is good or evil.

Every new year, man gets another chance to align himself with the good, to redeem himself and all of creation with him.

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"Exodus, Exile and Redemption" is a study of the profound significance of Judaism's history. Written essays are published bi-weekly here: https://shnayor.substack.com/s/from-e... Please subscribe! This series is a project of the Jacob Lights Foundation. To support this and other ongoing projects of the foundation, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to the Substack newsletter or making a donation via Zelle to jacoblightsfoundation@gmail.com.

God’s oneness is the foundation and basis of R' Bachya ibn Paquda's monumental religious system delineated in his "Chovos HaLevavos." Beginning with The Gate of Divine Unity and ending with The Gate of the Love of God,  this book charts a journey of spiritual development that starts with the first verse of the Shema: “Hashem is one,” and culminates with the second: “And you shall love Hashem your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might," the oneness of God leading to oneness of devotion. 

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It is a simple passage that declares God’s unity, but its translation is far from simple.

The most fundamental statement of faith that is constantly on the Jew’s lips, the Shema is given three distinct interpretations by Rashi, R' Bachya ibn Paquda and Ibn Ezra.

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You can email Rabbi Burton with questions or comments at oros.yaakov@gmail.com

The Meraglim viewed Eretz Yisrael – and land itself – wrongly, maintaining that physical Earth could never be made divine. What is the remedy for their flawed sense of vision? How can we train ourselves to properly view this materialistic, temporal world?

The answer is hiding in plain sight: Tzitzis teaches us how to see. As the four corners of the Earth hide their Maker, the most inner and true reality, the four corners of a garment hide their wearer; Tzitzis guides us to penetrate the outer mask and always look for the inner world. 

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You can email Rabbi Burton with questions or comments at oros.yaakov@gmail.com