ARTHUR WASKOW: If Messiah is to be made possible, then the tradition itself says that what is most frightening to the tradition must be lifted into consciousness, faced-and redeemed. And the redemptive process cannot be left until the end of days: it must be happening along the way.
AHARON E. WEXLER: The haredi community, although they live in Israel, are apart from Israel and not a part of it. The haredim, too, will be destined to the same fate as Diaspora Judaism and become not just irrelevant in the eyes of most Israelis but scorned. Because Diaspora Jews did not experience this war, and because haredi Jews purposefully absented themselves from it, they will not be part of the transformation that is taking place.
"Shema Yisrael," the call to Jewish peoplehood, precedes the "Lord is our God, the Lord is one." When the haredi population are able to do this, when they are ready to say, "Your people are my people" and shoulder the burdens of the nationhood, then, and only then, can they truly say, "Your God is my God." And only then will they not just dwell in the Land of Israel but take an active role in the "story of Israel."
Larry: It is generally believed the custom of reading a portion of the Torah each week, completing the reading of the entire Torah in one year, and repeating the cycle the following year began following the return from Babylonian captivity. While some critical of this practice say it originated in Babylon, this is not the case. Systematic reading of Torah is an outcome of the return.
ANDREW LAPIN/JTA, GABE FRIEDMAN/JTA: Cline's museum won't introduce the concept until seventh grade: "We find that any younger and they aren't able to intellectually engage with this material, which is an essential piece."
I was first introduced to the Holocaust, when I first viewed the 1959 film version of The Diary of Anne Frank during a Grade School assembly. I remember my teacher, Mrs. Diamond, looking worried, when I glanced back at her. As far as I know, Phoenix has not yet learned of the subject. He is in 6th grade.
TAMAR MEIR: The Rabbis maintain that Orpah and Ruth were sisters, the daughters of King Eglon of Moab (Ruth Rabbah 2:9) who, in turn (according to the same midrash), was the son of Balak.
ANNA FELICIA BAJO: Based on prophecy, Balais holds that the Philippines must become a "nation of Davids"—moral people who love righteousness—as a prerequisite for God to raise up an equally righteous, moral, and God-fearing president. Balais, who helped birth IFP and CLSF also in the 1980s, equally foresees that the raising of a "nation of Davids is for the long-term." The 69-year-old bishop adds, "Hopefully, we shall still be alive when that happens."
Ari Enkin: Outside Israel, the Book of Ruth is read on the second day of Shavuot. individuals are encouraged to read the Book of Ruth on their own over the course of the holiday.
Chaya Shuchat: From Moab descended Ruth, the famous convert who became the great-grandmother of King David. From Ammon descended Naamah, wife of King Solomon, and mother of his firstborn son and heir, Rehoboam. Thus, the lineage of the dynasty of David, and by extension Moshiach, comes through Lot.
SHRAGA SIMMONS: How does one become a leader? The Talmud suggests that a leader shouldn't accept money from the community he serves ― His integrity must not be tainted by salary negotiations or a board of directors.
MICHAL TIKOCHINSKY: According to Rabbi Tarfon’s students, the reason that the Tribe of Yehudah merited monarchy is because they jumped into the sea first at a time when everyone else was talking about doing so.
Moshe Taragin: even though a monarch of the Northern Kingdom has legitimacy, nevertheless "MALKHUT primarily belongs to the House of David." There can be a melekh from other tribes, but no family dynasty which sees the throne pass eternally through the family.
DAVID WOLPE: In Ex. 13:19, we read that Joseph "exacted an oath," which in Hebrew is two words, hashbe’a hishbia. What does the doubling mean? Joseph knew that his brothers would not live to see the redemption and so he was exacting an intergenerational promise – you and your descendants.
AVRAHAM YITZCHAK HALEVI KILAV: Judah possesses two dissimilar characteristics. On the one hand, the capacity of preparation; on the other, the capacity for producing a finished product.
RAPHAEL FUCHS: Chazal tell us that our redemption will resemble that of the redemption from our first galus in Mitzrayim. What did we do then to merit the salvation? We prayed for it. We must realize that we desperately need Hashem to bring the yeshua. Once we wake up we will be able to daven to Hashem and hopefully merit our salvation. Amein.
NADINE EPSTEIN: Chaim Luria estimates that there are 80,000,000 people who are related to King David today. But says Luria: “The majority of people descended from King David don’t even know it.”
SHLOMO SIMON: Lot in many ways is the embodiment of Tohu v'Vohu. He is a mixture of good and evil, undirected mitzvot, kindness without propriety. But, inherent in the mission of the Mashiach is the message that everything that happens in the world is good. Therefore, there is good in Tohu v'Vohu. To illustrate G-d's presence even in that cloudy and murky area, G-d saw fit to bring Mashiach — the embodiment of the ultimate of human good — from the epitome of that confused epoch, Lot.
Moshe Meir Weiss: He reveals, "It is a tradition in our hands that whoever says this psalm with concentration from Elul till Simchas Torah will be declared innocent in judgment and will cancel from upon himself all harsh and evil decrees." The Chida adds that with proper saying of this psalm, one can be confident that he will live out his days with goodness.
Messiah's Queen Mother will be a Black African descendant of Bilhah. I'm pretty confident about that. However, there is hardly any commentary on Google that supports the concept of a literal Wife of Messiah nor any indication of her ethnic identity. Just as Christ The Bridegroom is NOT a metaphor, The Bride of Christ is NOT a metaphor.
