|
Torah
Sparks
 Our sages have said: "All Israel are guarantors for each other" (Talmud,
Shevuot 39a). But a person cannot serve as a guarantor unless he is more
resourceful in some way than the one he is guaranteeing. For example, a poor man
obviously would not be accepted as a guarantor for a rich man's loan. So if the
Talmud says that all Jews serve as guarantors to each other, this means
that in every Jew there is a quality in which he or she is superior to all
others. (The Lubavitcher Rebbe).
"As a man chastens his
son, so G-d chastens you" (Deuteronomy 8:5). A father punishing his child
inflicts greater suffering on himself than anything experienced by the child. So
it is with G-d: His pain is greater than our pain. (R.
Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev)
Rabban Gamliel the son of
Rabbi Judah HaNassi would say... Be careful of the government, for they befriend
a person only for their own needs. They appear to be friends when it is
beneficial to them, but they do not stand by a person at the time of his
distress (Ethics of the Fathers 2:3).
One of the great Chassidic
masters once said: A Chassidic Jew should be capable of the following three
feats: (a) To be utterly humble while holding his head high. (b) To scream in
perfect silence. (c) To dance for joy without moving a muscle.
(Adapted from the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe)
"All who mourn the loss of
Jerusalem will merit and see it in its happiness," be fulfilled speedily, in our
days"
The Talmud says
Jerusalem was named by God. The name has two parts: Yira, which means "to
see," and shalem, which means "peace."
The Midrash states
"There are seventy names for Jerusalem." Seventy names, each reflecting a
different aspect of this city and its residents, today and throughout history.
 "For they are My servants,
whom I took out of the land of Egypt; they cannot be sold into slavery"
(Leviticus 25:42). At the time of the Exodus, G-d made freedom the inherent and
eternal state of the Jew. From that point on, no power or force on earth can
subvert our intrinsic freedom (Maharal).
"If the anointed priest does
sin to the guilt of the people" (Leviticus 4:3). When a leader sins, this
becomes the excuse for everyone else's wrongdoings
(The Gaon of Lissa).
It is better to sleep in the
deserts of the Land of Israel, and not in the palaces of other
lands (Breishit Rabah 39).
This they shall give... half
a shekel (Exodus 30:13). Why not a complete coin? To teach us that no
man is a complete entity unto himself. Only by joining with another
can a person become a "whole thing".
The first man, Adam,
was created in the Land of Israel and died there (Kuzari).
The Land of Israel is
just one level below the Garden of Eden (Kuzari).
If the Jewish People would
only desire and turn their attention to return to the Land of Israel
and learn Torah there, the Land would return to its strength and
goodness (Rabbi Yaakov Emden, Beit Yaakov
Prayer Book).
All the Land belongs to the
Holy One, Blessed Be He. He created it and gave it to whomever he
pleased. He desired and He gave it to them (the Canaanites) and He
desired and took it from them and gave it to us (the Jewish People)
(Rashi on Genesis 1:1).
Our Sages say: Whoever lives
in the Land of Israel, his sins are forgiven… even if he walks four
cubit in the Land he merits the World to Come(Maimonides, Laws of Kings 5:11).
All prophecies took place
either in the Land of Israel or for the Land of Israel
(Kuzari 2:14).
Ten measures of wisdom came
down to the world. The Land of Israel took nine of them, and the
remaining one was for the entire world
(Talmud Kidushin 49:B).
The Holy of Holies is the
gateway to Heaven (The Shlah Sha'ar
Haotiot 75B).
Living in the Land of Israel
is equivalent to fulfilling all the commandments of the Torah
(Nachmanides on Leviticus 18:25).
Exile and lowliness descend
to the world because we do not acknowledge the Land of Israel, her
value and her wisdom, and we do not rectify the sin of the spies who
spoke evil of the Land (RabbI A.Y. Kook
Igrot HaReiYA 96).
The Land of Israel is
complete in its very essence because it is the first point of creation
(Rabbi Shlomo Alkebetz).
The sanctity of the Land of
Israel and Jerusalem is eternal and will never change
(Chatam Sofer).
See how dear the Land of
Israel is before the Holy One Blessed Be He, that most of the
commandments are determined there (Batei
Midrashot 1).
When the Holy One Blessed Be
He created the world, He determined the names of Jerusalem and the
Land of Israel so that His holy presence could dwell there
(Siddur Rabbah -- Breishit Rabbah).
In the future, when G-d will make His
presence felt on earth, all the lands will tremble, but the Land of
Israel will not be harmed (Midrash
Yelamdeinu Pekudai).
G-d gave honor to the trees of
the Land of Israel just as He gave honor to the Torah
(Midrash Yelamdeinu Kdoshim).
Why will the People of
Israel merit great honor when the Mashiach will come? In the merit of
their dwelling in the Land of Israel (Psikta
Rabati 1).
G-d's eyes are always on the
Land of Israel from the beginning of the year to the end of the year
(Deuteronomy 11:12).
The Land of Israel is the
heart of the nation (Or Ne’erav 5:4).
The Land of Israel atones for
the living and for the dead (Midrash Zuta
Ruth 1).
Rabbi Yochanan said: Even if
a person eats dry bread and salt and lives in the Land of Israel, he
can be sure that he will merit the World to Come(Midrash Proverbs 17).
The Land of Israel is acquired
through hardship (Talmud, Brachot 5).
All troubles befall
Israel because they do not seek the Land of Israel
(Midrash Tehillim 17).
Jerusalem will be built
when Israel will long for her in the most essential way and will
cherish her stones and her dust (Kuzari).
The mere mention of the
Land of Israel produces holiness in the heart of the listener
(Chatam Sofer).
Greatness and success
usually sprout after despair from a terrible descent
(Rabbi Yaakov Emden).
And I will gather you
from all the lands and I will bring you to your Land...And I will give
you a new heart and a new spirit... and you will live in the Land that I
gave to your forefathers and you will be My nation and I will be your
G-d (Ezekiel 36).
When the generation is on
a spiritually low level, the greater its need for spiritually lofty
leaders, just as a person who is very ill needs a great doctor
(Chidushei HaRim).
The merit of the Land of
Israel is above all other merits of the Jewish People -- greater even
than the merit of our Forefathers (Eim
Habanim Smeicha).
The Land of Israel is
higher than all other lands (Zevachim
54).
The Land of
Israel is the land of the living. All those who are blessed to dwell
in it are blessed with a taste of eternal life
(Psalms 116).
Who is wise? He who sees
all the potential in the present moment and how it will actualize in
the future (Tanya 43).
True leaders like Moses
desire more than anything else that others should achieve the same
heights that they have, or even attain greater heights. Thus, Moses is
compared to a candle, which can light a multitude of other candles
without diminishing its own light in any way
(Midrash Tanchuma).
He who shows mercy to the
cruel will in the end be cruel to the merciful
(Midrash Tanchuma, Metzora 1).
A person values one
measure of (the product of) his own efforts more than nine times that
of someone else's (Bava Metzia 38 A).
The beginning of defeat
is retreat (Sotah 44B).
The air of the Land
of Israel is holy (Alshich).
When a person
travels to the Land of Israel, he must acquire a "visa" from the King
of the Land -- the Holy One, Blessed Be He. The required visa is extra
Torah study and fulfillment of the commandments
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
G-d measured all the lands of the earth
and found that the most fitting land for the People of Israel is the
Land of Israel. (Talmud Yerushalmi
Nedarim).
Anyone who walks four amot (cubits) in
the Land of Israel is worthy of the World to Come (Safra).
If you believe you can damage, believe you can repair
(Rabbi Nachman of Breslov).
Every Jewish habitation in the Land of Israel is a point
of union, expressing the deepest love of the People to the Land, a love of
groom to bride. (Rabbi Y. Ginsburgh).
And they feign cure for the crisis of my nation by simply
saying "Peace, peace," and there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14).
People generally say that if you are confronted with an
obstacle, you should first try to go under it, and only if that fails,
try to leap over it. But I say: you should always, as your first
option, leap over it (Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch).
Rabbi Yossi said to his son, Rabbi
Yishmael: Do you wish to see G-d's Divine Presence in this world?
Study Torah in the Land of Israel.
(Midrash Shochar Tov 105)
There is no Torah like the Torah of the Land
of Israel And no wisdom like the wisdom of the Land of Israel.
(Sifri, Ekev)
The glory of the world is
the Land of Israel. The glory of the Land of Israel is Jerusalem (Nachmanides)
Ten measures of beauty
came down to the world. Jerusalem received nine of them
(Talmud Kidushin)
The angels danced and celebrated before
Jacob when he entered the Land of Israel.
(Breishit Rabah 74)
Whoever has the merit to connect to the Holy
Land in his lifetime merits to connect in the future to the Holy Land
in Heaven Above.
(Zohar)
The Land of Israel is the house of
G-d
(Rabbi Chaim ben Atar)
All the countries of the world derive their
sustenance from the essence of the Land of Israel
(Rabbi Yeshaya Halevi Horowitz, the
Shlah)
The Land of Israel is G-d's Holy Presence
(Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk)
Whoever has a portion in the Land of Israel
has a portion in the World to Come
(Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra)
The Land of Israel is our
inheritance from our forefathers
(Baba Batra 119:B)
The Land of Israel is the
holiest of all lands (Mishnah
Kelim 1).
G-d said: The Land is Mine, and
the People of Israel is Mine. I will give My Land to My People (Tanchumah,
Bamidbar 34).
More to Come
The web site has been dedicated to the blessed memory of
|
