Which body comes back in Techiyat haMeitim?

Hi,

"The last body in which the soul was planted, and in which it grew successfully and developed good roots, will rise up at that time."

(Zohar, Bereishit pg. 131a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Secrets of Gd

Hi,

"Gd caused King Chizkiyahu to suffer, and told Yeshayah, "Go visit the sick," as it is written, "In those days, Chizkiyahu became deathly ill, and the prophet Yeshayah son of Amotz came to him and said, 'So says Gd: Instruct your household, for you will die and not live.'"

"What did that message mean? You will die in this world, and you will not live in the next world.

"Chizkiyahu asked: Why should all this befall me?

"Yeshayah replied: Because you have not been involved in procreation.

"Chizkiyahu explained: I saw in a Divinely inspired vision that I would have bad children!

"Yeshayah replied: What business do you have in the secrets of the Merciful One? You should do as you are instructed, and Gd will do whatever pleases Gd."

(Talmud, Berachot 10a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Why Ramban could not accept Christianity

Hi,

"I cannot believe in his messiahship because the prophet says (Psalms 72:8) "He will have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth" and he did not have dominion...

"The prophet also says (Jeremiah 31:33) "No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know Me..." And it says (Isaiah 11:9) "The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." It says (Isaiah 2:4) "they shall beat their swords [into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;] nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." But from his time until now the world is full of murder and theft..."

(Kitvei Ramban, 1:311)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Jews and Lions

Hi,

"The Beit haMikdash is called a lion… The monarchy of David is called a lion… Israel is called a lion… Nevuchadnezzar is called a lion. He destroyed the Temple and took the monarchy of David and exiled Israel, and so Gd said, "Where is the home of the lions," where are my children? And then He roars for His home."

(Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 29:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Cups in Tanach

Hi,

"In the Tanach, כוס [kos, or cup] is always a figurative expression of the Divinely ordered purpose of life. In this sense the cup is also used by our Sages as a symbol replete with meaning… The drinking from the cup thus expresses the taking to heart and affirmation of a Divine ordained destiny."

(Rabbi Samshon Raphael Hirsch, Horeb 188)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

One-legged angels?

Hi,

"Doubtless, they [the angels envisioned by Yechezkel] had two legs... But perhaps their legs were seen as a single, straight leg in order to state that their legs always sped along in righteousness, justice and fairness, never veering from the command of their Gd."

(Abarbanel to Yechezkel 1:6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Faith and Intellect in the thought of Rav Kook

Hi,


"Human frailty causes a person who is gifted in intellectual analysis to have a weaker inclination toward faith, and a person who is whole in faith to reduce his intellectual insight and wisdom of the heart. But the goal of the straight path is that each strength not reduce the other, and not be reduced by the other, but rather that both be revealed in their full strength, as though it alone was in control.

"Faith must be as complete as if there was no possibility of analysis, and complementing this must be a force of intellect which is elevated and energized, as though there were no force of faith in the soul. "Man and animal (Tehillim 36)" – clever in intellect, and making themselves as [unthinking] beasts."

(Rav Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook, Orot Yisrael 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai