Author: Ben Zion

  • Negev – lecture 8

    Negev – lecture 8

    Three beautiful explanations for Moshe’s command to the spies – “Go up to the Negev”. The first is based on the Gemara, which says that the goal was to follow in the footsteps of Avraham. Can we follow in Avraham’s footsteps today? The second – the goal was to tour – to see the beauty…

  • Levanon – lecture 19

    Levanon – lecture 19

    There are two approaches as to what Levanon symbolizes in the Bible: The spiritual approach – Levanon refers to the Temple and spiritual perfection. And the material approach – Levanon represents the physical perfection of the Land of Israel. Perhaps, Levanon represents the perfect combination of spiritual and material, as expressed in the interesting geographical…

  • Levanon – lecture 18

    Levanon – lecture 18

    We already know that there is a “brotherly” relationship between Hiram and Solomon and that Hiram is connected to the building of Beit Hamikdash. But it turns out that it is more complicated: the Bible tells us about two other people who were involved in the building of the Temple, and each of them was…

  • Levanon – lecture 17

    Levanon – lecture 17

    There are two approaches as to what Levanon symbolizes in the Bible: The spiritual approach – Levanon refers to the Temple and spiritual perfection. And the material approach – Levanon represents the physical perfection of the Land of Israel. Perhaps, Levanon represents the perfect combination of spiritual and material, as expressed in the interesting geographical…

  • Rosh Hashana

    Rosh Hashana

    Rosh Hashana and “Kever Rachel”. “Kol Barama Nishma” – where is “Rama”? and what exactly happened there that is worth mentioning? How is “Rama” connected to Rachel? and what is the real reason for reading about this place and about Rachel on Rosh Hashana?

  • Levanon – Hoshana Rabah

    Levanon – Hoshana Rabah

    Levanon and Sukkot! Special lecture given on Hoshana Rabah night, in Hebrew, about the destruction of south Lebanon, in the prophets. To previous lecture: Levanon 16

  • Negev – lecture 7

    Negev – lecture 7

    So what does the Negev mean to us? We will examine this through the next Negev story – the story of the spies, in which Moshe commands: “Go up into the Negev and see the mountain.” What did David Ben-Gurion think of this verse? And what are the 2260(!) commentaries on this verse, according to…

  • Negev – lecture 6

    Negev – lecture 6

    Negev and Yom Ha-Atzmaut! In honor of Yom Ha-Atzmaut, we will analyze the Psalm (שיר המעלות) – “When God restored Zion, we were like dreamers… God restored our captivity like the streams in the Negev.” What does the image mean? We will see a video that illustrates this! Is this a praise for an event…

  • Negev – lecture 5

    Negev – lecture 5

    In this lecture we delve into the character of Isaac, “man of the Negev,”. It seems that Isaac is described as a copy of Avraham. Digging and naming the same wells, his similar encounter with the King of Grar, his desire to descend to Egypt. Even in the story of the Akedah – Isaac is…

  • Levanon – lecture 16

    Levanon – lecture 16

    Levanon, the Fast of Gedaliah and Yom Kippur What happens when brothers don’t act like brothers? King Hiram “did not remember the brotherly covenant.” We will see similar examples – from Joseph till the murder of Gedaliah. We will understand why the Fast of Gedaliah truly complements Rosh Hashanah and how it connects to the…