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Shabbat Parashat Vayeira 5774Ein Ayah: An Ageless Truth Keeps a Nation Young(condensed from Ein Ayah, Berachot 9:338)Gemara: Rabbi Yehuda also opened with the honor of the Torah and expounded: “Listen and hear, Ein Ayah: The essence of every nation is defined by its philosophies and its spiritual attainments. In general, philosophies change over time, becoming clarified and fuller, until they take on a new form. Therefore, nations experience a process of aging and weakening of their power until it reaches the point that they cease to exist in the form that they once did. After all, once the special spiritual/intellectual qualities, philosophies and traditions have totally lost their standing, there is no longer an internal basis for the nation. Under such conditions, when an external power threatens a nation, it cannot defend itself because it lacks the strength that stems from an internal pride that causes it to want to preserve its character. Specifically in this regard, This is why those who learn Torah always have a love for it like the day it was given. Those who study the Torah on an ongoing basis and thereby grasp the “tree of life” are the ones who feel the true life of the whole of the nation, as the nation operates in their shadow. These pillars of society are like the heart that gives life to the whole body, by providing the spiritual lifeline. They provide the eternal joy of the word of Hashem and its truth and give the nation the power to strive to continue to function in full force. The elite spiritual/intellectual leaders will continue to play that role until the blessed time comes when “all your sons are learned in the ways of Hashem” (Yeshaya 54:13). This is as the Rabbis learned from the pasuk about those times, “Those who come will be the rooted in Top of page
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Refuah Sheleimah amongst the sick of Klal Yisrael for Rabanit Itah bat Chana Ehrenreich & Mr. Eliyahu ben Sara Carmel This edition of is dedicated Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld o.b.m Hemdat Yamim is endowed by Les & Ethel Sutker of Louis and Lillian Klein, z”l This edition of Hemdat Yamim is dedicated to the memory of George Weinstein, Gershon ben Yehudah Mayer, a lover of the Jewish Nation Torah and Land. Hemdat Yamim is dedicated in memory of R’ Eliezer ben R’ Yitzchak z”l Hemdat Yamim |