tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57210452011-04-22T04:43:13.940+03:00This is a site, in the spirit of Rav Kook, dedicated to looking at our lives, our world, and perhaps even existence itself, from a perspective gained by taking a step back, a step up.ravyehoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12646071510971757325noreply@blogger.comBlogger81100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721045.post-1157581565179310462006-09-06T23:43:00.000+03:002006-09-07T01:27:09.623+03:00

We were studying the second chapter of B'midbar in class, combing the repetitive text for any unusual features, the kind which prod the mind to deeper comprehension. But what can one expect to find in a passage that merely describes the manner in which the tribes of Israel were arrayed around the Mishkan? Four indentical descriptions, one for each of the formations corresponding to the four

ravyehoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12646071510971757325noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721045.post-1157395905446565012006-09-04T20:42:00.000+03:002006-09-04T22:12:05.960+03:00

We were taking our leave after one of our all too occassional walks. "Next week, same time?" he suggested, then remembered he'd be in L.A. "No problem", I joked, "we'll meet in Griffith Park!" Laughing, he said, "isn't that where they have the absorbatory?"Instantly, my punning, wordplay-loving-mind kicked into overdrive, with its pal, the hunter for hidden profundity riding shotgun in the

ravyehoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12646071510971757325noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721045.post-1157317584234660242006-09-03T23:09:00.000+03:002006-09-04T00:06:24.260+03:00

Today was the first day back at school, and I was debriefing Ayelet, our younger daughter, about the day's experience. "Abba, the rav said that the gemara says something that, if the chachamim hadn't said it, no one else could have said it" "What was that, Ayelet?" I wondered. "They said that, 'because of the sin of profanity, choice young men die!'"Ayelet was very upset because, well,

ravyehoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12646071510971757325noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721045.post-1156968742859689392006-08-30T22:56:00.000+03:002006-08-30T23:12:22.873+03:00

'Laizer at Wilderness City has a piece weighing in on the endless discussion of homosexuality and Judaism that I found engaging, but a certain spiritual inclination seemed to rear its head in his post that is perhaps best expressed by this short passage:"The law aims to contain a volatile force - allow its positive expression, but keep it from finding its full, and damaging, expression."Here's

ravyehoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12646071510971757325noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721045.post-1156800127974048472006-08-28T23:36:00.000+03:002006-08-29T00:22:08.026+03:00

Yesterday was Rav Kook's yahrzeit, and I found myself carrying around a special book of his teachings - "Chadarav", this title taking from Shir Hashirim 1:4 - "hevi'ani hamelech chadarav" - the King brought me to His (innermost) chambers. In this precious book are collected some of the most reflective, insighful and intimately revealing teachings of Rav Kook - it is truly a gem. The editors

ravyehoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12646071510971757325noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721045.post-1156347989591167842006-08-23T18:28:00.000+03:002006-08-23T23:51:17.516+03:00

"O.K., Hillel, you're a gibor, right? So here, we're going to put this inside your cheek, it tastes like bubblegum..." In such a fashion did the dentist attempt to calm my youngest, Hillel, as he approached the definitive moment of most young dental visits - - - the shot. And indeed, Hillel had been a gibor (Hebrew for brave, mighty hero) on the previous visit, when the dentist had install a

ravyehoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12646071510971757325noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721045.post-1156194795389383112006-08-21T22:59:00.000+03:002006-08-22T00:13:15.426+03:00

The phone rang later than it usually does at night. I answered, and it was my ophthalmologist calling. Earlier that week, I had dutifully fulfilled his dictates and had my retina photographed. I'd done it before on several occasions - it doesn't hurt per se, but it isn't very pleasant. Unless, that is, you enjoy staring directly at high-intensity flashlamps as they go off. After it was over,

ravyehoshuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12646071510971757325noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5721045.post-1061751269603248722003-08-24T21:54:00.000+03:002006-08-22T22:25:05.183+03:00

We arrived at the spot, same as last year. The Hatzbani looked fuller, and they had done some work in the river bed so that our entry spot was no longer a quiet pool leading into some fun-looking rapids, but an eddy current that had to be gotten past before entering a torrent that took you over a waterfall. Well, that's how the kids saw it - not much of a waterfall, 1/2 a meter at most. More

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