Lesson Topic: Memorial Day & Independence Day 2019
2. Maimonides, Yad HaChazaka (The Mighty Hand), Idolatry Rules, Chapter 1:11-16
At forty years of age, Abraham came to know his Maker. …He began to call out to the whole world, to alert them that there is one God to the whole world and that He is the One to be served. He would call out, wandering from town to town and from kingdom to kingdom, until he arrived in the land of Canaan, calling out, as it is written, “and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God” (Genesis 21:33). And since they gathered around him and asked him about his words, he taught everyone according to his mind, until he brought him back to the path of truth. Finally, tens of thousands assembled around him, and they are the people of the house of Abraham. He planted this tenet in their hearts and composed books in it, and taught his son, Isaac. And Isaac sat and taught and warned, and informed Jacob and appointed him a teacher, to sit and teach and keep all those who accompanied him. And Jacob the Patriarch taught all his sons, and separated Levi and appointed him as the head, and had him sit and learn the way of God and to keep Abraham's commandments. And he commanded his sons not to stop appointing appointee after appointee from among the sons of Levi, so the knowledge would not be forgotten. This continued and expanded in the children of Jacob and in those accompanying them, and a nation that knows the Creator was made in the world.
3. Machshavot Harutz, 19
The love of Israel is rooted in every soul of israel, a heritage from Abraham, who is the root of Judaism, as our sages said, “Love your friend is the great rule of the Torah.”
4. Likutei Halachot, Hilchot Arev
The essence of the root of Arvut is extended from the reception of the Torah, when all of Israel were responsible for one another. And this is because at the root the souls of Israel all are considered as one, because they are extended from the source of unity.
5. Baal Hasulam. Letter 60
There was a precondition from the beginning of the reception of the Torah, but afterward, since the time of the making of the calf, the package has been taken apart, since wars occurred and the children of Levi killed three thousand men by the word of the Creator, and then the grievances against Moses and Aaron, and the spies. Naturally, all those did not add love or unity.Afterward, after the coming to the land [of Israel], it was still not quiet. Hence, it was irrelevant to ask anyone to uphold this prime commandment. However, in order for the Torah not to be forgotten from Israel, they began to engage in the rest of the commandments although they had abandoned its main point, since they had no other choice. Perhaps this is what our sages meant when they asked about the ruin of the Second Temple, that there was no idolatry there and they were proficient in Torah, so why was it ruined? They said it was for unfounded hatred. Perhaps this means that it was because they could not engage in the heart of the construction of the Torah, which is “love your neighbor as yourself” .
6. Baal Hasulam. Shamati 199. To Every Man of Israel
Every man of Israel has an internal point in the heart, which is considered simple faith. This is an inheritance from our fathers, who stood on Mount Sinai. However, it is covered by many Klipot[shells], which are all kinds of dresses of Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], and the Klipot must be removed. Then his basis will be called “faith alone,” without any support and outside help.
7. Rabash -1 Article No 18. “And It Shall Come to Pass When You Come to the Land that the Lord Your God Gives You .1984
This is called Israel, meaning Yashar-El [straight to the Creator], meaning everything he thinks of is only that everything will get to the Creator, and he is not taken into account because he is not thinking of himself at all. Rather all his thoughts are only for the Creator.This is called the “land of Israel,” meaning that he has a desire directly to the Creator. That is, he has no desires of self-love, but of love of others, and for himself—that he will enjoy life—he has no desire at all. All he wants is to have the means to bestow upon the Creator, and all the nourishments he gives to his body are only to have the strength to work in order to bestow.
8. Baal Hasulam. “The Nation”
It is a must for every nation to be strongly united within, so all the individuals within it are attached to one another by instinctive love. Moreover, each individual should feel that the happiness of the nation is one’s own happiness, and the nation’s decadence is one’s own decadence. One should be willing to give one’s all for the nation whenever needed. Otherwise, their right to exist as a nation in the world is doomed from the start.
9. Baal Hasulam. “The Nation”
The national love is the basis of every nation, just as egoism is the basis of all individually existing beings. Without it, it would not be able to exist in the world. Similarly, the national love in the individuals of a nation is the basis of the independence of every nation. This is the only reason for which it continues or ceases to exist. For this reason, this should be the first concern in the revival of the nation. This love is not presently within us, for we have lost it during our wandering among the nations for the past two millennia.
10. Baal Hasulam. “The Nation”
It is a shame to admit that one of the most precious merits we have lost during the exile, and the most important of them, is the loss of the awareness of the nationality, meaning that natural feeling that connects and sustains each and every nation. The threads of love that connect the nation, which are so natural and primitive in all the nations, have become degenerated and detached from our hearts, and they are gone. And worst of all, even the little we have left of the national love is not instilled in us positively, as it is in all the nations. Rather, it exists within us on a negative basis: It is the common suffering that each of us suffers being a member of the nation. This has imprinted within us a national awareness and proximity, as with fellow-sufferers.This is an external cause. As long as this external cause joined and blended with our natural national awareness, an odd kind of national love emerged and sparked off this jumble, unnatural and incomprehensible.And most important, it is completely unfit for its task. Its measure of warmth suffices only to an ephemeral excitement, but without the power and strength with which we can be rebuilt as a nation that carries itself. This is because a union that exists due to an outside cause is not at all a national union.In that sense, we are like a pile of nuts, united into a single body from the outside by a sack that envelops and unites them. Their measure of unity does not make them a united body, and each movement applied to the sack produces in them tumult and separation. Thus, they consistently arrive at new unions and partial aggregations. The fault is that they lack the inner unity, and their whole force of unity comes through outside incidents. To us, this is very painful to the heart.Indeed, the spark of nationalism was kept within us to its fullest measure, but it has dimmed and has become inactive. It has also been greatly harmed by the mixture it had received from the outside, as we have said. However, this does not yet enrich us, and reality is very bitter.
11. Baal Hasulam. “The Nation”
In the end, all we have here is a gathering of strangers, descendants of cultures of seventy nations, each building a stage for oneself, one’s spirit, and one’s leanings. There is no elemental thing here that unites us all from within into a single mass.
15.
Baal
Hasulam.
A
Speech
for
the
Completion
of
The
Zohar
The
fact
of
the
matter
is
that
the
Creator
delivered
our
holy
land
from
the
foreigners
and
has
given
it
back
to
us,
yet
we
have
not
received
the
land
into
our
own
authority,
since
the
time
of
reception
has
not
yet
come,
as
we
explained
concerning
the
complete
attainment.
Thus,
He
has
given
but
we
have
not
received,
since
we
have
no
economic
independence,
and
there
is
no
political
independence
without
economic
independence.
Moreover,
there
is
no
redemption
of
the
body
without
redemption
of
the
soul.
As
long
as
the
majority
of
the
people
are
captive
in
the
foreign
cultures
of
the
nations
and
are
incapable
of
Israel’s
religion
and
culture,
the
bodies,
too,
will
be
captive
under
the
alien
forces.
In
this
respect,
the
land
is
still
in
the
hands
of
foreigners.
The
proof
is
that
no
one
is
excited
about
the
redemption,
as
it
should
have
been
with
redemption
after
two
millennia.
Not
only
are
those
in
the
Diaspora
not
inclined
to
come
to
us
and
delight
in
the
redemption,
but
a
large
portion
of
those
that
have
been
redeemed
and
are
already
dwelling
among
us
are
anxiously
waiting
to
get
rid
of
this
redemption
and
return
to
the
countries
from
which
they
came.
Thus,
even
though
the
Creator
has
delivered
the
land
from
the
hands
of
the
nations
and
has
given
it
to
us,
we
have
not
received
it
and
we
are
not
enjoying
it.
But
with
this
giving,
the
Creator
has
given
us
an
opportunity
for
redemption,
to
be
purified
and
sanctified
and
assume
the
work
of
the
Creator
in
Torah
and
Mitzvot
Lishma.
At
that
time,
the
Temple
will
be
built
and
we
will
receive
the
land
into
our
own
authority.
Then
we
will
experience
and
feel
the
joy
of
redemption.
But
as
long
as
we
have
not
come
to
this,
nothing
will
change.
There
is
no
difference
between
the
current
manners
of
the
land
and
the
way
it
was
while
still
under
the
hands
of
foreigners,
in
law,
in
economy,
and
in
the
work
of
the
Creator.
Thus,
all
we
have
is
an
opportunity
for
redemption.
16.
Baal
Hasulam.
Exile
and
Redemption
I
hereby
propose
to
the
House
of
Israel
to
say
to
our
troubles,
“Enough!”
and
at
the
very
least
make
a
human
calculation
regarding
those
adventures
that
they
have
inflicted
on
us
time
and
time
again,
and
here
in
our
country,
as
well.
We
wish
to
start
our
own
policy,
as
we
have
no
hope
of
clutching
at
the
ground
as
a
nation
as
long
as
we
do
not
accept
our
holy
Torah
without
any
allowances,
to
the
last
condition
of
the
work
Lishma,
and
not
for
one’s
own
sake,
with
any
residue
of
selfishness.
17. Baal Hasulam. Exile and Redemption
As long as we do not raise our goal above the corporeal life, we will have no corporeal resurrection, for the spiritual and the corporeal in us cannot dwell together. We are the children of the idea, and even if we are immersed in forty-nine gates of materialism, we will still not give up the idea. Hence, it is the holy purpose of for His sake that we need.
18.
Baal
Hasulam.
Newspaper.
The
Nation
The
only
hope
is
to
thoroughly
establish
for
ourselves
a
new
national
education,
to
reveal
and
ignite
once
more
the
natural
national
love
that
has
been
dimmed
within
us,
to
revive
once
more
the
national
muscles,
which
have
been
inactive
in
us
for
two
millennia,
in
every
means
suitable
to
this
end.
19.
Baal
Hasulam.
Newspaper
“The
Nation”
We
must
establish
for
ourselves
special
education
through
widespread
circulation,
to
instill
in
each
of
us
a
sense
of
national
love,
both
from
one
person
to
another,
and
from
the
individuals
to
the
whole,
to
rediscover
the
national
love
that
was
instilled
within
us
since
the
time
we
were
on
our
land
as
a
nation
among
the
nations.
This
work
precedes
all
others
because
besides
being
the
basis,
it
gives
the
stature
and
successes
to
all
the
other
actions
that
we
wish
to
take
in
this
field.
21.
Baal
Hasulam.
Newspaper
“The
Nation”
If
we
miss
the
opportunity
and
do
not
rise
as
one,
with
the
great
efforts
required
at
a
time
of
danger,
to
guarantee
our
staying
in
the
land,
then
the
facts
before
us
pose
a
great
threat
to
us,
since
matters
are
developing
favorably
for
our
enemies,
who
seek
to
destroy
us
from
the
face
of
the
Earth.
It
is
also
clear
that
the
enormous
effort
that
the
rugged
road
ahead
requires
of
us
mandates
unity
that
is
as
solid
and
as
hard
as
steel,
from
all
parts
of
the
nation,
without
exception.
If
we
do
not
come
out
with
united
ranks
toward
the
mighty
forces
that
are
standing
on
our
way
to
harm
us,
we
will
find
that
our
hope
is
doomed
in
advance.
26.
Baal
Hasulam.
The
Peace
Our
sages
said
about
the
reason
for
the
words:
Therefore,
the
blessing
of
peace
in
the
whole
world
precedes
the
strength,
meaning
the
redemption,
because
“God
did
not
find
a
vessel
to
hold
the
blessing
for
Israel
but
peace.”
Thus,
as
long
as
self-love
and
egoism
exist
among
the
nations,
Israel,
too,
will
not
be
able
to
serve
the
Creator
in
purity,
in
bestowal
upon
others,
as
it
is
written
in
the
explanation
of
the
words,
“And
you
will
be
to
me
a
kingdom
of
priests,”
in
the
essay,
“The
Arvut.”
We
see
this
from
experience,
for
the
coming
to
the
land
and
the
building
of
the
Temple
could
not
persist
and
receive
the
blessings
that
the
Creator
had
sworn
to
our
fathers.
This
is
why
they
said,
“God
did
not
find
a
vessel
to
hold
the
blessing,”
meaning
that
thus
far,
Israel
did
not
have
a
vessel
to
hold
the
blessing
of
the
fathers.
Therefore,
the
oath
that
we
can
inherit
the
land
for
eternity
has
not
been
fulfilled,
since
world
peace
is
the
only
vessel
that
enables
us
to
receive
the
blessing
of
the
fathers,
as
in
the
prophecy
of
Isaiah.
27.
Baal
Hasulam.
The
Writings
of
the
Last
Generation
I
also
spoke
to
the
leaders
of
the
generation
but
at
the
time,
my
words
were
not
accepted,
though
I
screamed
like
a
crane
and
warned
about
the
ruin
of
the
world.
Alas,
it
made
no
impression.
But
now,
after
the
atom
and
hydrogen
bombs,
I
think
the
world
will
believe
me
that
the
end
of
the
world
is
nearing
rapidly,
and
Israel
will
be
the
first
nation
to
be
burned,
as
was
in
the
previous
war.
Thus,
today
it
is
good
to
awaken
the
world
to
accept
its
only
remedy
so
they
may
live
and
exist.
28.
Baal
Hasulam.
The
Writings
of
the
Last
Generation
Judaism
must
present
something
new
to
the
nations.
This
is
what
they
expect
from
the
return
of
Israel
to
the
land!
It
is
not
in
other
teachings,
for
in
that
we
never
innovated.
In
them,
we
have
always
been
their
disciples.
Rather,
it
is
the
wisdom
of
religion,
justice,
and
peace.
In
this,
most
nations
are
our
disciples,
and
this
wisdom
is
attributed
to
us
alone.
29.
Baal
Hasulam.
The
Writings
of
the
Last
Generation
The
religious
form
of
all
the
nations
should
first
obligate
its
members
to
bestowal
upon
each
other
to
the
extent
that
(the
life
of
one’s
friend
will
come
before
one’s
own
life),
as
in
“Love
your
friend
as
yourself”...
This
will
be
the
collective
religion
of
all
the
nations
that
will
come
within
the
framework
of
communism.
However,
besides
this,
each
nation
may
follow
its
own
religion
and
tradition,
and
one
must
not
interfere
in
the
other.
30. Baal Hasulam. The Writings of the Last Generation
If they assume this religion, the Temple can be built and the ancient glory restored. This would certainly prove to the nations the rightness of Israel’s return to their land, even to the Arabs. Conversely, a secular return such as today's does not impress the nations whatsoever, and we must fear lest they will sell Israel’s independence for their needs, and needless to say returning Jerusalem.
31.
Baal
Hasulam.
The
Writings
of
the
Last
Generation
Since
the
religion
will
be
international,
it
will
be
possible
to
win
the
hearts
of
the
Arab
Sheiks
with
money
and
religious
influence
---
so
they
assume
the
religion
together
with
us
as
one
unit,
and
promote
it
among
the
Arab
workers
and
property
owners.
That,
in
turn,
will
benefit
Zionism.
Because
they
will
assume
the
religion
that
necessitates
love
and
bestowal
upon
all
humankind
equally,
they
will
not
be
envious
of
the
robbing
of
the
land,
since
they
will
understand
that
the
land
is
the
Lord’s.
The
standard
of
living
of
the
Arabs
will
be
equal
to
the
standard
of
living
of
the
Jews.
This
will
be
a
great
incentive
for
winning
their
hearts.
33.
Baal
Hasulam
(Mutual
Guarantee).
The
Arvut,
20
It
is
upon
the
Israeli
nation—through
Torah
and
Mitzvot—to
qualify
itself
and
all
the
people
of
the
world
to
develop
until
they
take
upon
themselves
that
sublime
work
of
the
love
of
others.
This
is
the
ladder
to
the
purpose
of
creation,
which
is
Dvekut
with
Him.
34.
Baal
Hasulam.
The
Teaching
of
the
Kabbalah
and
Its
Essence
I
am
glad
that
I
have
been
born
in
such
a
generation
when
it
is
permitted
to
disclose
the
wisdom
of
truth.
And
should
you
ask
how
I
know
that
it
is
permitted,
I
will
reply
that
it
is
because
I
have
been
given
permission
to
disclose.
That
is,
until
now,
the
ways
by
which
it
is
possible
to
publicly
engage
and
to
fully
explain
each
word…
and
this
is
what
the
Creator
has
given
me
to
the
fullest
extent.
We
deem
it
as
dependent
not
on
the
greatness
of
the
sage,
but
on
the
state
of
the
generation,
as
our
sages
said,
“Little
Samuel
was
worthy,
etc.,
but
his
generation
was
unworthy.”
This
is
why
I
said
that
my
being
rewarded
with
the
manner
of
disclosing
the
wisdom
is
only
because
of
my
generation.
35.
Baal
Hasulam.
Introduction
to
the
Book
Panim
Meirot
uMasbirot
It
is
written
in
The
Zohar:
“With
this
composition,
the
children
of
Israel
will
be
redeemed
from
exile.”
Also,
in
many
other
places,
only
through
the
expansion
of
the
wisdom
of
Kabbalah
in
the
masses
will
we
obtain
complete
redemption.
Our
sages
also
said,
“The
light
in
it
reforms
him.”
They
were
intentionally
meticulous
about
it,
to
show
us
that
only
the
light
enclosed
within
it...
in
it
lies
the
Segula
[power/cure]
that
reforms
a
person.
Both
the
individual
and
the
nation
will
not
complete
the
aim
for
which
they
were
created,
except
by
attaining
the
internality
of
the
Torah
and
its
secrets…
Hence,
it
is
the
great
expansion
of
the
wisdom
of
truth
within
the
nation
that
we
need
first,
so
we
may
merit
receiving
the
benefit
from
our
Messiah.
Consequently,
the
expansion
of
the
wisdom
and
the
coming
of
our
Messiah
are
interdependent.
Therefore,
we
must
establish
seminaries
and
compose
books
to
hasten
the
distribution
of
the
wisdom
throughout
the
nation.
37.
Baal
Hasulam.
The
Shofar
of
the
Messiah
There
is
a
precondition
for
redemption—for
all
the
nations
of
the
world
to
acknowledge
Israel’s
law,
as
it
is
written,
“And
the
land
will
be
full
of
knowledge,”
as
in
the
example
of
the
exodus
from
Egypt,
where
there
was
a
precondition
that
Pharaoh,
too,
would
acknowledge
the
true
God
and
His
laws,
and
would
allow
them
to
leave.
This
is
why
it
is
written
that
each
one
from
the
nations
will
hold
a
Jewish
man
and
lead
him
to
the
holy
Land.
It
was
not
enough
that
they
could
leave
by
themselves.
You
must
understand
from
where
the
nations
of
the
world
came
by
such
a
will
and
idea.
Know
that
this
is
through
the
dissemination
of
the
true
wisdom,
so
they
will
evidently
see
the
true
God
and
the
true
law.
The
dissemination
of
the
wisdom
in
the
masses
is
called
a
“Shofar.”
Like
the
Shofar,
whose
voice
travels
a
great
distance,
the
echo
of
the
wisdom
will
spread
the
world
over,
so
even
the
nations
will
hear
and
acknowledge
that
there
is
Godly
wisdom
in
Israel.