Should we look for reasons for God's mitzvos?

The Rambam says we should, and himself did so at length. But he also says that God’s wisdom is inscrutable and that we humans can’t understand His motivations. 

The resolution of this contradiction opens up a world of depth to the Torah and shows how the reasons for mitzvos are dynamic, changing with time and place.

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What is so special about Eretz Yisrael? What makes it holy?

Its people, says the Rambam. Those who serve Hashem should live together and form a society suffused with His knowledge and worship – that’s what makes a land holy.

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Sponsored by R' Zeev Shub in memory of his father, Yeshaya ben Berach

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The Rambam’s twelfth principle of faith involves believing in and hoping for the arrival of both a person and an era. Messiah, scion of King David, will restore the great dynasty to its original glory, and also usher in an era of peace, prosperity and independence, when people will focus exclusively  on knowing Hashem.

Learn why the Davidic dynasty is needed in order to initiate this great era – which will then outlast the very kingdom that initiated it.

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Chanukah reclaims the true light for the descendants of Shem. The Greek descendants of Yefes and their darkness were vanquished; the Menorah and its miraculous light symbolize the return of prophetic clarity.

But did we truly reclaim the original light? Prophecy didn't return and the Shechinah didn't dwell in the Temple; true redemption is still elusive. This lead some of Chazal to deemphasize the Menorah of the Chashmonaim and instead to emphasize our hope and waiting – for the perfect and eternal light of Hashem.

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Chanukah reclaims the original holiday of light established by the first man, Adam. 

When evil got mixed with goodness, darkness got mixed with light. Man lost his ability to see clearly: the pure, primordial light was hidden away. He thought that he would die in darkness, the days getting progressively shorter until all would fade away and be gone; when the days lengthened again, Adam instituted a holiday of eight days to celebrate the goodness of light.

This holiday for Hashem was lost and became a pagan festival, reclaimed after the miracle of the Menorah proved that we still have access to Hashem's light and can see the goodness of His creation. 

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Perception shapes language – how we think influences how we talk.

Accordingly, Chazal considered Hebrew and Greek antithetical; the "Holy Tongue" is a verb-centered language and reflects a dynamic world of Godly action, while the “Beauty of Yefes” is focused on the visual and reflects a static world of objects in space. 

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Are there really words that have magical powers?

Explore the lost art of how to use the secret names of Hashem, the subject of extensive discussion by the Mekubalim – and also of Rambam's scornful dismissal.

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What are angels and what is their function?

According to Rambam, they are immaterial, disembodied intellect; Raavad and others consider them to be composed of rarefied matter that sometimes becomes visible to humans.

These mysterious divines that fill the Torah’s pages are the intermediaries of the transcendent God, agents through which He interacts with the universe.

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The Mekubalim teach that God is unified with His attributes. His creation is unified as well, and the entire historical process is but the demonstration of this grand unity. 

The mitzvah of loving Hashem is to experience and live with this unity – to partake of and to further this great cosmic project.

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Why are the stories of a father, his son and his grandson so central to the Torah?

Come see how the three forefathers found and founded the knowledge of Hashem, each in their own way; how this knowledge became the subject of the history of their descendants, the Jewish nation; and how the key to the future redemption lies in the relationship between these three great men.

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