The Jewish Thought Project

The question of whether mercy has any place in war is a very sensitive one, and it has life and death implications. Mercy is a clear Torah value, but the precedent set by our forefathers in wartime paints a more complex picture.

One of the most difficult religious struggles to grapple with is unanswered tefilot. We can pour our hearts out to God for days or weeks, but when we aren't answered it's extremely difficult to keep going. And sometimes, when the answer comes it's not what we were hoping for. We're going to look at precedent in the Torah for unanswered prayers and how to handle them.

We spoke last week about the seeing wars as connected to the redemption. If this is part of the Geulah what we should we be expecting now? Where is Mashiach? Where is the Beit Hamikdash?

It's a frighting and uncertain time for Klal Yisrael. We are being threatened on multiple borders and are awaiting an imminent ground invasion. The Torah tells us very clearly not to be afraid in these circumstances. But Why? What is so bad about such a natural emotional response and what, if anything, can be done about it?

As Tzahal continues to eliminate the terrorists responsible for last week's attack, some complex questions arise regarding the appropriate response to death of our enemies.

We've all felt in the past week how in times of great difficulty Am Yisrael joins together in a way that knows no bounds. The roots of our interconnectivity run deep and are hinted to in the very first encounter that Hashem has with Avraham Avinu. Today we explore those roots in depth.

War is not a foreign concept in the Torah. We have countless stories of war on their heroes as well as Halachot that pertain specifically to wartime. Today we discuss the Hashkafa of war and its role in the context of Hashem larger plan.

My goal with these videos is to spread Torah to all of Klal Yisrael. I believe that learning Torah is the most powerful tool we have to impact the world around us. In this video we discuss how that works.

Today we discuss the Torah perspective on a practical vision for unity.

I've heard several people over the past few days express the sentiment that perhaps the devastating situation we're in is in someway related to the recent growing fracture in our nation. I'm in no position to diagnose the situation neither from a practical-political perspective not from a divine-spiritual perspective. However, having been in Israel during Operation Protective Edge, I saw first hand how war has the power to bring us together.

Many of us have increased our Tefillot in the past couple days, but some of us may be grappling with the fundamental questions of Tefilla. Hashem Know what we need. If He wanted to the to change the circumstances he would, and if He doesn't want to why would asking make a difference?

Today we'll take some time to discuss purpose and utility of prayer.