Ep. 469: Yishmael vs. Isaac: Biblical Roots of Today’s Conflict — Answering the Tough Questions Part 3
In Memory of Dovid Ben Yechezkal HaLevi
and Chayim Yisroel ben Yoseph HaLevi
Topics:
Strength and Direction
- How to find strength and direction in these times?
- What are the treasures and secret weapons that can help us win today’s war?
- How are we to understand the Rebbe’s words that Israel is the safest place in the world?
- Is this like the war against Amalek, where we need to eradicate every last one of our enemies?
- Should we be concerned that our enemies are setting a trap for us?
Empowering Torah Portions
- How can living with the times – the weekly portions in Torah – help us in these times?
- What are the roots and the deeper inside story behind this war, and where do we find it in these weeks’ Torah portions?
- Can we gain strength from the holiday season that just ended?
- What does Simchas Torah – and its Torah reading – teach us about these terrible events?
- Can we learn anything from the end of the Torah reading and Rashi’s commentary about Moshe’s breaking the tablets?
- Did Moshe see G-d face to face?
- What can we learn from Parshas Bereishis:
- From Rashi on the first verse?
- From “let there be light”?
- What can we learn from Parshas Noach?
- How does the destruction of a “world filled with chamas” relate to our times today?
- Will the destruction of chamas cause the entire world to be destroyed as it was in the time of the flood?
- How do we build an ark today to protect us from the raging floodwaters?
- Should we have hooted when chamas was read in the Torah?
- What is the meaning of the verse in Isaiah 60:18 where it says chamas will never be heard from again in your land?
- What can we learn from Parshas Lech Lecha?
- What role does Abraham play in history?
- What lesson is there in “I will bless those that bless you”?
- How does the Brit Bein HaBetarim relate to today’s events?
- What can we learn from Abram’s name change to Abraham?
- Why was Abraham’s circumcision done at age 99 and we do it at 8 days?
- The birth of Yishmael – a wild man
- What can we learn from Parshas Vayeira?
- Are today’s conflicts a result of Yishmael being banished from Abraham’s home and the continuation of unresolved issues between Yitzchok and Yishmael?
- How could someone like Yishmael originate from the tzaddik Avraham?
- How is Yishmael still causing problems if Yishmael did teshuva later in his life?
- What do we learn from Abraham praying to save Sodom?
- Is there any significance to the fact the word for peace is similar in Hebrew and Arabic?
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