This weekly women's class was&nbsp;presented on Tuesday, Parshas Terumah, 30 Shevat, Rosh Chodesh Adar I, 5782, February 1, 2022, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

The Whispering Cedars of Yaakov & Reb Akiva: You Belong to Redemption

Women's Teruma/Pesach Class

Even In Darkness, We Soar On the Wings of Eternity

​This text-based class on&nbsp;Likkutei Sichot, vol. 21, Parshas Terumah, explains in a&nbsp;novel way the reason for the Rambam giving us a history lesson about the Holy Ark in his halachik work: &quot;W​hen ​K​ing Solomon built the Holy Temple, knowing that it was destined to be destroyed, he built a place in which to hide the Ark, [at the end of] hidden, deep, winding passageways.&rdquo; It was there that King Josiah placed the Ark twenty-two years before the Temple&rsquo;s destruction.

The Holy Temple in Jerusalem was built by King Solomon in the year 2928 from creation (833 BCE), and was destroyed&nbsp;410 years later, on the ninth day of the month of Av, by the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar. Seventy years later it was rebuilt; the second Temple stood for 420 years, until its destruction by the Romans, also on the ninth of&nbsp;Av, in 3829 (69 CE).&nbsp;

From the Rambam&#39;s words about the Ark we discover that the core of the Beis Hamikdash (the Holy Temple) was never destroyed. What is more,&nbsp;it means that the first, second and third Temples are not three different structures, but the continuum of a single edifice.

The class also tackles the question of why we allow ourselves to make such destructive mistakes. It turns out, we are the ones who do this to ourselves, for a very healing reason.

The Core of G-d's Home Was Never Destroyed 

Likkutei Sichos Terumah/The Three Weeks

The Secret Beis Hamikdash

This class, presented to women on Parshas Terumah 5768 (2008), explores a majopr debate about the Cherubs hver the Holy Ark.
Foremost among the commentaries compiled by our sages on the Torah are those by Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040-1105) and Nachmanides (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, 1194-1270). Rashi defines his goal by stating: &ldquo;I come only to explain the simple meaning of the verse.&rdquo; On the other hand, Nachmanides, a noted mystic and kabbalist, often uncovers a &ldquo;deeper&rdquo; stratum of significance in the Torah&rsquo;s words, exposing its students, as he puts it in his introduction to his commentary on Torah, to &ldquo;delightful things, for those who know and understand the hidden wisdom.&rdquo;
Rashi and Nachmanides often differ in their interpretation of a particular word or verse. One example of this is their different conceptions of the kapporet and the keruvim. Rashi sees the ark and the kapporet as two different objects. The Sanctuary contained various &ldquo;vessels,&rdquo; each with a designated function (e.g., the menorah, the altars); according to Rashi the ark and the kapporet are two different vessels&mdash;it is only that the designated place of the kapporet is atop the ark. Nachmanides, on the other hand, sees the kapporet as the cover of the ark (indeed, the word kapporet means &ldquo;cover&rdquo;)&mdash;as a component of the ark itself, rather than another of the Sanctuary&rsquo;s vessels. 
Another difference between the interpretations of Rashi and Nachmanides concerns the form of the keruvim. According to Rashi, these were two winged figures, each with the face of a child (a boy and a girl). Nachmanides is of the opinion that they were a representation of the celestial figures seen by the prophet Ezekiel in his vision of the divine &ldquo;chariot.&rdquo;
This class explores the underlying argument behind them, and their dramatic relevance to our lives today.

A Debate On the Image of the Keruvim Mirrors Two Forms of Love

Does G-d Love Me Unconditionally?

What Was the Real Shape of the Menorah? - Why did the Rambam depict a different Menorah than everybody else?

Why did the Rambam depict a different Menorah than everybody else?

What Was the Real Shape of the Menorah?

Trees of Hope -- Prehistoric Cedars: Yaakov&rsquo;s grove: a source of lumber and comfort, in Egypt and today

985_tree hope.webp

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likkutei sichos terumah

ceder trees

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Likkutei Sichos - Terumah

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Terumah 

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Prehistoric Cedars: Yaakov’s grove: a source of lumber and comfort, in Egypt and today

Trees of Hope

Trees of Hope

Prehistoric Cedars: Yaakov’s grove: a source of lumber and comfort, in Egypt and today

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