Fire

Found 12 Search results

1. The Laws of Damages - A "Declaration of Human Rights"

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   There seems to be no logical order to the laws of damages. The order is based on the person damaged, not the inflictor of damage. Why did the Torah choose this order? Apparently the Torah was interested in conveying a message about human rights, and so places personal damages at the forefront, followed by damages to animals and property.

2. Eliyahu on Mount Carmel (Part 5)

   Eliyahu's Prayer (Part 2)

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   The challenge at Mount Carmel has both a universal significance in determining the true God, a national significance in redefining the national character in the face of foreign influences and Eliyahu’s role in this struggle. Both significances are manifested in Eliyahu’s dual prayer and both are interconnected. The fire falling from the heavens is reminiscent of the fire in the dedication of the Mishkan in the desert and the dedication of Shlomo’s Beit HaMikdash.

3. Eliyahu on Mount Carmel (Part 5)

   Eliyahu's Prayer (Part 3)

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   "And you have turned their heart backward" is interpreted to mean that God is responsible for the nation turning away from Him. This interpretation is difficult to accept within the context of the story. An alternative interpretation states the opposite – by the act of the fire from heaven their hearts will turn back to God and away from Ba’al. The latter interpretation of the final phrase in the second half of Eliyahu’s prayer compliments the final phrase in the first half of his prayer.

4. Eliyahu on Mount Carmel (Part 5)

   Eliyahu's Prayer (Part 4)

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   Content, style and structure come together to emphasize that the verse describing the descent of the fire of God to Eliyahu’s Altar is the climax of the gathering at Mount Carmel.

5. Eliyahu on Mount Carmel (Part 7)

   The Nation's Response

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   “The Lord is God” is the nation’s response to the universal element of the challenge. The capturing of the prophets of Ba’al is their response to the national one. The prophets were not killed on Mount Carmel which is a place of an altar. The killing of the prophets appears to be a prophetic command which is attributed to Eliyahu and not the nation.

6. Eliyahu in Horev (Part 5)

   Revelation in a "Small, Silent Voice" (Part 1)

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   The verse that precedes God’s revelation to Eliyahu might be viewed as part of God’s speech, or as part of the narrative. From the description of the revelation it would seem that the wind, the earthquake and the fire are not expressions of God's revelation. God controls them but is not identified with them. These verses emphasize the distinction between the destructive natural forces and God Himself.

7. Eliyahu in Horev (Part 5)

   Revelation in a "Small, Silent Voice" (Part 2)

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   According to the metaphoric explanation of God’s revelation to Eliyahu, the way to reach the nation is not through harsh measures but rather through soft ones. According to the literal understanding of God’s revelation, there are the forces of destruction that God unleashes in order to punish His creations but those are not expressions of God. Therefore, Eliyahu should be praying not for punishment but for mercy.

8. Prophet in Distress

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   Eliyahu had orchestrated a three-year drought that had brought the nation to its knees. This had culminated in the decisive religious contest at Mt. Carmel that had exposed the falsity of the Baal, bringing king and country to proclaim faith in God alone. It had been an excruciating process, with Eliyahu living in exile for three years. Indeed, he had succeeding in turning the king around. But now the entire project, this huge educational endeavor, lay shattered, in ruins. It was not Izevel's death threat alone. Izevel's confidence highlighted the understanding that she was in control, and that the transformation of national priorities would be a more arduous, complex, and protracted process. All of this leads to Eliyahu's feeling of dejection and his rejection of his role as a prophet. Unlike Moshe, he is unable to be zealous towards the sinner but to invoke God's mercy on the nation as a whole. 

9. The Personal Dimension of Yirmiyahu’s Prophecy

   Part III

   Rabbi David Sabato

   God prohibits Yirmiyahu from partaking in normative life cycle events. He may not go to comfort mourners, attend wedding celebrations nor may he marry or procreate. As with Hoshea and Yehezkel, the command regarding his marital relations is a negative sign of the calamity that will strike the people. But in contrast to Hoshea and Yehezkel, Yirmiyahu is commanded to abstain from marriage from the outset.

   Prophecy is described here as the prophet's fate, from which there is no escape. Prophecy is forced upon Yirmiyahu and he has no choice but to utter it with his mouth, lest it burn him from the inside. The word of God fills Yirmiyahu with joy and gladness, as he is called by His name. At the same time, however, the hand of God isolates him and fills him with deep rage. Yirmiyahu feels ostracized from society, and he can cannot sit and rejoice in the company of other people, owing to the heavy burden of prophecy and the calamity that is expected to arrive.

10. Yirmiyahu's Prophetic Joy and Agony

    Rabbi David Sabato

11. God's Voice Speaking from Amidst the Fire

    Rabbi Amnon Bazak

    תאריך פרסום: תשע"ו | | 12 minutes

    What is the meaning of the central role of fire and sound in the three descriptions of the Revelation at Sinai in Sefer Devarim?

12. Yaakov, Yosef, and Esav: Fire, Flame, and Straw

    Rabbi David Silverberg