Jewish History
Akeidas Yitzchak (Binding of Isaac)
Though Jewish history is filled with tzadikim who gave up their own lives and their children's for Hashem, only the Akedah earns a permanent place in the Rosh Hashanah zichronot prayer, prompting the question of what made Avraham's binding of Yitzchak unique. Working through the halachos of pikuach nefesh, the concept of pesichas hatzinor (that a first act of this kind opens a channel making it possible for everyone after), and the Alter Rebbe's Tanya teaching that true mesirat nefesh means acting with absolutely no expectation of gain — not even reward in Olam Haba — the class explains why the Akedah, as the first mesirat nefesh entirely against human nature, had to happen before any other could follow. It closes by examining Hashem's statement 'ata yadati,' Avraham's chesed alongside Yitzchak's yirah, and how mesirat nefesh in its everyday form — giving up one's own ratzon — remains the foundation of Yiddishkeit.
The Holocaust, Why
Opens with the Rebbe's forceful rejection, during the Gulf War scare, of the idea that the Holocaust, or any future tragedy, could be explained as punishment for the Jewish people's sins, citing Rabbi Akiva's death and the decree of Galus Mitzrayim as precedents of suffering that defies any accounting. Builds a logical case for why demanding to understand Hashem's actions is self-contradictory, and distinguishes between what happens to the guf and what happens to the neshamah, arguing that immeasurable physical suffering does not necessarily mean spiritual harm. Explains Kiddush Hashem as the highest madreigah a soul can reach, why frum Jews still daven and demand better from Hashem despite believing everything is ultimately for the good, and why authentic remembrance of the six million looks like more Torah and more Yiddishe families rather than candles and moments of silence.