A Taste of Maharal

#Interpretation #Aggadah

While the Maharal doesn't interpret every passage of Aggadah literally, he does take each one of them seriously.

#Chazal #ScienceVsTorah #Aggadah

Chazal always ponder the spiritual causes that belie human physiology rather than involving themselves with the details of nature. The Maharal writes that for this reason, when Chazal provide an explanation, the existence of a scientific explanation for the same thing doesn't present a challenge to the view of Torah and Chazal. For example, the fact that the laws of science and physics can explain why a rainbow appears doesn't contradict the Torah and Chazal's explanation of what causes a rainbow. Science can explain the observable phenomenon but never the higher reason behind it.

#Mashiach #Exile #Rome

Eliyahu Hanavi revealed to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi that Mashiach sits at the gates of Rome. There is a deeper message here—one that goes beyond what appears to be a mere prediction of the future. Chazal reveal that it is always the very power which exiles us that gives rise to the Mashiach.

#Tov #Continuity #ShivreiLuchos

The Maharal explains that the word tov describes something that truly exists. Something can only truly exist in a real sense if it has continuity. Tov, therefore, is about viability and not about loftiness. Furthermore, the Maharal writes that the first luchos were on a much higher level than the second luchos. However, because they were too lofty for B'nei Yisrael to accept, the first luchos had no continued existence, and were therefore not considered "tov." Note: Shivrei Luchos. Maybe also the 2nd are Tov & have existence bec of, not despite, the shattering that was before.

#Taanis #Cemetery #PrayingToTheDead

In Masechta Taanis, the Gemara relates how when a fast was decreed, the community would go to the cemetery "kedei she'yispalelu aleinu ha'meisim rachamim," which literally means "so that the dead should pray for compassion over us." The Maharal explains that there, we don't ask the dead to pray for us. Instead, we go to the cemetery to join the dead in their prayer for the Jewish People. After all, the deceased are Jews, and they too love the Jewish nation and ask Hashem to have compassion for them. The practice of going to the cemetery enables us to connect with the dead, enabling the dead to connect to the living and to join in our prayers. But in no way is it a prayer to the deceased asking them to do something for us.