Parshat Tetzaveh

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בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land 

"We shall thank You HaShem our God that You have given our Fathers a desirable, good, and wide Land." Why is the Land of Israel described as a "wide Land"? One of the many answers to this question, is that the Land of Israel is called a "Wide Land" and "Land of the Deer" for the reason that just as deerskin 'widens' and expands greatly according to its body when it is alive (as its skin cannot contain its own flesh when dead), so too the Holy Land 'widens' according to its inhabitants who give her 'life'. 

According to our Sages, unlike other lands which support their populace according to a specified material level, the Land of Israel itself increases its material productivity etc. according to the Jewish population within it. For this reason, just about 100 years ago, when there were much fewer Jews in the Land, many testified about the Land being 'barren' and unproductive, whereas today just a short walk through a marketplace full of Israel-grown produce will prove how greatly the productivity of our Land has changed with the great return of our People to the Land of Israel. 

Not only in regard to the Land of Israel do we find this emphasis on 'wideness', but also in regard to Hebron, the very roots of Israel's connection to this Land. According to 'Paaneah Raza' (brought in 'Shaar Hahatzer 149), if we take the Torah's price per land ratio as 50 silver pieces per a field measuring enough to make a 'homer's worth of barley' (all this explicit in Lev. 27, 16), then the 400 silver pieces used to buy the 'Field of Machpela' amount to be worth 600,000 square cubits, this number being representative of all the souls/soul-groups of Israel (see calculation in the source mentioned). 

Once again, we see how a seemingly small piece of this Land, and Hebron in specific, includes and has the 'wide-capacity' of all Israel. The fact that each Jew has cubit's-worth of land in the Land of Israel has halachic implications as well, in the form of 'Prozbul', the document issued to secure loans at the end of Shmita year which 'assumes' that one has a portion of land in Israel to make this document valid. 

The 'wideness' of Hebron seems to have other implications as well. According to our title quote we are obligated to bring the choicest oil for the lighting of the Menora. Similarly, halacha requires that the offerings brought in the Bait HaMikdash be brought from the choicest animals. The Talmud in Menahot and Rambam specify that the sheep be brought from Hebron, because the backs of these sheep are 'wide', and 'wide' sheep are considered choicest according to Isaiah (30, 23) who describes the plentitude of the redemptive future with 'wide - 'nirhav' - sheep'. 

Interestingly, the word for 'wide' in Isaiah, 'nirhav', are the same letters as 'Hebron' (without the optional 'vav'). According to Shaar Hahatzer, this spelling of Hebron (without the vav) is significant, for its numerical value (gematria) is equal that of God's Name, the Tetragamaton ('havaya'), times ten (260), to express the great uniting spiritual power of Hebron.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #56: "We had rented out our apartment, but did not receive the money for numbers of months from the tenant. When I inquired about this from the tenant, I was promised that they would pay. However, subsequently I lost all communication with the tenant, who ran off from the apartment without paying. Two years later, one month I was in debt of 18,000 NIS. Suddenly, I got a call from the tenant who said he now will pay for the rent. For all the months he missed, he deposited exactly 18,000 NIS."

Sources: Jeremiah 3, Gitin 57a, Menahot 87a, Rambam Isurei Mizbeah 7, 2, see Mabit 301 and more