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Parshat Chayei Sarah
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

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Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

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"Quickly, HaShem our God, shall it be heard in the cities of Judah and the outskirts of Jerusalem the voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the voice of the outburst of joy of grooms from their weddings and lads from their festivities of music. Blessed are You HaShem Who gladdens the groom with the bride."

The capital of the "cities of Judah" is no other than Hebron, as David is told by HaShem to take rule of Judah specifically in Hebron. In this way, Hebron, in a hinted manner, and Jerusalem, in an explicit manner, are joined together in this blessing on the joining of the groom and the bride.

The ancient and deep relationship between these two cities is fascinatingly explained by the Zohar and the Arizal in context of God's command to rule in Hebron even before Jerusalem. According to the Zohar, it was necessary that David's rule first connect to the Patriarchs in Hebron, and only afterwards could it succeed in Jerusalem. The Arizal goes even further to explain that Hebron and Jerusalem represent the two primary revelations of the Holy Presence, called in scripture Zion, which corresponds to Hebron, and Jerusalem, which corresponds to Jerusalem itself. The Arizal explains that the order of David's and all man's spiritual work between these two centers flows first through Zion-Hebron and only afterwards one can reach via Zion the revelation of "Jerusalem" (this however does not mean that every person must in practice first live in Hebron and then Jerusalem).

In this way we can understand why the Zohar determines that Maaras HaMachpela means 'the cave that both Jerusalem and the entire Land of Israel are folded (kipul-folded) under it', as Maaras HaMachpela is the spiritual gateway to Jerusalem and the entirety of the Holy Land. Therefore, it is no wonder why Maaras HaMachpela was the first purchase of Avraham in the Holy Land, to such a level that, according to the Midrash, by doing so he forfeited the right to his descendants to conquer Jerusalem by force, but rather only by will of the Jebusites (by purchase etc.).

In halacha we may find a parallel to these two aspects in one, the ability to compel a spouse to move from the Diaspora to the Land of Israel also called by the general name "Zion", and two, the ability to compel a spouse to move to Jerusalem in the Land of Israel. Indeed, just as husband and wife can merit in bringing the Holy Presence between them, with the same token we see that halacha emphasizes that this union should be ideally rooted to and harmonized with the Holy Presence of 

Zion-Hebron and Jerusalem. 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #96:

"Many times I have run from my house to Maaras HaMachpela. One day, a policeman asked me why I run to Maaras HaMachpela. I answered that there is a special matter/mitzvah to run to the House of God (synagogue, holy places, etc.) Just about an hour and a half later, I 'happened' to be called to the Torah to read the portion talking about how Avraham ran and hurried in greeting the three angels. According to the Zohar he ran to Maaras HaMachpela in the midst of these preparations..."      

Sources: Even Haezer 75, 4, Zohar I 128b and 79b, Pirkei DRebe Eliezer ch. 36

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