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Parshat Vayeitzei
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"והנה אנכי עמך ושמרתיך בכל אשר תלך והשיבותיך אל האדמה הזאת"

"May it be Your Will HaShem our God and the God of our fathers that You guide us to peace... and guide us to our destination to life, happiness, and peace... Blessed are you HaShem who hears prayer." (Wayfarer's Prayer)

Our Sages enacted this special prayer in order to protect the wayfarer, as they taught "all pathways are susceptible to danger." According to the Arizal, Maharal, and others, this teaching does not only mean that on a practical level traveling deserves extra caution, but also that spiritually speaking places that are un-settled are more prone to negative spiritual influence, and as such they pose a greater danger to the wayfarer.

The teaching that greater spiritual potency brings one to greater protection is especially poignant in context of our title quote of this week's parsha in which Yakov is blessed by HaShem to be protected in all his ways and not to leave him "till I will do what I have told you". RaShbam explains that "what I have told you" refers to the promise to Yakov to "return you to this Land", referring to the Land of Israel, since HaShem's explicit promise of protection was only needed throughout the period Yakov was a 'wayfarer' in the Diaspora. However, once Yakov returns to the Holy Land he is already under greater protection, as if "under-wing" of the Holy Presence and the special angels that reside in this Land.

Halachically speaking as well, the Land of Israel is considered to be especially safe-guarded more than any other location, as we see in the laws of the three weeks before Tisha Bav, which are considered to be more prone to danger. Halacha mandates that although one should be especially careful in traveling during these three weeks because of the fore-mentioned "danger" in journeying, nevertheless one can and should come to the Land of Israel since "the eyes of HaShem are upon it, etc." Conversely, traveling from the Land of Israel to the Diaspora should be especially avoided during these weeks, even if one has a halachic permit to do so during the rest of the year. In this way, any troubles in this Holy Land, are not due to a lower level of Divine intervention or protection, but are, on the contrary, a more direct Divine communication to better ourselves or the like and to become evermore "under-wing" of the Holy Presence.

Ultimately, as we see in next week's parsha, Yakov's full return to the Land, i.e permanent settlement in the Land, and end to his 'wayfaring', culminates only in Hebron where Yakov meets his father Yitzhak in the vicinity of Avraham and Sara's burial place in Maaras HaMachpela. 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #98: 

"In a new card-game there were supposed to be 55 cards. One day, my baby sucked one of the cards and ruined it. However, it 'happened to be' that, after checking number of times, this card was the 56th card, and was extra..."

Sources: Brachot 34b, Mikraei Kodesh - Bein Hametzarim ch. 8, 7, R. Moshe Harari, Netiv HaTorah (Maharal), 1,

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