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Parshat Shemot
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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"... And grant me to raise children and children of children wise and intelligent, lovers of HaShem, fearers of God, people of truth, holy seed clinging to HaShem, and illuminators of the world with Torah and good deeds and all the work of serving the Creator..."

Just as we pray that our children and our People love God, so too we are taught that HaShem, so-to-speak 'prays' that He have compassion on his children Israel. Indeed, the People of Israel are so dear to HaShem that even when we were in Egypt steeped in 49 levels of impurity among another nation, HaShem distinguished us from the Egyptians and called us, as in our title quote, 'my firstborn Israel'. Another description of Israel in Scripture that distinguishes them from all other nations is the metaphor of the grape-vine, homiletically explained on the verse 'a grape-vine You shall make travel from Egypt' (Ps. 80, 9), a clear allusion to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. One of the explanations of this metaphor explains that just as the grape-vine seems to be initially the lowliest of the trees but afterwards is highly praised for its wine, so too Israel are downtrodden among the nations in This World but will be highly praised in the World to Come.

This metaphor seems to be echoed quite clearly in halacha as well. Out of all the trees, the grape-vine is singled out to maintain special halachic status, both as a tree, and in regard to its produce, the grape and the wine that comes from it. Generally speaking, there is a Torah prohibition to mingle different species of seeds, or graft together different species of trees. However, unique is the severity of mingling in regard to the grape-vine, for such mingling renders the produce grown thereafter as prohibited even from any type of benefit (even if not eaten). In regard to the grape-vine's product, wine, yet again we see unique laws that distinguish it from any other product. One example, is the necessity that kosher wine be made entirely only by Jews, unless it is 'cooked' ('mevushal' - similar to pasteurization) before it is handed to the care of a gentile. Interestingly, we find that just as the Land of Israel is 'an essential element vitally tied with the People' (terms of R. A.I Kook) as we have shown in the past, so too the law of mingling the grape-vine retains its main power only in the Land of Israel, where it is Biblically forbidden, while in the Diaspora it is only Rabbinically forbidden and its produce is also not rendered forbidden from benefit.

It is therefore not surprising that the metaphor of the grape-vine is expanded to the message of Hebron, Gateway to the Land of Israel and City of the Patriarchs. So our Sages teach us, that just as the grape-vine grows on and depends on dead trees, so too Israel are dependent on the merit of the 'dead' Patriarchs. This vital dependency highlights how our Patriarchs are not really 'dead'. As our Sages teach us, these righteous are not dead - they and their vital power are forever lasting... 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #102:

"We had been married for 7 months, and my wife still had not conceived. We went to the tomb of R. Meir ('Baal Hanes') in Tiberias, and there my wife prayed and promised that if she be granted a son she would call him 'Meir' in the name of R. Meir. A week later, my wife conceived..." (Y.S)

Sources: Brachot 7a, Rambam Kilayim 5, 1, Taanit 5b

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