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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land 

מחוץ למחנה תשלחו

"May You build Jerusalem the holy city speedily in our days. Blessed are You HaShem who builds Jerusalem.”

Zecharia prophesizes (2, 8) that not only will Jersualem be rebuilt, but that it will also be expanded greatly. Halachically, we find that there is a defined method of sanctification to extend the area of the 'sanctified Jerusalem', which is significant for numbers of mitzvot that require that one fulfill them in the boundaries of 'sanctified Jerusalem'. The procedure for this matter requires that it be ordained by the king, a prophet, agreed upon via the Urim veTumim (on the breastplate of the Kohen Gadol - which conveys messages from the Divine), and also by a Sanhedrin of 71 elders. The original sanctification of Jerusalem sanctified the area within the ancient walls of Jerusalem (not the Herodian, Turkish, etc. walls we may see today). In a somewhat similar sense, there is also an extension of sanctity related to the Bais HaMikdash that extends to other cities in the Land of Israel, albeit in a limited sense. Such is the case with the walled cities of the Land of Israel.

Our Sages learned from our title quote, which literally refers to the different encampments in the desert, that also when Israel are settled in their Land they are bidden to send out lepers (in addition to stringencies in regard to the detainment of corpses and more) from walled cities in the Land of Israel. In the past we have shown that Hebron qualified as a walled city, which highlights another facet of the sanctity of this city. However, its wall had to be demolished for the purpose of its purpose as a Refuge City, yet another fascinating facet of this city. As can be seen in these laws and in other laws as well such as the laws of Purim, the walling of cities has a significant place in the halachic status of cities and their spiritual prestige.

Literally, the term crown in Hebrew, 'Keter', means to encircle, as its verb root is used in other contexts to refer to encirclement without connection to crown, royalty, or the like (see Judges 20, 43 and more). In this way we can contemplate on the wall encircling a city as signifying a kind of 'crown' -encirclement of this city. The concept of Keter-crown is a very dominant theme on Shavuos, when Israel were given two crowns at the Giving of the Torah, one for saying 'we will do', and the second for saying 'we will listen'. In addition, the Torah itself is called a crown, raising the one who occupies himself with it to a lofty status.

Indeed, according to the Arizal, Shavuos is unique among the holidays in its spiritual illumination linked to this concept of 'Keter-Crown'. This verb-root 'keter' is used in another connotations as well. 'Katar' means to wait, as it says 'katar - wait a bit, and I will show you' (Job 36, 2). Indeed, the very name of Shavuos- 'Weeks' implies the waiting-'katar' period of 7 weeks leading up to this day, ultimately bringing one to the 'keter'-crown of Torah. Such are the 'depths/secrets of Hebron' (Gen. 37, 14) which hold the secrets of antiquity, 'waiting' to be unfolded in the crown of the Redemptive future.  

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #120:

“For numbers of months I have been learning hevrusa once a week on telephone for about 20 minutes with someone from a secular background who would like to come closer to Judaism. I was 'matched' with this man by a specific 'kiruv' organization in Israel, which also checks out from time to time how our 'hevrusa' is going. The last time I heard from this organization was about two months ago. One evening, I finished the call to this hevrusa, and that exact second the organization who matched us just 'happened' to call to 'check up'... (they had no idea when I conduct this hevrusa...) 

Sources: Shavuot 14a, Rambam Beit Habchira 6, 12-13, Shaar Hakavanot Shavuos

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