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Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

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"And bring us speedily to the Land of Israel, the good and holy Land, and bestow Your complete Providence upon the Land of Israel and the world at large...” (Likutei Tfilot II 8) Out of Moshe Rabeinu's deep aspiration for the Land of Israel, he allocates three Refuge Cities on the Eastern Side of the Jordan to prelude the allocation of Refuge Cities in the Land of Israel Proper on the Western side of the Jordan.

Rambam teaches us that, although these cities were not capable of serving in practice as Refuge Cities till the three Refuge Cities on the Western Bank were allocated, nevertheless Moshe Rabeinu took pains to allocate these cities on the Eastern Bank, saying that 'if a mitzva comes to my hands (even if not fully complete) let me commit it.' From this instance we can learn a general rule that even if one is not able to actually commit the mitzva of coming to the Land there is still much value on any efforts made towards this mitzva.

Rambam further explains that not only on the Eastern Bank and the Western Bank were three cities allocated on each Bank respectively, but also the Torah tells us that in the future three Refuge Cities will be allocated in the time of MaShiah when the Land of Israel will be expanded to the Euphrates as was promised to our Father Avraham. It is clear from these laws on the Refuge Cities that the number three takes a very dominant place. What is the significance of this?

Well-known is the famous piut 'Who Knows One?'  at the end of the haggada, and of course, everyone knows the answer to 'who knows three' – our three Patriarchs of Hebron. This concept is also some-what echoed in the teaching of our Sages that 'one only uses the term Fathers for three' (Brachot 16b – we dealt with this concept more at depth in another issue).

As we mentioned, the Refuge Cities on the Western Bank are the essential initiating cause in the operation of the Refuge Cities on the Eastern Bank. At the top of the list of list of the Refuge Cities lies Hebron, which is also unique in being a Kohanic City – of superior status, while the rest of the Refuge Cities on the Western Bank are Levite Cities. Thus, in the past we have shown how it is possible to trace the origins of all the Refuge Cities to Hebron, the City of Patriarchal Compassion even for negligent murderers. Putting these strands of thought together, we suddenly reach the realization that if all Refuge Cities stem from Hebron, and that a classic number which represents Hebron-City of the Patriarchs is three, then it is so natural that the Refuge Cities come in multiples of three, either in the time of Moshe, Yehoshua, or Mashiah!

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #130

"My three-year-old son kept us up all night crying and showing us that his teeth hurt. We tried giving him all the pain-killers we could give him, prayed for him, and also tried segulas and 'Granny remedies', but he continued to cry in pain. Finally, at 5:30 I resorted to calling the medical clinic to leave a message, so that we could assure a place at the doctor asap for the coming day. However, to my surprise a doctor answered my call. It 'turns out' that this doctor had forgot his tfilin in the clinic and had come in just for 20 seconds to take his tfilin when he heard my call. Realizing that this was special Providence, he summoned us to come immediately to examine our son."

 Sources: Rambam Rotzeah ch. 8