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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

שַׁל נְעָלֶיךָ מֵעַל רַגְלֶיךָ כִּי הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עוֹמֵד עָלָיו אַדְמַת קֹדֶשׁ הוא

"And upon Your great kindness I trust, that You grant me to come to the Land of Israel, even though I am not even worthy to utter the name "the Holy Land of Israel", and I am very very far from the holiness of the Holy Land of Israel, nevertheless have compassion upon me and grant me to come to the Land of Israel, so that I arise to the ways of holiness truly..." (Likutei Tfilot 20)

One of the levels of holiness tied to a specific location is highlighted in this week's parsha in our title quote, in which Moshe Rabeinu is ordered to remove his shoes upon entering the the "Mount of God", which later is known as Mount Sinai. However, it should be noted that, unlike the Land of Israel and the Temple Mount which retain a relatively constant level of holiness, Mount Sinai was only 'sanctified' for a relatively short period while the Holy Presence rested upon it - 'when the Jubilee horn calls they (the multitudes) may ascend upon the mount (Sinai - that is the sanctity diminishes).' This said, the similarity between the sanctity of Mount Sinai mentioned in this week's parsha and the Temple Mount is striking. Halacha bids one not to wear [leather] shoes upon entering the Temple Mount, just as Moshe is bidden to remove his shoes upon entering Mount Sinai.

What is the relationship between these two locations portals of such holiness, one temporary (Mount Sinai) and one permanent (Temple Mount)? It seems that one of the striking links between these two locations is none other than the city of Jericho. Upon the land of this holy city too Joshua is commanded to remove his shoes with the exact same words delivered to Moshe. Indeed, our Sages say that Jericho's land was exchanged with that of the Temple Mount in exact measure. This 'exchange' means that the tribe of Binyamin which forfeited its land for the Temple Mount was given in its stead this same measurement of land in Jericho, which had been occupied by the descendants of Jethro beforehand.

One of the explanations given by our Sages for the sanctity of Jericho is that Jericho was the first city conquered by Israel in the Land of Israel, and as a result is like the 'First Offering/Fruit' sanctified unto HaShem. This is also explains, according to our Sages, why Joshua forbade anyone to build Jericho, due to its sanctity (y. Shimoni Josh. 15). However, many poskim rule that today it is permissible and even commendable to build Jericho and settle it with Jews, based on the Yerushalmi Talmud which limits Joshua's ban only till Jericho is already built. They ascertain that according to the Talmud once already built (by Divine command, error or by non-Jews) there is no more ban to develop and build the city of Jericho. Here again we see how Jericho acts as kind of a middle-path between temporarily holy Mount Sinai and the permanently holy Temple Mount

This concept is echoed in the Mishna Tamid (3, 8) which states 10 things that occurred at the Temple that Jericho miraculously could hear or experience. 'Yeriho' (Jericho) according to the Arizal also hints to the word 'yareach' - moon, a matter that once again takes us to the Temple, which is likened to a moon by our Sages, reaching its height in the days of Solomon, builder of the Temple. Based on this we may say that it seems that HaShem wished to bring Israel step by step towards the Bait HaMikdash. First Israel experienced Mount Sinai, then the Holy Presence was present in the Mishkan throughout the wilderness, then Jericho was conquered and sanctified (and the Mishkan was 'anchored' adjacently in Gilgal), and then after a number of temporary moves (which will be discussed in coming weeks b"h) the Mishkan became the permanent Temple of Jerusalem.

It is clear from the constant pairing of Jerusalem and Hebron in the conquests of Joshua (see Josh. ch. 10, 3 and ch. 12, 10 and more) that this development of Jerusalem, as we have described at length here, is deeply tied to the constant power of Hebron from which the very initial revelation at Mount Sinai begins: 'I am the God of Your fathers the God of Avraham the God of Isaac, and the God of Yaacov."

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #150

"I planned not to take any hitchhikers in my car this morning, since I was running late to my kollel. However, I happened to see another member of my kollel who needed a ride, so I summoned him to come into the car quickly. Just as he entered, however, another man, unaffiliated to the kollel, opened the door and started to rearrange the boosters/baby-seats in order to sit in the car, which of course took time. A bit later I happened to see another member of my kollel, and since the "unwanted" hitchhiker had already 'arranged' the back seat I was able to take him too." Y.M.N

Sources: Yeshuot Menahem p. 325-344

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