• | Print |
•  Email

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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם

"And please build Jerusalem the holy city speedily in our days. Blessed are You HaShem Who builds Jerusalem with His compassion, Amen.” (Birkas HaMazon)

In the next coming parshios, which describe the building of the Mishkan, we will b”h study the various forms of the Mishkan and Temple in its various locations in the Land of Israel, this also being a major theme of all our issues - 'seeking the Holy Presence'. The building of the Bait HaMikdash is a positive commandment, as in our title quote, also tied to the People's entrance to the Land of Israel, as in the verse 'you shall seek His Holy Presence and come there' (לשכנו תדרשו ובאת שמה), as ruled by the Rambam (M'lachim 1, 1).

Interestingly, we find a kind of reversal of concepts between these two verses, 'build Me a Mikdash (and then) I will rest (my Holy Presence) among them', while the second verse states 'seek His Holy Presence and (then) come there'. The first verse, 'build Me a Mikdash', in context pertains both to the Mishkan as well as the permanent Bait HaMikdash, while the second verse pertains to the more permanent state of the Temple in Jerusalem (according to some, also to Shilo - the 'semi-permanent' Temple). It seems that these verses teach us that while on a basic level of building the Mishkan just initially building is sufficient, nevertheless on the grand level of the Bais HaMikdash a probing 'search' for the Holy Presence must be made.

We see from the books of the Prophets that this 'search' did not reach its 'final destination' till a process of many years and various mile-stone 'encampments' on the way. The first 'encampment' in the Land of Israel of the Temple was in Gilgal, which lasted 14 years. These 14 years seem to be reminiscent of the 14 years Yakov worked to marry his wives Rachel and Leah, for whom he worked 7 years each. Here too these 14 years are divided into 7 years of conquering the Land of Israel and 7 years of dividing this Land between the tribes by allotment and re-allocation of each tribe. Indeed, we may say that the 7 years of conquest correspond to Rachel, while the 7 years of division correspond to Leah. This analogy follows perfectly with the depiction of Israel as husband and the Land as a wife that must be 'worked' for in a process of a 'double-seven' annual process. Rachel represents, according to our Sages, the 'revealed world', which means that her type of 'work' means literal conquest in its worldly and 'revealed' context. However, after this stage comes the 7 years of Leah, the 'concealed world', a much more internal type of acquisition of the Land which involves allotting lands through Ruah Hakodesh and Divinely directed lots. Also, the division of lands between the tribes represents a more internal connection to the Land, 'uniting' each tribe to the portion of land spiritually 'matched' (as in marriage) to them.

The name Gilgal seems to represent this beginning process, for 'gal' means mound/pillar, as if to say this place is the beginning mound/pillar of development of the Land of Israel. This double development of 'Rachel' and 'Leah' seems to be hinted in the double 'gil' and 'gal' of this location. Indeed, the first 'gal' in the Torah is the 'gal' of Laban, father of Rachel and Leah, which was erected as a treaty on the basis of Yakov's proper treatment of Rachel and Leah.

In the past we have also shown how these two concepts of 'Rachel' and 'Leah' correspond to the concepts of Zion-Hebron and Jerusalem respectively. Indeed, it is through this spirit of 'Rachel', of Hebron, 'uniting with' and acquiring the Holy Land, that ultimately the light of the 'complete revelation' (yeraeh shalem) of Leah, of Jerusalem, shines upon us.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Real Stories from the Holy Land #156

"One day I saw a 100 NIS bill drop from someone on to the sidewalk. This person noticed that the bill had fallen and picked it up. This matter triggered me to tell my wife that if we had full faith we could find 100 NIS just lying on the sidewalk (with no signs of ownership) to be picked up and acquired by us. Just several minutes later we really did find a 100 NIS bill at a different location with no signs of any owner..." Y.S

Comments, questions, and/or stories,email  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.