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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

תפקדו אותם לצבאותם

"HaShem the Lord of Hosts is with us, a Stronghold unto us, the God of Jacob, Selah!"

In the past we have shown how the term "The Lord of Hosts" pertains especially to God's Presence among large populations of the People of Israel. After our study throughout the book of Vayikra on the ten gradations of sanctity of the Temple and their relationship to Hebron, we will now resume, at the beginning of the book of Bamidbar, our study on various cities in the general Land of Israel and their relationship to Hebron. This week we will discuss some of the deeper meanings of the most greatly populated city in the Land of Israel today, Tel-Aviv-Yafo (Jappa).

Yafo is mentioned in the book of Joshua as one of the cities of the tribe of Dan. Later, in the book of Yona it is mentioned as the port-city from which Yona the prophet departed for the Diaspora. The last source for this city is in the book of Chronicles which also mentions this city in context of the Mediterranean, even calling the Mediterranean Sea the "Sea of Yafo". The two last sources we mentioned point at Yafo's identity as being a port-city, a place that closely connects between the Divinely inspired culture originating from the Land of Israel and the foreign culture of the Diaspora.

Similarly, we find that our Sages (see their interpretation of Dan's offering in parshat Naso in Bamidbar Raba) tie the tribe of Dan in general with the figure of Samson of the tribe of Dan, who was strongly involved with the foreign culture of the Philistines. According to our Sages the "Philistine" women Samson was involved with were actually converts to Judaism (for an explanation on the difference between a Jewish convert and a "Noahide convert" given permission to reside in the Land of Israel see Yitro 5765). The identity of the tribe of Dan with the figure of Samson by our Sages points to the ability and/or tendency of this tribe to deal with foreign influences and "import/convert" these influences into main-stream Judaism. Of course, such an endeavor requires much caution and usage of the attribute of "judgment" - "din", as in the name "Dan", to ascertain detrimental motives, falsehood, etc. on the part of such foreign influences that may cause spiritual harm unto Israel, God forbid. Indeed, we find at times that the tribe of Dan was not successful in fully "converting" these influences, such as we see in Samson's downfall with Delilah and the tribe of Dan's downfall with the idols of Micah in the book of Judges. Nevertheless, there is potential  in this work of Dan, for when these foreign influences are properly "converted" they enhance the beauty of Israel, by showing how even the spiritual "sparks" found in the farthest reaches and cultures of the world are found in Israel, the People of God, Creator of All.

Thus, we may understand why this port-city of the tribe of Dan is called "Yafo", which means "beauty". It is also not surprising why Tel-Aviv-Yafo is the largest populated city in the Land of Israel today, since our People were in the Diaspora for many years and also much of our People still reside in the Diaspora, a matter that requires the great spiritual "adjustment", from the spirit of the Diaspora to the spirit of the Holy Land, so potent to this city. The name Tel-Aviv also conveys the same concept by describing this place as the crossroads between the old (Tel - old mound) with the new (Aviv - "new spring"). 

In the past we have discovered some of the beauty inherent in Hebron, the City of Patriarchal Unity, Harmony and Beauty. Yet still, Hebron is very different from Yafo in the sense that is the first Jewish City from antiquity, delivering forth the very original Divinely inspired culture springing from the Holy Land. Therefore, we may say that it is Hebron which gives Yafo its original beauty which may be then enhanced by the "raising of spiritual sparks" brought from the world-over to the "spiritual ports" of Yafo.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #173

"For a long time I had a cut in my hand that was bothering me, and inexplicably never cured. One day I decided to thank God for this minor wound with belief that it is truly God's Will. The next day the cut simply disappeared entirely, totally cured" (S.A)

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