Book A Tour  |  

Parshat Ki Tavo
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

When You Come to the Land

"And may our eyes see when You return to Zion with compassion..."

According to the Vilna Gaon the sixth millennium from Creation, which we are presently living in, runs parallel to the book of Deuteronomy, while each century of this millennium runs parallel to a different parasha. Thus, this week's parsha, Ki Tavo, seventh parsha of Deuteronomy, runs parallel to the seventh century of the sixth millennium, i.e 5600-5700 (1840-1940). Fascinatingly, the name of this parsha, which means "when You come to the Land", depicts quite precisely a major change that occurred in this century, the mass movement towards the Land of Israel. Although, within our current century, the eight century of the sixth millennium, there has been a greater number of Jews who have returned to the Holy Land, it is quite clear that the main shift towards mass movement from all circles of Jewish life across the globe, in contrast to individual movement before, occurred in the century before.

It is not ostentatious to say that the last time such a great movement of Jews to "to come to the Land" occurred during the era of Joshua.  One of the fascinating locations conquered in the era of Joshua is the city Dvir or Kiryat Sefer (not Kiryat Sefer of today which is next to Modiin), a city in relatively close vicinity to Hebron. On the one hand, the book of Joshua describes the conquest of Dvir, Kiryat Sefer, by Joshua, while the book of Judges (and Joshua elsewhere) describes how Kaleb offered his daughter in marriage to the one who conquers Kiryat Sefer, which later 'turned out' to be Kaleb's younger brother, Otniel the son of Kenaz. Commentators explain that Joshua conquered Kiryat Sefer at large, while Otniel conquered a particularly challenging section of this city where giants lived. One of the remarkable matters regarding this city is that these two parallel stories both appear right after the conquest of Hebron and involve the two heroes involved with the message of Hebron in the episode of the spies in the Desert, Joshua and Kaleb. Furthermore, Otniel is one of the famous figures buried in Hebron (today access to his tomb is given only a spare number of times a year; there also is a settlement south of Hebron named after him).

Another fascinating link is that this offer of marriage in context of success in conquest is echoed in these terms, only one more time in the Bible, David's battle with Goliath. It seems that this offer was made at the advent of a new era of Israel's history, as Otniel begins the period of Judges, while the battle of Goliath occurs at the advent of monarchy in Israel in the time of Saul and David. It seems that this, yet again, depicts how Israel is compared to a 'husband' and the Holy Land is considered the 'wife'. Therefore, it seems that when an individual began a historic era with conquest of the Holy Land this evoked the explicit offer of marriage on a human level. By this we also understand why Hebron, Joshua, and Kaleb are linked to Kiryat Sefer, for in this episode began the era of the reign of the Judges, just as Hebron itself is the Cradle of the Monarchy of David, the primary monarchy of all time.  The name Kiryat Sefer and Dvir both connote the Torah as the Torah is called 'hasefer', the book, and Dvir is used in context of the Holy of Holies which contains the Tablets of the Torah, the 'dvar' (as in dvir), the word, of God. In this way, Kiryat Sefer is once again closely connected to Hebron, as the Zohar (p. Shlah) that Hebron means Torah since 'one who occupies himself with Torah is a called a 'haber' (member of the class of Torah scholars). 

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

Real Stories from the Holy Land #188

'One day I called a friend after not talking or seeing him for about a year. Just a few hours later I just 'happened' to meet this very person on the street'. A.I

 

Sample Prayer #1 (for 'cultivating' our seeking for the Holy Presence - see six previous issues - can be used as a preparation for prayer, to direct one's thoughts to the Holy Presence of the Holy Land as halacha requires (O"H 94)): 'Blessed are You HaShem our God and the God of our Forefathers, and blessed are You Who returns His Presence to Zion... Thank You HaShem our God for such a desirable, good, and wide Land, Land of Your Holy Presence, Land of Your continuous and direct Providence! Thank you for giving us the great gift of the Holy City of Hebron which allows us to connect to Your Holy Land and Presence so deeply and truly. Thank You for the Holy City of Jerusalem, the Holy Temple You will build, and the Holy Presence You shine upon us from there (here imagine yourself inside the Temple and that the Holy Presence is before youas halacha requires (ibid)). Thank you for the city of Dvir-Kiryat Sefer, which reminds us of Your Holy Torah, the Holy of Holies, the Holy City of Hebron, and of our holy union with Your Land, as of bride and groom. Indeed, may we see evermore Your return to Zion with compassion...' (continue with standardized prayer)

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