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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

And a River Departed from Eden...and Divided into Four Tributaries

 

"Like a deer calls upon springs of water so shall my soul call out to You, O God!" (Ps. 42)

This verse is the opening phrase of the chapter of Tehilim said in many congregations on the holiday of Succot. Indeed, both Succot and Shmini Atzeret, have a dominant emphasis on water, as the libation of water was and will be on Succot, and the mentioning  of rain in our prayers begins on Shmini Atzeret. At this time we also begin the book of Beresheit, associated with the attribute of kindness (as some say on reciting tehilim on Hoshana Raba night), as our Sages teach that the world existed through God's kindness till the 'world' became more worthy by Receiving the Torah in the book of Shmot. This attribute of kindness is also associated by our Sages to water, the life-giving element on earth. The element of water naturally brings us to the four rivers from Eden (Gihon, Pishon, Hidekel, Prat (Euphrates)) mentioned in our title quote. Just as the Garden of Eden has four rivers associated with it, so too the Land of Israel, our present day spiritual 'Paradise' has four rivers according to the Sages: the Jordan, Yarmuch. Karmiyon, and Figa (Baba Batra 74b).

We have mentioned in the past that Ma'arat HaMachpela is identified as the 'Threshold of the Garden of Eden', and with the same token is strongly associated with the Land of Israel, being synonymous with the term Zion, according the Arizal. These two concepts come beautifully together when we ponder the fact that Hebron has four names (Hebron, Kiryat Arba, Mamreh, Eshkol), four saintly couples, and is also called the 'City of Four'. Interestingly, there are also four neighborhoods adjacent to Maaras Hamachpela today (Avraham Avinu, Beit Romano, Beit Hadasa, and Admot Yishai). The dominance of the number four here seems to be no accident, as the number four is indicative of the Tetragrammaton.

Just like the rivers of Eden and the Land of Israel water and represent kindness to all, so too Hebron, Beacon of the Holy Land and Threshold of Eden, waters all with its spiritual light and kindness - 'And He remembers the kindness of the Patriarchs and delivers a redeemer to their descendants for His Namesake with love.'

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #192

'I once went to the municipality of my town in order to advance a hesed project I had begun about 40 days before.  It turns out that the very same day I came to the municipality, the office of the municipality made efforts to call me as well, for the first time in these 40 days.'

Sources: Baba Batra 74b, Bamidbar Raba Shlah 

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