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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land 

והיה לאות על ידכה ולזיכרון בין עיניך

“Blessed are You HaShem our God King of the Universe Who has sanctified us with his commandments and has commanded us to put on tfilin.”

Tefilin are meant to remind us of the Exodus, as our parsha tells us that by wearing tefilin one is reminded how ‘HaShem took you out of Egypt with a strong hand.” It is also important to remember the purpose of the Exodus, as described in last week’s parsha, ‘to take you to the Land promised to Avraham, Yitzhak and Yakov.’ This dominant theme in the commandment of tefilin emphasizing the Land of Israel as being the goal of the Exodus can be also seen in our Sages’ interpretation of the second portion of Shema.

Our Sages explain the juxtaposition of the commandment to wear tefilin and the Exile from the Land in the second portion of Shema to essentially depict the tefilin as ‘marks of memory’ even in Exile, i.e reminders even within Exile that the main observance of mitzvot is in the Land of Israel. Based on what we just mentioned, we can also say that the way tefilin remind us of the observance of the mitzvoth in the Land is through reminding us of the First Exodus meant to bring us to the Holy Land. In this way, every Jewish man today who wears tefilin is not only remembering the First Exodus but is also taking part in the future Exodus from Exile, when facing and directing his thoughts towards the Land of Israel and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in his prayers before the Holy Presence.

Our Sages explain about the mitzvah of tefilin that ‘one should do this/(these) mitzvo(t), for because of it you will (merit) to enter the Land’. Interestingly, these ‘marks of memory’, the tefilin, are called ‘zionim’ by our Sages, which highlights even more how these ‘marks’ are connected to Zion.

One of the sites of Hebron today whose name seems to allude to the message of tefilin is ‘Beit HaMachpela’, literally meaning the ‘the Double House’. A box of tefilin is called a ‘house’ in Hebrew; hence, ‘the Double House’ connotes a ‘pair/double of tefilin boxes/houses’. Indeed, this is Hebron, synonymous with the term Zion according to the Arizal. This is Zion, ‘tziun’, ‘Mark of the Holy Presence’, to which our ‘marks of memory’, the tefilin on our arms and upon our heads, lead us in our current and future Exodus to our Holy Land.

 
Beit HaShalom

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #206

‘I sent out about 30-40 text messages to friends and family seeking someone to work for a specific job opportunity. There were only two answers: one was a person who was interested in working in this job opportunity and the second answer essentially recommended finding someone who fit exactly the credentials of the first person who had answered (there was no connection between these responses)...’ 

Sources: Sifri Ekev 43, Psikta Zutrta Bo 13, 9, Shaar HaPsukim Shmuel

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