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Parshat Tazria Metzora
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר

“For the leader. A psalm of David. May HaShem  answer you in time of trouble, the name of Jacob’s God keep you safe. May He send you help from the sanctuary, and sustain you from Zion.” (Ps. 20)

‘Sending help’ implies that there is a messenger involved in God’s salvation. One of the earliest images of such a ‘messenger’ in human consciousness is one’s mother at one’s birth. This image is actually very close to the meaning of the fore-mentioned verse which mentions sustenance from Zion, since Zion is also compared to a mother - ‘Zion gives birth to her children’ (Isaiah 66, 8). Indeed, this psalm is considered particularly beneficial to be used in prayer for a woman in labor and for all the months of pregnancy.

The process of pregnancy and birth is generally considered a ‘passage-way’ towards real life after birth. In the Ma'arat HaMachpela Building there is a corridor which leads one from the ‘Chamber of the Britot’ to the ‘Chambers of the Patrairchs’, called by many simply as ‘The Passageway’ (HaMaavar). It seems that this passageway reminds us of the process involved in the redemption of Zion, the ‘mother in birth’ according to Isaiah. When comparing Zion to a mother in birth, Isaiah also implies that the redemption of Zion is a process, involving periods of gestation, birth, nursing, growth and adulthood. 

According to the Arizal, Zion is synonymous with Hebron. One of the leading figures of Hebron, and the settlement of much of the Land of Israel, was Rabbi Moshe Levinger zt”l. Rabbi Levinger emphasized in his writing and speech that Israel needs to ‘ascend to a higher level’. In a nutshell this means that, while the establishment of the state of Israel and the physical prosperity, security, etc. of Israel are all good as a beginning stage, still there needs to be ‘a higher level’ reached, which comes after this initial stage. Rabbi Levinger explains that Israel needs to reach a consciousness of the ‘Godly aspect of the Land of Israel.’ In the image of the ‘birthing of Zion’ we may say that in this process, we may be, on a national level, in a ‘nursing’ stage (or some other early stage) in this process, just as a baby is mostly aware of only his most basic physical needs. The spiritual level of the Holy Land and its relationship to the building of the People of Israel is, unfortunately, still unknown by many. In continuation of Rabbi Levinger’s vision and testament we wish in our divrei Torah to portray the Land of Israel in its spiritual and Godly aspects, in order that our People will indeed rise to this ‘higher level’ Rabbi Levinger so wished that we aspire towards.

We believe that it is not only Rabbi Levinger, who carried this great aspiration, but it is also the ‘air of Hebron’ from which Rabbi Levinger drew his vision and courage, that carries this ‘inspiring air’. This is the air Kaleb drew in his courageous fight against the spies, to protect and amplify the inherent greatness of the Holy Land before all Israel. It is through this inspiring air that we trust in God to aid us and you, our dear reader, in this lofty goal - ‘Seeking the Holy Presence in our Holy Land.’ 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #217

‘One morning I inadvertently pressed a button on my cellphone, which called the police. It ‘turns out’ that just about an hour or two later I got a warning notice from the police on where my car was parked. Later that late afternoon/evening a man (apparently a crazy/drunk punk) entered my house un-solicited and threw my toaster-oven at one of my children, but thank God nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged. It goes without saying that I called the police, this time intentionally, to deal with this incident...’ A.I

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