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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

לרב תרבה נחלתו

“And to Jerusalem Your City may You return with compassion and may You dwell within it as You have spoken... Blessed are You HaShem Who builds Jerusalem.”

The building of Jerusalem can connote the building of the Land of Israel in general which is all tied to Jerusalem. There is also a clear link between the building of Jerusalem and the in-gathering of exiles as the verse says, ‘Hashem builds Jerusalem, the dispersed of Israel He shall gather.’ One of the meanings we see from this is that there is a reciprocal effect between the in-gathering of exiles and the building of Jerusalem. In other words, the building of Jerusalem, and the Land of Israel at large, bring about the in-gathering of exiles and vice versa. Indeed this parsha describes this reciprocal relationship, tying the numbers of a specific tribe in the Land to the amount of this Land that they deserve, as can be seen in our title quote.

One of the locations in Hebron today that reflects this deep connection between Israel and the building of Zion is Beit HaShisha - House of the Six. This ‘House’ or building is named after the six men who sacrificed their lives after the following events about forty years ago:

“A week and a half after Pesach 5739 (1979) a group of 10 women and 40 children left Kiryat Arba in the middle of the night. They entered the abandoned Beit Hadassah building, originally built in the 1870s as a medical clinic for Jews and Arabs in Hebron, abandoned since the 1929 riots.

Originally, in response to this entrance, Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered that the building be surrounded by police and soldiers, and decreed that nothing, including food and water, be allowed into the building. However, Rabbi Moshe Levinger, convinced him to allow the women and children, food and water. The women and children lived like this, under siege, for two months. No one was allowed in and anyone leaving would not be allowed to return.

After over two months the women and children were allowed to leave and return, but no one else was allowed in. They lived this way for a year.

On Friday nights, following Shabbat prayers at Ma'arat HaMachpela, the worshipers, including students from the Kiryat Arba Nir Yeshiva, would dance to Beit Hadassah, sing and dance in front of the building, recite Kiddush for the women, and then return to Kiryat Arba. A day before Lag BaOmer 5740 (1980), a year after the women first arrived at Beit Hadassah, the group of men was attacked by terrorists stationed on the roof of a building across from Beit Hadassah. The Arab terrorists, shooting and throwing hand grenades killed six men and wounded twenty. Later that week the Israeli government finally issued official authorization for the renewal of a Jewish community in Hebron. Nevertheless, it took another twenty years till a building was allowed to be built and dedicated in memory of these six men.”

Commentators note that the number six reappears in both censuses at the beginning of the book of Bamidbar and at its end in this week’s parsha, i.e 600,000 in both total censuses when rounded. Both of these censuses essentially express the numbers of Israel journeying towards the Holy Land. The Kabbalists note that this number six corresponds to the letter ‘vav’ in the Tetragammaton, which signifies the People of Israel, while the last ‘heh’ signifies the Holy Land. By contemplating this we may also realize the significance of the name the 'House of Six' as signifying the return of the Jewish People to the heart of Hebron, Beacon of the Holy Land. 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #226

‘Once I discussed the importance of peace and cessation of conflict in a certain community. That week, which was parshat Korah, which also talks about cessation of conflict, I was called up to the Torah (Aliya) three times at different synagogues.' A.I

Sources: Quote of the House of Six story is taken from the Hebron Fund site with slight variations

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