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Parshat Nitzavim Vayelech
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

חזק ואמץ כי אתה תביא את בני ישראל אל הארץ

'And I hereby raise my courage before You with brazenness like copper and iron, with extremely great stubbornness, to ask now before You that You raise me quickly to the Land of Israel, the Land of the Living, the Holy Land...' (Likutei Tfilot II 39)

The Talmud (Brachot 32) teaches that four matters require 'strengthening': Torah study, prayer, good deeds, and 'derech eretz.' Rashi explains the term 'derech eretz' to refer to the importance of performing one's profession well. Nevertheless, some interpret 'derech eretz' to refer to the 'way of the Land ('eretz') of Israel', i.e strengthening the settlement of the Land of Israel. This inference is made on the fact that the source in the Talmud for the importance of strengthening 'derech eretz' is taken from the General Yoav's words of encouragement on conquering the Land of Israel (Sam. II, 10, 12). In addition, the Yalkut HaReuveni also infers from another source, the verse 'and you shall be strong and take from the fruit of the Land' (p. Shlah), that 'the settlement of the Land of Israel requires strengthening'.

According to the simple meaning of our title quote of this parsha Joshua is commanded to 'be strong' in regard to bringing the People to the Land of Israel to settle it. Interestingly, the source in the Talmud for the need of strengthening Torah study and good deeds is also based on a command on Joshua by God in the book of Joshua which uses the exact same terminology used here 'hazak ve'ematz'. This matter ties the strengthening of Torah and prayer to the strengthening of the settlement of the Land of Israel and vice versa. Even more interesting is the fact that even the proof-text for strengthening prayer, 'hope unto HaShem, be strong and encourage your heart',  is said throughout the month of Elul and the beginning of the new year which coincides with this week's parsha, always read at the advent of the new year. In this way, all four categories of 'strengthening' are tied together as we approach the new year, which shows the special importance of strengthening ourselves in these matters at the advent of the new year.

By this inference we may also say that each category is tied to the other categories and has dependency on them. Thus, Torah study needs the settlement of the Land as the Talmud in Hagiga (5b) states: 'once they were exiled from the Land there is no such greater nullification of Torah study.' Of course the settlement of the Land is also dependent on Torah study, prayer and good deeds, as can be seen in many verses of the Torah talking about keeping the covenant of the Torah in order to be able to remain settled in this Land. Also, Torah and prayer and good deeds are dependent on each other, as without Torah study one's prayer is scorned (Shabbat 9b) and one does not know how to do good deeds properly (Kidushin 40b). Without prayer, one is lacking the Divine insight Torah study calls for (see what we wrote on Shoftim three weeks ago), and without good deeds one's Torah study is easily uprooted (Avot 3, 9).

One of the places in Hebron today which illustrates 'stubbornness and strength' in regard to the settlement of the Land of Israel is the Synagogue Hazon David, named after David Cohen and Yehezkel Mualam z"l hy"d who were murdered at this site.  This synagogue has been built, destroyed and rebuilt about 40 times over 16 years (!). There is no doubt that it is the spirit of Hebron, which was imbibed in Kaleb and is today still instilled in the hearts of the Jews of Hebron which brings the perseverance on this endeavor despite all odds.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #235

 'One Shabbat night, I fell asleep on the sofa, and I woke up there at about 2 am. I was startled that the lights of the house were still on, for the Shabbat timer was supposed to turn off at midnight. Instead of being angry at this, I decided to thank HaShem for this situation, and I began to wash dishes by the lights of the house. Immediately when I finished washing the dishes, the Shabbat timer suddenly turned off all the lights in the house...' H.G

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