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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

‘And He sent Yosef from Hebron’

‘May You have compassion on Zion, for the time has come to favor her...’

The Midrash teaches that everything that befell Yosef, so befell upon Zion. Yosef is considered a symbol of Zion, and also the numerical value of his name is identical with the numerical value of ‘Zion’ (156). In addition the Arizal ties the term Zion specifically with Hebron, a matter that fits perfectly with Hebron’s identity as being the Beacon of the Holy Land.

One of the famous righteous figures both named Yosef and also associated with Hebron was the ‘Hida’, Rabbi Hayim Yosef David Azulai, author of about 120 Torah works, and also a descendant of the famous righteous figure of Hebron, the ‘Hesed LeAvraham’ (discussed this year in parshat Toldot). Describing the Hida’s Torah greatness is outside the scope of our discussion, but we may suffice with a quote about him saying (similar to Maimonides): ‘from Yosef (Rabbi Yosef Kairo, author of the Shulhan Aruch) till Yosef (the Hida) none arose like Yosef.’ Indeed, there are also very interesting parallels between the Hida and the original Yosef of this week’s parsha.

One parallel between the Hida and the original Yosef is their connection to Hebron, and how they were both sent from Hebron ultimately to the Diaspora. The Hida lived in Hebron and was sent twice on behalf of Hebron’s Jewish Community to the Diaspora to seek support for this community, once in 5613 and then again in 5633. The first time the Hida was sent at the age of 29, he spent six (!) years abroad apart from his young wife and family. Some explain that the reason that the Hida was sent was due to the Hebron Community’s wish to correct the bad impression made by the regular representatives of the Land of Israel’s Jewry to the Diaspora. Because of the tediousness of this task, many honorable residents abstained from going on such a mission, and therefore the regular representatives were usually not Torah scholars. Therefore, in order to correct this impression the community deliberately sent one of the community’s Torah luminaries, so that all shall see that ‘from Zion Torah shall emerge.’ Therefore, the Hida’s journey through the Diaspora, in Sefardic and Ashcenazic countries alike, also acted as a rare bridge between the Torah luminaries of the time between these countries and also between the Torah centers of Ashkenazic and Sephardic countries with the Torah of the Land of Israel.

Indeed, in similarity to Yosef, the Hida was originally accepted in the Diaspora as a layman, none knowing of his rare genius. However, soon they realized that before them stood a true Torah luminary, realizing, as it says about Yosef in Egypt - ‘can such a man be found, that the spirit of God is with him?’ On one occasion, a potential donor remarked that according to halacha he needs to support the poor of his own town before a distant town in the Land of Israel (if this is halachically true is discussed in another issue). To this the Hida replied that he has not come to ask money for the poor, but rather to grant Jewry of the Diaspora the merit of supporting the important mitzvah of settling the Holy Land.

Also, by the Hida’s courageous actions he was able to provide sustenance to Jewry of the Holy Land in time of famine, also a fascinating parallel with the original Yosef. Of course, the Hida did not only provide material sustenance, but also tremendous spiritual sustenance in his many works, from which we benefit to this day.

Another interesting parallel between the Hida and the original Yosef is the fact that both were buried in the Diaspora, but their bones were later brought to be buried in the Land of Israel. Indeed, in 5715, according to the ruling of the Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nisim, the Hida’s bones were taken from Italy where he was buried to be buried in the Land of Israel. Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu was appointed to deal with the Hida’s burial. The miraculous story of the Hida’s burial will follow in ‘Real Stories from the Holy Land..’

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #246

‘When the Hida’s bones were brought I asked, ‘is the Hida buried in this coffin?’ I was answered, ‘yes, these are his bones that were collected [after they were scattered]’. I asked, ‘the Hida was not a whole skeleton?!’... After dunking in the mikveh, I approached the Hida and started to open the coffin (to arrange the bones in order)... immediately a tremendous noise emerged from the coffin, and some of the people around me fainted... Then I called, ‘the Hida! You wrote such a and such, and I am doing just as you said!’ When I opened the coffin, I held my breath and asked that the Hida’s bones be arranged on their own. Just then, I suddenly felt my hands being moved on top of the coffin till the bones joined together to become a full skeleton...’ Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu zt

Sources: Wikipedia and www.yeshiva.org, Tanhuma Vayigash 10

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