• | Print |
•  Email

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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

‘After God has Shown You All this None is Wiser or More Clever than You’

“Blessed are You HaShem... Who has commanded us to light the light of Hanuka.”

Every year we celebrate the Hanuka lights in conjunction with the illuminating flame and light of Yosef in this parsha. This matter is hinted to in the verse: ‘and the house of Jacob shall be like a fire and the house of Joseph as a flame.’ The Wisdom of the Torah is called ‘light’ as our Sages interpret the verse in Ester ‘the Jews had light and rejoice’, ‘light refers to Torah’. It is upon the wisdom of the Torah, the Divine inspiration of Yosef, that Pharaoh exclaims: ‘After God has shown you all this none is wiser or more clever than you’. The wisdom of the Torah is especially connected to Hebron, for the Zohar considers the name ‘Hebron’ to be synonymous with Torah study.

One of the great Torah luminaries, named Yosef, that had a deep connection to Hebron and also visited Hebron was Rabbi Yosef Hayim of Baghdad, the Ben Ish Hai. We explained before, that Rabbi Yosef Hayim’s brother-in-law was Rabbi Eliyahu Mani, chief Rabbi of Hebron, whom the Rabbi Yosef Hayim considered as his master in Kabbalah. The Ben Ish Hai himself was a master Kabbalist, which makes his evaluation of Rabbi Eliyahu Mani even more astounding.

The following story describes some of the Ben Ish Hai’s devotion to Hebron: On a visit of the Ben Ish Hai to Hebron, he tried to enter the Maarat HaMachpela building, pretending that he was unaware that Jews were banned from doing so and were limited to the ‘Seventh Step’ then. In Hebron's alleys word spread among the Muslims: 'a Jewish rabbi came to town, and he plans to pray in the ‘Kal’a' (Maarat HaMachpela)!' Young Muslims left the stalls in the market and worked their way towards the ‘Kal’a’. Hebron of those days, one hundred and forty years ago, was controlled by the Turks. The Qadi of the Muslims hated Jews with all his soul, and he roused the Muslims of Hebron to attack Jews. Whenever a Jew came near the tomb of the Patriarchs, the Arabs would attack him with fists and stones, and he was deported in disgrace and insult. Before he opened in prayer, the Ben Ish Hai was attacked by Arab crowds, and if not for some Turks who took Rabbi Yosef Hayim away, this incident could have ended in a disaster. The Ben Ish Hai returned from Hebron to Jerusalem, but was grieved that he could not pray at the graves of his ancestors. He checked and found that one of the notables of the Arabs in Hebron is greedy, and will do anything for a decent sum.The Ben Ish Hai secretly summoned this man and told him that he is willing to pay generously if he would allow him to pray near the tomb of the Patriarchs. When the Arab heard this, he brought the Ben Ish Hai in secret to the Maarat HaMachpela and waited for a long time until he finished praying, and then brought him safely to Jerusalem. Although the Ben Ish Hai merited to pray at the tombs of his ancestors, his heart hurt for his fellow Jews who did not have money to bribe the Arabs to enter the Maarat HaMachpela building. When he went back to his city and country, the Ben Ish Hai decided to try to redeem the Cave of the Patriarchs so that all Jews could pray there. On his way from Israel to Iraq he passed through Damascus, there sat the Turkish Governor of Syria and Israel. At that time the Governor was not in Damascus, so the Ben Ish Hai convinced an affluent individual named Senor Shemaiah to plead on his part to pay a considerable sum to buy the Maarat HaMachpela so Jews could pray there. A few weeks later, when the Governor returned to Damascus, Senor Shemaiah asked him to allow Jews to buy the Tomb of the Patriarchs, to which he agreed. Jews already prepared to raise a large sum of money to buy the place, but then the Muslim Qadi  burned with wrath. He called the wealthy Arab Qadi and incited them until they raised large sums of money that surpassed the sums of money than the Jews were able to pay, and the sale of the Cave of the Patriarchs to Jews was cancelled...

This story allows us to appreciate the incredible gift we have today - Maarat HaMachpela is open every day to Jews, and with the easiest effort one can pray at the graves of  our Holy Fathers - which in the not so distant past was but a dream.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Real Stories from the Holy Land #247

‘My mother found a disk-on-key in Central Bus Station in Jerusalem, and she gave me the job to investigate who was its owner. When I investigated this, I found that this disk-on-key belonged to no other than my neighbor in Kiryat Arba!’

Sources: ‘Shalom LaAm’ (website)

Comments, questions, and/or stories,email  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.