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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

‘And They Traveled’

‘May it be Your Will HaShem our God and God of our fathers that you let us travel safely in peace, and may walk us walk in peace, and may You show us the way in peace...’ (Wayfarer’s Prayer)

This week’s parsha describes the first journey of the People of Israel as they make voyage towards the Holy Land. This journey is met with many obstacles, which were ways HaShem tested our People, thereby also ‘exercising’ and strengthening our People’s faith.

Our Rabbis teach us that all that we experience in regard to our own personal ‘exodus’ to freedom is hinted to in the original Exodus from Egypt, from which we may gain wisdom and inspiration to deal with our own personal ‘exodus’. Indeed, in one’s own life, and especially if one strives to come to the Holy Land, which echoes the goal of the original Exodus, there may be many obstacles that test one’s faith, just as our ancestors were tested in their Exodus. Some obstacles that can be hinted to in this parsha pertain to natural obstacles such as crossing the Red Sea, some are obstacles of consciousness such as fear of an enemy, the chasing Egyptians, or a problem, and some obstacles are bitterness and sadness, as can be hinted to in the ‘Bitter Waters’ of Mara in this parsha. Another obstacle pertains to sustenance, as hinted to in the Mana episode in this parsha, and yet another obstacle pertains to battling the evil inclination or matters pertaining to safety concerns, as hinted to in the battle with Amalek at the end of this parsha.

The key to overcoming all these obstacles is strengthening our faith in HaShem. One of the ways to strengthen our faith is connecting to the goal of this exodus itself, the Holy Land, the Land of Faith in HaShem’s Providence. When we stand and face the Land of Israel in our Amida, let us imagine ourselves in the Land of Israel and before the Holy of Holies in the Beit HaMikdash, magnifying our feeling of closeness to HaShem and greatening our faith in HaShem’s salvation for everything.

One of the great travelers and emissaries of Hebron was Rabbi Yitzhak Karigal, who was born in Hebron in 5489 (1729). It is said that he was also the grandson of Rabbi David Karigal who was also an emissary of Jewry of the Land of Israel on behalf of Jerusalem. Rabbi Yitzhak Karigal studied Torah in Jerusalem and Hebron, and in Hebron he received his rabbinic ordination. At the age of 25 he was taken as an emissary for the Jewish community of Hebron. Rabbi Karigal travelled to Egypt, Turkey, Salonika, Syria, Europe, Baghdad, Persia, and then returned to Haleb (North Iraq) in order to return to the Land of Israel.

On a second voyage, Rabbi Karigal travelled to Western Europe, but he stayed several years in Italy. Most emissaries travelled to Western Europe and then went directly back to the Land of Israel. However, quite fascinatingly, Rabbi Karigal travelled instead in 1762 to the Americas. Apparently, this move was triggered by the Jewish community of Amsterdam who had a community in America under their auspices. The leaders of the Amsterdam Jewish community offered Rabbi Karigal a rabbinical position in the Caribbean island Curação, to which he agreed. There, Rabbi Karigal founded a Beit Midrash and taught Torah to his students. Nevertheless, in 1764 Rabbi Karigal returned to the Land of Israel and settled in Jerusalem.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #252

‘We once ran out of Materna milk for our baby. What we really needed was a small packet of milk that can be taken on a trip. I knocked on my neighbor’s door. Even though my neighbor was not supposed to be home then, ‘it turned out’ that just then she went back to her home to take something, when I knocked. And it also ‘turned out’ that she just happened to have the very packets we were looking for...’ D.K   

Sources: Sefer Hebron pp. 143-4

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