Parshat Tazria-Metzora 2017

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Category: Torah Portion

Published on Thursday, 27 April 2017 07:23

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Parshat Tazria Metzora
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר

“For the leader. A psalm of David. May HaShem  answer you in time of trouble, the name of Jacob’s God keep you safe. May He send you help from the sanctuary, and sustain you from Zion.” (Ps. 20)

‘Sending help’ implies that there is a messenger involved in God’s salvation. One of the earliest images of such a ‘messenger’ in human consciousness is one’s mother at one’s birth. This image is actually very close to the meaning of the fore-mentioned verse which mentions sustenance from Zion, since Zion is also compared to a mother - ‘Zion gives birth to her children’ (Isaiah 66, 8). Indeed, this psalm is considered particularly beneficial to be used in prayer for a woman in labor and for all the months of pregnancy.

The process of pregnancy and birth is generally considered a ‘passage-way’ towards real life after birth. In the Ma'arat HaMachpela Building there is a corridor which leads one from the ‘Chamber of the Britot’ to the ‘Chambers of the Patrairchs’, called by many simply as ‘The Passageway’ (HaMaavar). It seems that this passageway reminds us of the process involved in the redemption of Zion, the ‘mother in birth’ according to Isaiah. When comparing Zion to a mother in birth, Isaiah also implies that the redemption of Zion is a process, involving periods of gestation, birth, nursing, growth and adulthood. 

According to the Arizal, Zion is synonymous with Hebron. One of the leading figures of Hebron, and the settlement of much of the Land of Israel, was Rabbi Moshe Levinger zt”l. Rabbi Levinger emphasized in his writing and speech that Israel needs to ‘ascend to a higher level’. In a nutshell this means that, while the establishment of the state of Israel and the physical prosperity, security, etc. of Israel are all good as a beginning stage, still there needs to be ‘a higher level’ reached, which comes after this initial stage. Rabbi Levinger explains that Israel needs to reach a consciousness of the ‘Godly aspect of the Land of Israel.’ In the image of the ‘birthing of Zion’ we may say that in this process, we may be, on a national level, in a ‘nursing’ stage (or some other early stage) in this process, just as a baby is mostly aware of only his most basic physical needs. The spiritual level of the Holy Land and its relationship to the building of the People of Israel is, unfortunately, still unknown by many. In continuation of Rabbi Levinger’s vision and testament we wish in our divrei Torah to portray the Land of Israel in its spiritual and Godly aspects, in order that our People will indeed rise to this ‘higher level’ Rabbi Levinger so wished that we aspire towards.

We believe that it is not only Rabbi Levinger, who carried this great aspiration, but it is also the ‘air of Hebron’ from which Rabbi Levinger drew his vision and courage, that carries this ‘inspiring air’. This is the air Kaleb drew in his courageous fight against the spies, to protect and amplify the inherent greatness of the Holy Land before all Israel. It is through this inspiring air that we trust in God to aid us and you, our dear reader, in this lofty goal - ‘Seeking the Holy Presence in our Holy Land.’ 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #217

‘One morning I inadvertently pressed a button on my cellphone, which called the police. It ‘turns out’ that just about an hour or two later I got a warning notice from the police on where my car was parked. Later that late afternoon/evening a man (apparently a crazy/drunk punk) entered my house un-solicited and threw my toaster-oven at one of my children, but thank God nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged. It goes without saying that I called the police, this time intentionally, to deal with this incident...’ A.I

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Chol HaMoed Pesach 2017

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Category: Torah Portion

Published on Wednesday, 12 April 2017 19:57

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Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

אילו הכניסנו לארץ ישראל - דיינו!

If He had brought us into the land of Israel and had not built us the 'Chosen House' [the Temple; it would have been] enough for us.”

This phrase, in addition to other such phrases in the Hagaddah, requires an explanation. How could it be that it would have been sufficient to bring us to the Land of Israel without the Temple? The building of the Temple is mandatory and includes about 200 Torah commandments - how could it ‘be enough’ without it? An answer to this question is that in the Hagaddah we are not saying ‘it would have been enough’ in the sense that the additional blessing is not needed. Rather, in this passage we are thanking HaShem for each increment of His goodness upon us, appreciating each step of our redemption.

Thanking God is not only a mitzvah, and a matter that brings us to a consciousness of joy, but also carries potential to bring Divine blessing through one’s gratitude. To what can this be compared? One who thanks another for some matter, the other individual might say, ‘you are happy and grateful for what I have already given you? - let me give you even more, so you may be even happier!’ Indeed, many have already recounted their personal stories of salvation from simply thanking HaShem for all they have and even for what they don’t have, with the faith that what they don’t have is also part of the Divine plan. We may say that if thanking God brings blessing on an individual level, this is the case on an ever grander level, in regard to thanking HaShem on the collective level. In this way, when we thank HaShem for our redemption from Egypt in the past, we are actually also bringing blessing towards our future redemption.

We find, according to the Arizal, that David’s spiritual work in Hebron lead to his development of Jerusalem and the Temple at a later stage. Also, according to our title quote from the Haggada, which thanks God for the Land of Israel just before thanking God for the Temple, that essentially the Land of Israel is also a spiritual prerequisite towards the Temple. According to this, we may say that by the spiritual ‘work’ of thanking God for Hebron in specific, and the entirety of the Land of Israel in general, we may merit to bring blessing towards the development of Jerusalem and the re-building of the Temple. 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #215

While driving to Ma'arat HaMachpela my car engine started to heat up. Because of this, my car made a sudden stop in the middle of driving, as the engine was exhausted. However, it just ‘turned out’, that just as this happened, I had just arrived at the Ma'arat HaMachpela parking lot...’

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Parshat Shmini 2017

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Published on Thursday, 20 April 2017 11:20

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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

ויהי ביום השמיני

A psalm, a song for the dedication of the house; by David. I extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me, and have not let my foes rejoice over me. Lord my God, I cried to You, and You did heal me.” (Psukei dezimra)

This week’s parsha describes the inauguration of the House of HaShem, the Mishkan. This episode occurred on the ‘eighth day’ after seven days in which Moshe erected and disassembled the Mishkan time after time. Now, on the eighth day Moshe erected the Mishkan and kept it ‘lifted’ and standing. According to our Sages these actions evoked the method with which God created the world. God created seven worlds, one after the other, and destroyed each one of them. The world we live in today is the eighth world in this process. More deeply, this process represents the Divine process of dimming the Divine supernal light by various steps, ‘seven worlds’, that by so doing allow the existence of our world, without being obliterated in the intensity of the original Divine light. In this sense, the ‘eighth day’ represents a rectification of the previous ‘seven stages’ which did not remain standing.

Our Patriarch Yaakov also represents this process of rectification. Before Yakov there was never a full family that took on the special status of the People of Israel. Indeed, the name ‘People of Israel’ is taken from Yaakov’s other name, Yisrael. We call this matter ‘rectification’ because, as Ramhal explains in Derech HaShem, Adam, before his sin, was capable of causing all his offspring to receive the special status of Israel. However, after the sin only specific individuals were able to continue the spiritual leadership that was previously potent for all people equally. It was Yaakov who continued the original plan by bearing an entire family, later to become a nation, who continues this spiritual leadership for the good of all humanity.

The Chamber of Yaakov in Maarat HaMachpela lies at one’s left when facing Jerusalem while praying in the Maarah. This matter may hint to the balancing of Yaakov’s basic attribute of compassion, which is considered a medium between the attributes of kindness and justice. Indeed, finding the medium between attributes is an integral part of the process of ‘rectification’ we just discussed in context of Yaakov our father. It is by balancing extremities into a ‘middle-path’ that essentially paves the road towards peace, harmony, and a ‘rectified world’ which can continue countless generations into the future. It also seems that by entering Yaakov’s chamber from our left we are balancing compassion, Yaakov’s basic attribute, with the attribute of justice, associated with the left.

As we culminate the three weeks we have discussed the three chambers of Maarat HaMachpela, which are named after our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, we may remind our readers of the awe-inspiring utterance before entering the Maarat HaMachpela building especially, and also every synagogue: ‘And I, with Your great kindness (intend to ‘ask permission to enter’ from Avraham the father of kindness) I shall enter Your sanctuary, I shall prostrate myself before Your Holy Abode (intend to ‘ask permission to enter’ from Yitzhak who prostrated himself before God in the Akeida) with Your awe (intend to ‘ask permission to enter’ from Yakov who said ‘how awesome is this place’).’ 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #216

‘At a shoe shop I gave the seller my credit card to pay, but the card did not pass successfully at the register. I then gave the seller another credit card, which also didn’t pass. This was extremely strange since both these cards always pass without exception. Just then, a person next to me just happened to randomly say the words ‘histadrut hamorim’ (they had no idea I was having trouble with my credit cards), which is a teacher’s organization in Israel that, among other things, arranges gift-cards for teachers at various shops around Israel. When I heard this, I suddenly remembered that this shoe shop respects the ‘histadrut hamorim’s’ gift-card that I have. I then passed the gift-card which went through immediately, no problem whatsoever...’ A.Y

Source: סידור רחובות הנהר

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Parshat Tzav 2017

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Category: Torah Portion

Published on Tuesday, 04 April 2017 18:58

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Parshat Tzav & Shabbat HaGadol
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

והרים את הדשן

“Master of the world! May it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, to remember in our favor the covenant of our fathers. Even as Abraham our father held back his compassion from his only son and desired to slay him in order to do Your will, so may Your mercy hold back Your anger from us; let Your compassion prevail over Your acts of retaliation. Be lenient with us, Lord our God, and deal with us kindly and mercifully.”

Our Sages teach that even though Yitzhak was not slaughtered and burnt at the Akeida on the Temple Mount, still it is considered by HaShem as if his ashes are placed on an altar before Him, giving tremendous merit to us, his descendants. This teaching sheds light on the commandment to ‘raise the ashes of the altar’, hinting to the ashes of Yitzhak.

The Chamber of Yitzhak is found at one’s right when entering the Maara Building facing in the direction of Jerusalem as in prayer (see last week’s piece on the significance of this). Generally speaking, Yitzhak is associated with the ‘left side’ kabbalistically, referring to the attribute of justice. It may be that Yitzhak’s Chamber at one’s right evokes a type of ‘sweetening’ of Yitzhak’s basic attribute of justice with the ‘right’, which represents the attribute of kindness. Another matter to contemplate is the fact that today Yitzhak’s Chamber is open to Jews only ten days a year. This matter may express Yitzhak’s attribute of justice, which calls one to be more worthy to achieve accomplishments. It is at special auspicious times, or times when our People show their great devotion to our Holy Land and Hebron in specific, that this Chamber is open today.

This matter may rouse us to awaken Divine compassion upon us in prayer, and also to enhance our connection and the connection of those associated with us towards the Holy Land and Hebron. May it be God’s Will that by so doing that Yitzhak’s Chamber be open to Jews at all times. Let us also plead before God: ‘You remember the ashes of Yitzhak with Your great mercy. May it be Your Will, O God that You also remember the ashes of the millions of Jews throughout history, and especially the ashes of Your beloved in Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek and more, who sacrificed their lives upon Your Namesake. Please God, open the gates to our entire Holy Land. Open the gates of Yitzhak. Open the gates to Your Holy Temple!’ 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #214

‘When I reached my apartment I realized that my bag had disappeared. I looked outside on the bench where I thought the bag was, but it was not there. Then, I thanked God that my bag had disappeared, with faith that it is God’s Will. Just then, I got a call from someone who had found my bag, and who later returned it straight to my home..”

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