Parshat Vayelech 2016

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Category: Torah Portion

Published on Wednesday, 05 October 2016 20:44

Written by The Hebron Fund

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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

And Moshe Called Joshua... Be strong and mighty for You will bring the People to the Land HaShem Swore to their Patriarchs'

"Our Father, our King! We have no King other than You!'

The realization that only HaShem our God is the real Power responsible for all that transpires upon us instills us both with great awe and a feeling of great freedom from all 'powers' that seem to 'enslave' us throughout our lives. This realization needs to be taken continuously throughout life in order for it to take a substantial hold of our lives, bringing us to the exultation of faith and freedom of spirit, as we say on Rosh HaShana, 'exulted is the man who does not forget You and son of Man who 'holds' on to You'. The word used in this prayer for making effort to 'hold' unto HaShem, 'yitametz', is echoed in this week's parsha, in the command to Joshua' to be strong and mighty', 'hazak ve'ematz', in bringing the People of Israel to conquer the Land of Israel in our title quote.

Our Sages explain (Brachot 32b) that Joshua was commanded by this double terminology to strengthen himself through both Torah study, 'hazak', and good deeds, 'ematz'. We can thereby infer that 'strengthening one's 'hold' unto God' throughout life implies taking the awesome realization we just mentioned into both the cognitive realm of Torah study and the practical realm of good deeds. We may say that, although strengthening one's thoughts on God is important at all times, it takes special significance in regard to Torah study and good deeds. This means that before studying Torah or doing a good deed it is good to contemplate that one is doing so for HaShem's sake (as was enacted by our Sages by blessings on Torah and mitzvoth, leshem yichud, etc.). Also, even if one is doing an action that can have external motives, such as earning a living, it is good to have intent to do that action for HaShem's sake (see Rambam Deot ch. 3). For example, a grocer can have intent to provide people with good food, so they can be healthy and serve God, and that the profit he earns should allow him to serve God with peace of mind and good resolve. In this way, one can turn all of one's actions into 'good deeds', and 'strengthen' one's connection to God always.

This spiritual work takes on an even greater level in the Land of Israel, where all good actions, even those that seem very mundane, enhance Israel's settlement of the Holy Land, thereby enhancing the power of the Holy Presence. In this way the command to Joshua 'to be strong for you will bring the People to the Land' can be interpreted not only as a responsibility put upon Joshua but also as a gift given to Joshua, saying that 'because you are entering this Land you will be given the Divine gift of indeed being strong' and successful in all your tasks, in Torah study and good deeds, etc.

One of the fascinating victories of Joshua was over five kings of different cities who united together to fight Israel. These cities were Jerusalem, Hebron, Yarmut, Lachish, and Eglon. Based on the intricate relationship between Jerusalem and Hebron we have discussed many times, we may infer that the other three cities mentioned in this context may convey a unique synthesis between Jerusalem and Hebron. The name Yarmut includes the first and last letters of Jerusalem 'Yar' and 'Mu', while the last 'tav' seems to be indicative of Hebron, as 'tav' means 'sign' in Hebrew, and 'sign' is synonymous to 'Zion' which signifies Hebron according  to the Arizal (also 'tav' has numerical equivalent of 400 - the 400 silver pieces Avraham bought Maaras HaMachpela). God willing we will continue with the other cities in next week's issue. 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #190

'One week three electric lights stopped working in our house, which was just at the same time I stopped to deliver a Torah class in my neighborhood. When I resumed my class, that very same day I was finally able to fix the electric light bulb (light is considered related to Torah study).' A.G

Sample Prayer #3: 'Blessed are You... returns His Holy Presence to Zion (see previous issues). Thank You for Your Holy Land and Temple (imagine yourself in the Temple),  thank You for Hebron and Jerusalem. Thank You for strengthening our awe of You in Your Torah and commandments, and thank You for allowing us to settle Your Holy Land, Land of Complete Awe (yirah shelema - Yerushalem). Indeed, may we see Your Presence return to Zion...'

Sources: Joshua ch. 10, Rambam Deot 3, Brachot 32b

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Parshat Ki Tavo 2016

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Category: Torah Portion

Published on Wednesday, 21 September 2016 20:06

Written by The Hebron Fund

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Parshat Ki Tavo
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

When You Come to the Land

"And may our eyes see when You return to Zion with compassion..."

According to the Vilna Gaon the sixth millennium from Creation, which we are presently living in, runs parallel to the book of Deuteronomy, while each century of this millennium runs parallel to a different parasha. Thus, this week's parsha, Ki Tavo, seventh parsha of Deuteronomy, runs parallel to the seventh century of the sixth millennium, i.e 5600-5700 (1840-1940). Fascinatingly, the name of this parsha, which means "when You come to the Land", depicts quite precisely a major change that occurred in this century, the mass movement towards the Land of Israel. Although, within our current century, the eight century of the sixth millennium, there has been a greater number of Jews who have returned to the Holy Land, it is quite clear that the main shift towards mass movement from all circles of Jewish life across the globe, in contrast to individual movement before, occurred in the century before.

It is not ostentatious to say that the last time such a great movement of Jews to "to come to the Land" occurred during the era of Joshua.  One of the fascinating locations conquered in the era of Joshua is the city Dvir or Kiryat Sefer (not Kiryat Sefer of today which is next to Modiin), a city in relatively close vicinity to Hebron. On the one hand, the book of Joshua describes the conquest of Dvir, Kiryat Sefer, by Joshua, while the book of Judges (and Joshua elsewhere) describes how Kaleb offered his daughter in marriage to the one who conquers Kiryat Sefer, which later 'turned out' to be Kaleb's younger brother, Otniel the son of Kenaz. Commentators explain that Joshua conquered Kiryat Sefer at large, while Otniel conquered a particularly challenging section of this city where giants lived. One of the remarkable matters regarding this city is that these two parallel stories both appear right after the conquest of Hebron and involve the two heroes involved with the message of Hebron in the episode of the spies in the Desert, Joshua and Kaleb. Furthermore, Otniel is one of the famous figures buried in Hebron (today access to his tomb is given only a spare number of times a year; there also is a settlement south of Hebron named after him).

Another fascinating link is that this offer of marriage in context of success in conquest is echoed in these terms, only one more time in the Bible, David's battle with Goliath. It seems that this offer was made at the advent of a new era of Israel's history, as Otniel begins the period of Judges, while the battle of Goliath occurs at the advent of monarchy in Israel in the time of Saul and David. It seems that this, yet again, depicts how Israel is compared to a 'husband' and the Holy Land is considered the 'wife'. Therefore, it seems that when an individual began a historic era with conquest of the Holy Land this evoked the explicit offer of marriage on a human level. By this we also understand why Hebron, Joshua, and Kaleb are linked to Kiryat Sefer, for in this episode began the era of the reign of the Judges, just as Hebron itself is the Cradle of the Monarchy of David, the primary monarchy of all time.  The name Kiryat Sefer and Dvir both connote the Torah as the Torah is called 'hasefer', the book, and Dvir is used in context of the Holy of Holies which contains the Tablets of the Torah, the 'dvar' (as in dvir), the word, of God. In this way, Kiryat Sefer is once again closely connected to Hebron, as the Zohar (p. Shlah) that Hebron means Torah since 'one who occupies himself with Torah is a called a 'haber' (member of the class of Torah scholars). 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #188

'One day I called a friend after not talking or seeing him for about a year. Just a few hours later I just 'happened' to meet this very person on the street'. A.I

Sample Prayer #1 (for 'cultivating' our seeking for the Holy Presence - see six previous issues - can be used as a preparation for prayer, to direct one's thoughts to the Holy Presence of the Holy Land as halacha requires (O"H 94)): 'Blessed are You HaShem our God and the God of our Forefathers, and blessed are You Who returns His Presence to Zion... Thank You HaShem our God for such a desirable, good, and wide Land, Land of Your Holy Presence, Land of Your continuous and direct Providence! Thank you for giving us the great gift of the Holy City of Hebron which allows us to connect to Your Holy Land and Presence so deeply and truly. Thank You for the Holy City of Jerusalem, the Holy Temple You will build, and the Holy Presence You shine upon us from there (here imagine yourself inside the Temple and that the Holy Presence is before youas halacha requires (ibid)). Thank you for the city of Dvir-Kiryat Sefer, which reminds us of Your Holy Torah, the Holy of Holies, the Holy City of Hebron, and of our holy union with Your Land, as of bride and groom. Indeed, may we see evermore Your return to Zion with compassion...' (continue with standardized prayer)

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Parshat Nitzavim 2016

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Category: Torah Portion

Published on Tuesday, 27 September 2016 18:34

Written by The Hebron Fund

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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

And You Shall Return

'Return us our Father to Your Torah, and bring us close to Your service, and return us with full repentance before You...'

These days are days of returning to God, returning to the source of our souls, returning to our roots. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Torah in this week's parsha links the return to God to the return to the Holy Land (in 'parshat hatshuva'), our root connection to God's Holy Presence. The connection between returning to the Holy Land and returning to God in general with repentance can be seen in the ruling of the great Master Rabbi Moshe Zakut zt"l (Igrot 16), which puts 'Tikun Hatzot', a prayer in which one bemoans the Exile from the Holy Land, as the central prayer for forgiveness: "Great is the rectification made after midnight [by reciting tikun hatzot] in regard to the 'Exile of the Holy Presence' more than all prayer, Torah study, and asking forgiveness, and one should never miss it (tikun hatzot), and if one does not have enough time to say both tikun hatzot and selichot he should prefer tikun hatzot, for it is the essence of forgiveness , and it is the more accepted/pleasing prayer before God, and this time is incumbent on every faithful man to not forget the love of Jerusalem and the endearment of Zion, and great is his merit before the Almighty..."

This matter can be explained by saying that although selichot express repentance and seeking forgiveness on a more individual human level, tikun htzot seeks to rectify the more essential source of rectification for all our misdeeds, the return of the Holy Presence to our very lives. When this Presence returns, our consciousness and that of the world over will be enlightened to a much greater level of return to God. The halachic conclusion here, preferring tikun hatzot over selichot in lack of time, is brought in many well-accepted halachic works such as the Birkei Yosef (581:3), the Ben Ish Hai (Vayishlah 9), Yalkut Yosef and many more. Nevertheless, it should be noted that these sources maintain that women are not to say tikun hatzot. One of the fascinating reasons for this is due to the fact that women did not sin in the sin of the spies which is essentially the source of the destruction of the Temple and the 'Exile of the Holy Presence'.This matter seems to have implications even in today's settlement of the Land of Israel. Some say (perhaps also in the name of Rabbi Shlomo Binyamin Ashlag - son of the 'Baal HaSulam') that specifically women, and not men, were able to re-settle 'Beit Hadassa' about 30 years ago, for women did not sin in the sin of the spies.

This idea also highlights how our connection to Hebron is also a type of rectification for the sin of the spies, which ultimately rectifies the destruction of the Temple and the 'Exile of the Holy Presence' at its source. It is Hebron, where Kaleb prostrated himself before the tombs of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs which was key in giving Kaleb the great spirit to overcome the sin of the spies. Indeed, this is Hebron, Beacon of the Holy Land, returning us to our roots, ending the Exile of the Holy Presence, with the kindness of our Patriarchs in the Light of Redemption.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #189

"One day I thought of starting a business with someone from the Hebron area. Just about an hour or two later I 'happened' to meet this person on the sidewalk after not seeing him for several months..." I.G

Sample Prayer #2:  "Blessed are You HaShem our God and the God of our Forefathers, and blessed are You Who returns His Presence to Zion. Thank You HaShem for Zion and Jerusalem, for Hebron and the Holy Temple You built and will build! Thank You HaShem for Your great gift of repentance and forgiveness; thank You for showing me the matters I need to correct; thank You for so much aiding me in coming closer to You! Thank You HaShem for allowing us to re-settle Beit Hadassa, the former Healing Center of Hebron, and indeed thank You for healing our People with the return to Zion and Hebron, the return to Your Holy Presence of our Holy Land. Indeed, may we evermore see  Your return to Zion with compassion..."

Sources: Igrot HaRemez 16, Ben Ish Hai Vayishlah, Shut R.S Eliyahu

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Parshat Ki Tetzei 2016

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Category: Torah Portion

Published on Monday, 12 September 2016 11:09

Written by The Hebron Fund

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Parshat Ki Tetzei
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

When You Depart for Battle

“And David said: HaShem Who has saved me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear He will save me from this Philistine...”

This prayer of confidence and astounding faith in HaShem, said by David, sword-less and armor-less just before confronting Goliath, is no doubt one of the most moving prayers of all time, especially for our generation’s confrontation with opposing views and forces in its  great return to the Holy Land today. Indeed, so our Sages teach us, that Israel’s main weapon is their mouths of prayer. Therefore, in the past several issues we have focused on prayer in general, and the method of gratitude in prayer in specific. One of the primary reasons for this is that gratitude is the primary springboard for proper faith and prayer, just as David here first acknowledges God’s salvation at his battle with the lion and the bear before expressing his confidence in defeating Goliath. In halacha, our Sages rule that one must praise and thank God before asking anything.

One of the reasons gratitude is so essential is that before asking God for anything one must realize that really one’s present state already has is God’s Will, and since God is Absolute Good also what he has given us is absolute goodness. Only after acknowledging God’s justice in one’s present state with full faith can one proceed to make supplication in the realm of Divine compassion. Otherwise, a person can easily be caught in a ‘trap’ of self-deserving, where one is essentially trying to ‘change’ God as one sees fit, God forbid. Therefore, in many cases, since many people have an innate tendency to enter the fore-mentioned ‘trap’, it is recommended to focus (and in some cases to limit oneself solely) on gratitude, except for the mandatory prayers of supplication halacha requires.

This method of gratitude itself is also an essential method of achieving what one desires, for Divine aid is given to those who have full faith in God in their present situation (as found in many sources), as if saying: ‘this is good for you? I will show you even better, so you will continue and greaten your praises of HaShem.’ As this is true in regard one’s personal desires and ‘battles of life’, it is of course even truer in regard to matters that involve the general whole, where all prayers unite together for a common lofty purpose in the spiritual ‘battle of the ages’. Therefore, we would like to summarize here the main components of this method of faith and gratitude in regard to the general whole as we have discussed in our previous issues at length:

A) Attaching the Holy Presence of our Holy Land and Temple to our lives and prayers through the joy of its existence that comes through thanksgiving for its existence. (Dvarim)

B) Building and strengthening this joy and attachment (also within ourselves) by conveying component A (and matters related to it) to our counterparts (Vaetchanan)

C) Contemplating and Meditating on component A during a fixed quality time of the day without distractions, daily - this is most natural to do in conjunction with prayer, as halacha requires both joy and intent towards the Holy Presence of the Holy Land and Temple in prayer (Ekev)

D) Deepening one’s connection to component A by contemplating  on and the thanking for A’s connection to the commandments and laws which express how the Holy Presence conducts matters of the Holy Land and Temple (Reeh)

E) Extending the gratitude and love in component A to the attribute of awe; i.e to contemplate that this Presence and the commandments associated with it are infinitely Divinely far from what we can contemplate as humans.

David’s battle with Goliath and rise to prestige took place in the Valley of Ela (Pistachio tree), while David’s son Avshalom’s downfall came when his hair was caught in such an ‘ela’, pistachio tree, where he was killed. It seems that this ‘ela’ tree is associated with the battle with idolatry, either for victory or God forbid defeat.

In this way we understand why Yakov’s sons buried the idols from Laban’s house under the ‘ela’ of Shechem, while Israel use the term ‘Ele’ in regard to the Golden Calf (this term is deeply discussed in Kabbalistic literature in context of idolatry). Thus, David rises victorious against the idolatry of the Philistines with his astounding faith and devotion to God in Emek Haela, while Avshalom reached his downfall through his haughty, idolatry-like, rebellion against his father, and was thereby ‘hanged’ by this ela tree. The battle with idolatry is one of the important missions of the king of Israel.

Therefore, it is no surprise that Hebron is the Cradle of Royalty. Hebron means unity, as the One God unites the plurality of creation. This is Hebron, where Avraham taught all to serve the one and only God.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #187

“When I tried to open the door to the Jewish learning center next to the Tomb of Abner in Hebron, as I do twice a week regularly, I was detained by the police, who ordered me to stop. The police said that I do not have permission to open this center. I tried to argue, saying that I regularly open this center and that they can check with their supervisors. I also tried to contact the management of Maaras HaMachpela so they could intercede, but nothing helped. I then decided to stop depending on people and turned to HaShem in prayer for help with confidence that only He can help me. After doing so, I asked the police again to enter the center . This time I was granted permission immediately...” M.G

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