Parshat Chukat 2016

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Published on Tuesday, 12 July 2016 08:25

Written by The Hebron Fund

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

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

And the King of Arad the Canaanite Dweller of the South Heard

“Shoshanas Yakov... Cursed is Haman; Blessed is Mordechai!”

Famous is the teaching that the numerical value of “arur Haman" (cursed Haman) is identical to that of “baruch Mordechai" (blessed Mordechai).  This is one of the important messages of Purim, teaching us that in truth God is performing the miracle and the blessing of Mordechai ultimately from the very evil plots of the wicked Haman, whose very day of schemed destruction of Israel turned into a great holiday - Purim. Another way we find the close relationship between very opposite forces is the Torah’s reference to both Israel, the nation of Mordechai, and Amalek, the nation of Haman, being called “reshit”, i.e “first/archetypal nations”, as Israel is the archetype of the good nation, while Amalek being its counter on the side of evil.

Our Sages teach that “the King of Arad the Canaanite” was actually an Amalekite, but God made him seem to Israel like a Canaanite in order that Israel pray to defeat the Canaanites, the more common nation occupying the Land of Israel. Juxtaposed to this episode is Israel’s surrounding the Edomite territory (by the way, Amalek is a descendant of the Edomites), where they complain and as a result are punished by biting snakes. This juxtaposition can be explained by our Sages’ teaching that Amalek is likened to a snake who waited for Israel to pass by its path just after the Exodus to attack them. Similarly, the Talmud teaches that Haman’s name is hinted to in the episode of Hava’s temptation to the snake’s scheme in the Garden of Eden. Also, our Sages teach that Esau/Edom’s “special garment”, used by Yakov to receive the blessings from Isaac, was the skin of the primordial snake from the Garden of Eden (T. Zohar 10b and P. Drebbe Eliezer ch. 24) Fascinatingly, the name for the King of Amalek’s home-city is Arad, which, with a slight change of vowels turns into Arod, which means a cross-species between a snake and a turtle (Hulin 127a). Even more fascinating is our Sages assertion that it is Ana of the fore-mentioned Edomite Territory who was responsible for cross-breeding the snake with the turtle, just as he crossbred the horse and the donkey to produce the mule.

On this our Sages remark that it is especially this forbidden mix-breeding that characterizes the nature of the Edomite kingdom and especially Amalek (of the Edomite line), a bastard who was born through an illicit inter-family relationship. Indeed, according to the Zohar one of the 5 sub-categories of Erev Rav, which itself means “the Mingling Masses”,is Amalek (Zohar Breshit 225). Elsewhere the Zohar (p. Pinhas) comments that the ability to overcome the “Erev Rav” comes through its parallel, the “mingling/united” powers of good. Indeed, it is Mordechai, considered both a Benjamite, from the line of Rachel, and a Judean, from the line of Leah (controversy in the Talmud Megila exactly how), who calls the people to unite to overcome the decree of Haman, the Amalekite. The numerical value of Mordechai is identical with the sum of Rachel+Leah, which is also identical to the numerical value of “Arad” and “Eder”, which means a flock. In other words, it is Mordechai who is capable of joining the people together to become one “flock- eder” through the hiss of the arod/snake-Amalek/Haman, just as the copper snake reminds the people to have faith that God’s blessing lies in the lesson and faith learned from the snake itself.

The term “eder-flock” is first used in the Torah in context of the “three flocks surrounding the well” which hints to the three unifying Patriarchs of Hebron, according to the teachings of our Sages. Indeed, this is Hebron, the City of Unity, whose numerical value (266) with the 4 great couples (=8) buried within it, equals the numerical value of Arad and Mordechai (274), the uniting leader.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #178

“One day I found a lost book, so I took it to return it to its owners. I then turned to study a section of Torah, which just “happened” to discuss the returning of a lost belonging...” I.G

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Parshat Shlach 2016

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Published on Tuesday, 28 June 2016 07:19

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

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Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

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"Bestow Your kindness upon those who know you, O Jealous God!"

According to our Sages Southern Israel is associated with the attribute of kindness and for this reason, Avraham, whose attribute is kindness, traveled southwards through the Land of Israel, ultimately settling in Hebron, the City of 'Patriarchal Kindness'. In a similar way, this week's parsha also ties Hebron to Southern Israel in our title quote.

In continuation of our study of various cities in the Land of Israel and their relationship to Hebron, we shall study one of the southern cities of the Land of Israel, given considerable attention in the book of Samuel in David's battles subsequent to the death of King Saul, Ziklag. Another fascinating link of this city to Hebron is the book of Samuel's description of this city being adjacent to the Negev of Kaleb, a matter that strikingly ties this location to Kaleb's journey through the "Negev" to Hebron, where he prostrated himself on the tombs of the Patriarchs in prayer for God's aid to brave against the plot of his colleague spies. Yet another connection is our Sages' assertion that David, the hero of the Ziklag episode in Samuel, is of the lineage of Kaleb (Sotah 11a).

These ideas come together in context of the war with Amalek, who is mentioned in both this week's parsha and in the book of Samuel as residing at this location, 'the Negev'/Southern Israel. Aside from Beer Sheva, which we discussed at length in the book of Bereishit this year, there are other prominent cities in the 'Negev' of Israel today, such as Dimona, Arad, Mitzpeh Rimon, and others.  From both episodes, here and in the book of Samuel it becomes evident that the relationship towards Amalek at this location, whether in courage or in despair, proves to be a turning point in Israel's sovereignty in the Land of Israel.

In this week's parsha's case the People's fear of entering the Land of Israel, greatly due to the Amalekites, who they had battled with just after the Exodus, was a deciding factor in the postponement of Israel's entry and sovereignty in the Land of Israel for 40 years. In contrast, David's courage in battling the Amalekites in the Ziklag episode resulted in his reign upon Israel subsequently after. It is also important to note that David's battling the Amalekites in this episode can be seen as a rectification of Saul's regal downfall in his battle with the Amalekites. Indeed, it seems that for this reason the book of Samuel deliberately juxtaposes the episode of Ziklag with the death of Saul in battle with the Philistines (beginning of Samuel II), who David had just left in order to battle the Amalekites. Halachic sources too tie regal power to the battling of Amalek, an endeavor mainly meant to be taken on by the King of Israel (see Rambam Melachim ch. 1 and 5). Contemplating Amalek's location in Southern Israel we may say that Amalek ties itself to the attribute of kindness associated with this location, for it takes advantage of this attribute to survive.

Based on this, we may understand why Amalek is the only nation on earth which the Torah commands to obliterate entirely, for any act of mercy or kindness given to their survival will be immediately and strongly manipulated into destructive behavior by their very evil nature. One of the important lessons to be learned from the encounter with Amalek can be learned from the location of the first battle of Amalek, called "HaShem is my Banner (Nisi)". The word for 'banner', 'nisi', is the verb root for both 'a trial' - 'nisayon' and 'a miracle' - 'nes'. In other words, one can take the encounter with Amalek as a trial and with fear of defeat as unfortunately was the case with Israel in this week's parsha, or one can turn this 'triyal' into a 'miracle' - 'nes', as a springboard towards yet greater heights, as was the case with David, who, like Kaleb his ancestor, raised his faith in God, defeated the Amaleks, retrieved all they took, and gained even greater material, political, and spiritual prestige than what he had in the first instance.

This spirit of courage is the spirit of Hebron where Kaleb drew his courage, the burial place of Sarah, which means royalty ('serarah').

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #176

"On Shavuos night I delivered a shiur in Givat Gal, a pioneering settlement and neighborhood of Kiryat Arba. Two days later, I 'happened' to hitch a ride with one of the participants of the shiur I had delivered, who notified me that the previous night forces came and destroyed the home of one of the residents of that neighborhood. About 5-10 minutes later I 'happened'  to hitch a ride with the resident himself whose house was just destroyed." M.G

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Parshat Korach 2016

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Published on Tuesday, 05 July 2016 17:10

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

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Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

“And Korah Took Himself”

“Blessed are You HaShem Who blesses Israel with peace”.

Our Sages teach that God found no greater blessing to bestow upon Israel than peace, as it says, “HaShem will bless His People with peace”. We can explain this teaching through another teaching of our Sages that the word for peace - “shalom” - is considered to be a name of God, as it says, “HaShem Shalom” (Judges 6, 24).

In this way we can also understand one of the reasons Korah’s conflict with Moshe and Aharon in this week’s parsha was considered so severe to an extent that the earth swallowed them. According to our Sages one of the methods of Korah’s rebellion was the improper usage of the obligation of tchelet - the blue dye - in the mitva of tzitzis, juxtaposed to this week’s parsha. According to Korah’s claim, a garment which is itself dyed in blue should not need a fringe of blue as halacha requires, since if the whole garment is blue what need is there for the fringe to be blue? This question was essentially a lead-up to Korah’s main claim that if the entire people are special and holy - i.e the whole people/”garment” are “blue”/royal/holy, why is there “a fringe” of leaders set above the people? Ultimately, the answer to this question lies in the deeper meaning of this blue dye, which is meant to remind us of the blue sky, the Heavens, and ultimately the Throne of Glory of God, Who commanded that such a “hierarchy” be instituted.

According to the Sages, this dye was produced from fish/snail that resides in the sea adjacent to the land portion of Zebulun. According to the book of Joshua it becomes apparent that this “sea of Zebulun” where this fish/snail resides is next to the ports of Haifa of today. It seems that the name Haifa may be hinted to in the Torah’s description of Zebulun’s portion as being on “the beach (Hof=Haifa) of ships”. Indeed, it is the tribe of Zebulun who is singled out as being the major tribe of commerce, who supported the tribe of Yissachar’s Torah-learning. It seems also that Zebulun’s occupation with the blue dye for tzitzis provides us a valuable clue into the nature of Zebulun and also of the Haifa city/area in his territory.

In difference with the tribe of Dan and his territory (see parshios Bamidbar and Naso), which has extensive ties with foreign cultures based onpersonal relationship to these foreign peoples, Zebulun’s tie with foreign peoples is more related to his material commerce with them. Just as we mentioned in our discussion of Dan and Tel Aviv-Yafo, there is some spiritual danger in such foreign involvement, however, Zebulun's “material” commerce is essentially a spiritual endeavor, meant to support the Torah study of Yissachar. This matter may be hinted in Zebulun’s occupation with the fishing for the fish/snails for the blue dye of tzitzis, which is on the one hand seems to be a material endeavor but on the other hand is ultimately spiritual, as this dye is used for the mitzvah of tzitzis and reminds one of the Holy Throne of God and also reminds one “to be holy, for I am HaShem Your God.”

When one contemplates this, that hierarchical sanctity “fringes”/stems from the One Holy God, one is “encompassed” (as in talis) with awe before God’s Mastery, over the multi-leveled/hierarchical Universe, a Mastery which rules over the material and spiritual realms of the Universe alike. This United Mastery is the message of Hebron, which means Unity, representing this Divine Unity along with the message of peace which comes through contemplation of the Godly Throne. So teaches Shaar Hahatzer, that the names of our Patriarchs of Hebron are numerically equal to the term “Nezer HaShalom”, meaning that Hebron is the Crown of Peace.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #177

"One day I received a used double-bed, but with no mattresses. About 5 minutes later, I just "happened" to find mattresses (totally un-related and in a different location than the beds) that "happened" to fit the beds I just received. One of the beds was heavy for me to carry, so I left it under a tree on the side, till I could find help to carry it. However, one of the neighbors thought this bed was junk, especially since it needed some repairs, so he took it and took it apart for its parts. I thanked God that He decided to take the bed away from me... A few hours later, this neighbor discovered that this bed was mine and not thrown out, so he, a professional handy-man, repaired the bed entirely, much better than it was in the first place, and carried it straight to my house." (A.G)

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Parshat Be'halot'cha 2016

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Category: Torah Portion

Published on Tuesday, 21 June 2016 18:14

Written by The Hebron Fund

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Parshat Be'halot'cha
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Cleaving to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

ויהי בנסוע הארון

At the end of the book of Shmot we discussed the various locations the ark and the Mishkan traveled through in the Land of Israel before the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. We also discussed the holy status of Jericho as being a preliminary holy city before Jerusalem and taking on a status similar to Mount Sinai, where the Torah was given on Shavuos. Here we would like to discuss the locations that took on some of the functions of Jerusalem after its destruction.

Our Sages taught that the Holy Presence traveled through ten locations after the Temple’s destruction before it rose to Heaven due to the sins of Israel. Our Sages continue by saying that the Sanhedrin in a parallel nature also traveled through ten locations before it ceased. Since the Holy Presence’s ten-stepped exile was almost entirely  within Jerusalem and then in the desert, therefore we will study its parallel, the Sanhedrin in its ten-stepped exile.

The first place outside of Jerusalem that the Sanhedrin reached was the city of Yavneh, as R. Yohanan ben Zakai requested of the Romans at the destruction: “give me Yavneh and its scholars”. It seems that the name Yavneh itself indicates the wish to re-build the Temple and the Sanhedrin’s original status therein, as Yavneh can be read “yibaneh” ( with change of vowels), meaning ‘it (the Temple) will be rebuilt’. Indeed, it is in this location that R. Yohanan ben Zakai instituted a number of laws that commemorate the Temple even in it destruction. For example, the Rabbinic obligation to take the four species on Sukkot for the full seven-day period of Sukkot outside the Temple,  and not only the first day which is Biblically mandated in all locations, was one of the enactments instituted in the era of Yavneh. R. Yohanan ben Zakai wished that this enactment would serve as a reminder of the Temple, where these four species were taken the full seven days on a Biblical level, as its says “and you shall rejoice (by taking the four species) before HaShem your God (before His Presence in the Temple) seven days.”

On the other hand, it seems that the methodology of Torah study in Yavneh was different than Jerusalem. One example of this was in the way the scholars sat in Jerusalem versus the way they sat in Yavneh. In Jerusalem the scholars sat together in a half-circle, which seems to emphasize the united and highly inter-connected relationship between the scholars and their method of study. However, in Yavneh, the academy of study was called “Kerem (‘vineyard’) BeYavneh”, for there the scholars studied row-by-row, similar to the structure of a ‘vineyard’. This structure seems to reflect a methodology that emphasizes the individual to a greater extent than the Temple’s structure. It may be that R. Yohanan ben Zakai wished to strengthen the individual greatness of each scholar, hoping that through this method  the spiritual vigor of Israel would be renewed and bring the rebuilding of the Temple.

It seems that this shift of emphasis can be traced to the lack of the Holy Presence in Yavneh in comparison to Jerusalem. When this Presence is dominant the individual human level is of lesser degree, since this Presence is a dominant factor in the Divine inspiration of the collective whole of the Sanhedrin. However, when this Presence is lessened the importance attached to the human individual’s effort and study is greatened. In a similar way we may say in comparing the Torah of the Diaspora versus the Torah of the Land of the Holy Presence. In the inspiration of this Presence scholars of the Land of Israel are much more inter-connected in their study, as our Sages say “that scholars of the Land of Israel  are pleasant to each other in halachic discourse (versus scholars of the Diaspora who ‘batter’ each other in such discourse)”.

As we have shown many times, Hebron evokes the Land of Israel in general. Indeed, this is the message of Hebron, the City of Unity (hibur), evoking the Land of Unity at large, whose scholars are united in Divine inspiration before the One God.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #175

“I asked HaShem for more honorable and better-paying work, along with the ability to study Torah in a kollel alongside work.  Soon after a friend of mine suggested I try for a job at the City Council.. It ‘turns out’ that I had already received a position at this same job a while ago, but in the end, I was detained from this position. However, now I was received easily into this position, which fits exactly to just what I wanted, and now we are in the process of negotiating the specifics in the working conditions...” (Y.A)

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