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Parshat Ki Tavo
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
כי תבא אל הארץ
“Father in Heaven! Have mercy upon us... and allow us with Your tremendous kindness to arise quickly to the Land of Israel, and we shall merit to serve You there truly with awe and love...” (Likutei Tfilot I 9)
The true service of God with awe and love is most greatly developed in our Holy Land. It is in this Land that the first fruits, mentioned at the beginning of this week's parsha, are brought to the Temple in which we are commanded to accentuate our awe of HaShem and His Presence in this holy location. It is also with these first fruits of the Holy Land that we are commanded to be happy before God, as it says at the end of the first fruit section, 'and you shall be happy with all the good that HaShem your God has given you.'
Happiness, as extensively explained by the famous figure of Hebron, the Reshit Hochma, is especially attached to the attribute of love in regard to HaShem. Simply explained, when one loves HaShem one feels a closeness to Him (in contrast to awe where one feels hierarchical distance), causing one to notice and be happy with all the Providence HaShem has bestowed upon him and upon the world at large. Awe and love towards God are also accentuated when one contemplates the laws of the Torah.
As such, let us contemplate shortly on some of the detailed laws of the mitzva we have begun to discuss, the First Fruits. Rambam rules in the laws of Bikurim that there four essential components in the bringing of the Bikurim to the Bais HaMikdash. These components are: 1. to offer an animal as a sacrifice via the Kohen with the First Fruits, 2. that the Leviim sing in concurrence of offering the First Fruits, 3. that the First Fruits be lifted up as an offering by their owner (presumably an Israelite) and the Kohen together, 4. that the owner of the First Fruits sleep that night in sanctified Jerusalem.
Contemplating the first three components, we clearly see a parallel to the three main groups that comprise the People of Israel: Kohanim, Levites, and Israelites, each one taking its special place in the spiritual 'symphony' surrounding the First Fruit offering. If so, what does the fourth component have to do with all this? In the past we have shown how the three groups of Israel parallel our three fathers, the Kohanim parallel Avraham, the Levites - Yitzhak, and the Israelites - Yaakov. Later in this week's parsha the Torah tells us that after all the tribulations of Exile HaShem will yet still remember the covenant with 'Yaakov, with Isaac, with Avraham, and also the Land I shall remember'. This verse ties the Land with the three Fathers in a way that turns the Land into a fourth component in Divine 'memory' so-to-speak. Thus, the fourth component in Bikurim, sleeping in Jerusalem, alludes to this very fourth component of Divine 'memory', the devotion to this holy location, this holy Land, by sleeping the night in this Holy City.
By triggering these four components of Divine 'memory' in the First Fruits our Sages say that indeed Israel will be given the merit to continue settling in this Land. Of course all these components come together so naturally in Hebron, Beacon of the Land of Israel, City of our Patriarchs, the first Jewish settlement - the 'First Fruits' so to speak of the Land of Israel.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #135
"Over a number of shaboses a particular guest to our synagogue promised a sum of 280 NIS to be called up for various aliot to the Torah. One day, I happened to meet this guest, and since I am in charge of collecting donations, I asked him to pay what he had promised. To this he answered that he doesn't have the cash on him, but that he would be willing to pay bills of the synagogue by credit card. I jotted down his details and later told what had happened to my friend from the synagogue committee, who stared at me open-mouthed. Subsequently, he pulled out of his pocket the synagugue's electric bill which stood at exactly 280 NIS." A.G
Sources: Rambam Bikurim 4, 1
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. Parshat Ki Teitzei
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"כי תקצר קצירך בשדך"
"And allow me to come to the Land of Israel, the Land You have chosen from all other Lands, and You have given it to Israel forever...” (Likutei Tfilot I 7)
The Land of Israel is the everlasting gift and heritage of the People of Israel. Just as we have received this gift from Above, we are also commanded, in turn, to give gifts to the poor from this Land. Indeed, our Sages interpret our title quote, and so is taken down to halacha, that the Biblical obligation to give 'peah' produce of the corner of the field, to the poor applies only in the Land of Israel. In the Diaspora 'peah' is only of rabbinic obligation. In addition, Rambam understands from this that all other gifts to the poor as well are Biblically mandated only in the Land of Israel.
The way our Sages learn this principle from our title quote is from the term 'in your field' which limits this commandment only to 'your' Land, the Land of the Jewish People. Thus, concludes the Rambam, all fields of the Diaspora are liable for gifts to the poor by Rabbinical obligation only. As we have explained in the past, it is specifically in this Land, Land of the Holy Presence, that we are meant to show God's direct care for the needy in various gifts that must be given directly from the produce of this holy Land.
The gifts to the poor from this Land can be divided into four main categories: 1. Peah, 2. Leket (from grain) and Olelot (from grapes), 3. Shihecha, and 4. Maaser Ani. We may say, in turn, that these four types of gifts correspond to four types of Providence in the Land of Israel. Peah, the most pronounced and explicitly given gift, as it is intentionally put at a distinguished corner of the field, represents the more revealed Providence that can be seen in miracles and their like. The second gift, Leket (Olelot) pertains to produce that accidentally fell while harvesting and also small insignificant grapes that fell during harvest, which may represent the other extreme from the previous Providence, that is Providence that seems to even accidental or insignificant. This too, it seems the Torah wishes to teach us, is also from God. The third gift Shicheha, which is given on the basis of human forgetfulness, represents the Providence that works through human consciousness, and seems as if humans were responsible for what has transpired. However, when one contemplates what has transpired in truth one comes to realize that it is the Hand of God working through the minds of people. The fourth gift, Maaser Ani, corresponds to the Providence which works through the complex intricacies of labor and technology in the world. In contrast to the three groups fore-mentioned which are given directly from the source of growth-the field, Maaser Ani is given only after the labor of harvesting and collection into houses or granaries, and only after Truma and Maaser Rishon have already been separated.
One of the messages of Hebron is loving kindness, as this is the site where the Torah tells us how Avraham went out, even while recovering circumcision, to greet guests, and offer them food, drink, and shade. This is Hebron, Beacon of the Land of Providence, which provides all our needs in the Kind Light of God.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #134
"One day our neighbor moved from our neighborhood in Kiryat Arba. Nevertheless, the very next day we 'happened' to 'bump into' this neighbor for the first time in Jerusalem..."
Sources: Rambam Matnot Aniim, 1, 14
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. Parshat Re'eh
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"פתוח תפתח את ידך לאחיך לעניך ולאביונך בארצך"
“And may it be Your Will HaShem my God and God of my Fathers... that You have compassion upon me with Your great and tremendous compassion and kindness and aid me to give much charity to the Land of Israel... and may I by such be able to be included in the atmosphere of the Land of Israel, and by such may we merit to sweeten and nullify all judgments upon us and all Israel...” (Likutei Tfilot I 37).
Indeed, charity given to the inhabitants of the Land of Israel also takes high importance in halacha, as the Shulhan Aruch rules that the inhabitants of the Land of Israel are to be preferred over the inhabitants of the Diaspora for charity. This rule is learned in the Sifri from our title quote of this week's parsha which states that one is to give charity to the poor of 'your Land', that is the Land of Israel. According to 'Yosef Ometz' (19 - see proof-texts there), one of the important works of the Responsa, the principle of precedence of the inhabitants of the Land of Israel supersedes even the principle of preference of the poor of one's personal town, considered otherwise to be one of the most dominant preferences in all laws of charity. In addition, according to the Hasam Sofer, the principle of preference towards the inhabitants of the Land of Israel is tied not only to the laws of charity but also to the mitzva of settling the Land of Israel.
Our Rabbis point to the first time a word (and even letter) is mentioned in the Torah as being significant in the deeper understanding of this word. The first time 'tzedaka' in the context of charity is mentioned in the Torah is when Avraham greets the angels in Hebron and HaShem remarks upon him: 'for I know that he will command his offspring and his household after him to keep the way of HaShem, to do charity and justice, in order that HaShem bring upon Avraham that that He has spoken upon him.' Thus, the sources of charity in regard to thew Land of Israel in this week's parsha and the source of charity as appears in context of Hebron meet together in the context of Hebron being the Beacon of the Land of Israel, to which the entirety of this Land is attached.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #132
"One day we were waiting to hitch a ride from the Gush Etzion intersection towards Beitar (a city not far from Jerusalem). One car, driving towards Jerusalem, stopped, but one man entered the car out of turn before us (the plan was to travel to Jerusalem first in order to travel to Beitar). I tried to argue, saying that we had been waiting first, but my friend pushed me away, saying to stop arguing, for there is a Guiding Hand and everything is for the best. A minute later a different car stopped, and the driver 'apologized' that he was not driving to Jerusalem but rather straight to Beitar..." R.A
Sources: Yoreh Deah 251, 3, Hasam Sofer 233-4, Yisrael Kdoshim 7
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. Parshat Shoftim
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
לא תסיג גבול ריעך... בנחלתך אשר תנחל בארץ אשר ה' א-היך נותן לך לרשתה
"And I hereby raise my courage before You with brazenness like copper and iron, with extremely great stubbornness, to ask now before You that You raise me quickly to the Land of Israel, the Land of the Living, the Holy Land...” (Likutei Tfilot II 39)
Settling the Land of Israel requires stubbornness. It is this stubbornness which allowed us to survive so many years of tormenting Exile, as the coals of hope for the Holy Land burned in the hearts of Jews throughout the generations. It is this stubbornness, the spirit of courage, emerging from the spirit of Hebron, where Kaleb drew his courage, which is the promise of the present and the future in securing the Land of Israel in the hands of Israel. One of the laws of the Torah that highlights the 'stubbornness' and insistence on even minuscule portions of land in the Land of Israel appears in this week's parsha in our title quote - the prohibition on detracting even minuscule portions of Land - a 'finger's worth of Land' (Rambam) - from another Jew in the Land of Israel, by theft or robbery.
One of the fascinating concepts of this law is that this specific prohibition of taking land as mentioned in our title applies solely in the Land of Israel. Even though one who takes land of his fellowman in the Diaspora is liable of theft, he is not at all liable for the prohibition in our title quote. We may explain the deeper meaning of this mitzvah by contemplating yet again on our title quote. This verse emphasizes that this land is the 'Land that HaShem your God has given you to inherit'. These words seem to give reason as to the severity of this type of theft in the Land of Israel. In this Land, the Land of Providence given to you by HaShem, the ownership of this land is especially procured by God. Therefore, any alteration of this providential ownership by wicked human intervention such as theft or the like is considered especially severe.
By the same token, we may say that the fact that Hebron stands as the first Jewish purchase and settlement in the Land of Israel shows how essential Hebron is to the settlement of the Land of Israel in general, Providentially. Indeed, it is in Hebron of today that one can find the spirit of courage continuing the spirit of Kaleb. This is Hebron, Foundation of the Holy Land.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #133
"We were planning to purchase a house in Kiryat Arba, but we could not give the final ok before our bank granted us a mortgage for the purchase. Time passed, and another potential buyer showed interest in the house we planned to buy. Since much time passed, the owner explained to us one day that we must commit immediately, or otherwise forfeit in favor for the other buyer. We answered that we could not commit, and thereby subsequently lost the deal. A second after this phone-call, the bank called us to tell us that they had just assured the mortgage..." V.S
Sources: Rambam Gneiva 7, 11
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. Parshat Eikev
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Connecting to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"וברכת את ה' א-היך על הארץ הטובה אשר נתן לך"
"Blessed are You HaShem on the Land and on the sustenance." This week's parsha is especially descriptive about the blessings and praises of our Holy Land, and in turn the Rabbinic commentaries on this parsha, as in the Sifri and more, explain at great length the great value of this Land. Indeed, one of the mitzvot of this parsha we have discussed in the past is the Birkas Hamazon, which must have explicit praise for this special Divine gift, the Land of Israel.
In various laws in halacha it seems that our Sages continued to raise recognition as to the uniqueness of this Land. Even when we examine these laws closely we find that by essence, they can also apply in the Diaspora or not apply in the Land of Israel. Let's take one example of many: In the laws of Yom Tov Rambam and Shulhan Aruch rule, according to Talmud Beitza 14a, that in the Land of Israel one is not to use even a small grinder to grind vegetables (or the like according to some poskim) on Yom Tov, even though such an activity in the Diaspora is permissible, since doing so is considered an alteration ('shinui') of regular grinding which is usually done with a large grinder. The reason there is a difference between the Diaspora and the Land of Israel is explained by the Rambam, due to the fact that the 'produce of theirs (the Land of Israel) is good and if it be grinded before Yom Tov there is no lessening (of its quality)'. This is in accordance with the rule that if a particular labor does not significantly enhance a food's quality if done on Yom Tov instead of the day before, then halacha does not permit this labor to be done on Yom Tov.
As we noted before, when we examine this law closely we find that if there were to be produce in the Diaspora that also retains its quality even after grinding before Yom Tov, this produce would also be prohibited from being grounded on Yom Tov just like the Land of Israel. Thus, we can conclude that the stipulation 'the Land of Israel' in this instance is not so much an essential stipulation of this law as in the many laws we have brought in the past, but rather a general indicator and example where such good produce may be found.
This said, the fact that Rambam takes pains to explain in his extremely concise work, the Mishneh Torah, that the reason for this law is due to the goodness of the produce of the Land of Israel, does teach us a very valuable lesson on the way our Sages and the Rambam with them take pains to add praise to the Land of Israel, even as a side point among a corpus of laws. From these laws and those similar to them we learn, that even though the stipulation of the Land of Israel in these laws is not so essential, nevertheless the fact that the essential principles are tied to the Land of Israel shows the honor set aside for the Land of Israel.
Ultimately, one of the primary sources on praising the Land of Israel even on minor levels and side-points can be linked to Hebron. It is upon Hebron which the Torah teaches that it pre-existed even before Zoan of Egypt to show, according to our Sages, that even the 'rubble' (of course on a physical level – not spiritual, as proved many times before) of the Land of Israel, used as a graveyard at Ma’arat HaMachpela, is greater ('pre-existed') than the 'paradise' of the Diaspora – Zoan of Egypt. In this way we can say that even the, so-to-speak, 'rubble' of praises on the Land of Israel, i.e references that are not intrinsically connected to this Land, yet still shed light, in a unique way, on the high value of our Holy Land.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #131
"One day I got a notice in the mail on which was written that I must pay 6730 NIS on a purchase in payments upon which I was a guarantor 8 years before. Since this letter arrived on my birthday, an auspicious day for prayer, I prayed to HaShem that He help me cover this expense easily, especially since I hardly manage making a living. One day, I heard one man talking to another at the school I teach that he had just bought a new car, and his old car was up for sale. When I saw the price, I decided to try earning money by buying my friend's car and re-selling it as kind of an agent. The next day, when I drove with this car in my city I was stopped by a business-man who was interested in buying the car. We settled on a price, and he purchased the car. When I realized my profit, I was astounded: exactly 6730 NIS…" M.K
Sources: Beitza 14a
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