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Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
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"And bring us speedily to the Land of Israel, the good and holy Land, and bestow Your complete Providence upon the Land of Israel and the world at large...” (Likutei Tfilot II 8) Out of Moshe Rabeinu's deep aspiration for the Land of Israel, he allocates three Refuge Cities on the Eastern Side of the Jordan to prelude the allocation of Refuge Cities in the Land of Israel Proper on the Western side of the Jordan.
Rambam teaches us that, although these cities were not capable of serving in practice as Refuge Cities till the three Refuge Cities on the Western Bank were allocated, nevertheless Moshe Rabeinu took pains to allocate these cities on the Eastern Bank, saying that 'if a mitzva comes to my hands (even if not fully complete) let me commit it.' From this instance we can learn a general rule that even if one is not able to actually commit the mitzva of coming to the Land there is still much value on any efforts made towards this mitzva.
Rambam further explains that not only on the Eastern Bank and the Western Bank were three cities allocated on each Bank respectively, but also the Torah tells us that in the future three Refuge Cities will be allocated in the time of MaShiah when the Land of Israel will be expanded to the Euphrates as was promised to our Father Avraham. It is clear from these laws on the Refuge Cities that the number three takes a very dominant place. What is the significance of this?
Well-known is the famous piut 'Who Knows One?' at the end of the haggada, and of course, everyone knows the answer to 'who knows three' – our three Patriarchs of Hebron. This concept is also some-what echoed in the teaching of our Sages that 'one only uses the term Fathers for three' (Brachot 16b – we dealt with this concept more at depth in another issue).
As we mentioned, the Refuge Cities on the Western Bank are the essential initiating cause in the operation of the Refuge Cities on the Eastern Bank. At the top of the list of list of the Refuge Cities lies Hebron, which is also unique in being a Kohanic City – of superior status, while the rest of the Refuge Cities on the Western Bank are Levite Cities. Thus, in the past we have shown how it is possible to trace the origins of all the Refuge Cities to Hebron, the City of Patriarchal Compassion even for negligent murderers. Putting these strands of thought together, we suddenly reach the realization that if all Refuge Cities stem from Hebron, and that a classic number which represents Hebron-City of the Patriarchs is three, then it is so natural that the Refuge Cities come in multiples of three, either in the time of Moshe, Yehoshua, or Mashiah!
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #130
"My three-year-old son kept us up all night crying and showing us that his teeth hurt. We tried giving him all the pain-killers we could give him, prayed for him, and also tried segulas and 'Granny remedies', but he continued to cry in pain. Finally, at 5:30 I resorted to calling the medical clinic to leave a message, so that we could assure a place at the doctor asap for the coming day. However, to my surprise a doctor answered my call. It 'turns out' that this doctor had forgot his tfilin in the clinic and had come in just for 20 seconds to take his tfilin when he heard my call. Realizing that this was special Providence, he summoned us to come immediately to examine our son."
Sources: Rambam Rotzeah ch. 8
Parshat Devarim
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה אל כל ישראל
"Comfort HaShem our God the mourners of Zion and the mourners of Jerusalem...” These days are days of tightened awareness towards the rectification of the sources of Tisha Bav, the day of the sin of the spies. It is when we take the events that occurred on Tisha Bav seriously, and mourn upon them, that the channels of rectifying the sources of these events become open before us. This week's parsha ties the sin of the spies, at least on the People's part, to their lack of faith that HaShem is with them in conquering the Holy Land. A general concept taught by the Rabbis is that everything goes according to its source. Thus, if we examine a clear correlation between the fore-mentioned lack of faith in Providence and the Destruction of our two Temples on this day, the connection is clear: just as one denies God's Providence and Presence in regard to the Holy Land, so too, and in turn (mida keneged mida), God detracts His Presence from us, this Presence being most pronounced in our Holy Temple.
Just as the sin of the spies can be broken into two primary components, the tale-bearing of the spies given more emphasis in the book Bamidbar versus the lack of faith of the People to such an extent that they believed 'HaShem hates us' as emphasized in Dvarim, so too these components are clearly echoed in the sins that caused the Destruction of the First and Second Temple. In regard to tale-bearing our Sages teach us 'anyone who tale-bears causes sins in correlation to three sins: idolatry, incest, and murder'... (Afterwards proved by proof-texts -see Erchin 15b). Thus, specifically these three sins, we are taught in the Talmud, are the sources of the Destruction of the First Temple. In regard to the second component, the belief that 'God hates us', our Sages in the Sifri teach that such a claim actually stems from the People's hate of God. If we examine further, we find that the only explicit prohibition against hatred in the Torah is to hate one's fellow Jew, which is exactly the sin that is the source for the Destruction of the Second Temple. Further explained, to hate one's fellow Jew is tantamount to hating God, for one ultimately hates the Godly spark inherent in that person (see 'one who blows the cheek of his fellow-Jew it is as if he blows the' cheek' of the Holy Presence' Sanhedrin 58b and more).
In mourning the Destruction lies the morning of Redemption. In addition to Tisha Bav and other fasts during the year, halacha also mandates other laws of mourning upon the Destruction, such as tearing one's garments as a sign of mourning upon sighting the Temple Mount in its destroyed state, in addition to the tearing upon sighting the cities of Judah and Jerusalem in destruction. In regard to the cities of Judah and Jerusalem, many poskim note that today one need not tear on sighting them, since Jewish sovereignty is present in these locations. However, upon the Temple Mount many opinions hold that one should still tear one's garment, since here the mourning is upon the absence of the Temple. Despite this differentiation between the Temple and the cities of Judah in regard to displaying mourning, in regard to rectifying the source of this mourning it follows from our beginning analysis that it is through rectifying the source of Tisha Bav - the sin of the spies, i.e rectifying our faith in regard to the Holy Land in general, that ultimately the source of the Destruction of the Temple will be rectified, leading to its Rebuilding.
In the past we have shown how Hebron is reminiscent of the entirety of the Land of Israel, how it is coined by the general term for the Land of Israel, 'Zion', and more. Therefore, it follows that through connection to Hebron, i.e connection to the Land of Israel at its source, we rectify the sin of the spies, just as Kaleb did in Hebron, and thereby bring about the rectification of this sin's aftermath, the Destruction of the Temple. This is Hebron, the uniting force that ties our People to our Holy Land, to the Holy Presence, to our Holy Temple.
Real Stories from the Holy Land #129
"Once I heard a story which depicts how careful a parent/teacher must be to not falsely accuse their child/student or deal too harshly with them even if in truth guilty. Just moments after hearing this story I, by mistake, accused a student of reading unrelated material in class. In turns out this student had been studying a text we had just learned in the class. I realized my mistake and subsequently asked forgiveness from this student publicly." R.G
Sources: Rambam Evel 9, 10, Yoreh Deah 340, 38 (with Hazon Obadia and Igrot Moshe O"H vol. 4, 70, 11) Shaar Hapsukim Shmuel II, Yalkut Shmoni 445
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. Parshat Pinchas
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
כי לא התפקדו בתוך בני ישראל כי לא נתן להם נחלה בתוך בני ישראל
"And grant me to come to the Land of Israel, Land of the Living, the Holy Land, speedily. To roll in its dust, to kiss its rubble, to inhale its holy air, and to sit in its shade. Have mercy and compassion on me to come in peace to the Land of Israel, the land You have chosen from all other lands, the Land sanctified with 10 sanctifications...” (Likutei Tfilot I, 47)
This week's parsha brings us, with the explicit census and preparation to enter the Land of Israel, ever closer to the aspiration of the Generation of the Wilderness and the aspiration of our People time over – to enter and settle the Holy Land. As is clear from our title quote, one of the most primary motives of the census in this week's parsha is to prepare for the settlement of the Land of Israel – 'to the greater (numbering tribe) you shall give a greater portion of Land, and to the lesser (numbering tribe) you shall lessen their portion'.
Therefore, as our title quote declares, the Levites are not to be enumerated among the rest of Israel, because they do not receive a set portion in the Land of Israel. In Dvarim (10, 9) it is explained that the Levites receive no earthly portion for “HaShem is their portion”. This explanation requires further analysis, considering the fact that, although it is true that the Levites do not receive large plots of land like the other tribes, yet still the Levites do receive 48 cities in the Land of Israel, and are not expected to be wandering nomads across the Land of Israel. Rather, we should say that even the Levites have a portion in the Land of God, but this portion is relatively limited in order to aid the Levites to concentrate on their spiritual activities, and not be distracted by agricultural and more earthly activities. In addition, the scattering of the Levites into 48 cities throughout the Land of Israel also aids in the Levites spiritual goal to spread Torah and their spiritual work, their Godly 'portion', among the People at large.
In addition to the Levite cities, the Kohanim, who also constitute as Levites in this regard, also receive a 'sanctified field' in the Land of Israel. Rambam explains this law in the laws of Arachim (Sanctifications): "If one said [that his property should be given] as a dedication offering ('herem') without making any specifications, it should be given to the priests, for unspecified dedication offerings are given to the priests, as [Numbers 18:14] states: 'All of the dedication offerings from the Jewish people will be yours…'What is the difference between dedication offerings designated for priests and those dedicated to Heaven? Dedication offerings to Heaven become consecrated property and must be redeemed for their worth… Dedication offerings designated for the priests, by contrast, can never be redeemed."
In the laws of Bikurim, Rambam also clarifies that this law of 'sanctified fields' is one of the few gifts given to the Kohanim that apply in the entirety of the Land of Israel and not just in Jerusalem or the like. The fact that these portions of Land must be sanctified in order to be given permanently to the Kohanim, may shed light on the nature of the 48 cities that are also given to the Kohanim and Levites. We may say that similarly these 48 cities are uniquely holy or 'sanctified' cities that are befitting for the Kohanim and Levites. At the top of the lists of these Kohanic and Levite cities in the book of Joshua stands Hebron. This is Hebron, the holy city our Patriarchs cherished, the holy Levite City, the City where our Father Yitzhak 'discovered' the Holy Presence.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #127:
"One day, I heard a story of one boy who was expelled from the yeshiva he learned in, but was later returned on the request of R. Elyashiv who asked the Rosh Yeshiva to return him one last time. This boy later became one of the great Roshei Yeshiva of our generation. Hearing this, I realized that I am not hearing this story now for reason. Indeed, just a few minutes later a boy knocked on my door, telling me that just an hour ago he was expelled from his yeshiva. I told his Rebbe the story I had just heard, and he agreed to give this boy another chance…" R.G
Sources: Rambam Bikurim 1, 6, Arachim ch. 6, Zohar II 39
. Parshat Matot-Massei
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
אחד אחוז מן החמשים
"HaShem, HaShem! O Compassionate and Merciful God... Allow me, with Your great compassion that I and all Israel have longing, yearning, desire, and true will to come to the Land of Israel, till I will merit, with Your great compassion, to realize my will and aspiration...” (Likutei Halachot 84)
This week's parsha sums up the Book of Bamidbar, the Book of the Journey Towards the Land of Israel, the journey which incorporates within it the dreams, aspirations, longing and will of the Generation of the Wilderness towards this Holy Land. Indeed, one's thoughts and intent towards a mitzva are an integral part of the mitzva to such an extent that our Sages teach us that if one had intent to do a mitzva, but was unwillingly stopped/detained from doing so, nevertheless it is considered as if he committed the mitzva.
In this way one should never despair from the longing for the Holy Land, and one should know that every such thought and prayer is dear to HaShem and is beneficial to oneself and to our People at large. In addition, one's intention in regard to the specific mitzvot that pertain to the Land also bear significance in the manner one commits these mitzvot. If one endears these mitzvot, one seeks these mitzvot and desires to fufil them in the best possible way. If, however, one sees these mitzvot as a 'burden', God forbid, it is also not difficult to search for ways to be exempt of them, such as our Sages tell of those who would bring produce through their windows and roofs so this produce would not be liable for maaser (which must be taken through the main entrance in order to be liable).
One of the halachot that also portrays one's state of mind in regard to mitzvot of the Land is the taking of Teruma. On a Biblical level the Torah does not mandate how much teruma from produce should be taken, and on this level even a minuscule amount is sufficient. However, our Sages learned from various verses that Teruma should range between 1/40 till 1/60 of the produce. 1/40 is considered a generous amount and portrays a positive state of mind towards the separation of Teruma. 1/60, in contrast, represents a stingy state of mind in regard to Teruma. 1/50 represents the middle path between generosity, and stinginess. Each measurement is given a proof-text in the Talmud Yerushalmi. Both 1/40 and 1/60 are extrapolated from a verse in Ezekiel 45 which states that teruma should be taken in a quantity of 'a sixth [interpretation A]/or a sixth to be added to two sixths (3/6= ½ of an eifa) [interpretation B] for a omer of wheat and a homer of barley', a omer amounting to 10 times an eifa. According to interpretation A the verse in Ezekiel should be interpreted to mean that one should take 1/6 of an eifa from a omer (10 eifas), thereby meaning that one takes 1/60 for teruma. According to interpretation B one is to take ½ of an eifa for two omers, an omer of wheat and an omer of barley (=20 eifas), thereby meaning that one takes 1/40 for teruma. The 'middle path' - 1/50 - is learned from a different proof-text altogether, our title quote from this week's parsha. Since the Torah in this week's parsha uses the ratio of 1/50 in regard to separating a quotient of the spoils of Midyan for holy purposes, therefore the Rabbis learn that 'all that you take in quotients should be taken by a ratio of 1/50'. The term, 'all that you take', is a term used to refer to the collective whole/'all', and thus pertains to the majority of people, who are neither generous nor stingy.
his type of learning, which ties seemingly very distant topics, the quotients from the spoils of Midyan to the laws of teruma, is actually very typical of the Talmud Yerushalmi's type of learning. This is the thinking and learning inspired in the 'atmosphere of wisdom' of the Land of Israel where the Talmud Yerushalmi was developed and written. In turn, the Zohar ties the entirety of the Land of Israel to Hebron, suggesting that this type of thinking also stems from the light of Hebron, which means 'connection', where thought is unified in Godly inspiration.
Real Stories from the Holy Land #128
"On the way back from a family Bar-Mitzva celebration I waited for quite a while for the bus to Jerusalem to arrive, in order to visit my father. Suddenly, I heard a voice, 'come with us to Jerusalem.' This voice was no other than my brother's. 'It turns out' that the driver of the car my brother was in made a mistake, and instead of turning right to depart from the city, he turned left towards the bus stop I was waiting, at which point my brother 'discovered' me and offered me a ride..." R.E
Sources: Rambam Trumot 3, 2, Yerushalmi Trumot 4, 3
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. לשכנו תדרשו
Connecting to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
מה טבו אהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל
“Blessed are You HaShem our God Master of the Universe Who has enlivened us, sustained us, and allowed us to reach this time.” The blessing of 'Sheheyianu', by principle, may be said on the purchase of a house in addition to other matters called for in halacha. That said, some poskim are somewhat skeptical about saying this blessing on the purchase of a house. Even so, in regard to a house in the Land of Israel it is proper even according to these opinions to at least prepare a meal for family and/or friends to praise HaShem on His kindness and bless Shehianu on a new fruit with the intention to, in addition, bless HaShem on the house one has purchased.
This ruling is partially based on the ruling of the Magen Avraham who ascertains that only in the Land of Israel is the ceremony of 'hanukat habayit' – dedicating a house – considered a 'mitzva feast' (seudat mitzvah). This assertion can be based on the Rambam's ruling based on the Yerushalmi Sotah (8, 4) that only if one builds a house in the Land of Israel does one return from battle, as the verses in Dvarim Parshat Shoftim stipulate. There the Torah states that before battle all the soldiers are told that if any of them has built/bought a house or planted a vineyard within the past year he is to go back to his home and not go out to battle.
Here we should note that according to our Sages and halacha this law of 'returning from battle' applies only in an optional battle to increase the borders of Israel, and not in a mandatory/'mitzva' battle to save the lives of Israel, to defeat Amalek, etc. in which these people are not exempt from battle.
The Yerushalmi infers from superfluous terms in these verses that only if someone has built/bought a house or planted a vineyard/5 fruit-bearing trees (Rambam) in the Land of Israel, which is considered a mitzva, does one return from battle to commit this mitzva. From these laws pertaining to returning from battle in order to commit the mitzva of settling the Land, we can learn yet more valuable lessons on what is considered a significant enough investment in the settlement of the Land of Israel in order to prefer this investment over going out to battle.
This said, we also find that our Sages interpreted the concepts of 'house' and 'vineyard' in more general terms, not only in the halachic context of returning from battle, but also as generally signifying a place to live ('house') and livelihood ('vineyard'). Thus, in this way one who supports housing and livelihood in the Land of Israel can also be considered to have invested significantly to this important mitzvah/value of settling the Land considered equivalent to all mitzvot of the Torah (Sifri Ekev). Of course, this is definitely true of Hebron, the first Jewish settlement of antiquity and the settlement-frontier of our future.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #126
"Since I became a bar-mitzva, I have never missed praying with a minyan, thank God. One night, I came back from a wedding at 3am, and I remembered that I had still not prayed Maariv. I went to a shteiblach ('minyan factory') but no-one was there to pray at this hour, so I went to the 'Zichron Moshe' neighborhood shul (in Jerusalem) which is known to have minyans till dawn. However, waiting a long while, even in 'Zichron Moshe' there was no-one to pray with. I started learning the parshat hashavua Vayetze from which our Sages learn that Yakov our Father enacted the Maariv prayer. Moved by this, I began to pray that HaShem grant me to pray properly with a minyan in Yakov's merit. After 13 minutes, 7 minutes before dawn (the last time to pray Maariv - in winter about 5:30 am) suddenly 4 people showed up to pray Maariv, a fifth person came by a cab from 'Shuafat' which was a 1/4 hour ride away, (with me 6 Jews actually praying as needed by halacha). Then we added 3 people who 'happened' to be in the shul (and already prayed) and the tenth man just came to pray Shacharit. So I prayed the most moving Maariv of my life…" Y.R
Sources: Rambam Mlachim veMlhamot, 7, 13, Magen Avraham 568, 5
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