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Parshat Yitro
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Connecting to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"עתה ידעתי כי גדול ה' מכל הא-הים"
"And all shall come to serve You, and shall give You a crown of majesty" (Piyut of Yomim Noraim). One of the aspirations of Judaism is to bestow the light of God upon all nations of the world to the farthest reaches, so that all shall acknowledge the mastery and majesty of the King of Kings, HaShem, as Yitro 'the priest of Midyan' proclaims, 'now I know that HaShem is greater than any other power/god'. Part of this aspiration is that, not only should all nations have acknowledgment of HaShem's mastery, but that this acknowledgment be so pronounced that all nations even conduct their lives according to the teachings of God in regard to the Noahide commandments, which fill the world with good and justice.
These commandments entail the obligation to pursue justice through an organized judicial system, and the prohibition on idolatry, blaspheming, incest, murder, theft, and the consumption of organisms while still alive. Although these are the main commandments, there are also some more laws of lesser status incumbent on all nations, such as the prohibition to graft different species of trees and breed different species of animals. We also learn that there are certain nations that in addition to these commandments were also commanded to circumcise their males, these being the descendants of Ketura, born to Avraham after being commanded on circumcision, who are considered today to be mingled with the offspring of Yishmael, thereby rendering them all under the obligation to commit circumcision on the 8th day. Although the aspiration is that all nations of the world commit the Noahide laws, Torah teaches us that in the Holy Land in particular there is especially high sensitivity to the commitment of these laws. This sensitivity is such to an extent that only one who takes on these Noahide laws in this manner can be granted citizenship to stay as a permanent dweller in the Land, a status called 'ger toshav', the 'residential convert' (to be differentiated from a full convert to Judaism).
Hebron, as the burial place of both primordial Man, Adam, and of the Patriarchs of the Jewish People reminds us, the Jewish People, of our responsibility to enlighten the entire world, the descendants of Adam, with the light of God, to such an extent that we shall indeed be called by all, as the words of the prophet: 'a light upon the nations' (Isaiah 49, 6).
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #106:
"Once my wife needed to fly to India, so I drove her to the airport. However, on the way my car broke down, and my wife was in danger of missing her flight. As I prayed to be helped, just then a car stopped for us which just 'happened' to be driving to the airport. After my wife left on that ride I was left to handle with the car in the heat of summer, and I became very thirsty. Just then, a truck randomly stopped, and offered me refreshing water."
Sources: Rambam Mlachim vemilhamot ch. 9-10
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. Parshat Beshalach
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"אל יצא איש ממקומו ביום השביעי"
"Blessed are You HaShem our God King of the Universe who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us on the mitzvah of eruv."
Eruv literally means to connect, as by this eruv, a portion of food (or a place pre-walked to), one connects oneself with a further location, that would otherwise be off limits on Shabbat. This location rendered 'off limits' is referred to in our title quote which states that 'one must not leave his place on the Seventh Day', which our Sages interpret to mean that one is limited from travelling a certain distance on Shabbat even without carrying. This type of eruv is called 'eruv tehumin' which allows one to travel 2000 cubits from the location that this food was put (or walked to) before Shabbos. Essentially, by placing this eruv before Shabbos in a certain location one declares that this location is 'his' location, and thereby traveling from that spot is not considered to be 'leaving his place' on Shabbat.
According to the Zohar, special sanctity rests in the designated place of a person, while all other locations are prone to negative spiritual power. Therefore, as befitting the especially high holiness of Shabbat we are bidden to stay in our designated 'holy' locations and not desecrate the Shabbat by going out of these locations to 'mundane' or 'negative' locations. Just as we see here the importance of designated space in regard to the sanctity of time, i.e the Shabbat, it seems we see a very similar concept in context of the sanctity of space, i.e the Land of Israel, in context of the bounds of space one is allowed to separate Truma, the 'holy' produce unique to the Land of Israel.
In this law, one is allowed to take Truma from one produce upon another (given they are of the same species, type, etc.) only if both products are in the same location, house, etc., a matter that is called 'mukaf'. Nevertheless, the laws of 'mukaf' in regard to truma are somewhat different than Shabbat, as an eruv is not considered sufficient to 'join' the two products in separate locations for truma. This difference can be explained perhaps as being due to the difference in the dominance of a person's location in Shabbat, in which a human induced 'eruv' is sufficient to bring other locations under his territory, versus the dominance of the object's location in regard to Truma, where this is not so. Interestingly, the term 'mukaf' literally means surrounded or 'walled in', a matter that reminds us of other laws in the Land of Israel concerning the 'walled-in cities' of the Land which have special sanctity (Mishna Kelim ch. 1), which again shows how 'walled-in' specified space has special sanctity over its counterpart.
In regard to Purim we noted before that Hebron is almost definitely one of the walled cities of the Land. Indeed, in Hebron this 'walled-in' nature, that unites together in the atmosphere of sanctity, is evermore befitting the inherent nature of Hebron as the uniting (Hebron means unity) force of our People in the midst of our saintly Patriarchs before the Holy Presence.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #105:
"It was about 1 am and as I (a woman) was walking on the street, I noticed a monk that suspiciously started to walk my way. I started to run, and he began chasing after me. I said a prayer for protection: 'In the Name of HaShem... from my right is Michael and from left is Gavriel, etc." Suddenly the monk stopped, but when I continued my way, he started chasing me again, so again I said the prayer "from my right is Michael etc.", and the monk stopped once again. When he was caught by the police, he confessed his ill intentions. When asked why he stopped, he explained that he had suddenly saw two men by my side..."
Sources: Rambam Trumot 3, 17-20, Zohar Beshalah
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. Parshat Va'eira
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Connecting to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"וידבר ה' אל משה ואל אהרן ויצום אל בני ישראל... להוציא את בני ישראל מארץ מצרים"
"May the Merciful One send us Elijah the prophet remembered for good, and may he deliver us good tidings, salvation and comfort."
Just as our first redemption from Egypt came about through a prophet - the messenger of God, Moshe, so too the future redemption will come about through the prophet Elijah. As we have shown in the past, one of the primary motives of the first redemption and of our future redemption is to bring our People to the Holy Land, thereby uniting us with the Holy Presence therein.
With the same token, the concept of 'sending a messenger' in regard to bringing the People to the Land is echoed in halacha in the significance of 'messengers' especially in regard to mitzvoth that pertain to the Land, and especially in regard to the mitzvah of Truma. Our Sages learn some of the most fundamental laws in regard to messengers in general in halacha from the verses in the Torah that talk of summoning messengers in order to take truma from produce. One of these laws learns from the Torah's words 'you shall also lift' that just as the one initially obligated to take the truma is a Jew, so too his messenger to take ('lift') truma must 'also' be a Jew. This law sheds light on the spiritual nature of a messenger, considered to be an 'extended hand' of the sender, thereby implying that only a messenger of the same People can be considered to be united with the sender in such a special way. Although this law pertains to all laws of messengers in the Torah, the fact that it is learned from the mitzva of truma, which is unique to the Holy Land, seems to remarkably reflect the nature of the Land of Israel in relationship to our People in general.
In the past we have noted how verses, laws, and more point to the fact that Israel are considered truly one people only in the Land of Israel, as it says 'one People in the Land'. Also, especially in regard to Truma did we learn that the Biblical obligation of truma only takes hold when the majority of Israel live in the Land of Israel, a matter that once again highlights the common responsibility and unity of our People in regard to the Land of Israel. This, in turn, is also the message of the beacon of the Land of Israel - Hebron, which reminds us always our common roots in beautiful unity - Hebron (hibur - unity)!
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #103:
"Once I was learning Torah with a group, and we side-tracked to a different topic within the discussion. Just when we finished learning, I began another learning session with a hevrusa (learning partner) and unknowingly the section we began to learn was exactly on the topic we had 'side-tracked' to in the learning session just before..." (M.G)
Sources: Rambam Trumot 1, 26 and ibid 4, 1
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. Parshat Bo
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"על המזוזות ועל המשקוף"
"May the Merciful One break the yoke of exiles upon our necks and quickly raise us upright to our Land." In the Land of Israel, Land of the Holy Presence, our People are given the gift of uplifted stature, the gift of freedom from the yoke of foreign influence, befitting the People of God.
In this week's parsha we see how the Exodus from Egypt, our prototype of redemption, teaches us how redemption and freedom to serve God are linked to the uplifting of stature, the raising of courage to emerge via the main entrance surrounded by the blood of the 'god' (sheep) of the Egyptians. Indeed, our Sages see this main entrance as one of the primary symbols of freedom, as they explain that the reason a Jewish slave who refuses to be freed is taken to the entrance of a house to have his ear pierced there is because he refuses the freedom inherent in Israel from the Exodus symbolized by the entrance and the doorpost. Just as the Exodus for the Land of Israel is symbolized by the entrance of a house so too we find that a decisive factor in the mitzvoth of the Land is the entrance of the house.
In the laws of Maaser we find that produce is rendered liable for Maaser only if it is taken through the main entrance of the house and not through ad-hoc apertures of the roof or the like. Although this law is learned from the verse 'and they shall eat it (the Maaser) in your gateway', we may perhaps ascertain from it the nature of Maaser and the mitzvoth of the Land that come from it thereof (for only after Maaser can one take Trumat Maaser, Maaser Sheni, etc.). As we just mentioned, the Land of Israel gives our People freedom to truly live as the People of God, and for this reason it seems that the Torah insists that Maaser and other mitzvoth of the Land take hold only when we indeed live in an upright manner, entering as proper owners in the Land through the main entrance of our houses, the entrance once again hinting to the symbol of freedom.
Another name for Hebron is Mamreh, which our Sages interpret as stemming from the verb root m.r.h which means to go forwards despite opposition, signifying Abraham's courage to commit circumcision despite the opposition of his friends. In this way, Hebron acts as a beacon of courage to our People, to break forward, to emerge from the entrance, to break the yoke of exile, to be reborn again.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #104:
"Once I told someone that I was the head of a specific program/organization, as I felt this was needed in order for him to understand why I am so busy. Nevertheless, I had concern that such a statement may cultivate feeling of haughtiness within myself. Just about 2 hours later someone inquired me for the first time 'who or what is responsible for this program (the program I run)' and without hesitation I answered: 'HaShem'..."
Sources: Rambam Maaser 4, 1, see Rashi beginning of p. Mishpatim
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. Parshat Shemot
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
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Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"??? ????? ?????"
"... And grant me to raise children and children of children wise and intelligent, lovers of HaShem, fearers of God, people of truth, holy seed clinging to HaShem, and illuminators of the world with Torah and good deeds and all the work of serving the Creator..."
Just as we pray that our children and our People love God, so too we are taught that HaShem, so-to-speak 'prays' that He have compassion on his children Israel. Indeed, the People of Israel are so dear to HaShem that even when we were in Egypt steeped in 49 levels of impurity among another nation, HaShem distinguished us from the Egyptians and called us, as in our title quote, 'my firstborn Israel'. Another description of Israel in Scripture that distinguishes them from all other nations is the metaphor of the grape-vine, homiletically explained on the verse 'a grape-vine You shall make travel from Egypt' (Ps. 80, 9), a clear allusion to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. One of the explanations of this metaphor explains that just as the grape-vine seems to be initially the lowliest of the trees but afterwards is highly praised for its wine, so too Israel are downtrodden among the nations in This World but will be highly praised in the World to Come.
This metaphor seems to be echoed quite clearly in halacha as well. Out of all the trees, the grape-vine is singled out to maintain special halachic status, both as a tree, and in regard to its produce, the grape and the wine that comes from it. Generally speaking, there is a Torah prohibition to mingle different species of seeds, or graft together different species of trees. However, unique is the severity of mingling in regard to the grape-vine, for such mingling renders the produce grown thereafter as prohibited even from any type of benefit (even if not eaten). In regard to the grape-vine's product, wine, yet again we see unique laws that distinguish it from any other product. One example, is the necessity that kosher wine be made entirely only by Jews, unless it is 'cooked' ('mevushal' - similar to pasteurization) before it is handed to the care of a gentile. Interestingly, we find that just as the Land of Israel is 'an essential element vitally tied with the People' (terms of R. A.I Kook) as we have shown in the past, so too the law of mingling the grape-vine retains its main power only in the Land of Israel, where it is Biblically forbidden, while in the Diaspora it is only Rabbinically forbidden and its produce is also not rendered forbidden from benefit.
It is therefore not surprising that the metaphor of the grape-vine is expanded to the message of Hebron, Gateway to the Land of Israel and City of the Patriarchs. So our Sages teach us, that just as the grape-vine grows on and depends on dead trees, so too Israel are dependent on the merit of the 'dead' Patriarchs. This vital dependency highlights how our Patriarchs are not really 'dead'. As our Sages teach us, these righteous are not dead - they and their vital power are forever lasting...
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #102:
"We had been married for 7 months, and my wife still had not conceived. We went to the tomb of R. Meir ('Baal Hanes') in Tiberias, and there my wife prayed and promised that if she be granted a son she would call him 'Meir' in the name of R. Meir. A week later, my wife conceived..." (Y.S)
Sources: Brachot 7a, Rambam Kilayim 5, 1, Taanit 5b
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