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Parshat Vayechi
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
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Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"????? ????? ???? ??? ?? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ??? ??? ????? ????? ?????"
"Blessed are You HaShem our God and the God of our Fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitzhak, and the God of Yaakov... Blessed are You HaShem the Shield of Avraham." "The Holy Presence rests with the Forefathers" (Zohar) - thus our Forefathers' crucial role in our prayers is seen in many ways. The number of daily prayers Shaharit, Minha, and Maariv are taken in inspiration from the three prayers of our three fathers.
The obligation of intent is concentrated in our prayers, 'service of the heart', to one blessing alone (to most opinions) - 'the blessing of the Forefathers'. Even the number of blessings - 18 - is taken, according to the Yerushalmi Talmud, from the number of times these three fathers appear together in the Torah, this week's title quote being the first of them. We can infer from this source that it is especially when the Patriarchs are together that they have such spiritual power calling for an additional blessing in the Amida.
Similarly, the importance of unity is seen again in this week's parsha when Yaakov calls all his sons together to his death-bed in order to tell them what will happen in 'the end of days'. The brothers are united yet again around the coffin of Yaakov in leading him to Hebron-Maarat HaMachpela in the Land of Israel, to such an extent that our Sages remark that they carried Yaakov's coffin in the exact same order that their tribes were destined to surround the Holy Ark on the way to the Land of Israel in the Wilderness many years later. This teaching sheds light on how the keys to unity of our People lie in our common roots to our Patriarchs, and also through our common connection to the Land of Israel. Indeed, on the term 'talpiot' in Shir HaShirim our Sages interpret as referring to the 'mound'-'tel'-Zion, to which all mouths - 'piot'' - turn to in prayer, as it is mandatory for all in the Diaspora to turn towards the Land of Israel in prayer.This power of unity is also a dominant factor in the effectiveness of our prayers, as our sages learn from the verse 'God will not disdain the (prayer) of multitudes' (Job 36, 5), a fundamental concept that runs through much of the laws of prayer, as in the necessity of a minyan for prayer, a synagogue for prayer, and the like.
All these concepts come together so perfectly in Hebron, the destination of the brother's united journey to the Holy Land to bury their holy father, completing the complete corrum of the three Patriarchs among whom the Holy Presence rests.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #101:
"One night our son fell from our bed and started to vomit, so we took him to the doctor who said that he has an ear infection. This seemed improbable especially since he had no fever. The next day he vomited again in his class, so out of alarm of these un-explainable events, we took him to the hospital. When we reached the hospital, we were told that actually our son has a cyst in his brain which needs an emergency surgery, and if we had not come just at that time because of this seemingly minor issue he would have been in serious risk…"
Sources: Orah Haim 101, 1, Brachot 26a, Yerushlami 33b
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Parshat Vayigash
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Bonding with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
ויסע ישראל וכל אשר לו
"May it be Your will HaShem our God and God of our Fathers... that You sustain us with good sustenance, in allowance, in pleasure, and in comfort for Your service..." (Prayer for Sustenance added to 'Shma Koleinu' of Amida)
The purpose of good sustenance, wealth, and the like is for 'Your service', the service of God, as Rambam teaches us at the end of his Mishneh Torah, that 'Sages aspired for the days of Mashiah (when the prestige and wealth of Israel will be greatly raised), not in order to rule over the world... and not in order to eat, drink, and be happy, but rather in order to be free for the Torah and its wisdom... so that they attain the World to Come."
Thus, as we saw last week, since the 'service of God' in the Land of Israel is especially dear before HaShem, there are special laws that are concerned about the sustenance of Israel in the Land of Israel. Another law that illustrates this principle is the prohibition on taking basic staple products of livelihood (flour, etc.) from the Land of Israel to the Diaspora, in order that these staple products be plentiful and inexpensive for the Jewish populace in the Land. Although this is the general rule, there is some controversy among the poskim in regard to the export of small quantities and also in cases of special economic situations that may be exceptions to the general rule.
In any case, the rationale in this rule can be seen in this week's parsha in which Yaakov takes 'all he has' and travels to Egypt, albeit with explicit permission from HaShem. It seems clear that such a motion of moving without leaving anything behind, sustenance or otherwise, was a definitive step in the advent of the Exile of Egypt, and therefore it is this motion that halacha wishes to prevent for the generations thereafter who are not pre-destined for exile. Nevertheless, it should be noted that even in the pre-destined exile to Egypt our Sages in the Haggadah teach us that Yaakov's intention was not to settle in Egypt, but rather to live there as a temporary dweller. In addition, it is clear from the Midrash that Yaakov cared to take with him the written contract of purchase on Maaras HaMachpela, a matter that again highlights the level of readiness to return to the Land even in pre-destined Exile.
If such was the message of Maaras HaMachpela-Hebron to our father Yaakov even in pre-destined exile, how much more potent is this message of Hebron to our generation, coming ever-closer to redemption, to hold tight to our age-old 'contract' with our Holy Land that runs so powerfully through Hebron.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #100:
"I own an apricot business. One year my fields were entirely unproductive. I went to a tzadik to receive some advice regarding this issue. He advised me to continue watering the trees as if nothing happened. The apricot season arrived, and still nothing grew. The tzadik told me to continue watering, and so we did even though the trees seemed more like lifeless stumps. Somewhat later the trees bloomed and grew apricots. I sold the apricots out of season to hotels and earned about three times more than a regular year."
Sources: Sota 13b, Hoshen Mishpat 231, 26
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. Parshat Vayeishev
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Connecting to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"וישלחהו מעמק חברון"
“Master of the Universe! Fulfill my requests for the good... and remember me... for a long life to study Your Torah... and to comprehend the depths of its secrets...” (Prayer on Opening the Ark on Yomim Noraim)
The Torah has depths, depths of depths, depths beyond infinity... Similarly, the ‘Cave of Machpela’ has depths, as can be simply seen, being a cave in the earth, but yet has depths yet greater as being the channel of souls to the Upper World - the Garden of Eden, and has yet greater depths as being threshold of the Holy Presence, a depth beyond infinity...
Our Sages explain our title quote of this week’s parsha as hinting to the ‘deep ‘advice’/secret’ by which Yosef was sent from his father Yakov, which led ultimately to the Exile of Egypt and the Exodus thereafter. This ‘deep secret’ on a semi-superficial level refers to the pre-destined decree, mentioned to Avraham, that his descendants will be slaves in a ‘foreign Land’ for many years. Delving a bit deeper, our Sages say that this decree was rooted at certain mistakes that Avraham made in comparison to his saintly level, such as making garrison of Torah scholars in his battle to save Lot, or a lack of faith befitting his saintly level, or the like.
Going deeper, we find sources to the idea that the Exile of Egypt is rooted so far back as to Primordial Adam. According to the Arizal, evil spirits caused Adam to form human-like spirits which centered their energy in Egypt, thereby corrupting this land greatly. Therefore, the especially good offspring of Adam, who took form as the People of Israel, were sent to Egypt to correct this matter and revive the sparks of holiness of Adam that had been left corrupted in Egypt. Only after a few hundred years of spiritual work, reviving these sparks and returning them to their Godly source, were the People rendered ready to leave Egypt to return to the Holy Land, so befitting their true Godly nature.
On a superficial level it seems that the sources to the Exile of Egypt conflict each other, for if one matter is the reason to a matter, then how can something else be the reason to the same matter? However, when we delve more deeply we find that just as an electric circuit has at its source a city’s general power generator, and at a particular house a power-board, and in a particular room an on-off switch, so too there are reasons to matters that do not become manifested till an intermediate reason happens, so on and so forth. In this way the ‘electric’-living power of Adam and our Avot continue to penetrate to this day. The living essence of our Patriarchs, praying for their descendants constantly as brought in oursources, is so potent that it is brought even in halachic sources.
Generally speaking, it is forbidden to pray a set prayer of the Amida or its like in the cemetery, for doing so is considered ‘mocking the dead’ of the cemetery who are unable to pray. Nevertheless, many poskim note that Maaras HaMachpela, although it is the burial place of Adam and our Patriarchs, is an exception to this rule (even more than Rachel’s Tomb or Rashbi’s Tomb). Maaras HaMachpela, the poskim determine based on the teachings of our Sages, is not a place of the dead - it is the place of our living ancestors to whom praying is no mocking gesture, for they themselves are in constant prayer for their descendants.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #98:
"We had been married for four years without children. Last Purim we went to a Purim banquet in Kiryat Arba where the men learned Torah, while the women together said the entire book of Tehilim on our behalf. B"h my wife is pregnant now, and her due date b"h is Purim..." (DK)
Sources: Sota 10a, Shaar Hkavanot Pesah, Mikrai Kodesh Rosh HaShana ch. 2, (7)
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. Parshat Mekeitz and Chanukah
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Connecting to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"והיה האוכל לפקדון לארץ לשבע שני הרעב"
"Satisfy us with Your goodness, and gladden our hearts with Your salvation, and purify our hearts to serve You truly..." (Shabbos Amida)
Our Rabbis teach us that satisfaction does not come from the physical nature of food itself, but rather from the spiritual ‘sparks’ hidden in food that give satisfaction to the soul in order to continue to dwell in the body and give it life. Just as one’s body is enlivened with one’s soul, so too the Land of Israel is enlivened and is cultivated in spiritual energy with the presence of Israel within it. With the same token, in the latter instance too, food and sustenance is needed to bind the People to the Land to settle permanently in this Land, as we see in this week’s parsha that when Josef’s brothers lacked food they were forced to leave the Land for Egypt.
In this way we can see why halacha so severely regards one who causes commercial havoc in the Land of Israel by storing produce extensively to be sold later at higher prices, comparing him to one who lends in interest to Jews, which is compared elsewhere to denying God. The apprehension that proper sustenance of the People is crucial for the general livelihood of the People and the greatening of the Holy Presence in the Land can be seen in more laws as well.
One example, is the prohibition, in the Land of Israel, to buy and store staple products such as flour, etc in order to sell it a greater price when the market is in more need for these products. Even in time of famine, one is not to store produce for more than what is needed for his household for a year’s period. Another law in this matter is the prohibition to make profit on staple products needed for basic livelihood (flour, etc.). However, a place where oil is abundant, one may make profit on oil.
When it comes to Hanuka, the concepts of “market” and “oil” suddenly echo in additional contexts. Just as the light of Zion - the Land of Israel penetrates even to the mundane conduct of the marketplace as just explained, so too the light of Hanuka, echoing the light of the Menora, the light of Jerusalem - the Bais HaMikdash, must penetrate even to the marketplace, as halacha determines that, at least by principle, one may kindle the Hanuka lights only till ‘the feet of people leave the marketplace’ to whom the miracle of Hanuka must be publicized. This miracle is that of the ‘oil’ that seemed insufficient but became abundant (either in quality or quantity) signifying also the improvement of status for Jewish settlement and sovereignty in the Holy Land, as clearly codified by the Rambam.
A few weeks ago we noted how the Arizal links Hebron to Zion, while the concept ‘Jerusalem’ refers to Jerusalem itself. The laws of Hanuka candles appear in the Talmud in context of the laws of Shabbos candles. Both these candles are lights of mitzvah upon which the Midrash, in context, talks about all mitzvah-candle-lighting: ‘If you observe the lights of Shabbat, I (HaShem) shall show you the lights of Zion”.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #99:
"One day, I deviated from my regular learning to study the relationship between the Canaanite tribes and the Philistines. I 'happened' to ask one of my friends about a 'hidush' I had on this topic, and it 'turns out' that he too 'happened' to deviate from his regular learning to study about the Cananite tribes at just the same time..." (RM and MG)
Sources: Baba Batra 91a, Hoshen Mishpat 231, 23-26, Yalkut Shimoni Bamidbar 719, Rambam Hanuka, 3, 1.
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. ??"?
????? ?????
Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??????... ?????? ????? ??? ?-?"
“May His Great Name be glorified and sanctified in the world He will renew and revive the dead... and He will remove foreign worship from the Land, and return the service of Heaven to its place, and the Holy Blessed be He shall rule in His Majesty...” (Kaddish after Siyum Masechet)
We have mentioned in the past the special sensitivity of the Holy Land to idolatry, as can be seen in one of the 613 commandments to ‘wage war’ on idolatry specifically in the Land of Israel. This sensitivity can be seen too in our title quote of this week’s parsha, which conveys Yakov’s command to his sons to remove all idolatry from among them before “coming full circle”, after Yakov’s wayfaring 20 years in the Diaspora, to Bet El, where HaShem appeared to him just before and in regard to going outside the Land.
Heemek Davar explains that God forbid did Yakov’s sons have any idolatry with them, but rather Yakov’s command pertains to ascertaining that even the sons’ servants be cleansed of any idols whatsoever.
Interestingly, these words of Yakov upon entering the Land reappear almost word for word in the book of Yehoshua when the People of Israel enter the Land many years later. The importance of cleansing idolatry specifically from the Land of Israel is seen also in context of a special bracha enacted upon seeing a place where idolatry has been removed from the Holy Land.
While in the Diaspora one is to say a general bracha “Blessed are You HaShem... for removing idolatry from this place”. In the Land of Israel one is to end this bracha by saying “for removing idolatry from our Land”. This sensitivity to idolatry in the Holy Land can be explained by the parable that just as a King would be especially conscious of any matter that negates his majesty in his palace, so too, the Land of Israel, ‘Palace of the King of Kings’, is a place of special sensitivity that nothing negates HaShem’s indivisible majesty.
In Kiryat Arba - Hebron, the final destination of Yakov in the Holy Land, this message takes extra meaning. ‘Kiryat Arba’ signifies how all four (‘arba’) directions (north, south, etc.) or elements (solid, liquid, gas, fire-ignition), which idolatry sees as separate god-entities, come together (‘kiryat’-meeting place-city) to pronounce through the four saintly couples who all knew the One God - “Hear O Israel, HaShem is our God, HaShem is One!”
Real Stories from the Holy Land #97:
“While learning Torah, I suddenly had an urge for coffee, but I pushed away this thought and did not get up to prepare coffee, so I could continue learning without interruption. Just then, someone came to me and offered me a cup of coffee.”
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