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Parshat Ki Tisa
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
For You Have Found Favor in My Eyes, And I Shall Make Myself Known to You by [My] Name
‘Blessed are You HaShem One Who supports the righteous.’
This week’s parsha highlights the remarkable power the righteous have before HaShem. Even though HaShem decreed that the People of Israel were to be obliterated, Moshe Rabeinu pleaded and prayed that the People be saved, and indeed HaShem forgave Israel and spared them from this severe decree. This special power of the righteous can be found in the terms of our Sages, “the righteous declare and HaShem ‘obeys’ their decree.” An even stronger expression of this concept may be found in our Sages’ teaching: “who ‘rules’ over Me (God so-to-speak)? The righteous who rule with the awe of God.” How can this be, that a righteous human of flesh-and-blood ‘rules’ over HaShem, Master of the Universe? Of course, this concept is not to be taken literally, but rather that HaShem originally created the world in a fashion that the righteous have the power to rise to supreme levels of compassion in the spiritual worlds where one may ‘awaken’ tremendous mercy upon Israel and the world, calling for forgiveness and compassion despite the evil decree.
One of the righteous figures of Hebron, known for his ability of ”‘decreeing and HaShem ‘obeying’’ as seen in the miracle stories associated with him, was the Chief Rabbi of Hebron, Rabbi Moshe Ferera. Rabbi Moshe Ferera came to the Land of Israel in 5611 (1851) and became the Chief Rabbi of Hebron in 5613. Rabbi Ferera passed away in 5625 (1865).
The City of the Patriarchs, is the city that unites [‘hibur’=Hebron] our entire people to our saintly origins, the holy Patriarchs and Matriarchs, and also to Moshe Rabeinu. According to the Midrash, Moshe Rabeinu was brought to rest with the Forefathers and Mothers in Hebron after his passing at Mount Nevo. For this reason, there is an ancient custom to make pilgrimage to Maarat HaMachpela on the day of Moshe Rabeinu’s passing (and birth), the 7th of Adar. Ultimately, it is through uniting with our saintly roots in Hebron that our People are also united together, one with each other.
Thus, the power of the righteous not only unites the People to HaShem to ‘awaken’ HaShem’s mercy, but also this unity with God is achieved through the righteous’ power to unite the People themselves, between man and his fellow man. This is the secret of Purim, which reminds us to “go and call all the Jews together” through the decree of the righteous figures, such as Mordechai and Esther then, and through the call of the righteous throughout all the generations. This is the secret of Purim which calls us to reach out to our fellow Jews through charity, through sending gifts, mishloah manot, and through feasting together in rejoice. This is also the secret of Hebron which unites our People together through our Godly Fathers and Mothers and through our greatest master and teacher, Moshe Rabeinu.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #257
‘One Shabbos morning I planned to go the mikveh in my neighborhood, but for an unexplainable reason I took a different path than I had planned… It ‘turns out’ that on the altered route I ‘happened’ to meet a good friend of mine I hadn’t seen in years, who came to my neighborhood for a ‘Shabbat Hatan’ (Shabbos after a wedding)…’
Sources: Sefer Hebron, Article by Mordechai Land (about midrash and custom to make pilgrimage to Hebron on 7 Adar), Sefer HaTemuna, Tana Deve Eliyahu ch. 2
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Parshat Tetzaveh
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
You Shall Take Aharon and His Sons To Be My Priests
'Blessed are You HaShem Our God and Master of the Universe Who has commanded us to bless Your People Israel with love' - Priestly Blessing.
This parsha is the first in the Torah to put major emphasis on the priestly rite, the descendants of Aharon, who wear the priestly garb in the Temple mentioned in this parsha. Our Sages teach that it was originally Moshe Rabeinu who was supposed to take on the priestly rite, but when he refused to take the role of speaking before the People and Pharaoh in parshat Shmot, the priestly rite was given to Aharon in his stead. Indeed, the concept of 'clothing', as is discussed in detail in this parsha, also represents the way one 'communicates' or expresses oneself to others.
The attribute of speaking and drawing oneself close to the People through the attributes of love, care, and love of peace. that were the attributes of Aharon, teach us who HaShem wants to be His priests in the Temple of His Holy Presence. The Holy Presence is HaShem's revelation upon the People, and is even coined 'the Assembly of Israel' in the Zohar. 'The Assembly of Israel' in the Zohar refers to the lofty spiritual identity of the People of Israel as revealing the Name of God in the world, and as such the 'soul' or 'internal essence' of Israel is identified with the Holy Presence itself. Therefore, we understand why it is Aharon, the great righteous figure who possessed these attributes of love and closeness to the People, who merited for himself and his descendants to serve in the Sanctuary of the Holy Presence. Although Moshe Rabeinu is our greatest prophet and teacher aloof and beyond human comprehension, it is specifically the righteous closeness to the People through the saintly figure of Aharon which is called for in order to make the Holy Presence rest among Israel.
This matter also teaches us how instrumental the care Jews have for each other is in making the Holy Presence rest among Israel and in our Holy Land. Hebron, Beacon of the Holy Land and the Holy Presence therein, means 'unity', hinting to the high importance of unity and peace, stemming from the kindness of our Patriarchs, in making the Holy Presence rest with us in our Holy Land.
One of the saintly figures of the Kohanic rite who lived in Hebron was Rabbi Avraham Hayim HaKohen, grandson of R. Yoshua Valk Katz, the author of the famous commentary on the Tur, the 'Drisha UPrisha.' Rabbi A.H HaKohen left Poland in 5508 (CE 1748) for the Land of Israel. On the way, he stayed two years in Constantinople, where he published his Kabbalistic commentary on Tehilim called 'Eretz HaHayim.' In 5510 (1750) he moved to Hebron. The Hida saw him in Hebron and testified about him: 'I saw that he had a work on the entire Tanah, and he acted in pious behavior, a holy man may be said upon him.' In 5524 (1764), he was appointed as the head of the rabbis of Hebron. Rabbi A.H HaKohen passed away in Hebron, and is buried there.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #256
'One morning I decided to write a text message to my father-in-law to send thanks in general for helping our family. Little did I know that, by surprise, my father-in-law had just brought lots of supplies to help our family, just that morning before I wrote the message'...
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Parshat Mishpatim
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
And the Seventh Year You Shall Abandon the [Field in Shmita]
‘And may our eyes see Your return to Zion with compassion. Blessed are You HaShem who returns His Holy Presence to Zion.’
The more Jews come to settle in the Land of Israel, the more the power of the Holy Presence in our Land is magnified, leading to a state when the majority of worldwide Jewry lives in the Land of Israel. This state of the majority of worldwide Jewry living in the Land of Israel has many halachic implications that involve the Biblical obligation for the taking of teruma and maser, and also in regard to the existence of the Biblical Shemita and Jubilee year. Although the Biblical Shemita and the Jubilee years are dependent on the Jewish population residing in the Land of Israel, they also require that the Jews in the Land be divided into their respective tribal territories. For these reasons, many of the poskim consider the Shemita year of today to be of Rabbinic ordination only, and there have been many halachic authorities who have made more lenient rulings pertaining to the Shemita observed today, in accordance with the general principle that in regard to laws of Rabbinic origin a posek may rule more leniently, as in case of doubt or great need, than in a similar situation that involves Biblical commandments.
One such lenient ruling in regard to Shemita of today pertains to permitting Jewish farmers to expropriate the fields from the obligation of shmitta by selling them to a non-Jew, popularly known as the ‘Heter Mechira’. Not many know that the first halachic ruling that describes such a permit originated in Hebron, about 250 years ago, when one Jew bought a vineyard in Hebron and asked the then presiding Chief Rabbi of Hebron, and one of Hebron’s great Torah luminaries, Rabbi Mordechai Rubyo, what to do on Shemita year. In his responsa, ‘Shemen HaMor’ [acronym of She’elot MiNHarav Mordechai Rubio], which was published posthumously, Rabbi Rubio answers that he may sell his field during Shmita year to a non-Jew, although basing this permit partially on the fact that, according to Ottoman law, property was not really owned by the buyer, but rather ‘rented’ from the government. About a hundred years later and till the present, when Jewish settlement of the Land has become more pronounced, this ruling has been very influential in regard to the Heter Mechira. Indeed, this is not surprising considering the fact that this ruling originated in Hebron, Beacon of the Holy Land.
Rabbi Mordechai Rubyo grew up in Jerusalem and was the disciple of Rabbi Yitzhak HaCohen, author of ‘Batei Kehuna’. He later settled in Hebron and became the Rosh Yeshiva of ‘Hesed LeAvraham ve’Emet LeYakov’, and he also held a prominent position in Yeshivat ‘Kneset Yisrael’ in Hebron. In 5503 (1742) he was sent as an emissary to Turkey to collect funds for the Jewish community, and he returned the next year. In 5534 (1774) he was appointed as the Chief Rabbi of Hebron. Rabbi Mordechai Rubyo passed away in 5543 (1783).
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #254
‘My brother-in-law sent a set of seforim from Northern Israel with a messenger just before ‘Shabbat Hebron’ to Kiryat Arba. My brother-in-law does not know where I live in Kiryat Arba, so he definitely did not know where to direct his messenger. Suddenly, after not talking for several hours, while I was returning home from buying popsicles from the neighborhood’s kiosk, my brother-in-law called to give me the messenger’s cell-phone number. I called just then and it ‘turns out’ that out of the thousands of possible locations this messenger could have been in Kiryat Arba, he ‘happened to’ be next to the mikveh, at the same time I also ‘happened to’ be there.’
Sources: Sefer Hebron p. 140 and Wikipedia
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Parshat Teruma
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
And They Shall Take a Donation For Me
‘Indeed, have compassion on me and grant me to give much charity, and especially to the Land of Israel...’ (Likutei Tfilot II 34)
The Shulhan Aruch (Y”D 251, 3) 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 from the term ‘in your Land’, i.e the Land of Israel, mentioned in parshat Re’eh in the context of the commandment to give charity. According to the important responsa ‘Yosef Ometz’(19 - see proof-texts there), the principle of precedence of the inhabitants of the Land of Israel super cedes even the principle of preference of the poor of one’s personal town, considered otherwise to be one of the primary preferences in all of the laws of charity. In addition, according to the Hatam 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.
These laws gain extra meaning when we contemplate our title quote of this parsha, mentioned in context of the Mishkan and the Temple. Even though the Temple does not stand today, we can emulate the original donation given to the Temple in the form of the half-shekel, and other forms, by contributing to endeavors that similarly promote the resting of the Holy Presence on earth. This is done by supporting the Jewish settlement of the Holy Land, Land of the Holy Presence. Of course, Hebron, beacon of the entire Holy Land, is an ideal location to support, thereby ‘raising’ the power of the Holy Presence therein and magnifying its spiritual light on the world at large.
Throughout the generations connecting Hebron to the Jewry of the Diaspora was a constant mission. Over a period of about 280 years Hebron sent about 130 Rabbis as emissaries to the Diaspora, some of whom we have already mentioned (Hida, Rabbi Karigal, etc.). These emissaries were known as ‘shadarim’, an acronym for ‘shluha derabanan’, ‘a Rabbinical emissary.’ These emissaries formed strong connections between Jewry living in the Diaspora and the Land of Israel, through their spiritual leadership and also through the monies donated to the Land of Israel through them. This matter can be explained by what we have shown before, that ‘kesef’, money, has the same root as ‘kisufin’, longing, for indeed donating money to the Holy Land is a beautiful way a Jew expresses his/her longing and deep connection to the Holy Land.
These ‘shadarim’ would teach Torah abroad, and there they also magnified the people’s faith in HaShem and the Torah. They also strengthened Torah observance in the Diaspora. For example, sometimes they would find faults in the slaughtering of animals [shechita] in various towns, and they alarmed the people to such issues. These ‘shadarim’ also made peace between Jews and couples abroad, and many considered these rabbis to be holy and righteous figures to an extent that they named their children after these rabbis.
One of the earliest ‘shadarim’, sent about 350 years ago, was Rabbi Hiya Dayan, a descendant of the Davidic line. He was sent abroad seven(!) times on behalf of the Jewry of the Land of Israel, and on behalf of Hebron’s Jewish community three times. He wrote an index to the sermons of Rabbi Eliyahu ben Haim called ‘Aderet Eliyahu’. He also taught Torah in Morocco, and one of his pupils was Rabbi Haim ben Atar the Senior, grandfather of the ‘Or HaHaim.’
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #255
In place of a "Real Story" this week we would like to share one of the many stories that has been collected about such ‘shadarim’ (discussed in the devar torah).
In one instance one of these ‘shadarim’ was escorted by the entire town, Torah scholars, workers, by the wealthy and affluent alike. As he was about to leave, all began to bless the ‘shadar’ on his voyage back to the Land of Israel. Some said ‘may HaShem grant you a successful trip’, while others uttered verses pertaining to a safe journey, etc. One unlearned man, however, could not seem to find the proper wording or verse. He thought and thought, trying to find a proper verse or prayer. Finally, he remembered and blattered: ‘they drowned in the Red Sea, the depths of the sea shall cover them.’ (Song of the Sea) The crowd was greatly startled by this, they rebuked this man, and they could not quiet themselves till they returned this ‘shadar’ back to their town and made him stay there a number of days till they let him travel again...
Sources: Sefer Hebron p.125 and 219
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Parshat Yitro
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
‘And I Shall take You on the Wings of Eagles and Bring You to Me’
‘Have compassion upon me... and aid me and allow me to speedily go to and arrive in the Holy Land, which is the source of our holiness, as You know that all of our holiness and purity and all our Judaism is dependent on the Land of Israel...’ (Likutei Tfilot I 20) Indeed, today - with the help of air-flight - it is easy to ‘speedily go to and arrive in the Holy Land’, befitting our title quote ‘And I Shall take You on the Wings of Eagles and Bring You to Me’. ‘To Me’ can refer to the place of HaShem’s Holy Presence: the Holy Land. Some of those who moved to Israel in the past century and who were not familiar with airplanes, would describe the planes that took them as ‘giant birds/eagles.’
Just as, physically speaking, what was once seen as a miracle (such as air-flight), is seen today as commonplace; so too, spiritually speaking, what was once seen as a high and lofty level will be considered simple and commonplace. This was the wish of Moshe Rabeinu who said, “If only all HaShem's people were prophets, that HaShem would bestow His spirit upon them!" Indeed, in this parsha, the People of Israel are all raised to the lofty level of prophecy to hear the first two commandments of the ten commandments directly from HaShem. One of the books that makes us work and aspire for lofty spiritual levels is the ‘Reshit Hochma’, compiled by Hebron’s Torah giant and saintly kabbalist, Rabbi Eliyahu Di Vidash zt”l.
Rabbi Eliyahu Di Vidash was born in Tzefat to Rabbi Moshe Di Vidash. He was a disciple of the Ramak (R. Moshe Kordevaro, author of ‘Pardes Rimonim’, Tomer Devora, ond other works) and when the Ramak passed away, his writings were passed on to Rabbi Eliyahu Di Vidash. He also learned Torah from the Arizal and Rabbi Avraham HaLevi Baruch Mograbi. According to the Arizal, he and the Ramak were reincarnated souls (gilgulim) of Benayahu ben Yohayada, the prophet Zecharyah, and of the Tannaic masters Shemaya and Avtalyon. The Arizal also subscribed special kabbalistic meditations (yihudim) for Rabbi Eliyahu Di Vidash, which can be found in Shaar Ruah HaKodesh. Rabbi Eliyahu Di Vidash was part of the group of the Ramak and Rabbi Shlomo Elkabetz, who used to go into seclusion in the mountains around Tzefat - a practice called ‘hitbodedut’.
After the spiritual and physical conditions of Tzefat declined, he moved to Hebron and in 1566 he was appointed there as the Chief Rabbi of Hebron. In 1575, he completed his book "Reshit Hokhmah". The book deals with the various aspects of human life according to the Kabbalistic meaning and way of life. This work is largely based on the Zohar, but reflects a wide range of traditional sources. The book has become highly influential in all streams of Judaism and has been published in numerous editions, an abridged version and has also been translated into Yiddish. Great Kabbalists wrote that Rabbi Eliyahu Di Vidash did not only write all these sources in his book, but that he actually kept up the lofty practices mentioned in his book… He is buried in the ancient cemetery in Hebron.
Real Stories from the Holy Land: ‘I once advertised to find a person to work in telemarketing. On the ad, I wrote my phone number without my name. It ‘turns out’ that out of thousands of people who could have seen the ad, only two people called me. One of them was the wife of my friend who sits next to me in my kollel. After checking her credentials, I decided to hire her. Just a few days later, I needed to talk with my daughter who was in class by calling her teacher, but I was told that that day there was a substitute, so I called the number of the substitute. It ‘turns out’ that the substitute was no other than the wife of my aforementioned friend.’
Sources: Wikipedia and WikiYeshiva on Rabbi Eliyahu Di Vidash
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