- Contact Us
- Home
- About Us
- Media
- Tours
- Support Us
Parshat Vayigash
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
“And Yehuda He Sent Forward to Show the Way to Goshen”
“Blessed are You HaShem Who teaches Torah to His People Israel.”
Our Sages teach that even before the descent of Israel to Egypt, Yakov our father appointed Yehuda his son to found a yeshiva for Torah study, even before the Torah was given at Mount Sinai. This teaching fits perfectly with the teaching that all the Patriarchs knew the entire Torah even before it was officially given in the time of the Exodus from Egypt. The founding of a yeshiva by Yehuda is learned from our title quote: “And Yehuda He Sent forward to show the way to Goshen.” This act can be considered one of the more decisive factors in the ability of Israel to settle in the Diaspora. Just as on a physical level, a settlement cannot exist without water, so too Jewish settlement could have not existed without Torah study and spiritual fulfillment. In a similar way, when the People of Israel return to the Land many years later it is the tribe of Yehuda who is summoned to move first and conquer the Land of Israel. Indeed, it was also Otniel ben Kenaz, the Torah luminary of Yehuda and of Hebron, who was the first judge after Yehoshua to establish Torah study on an organized level in the Land of Israel.
One of the Torah luminaries and poskim named Yehuda who also was a trailblazer in Israel’s spiritual and physical return to the Land of Israel in general and to Hebron specifically, was Rabbi Yehuda Bivas zt”l. One of his maternal ancestors, Rabbi Chaim ben Attar, well-known as the Or Hahaim, was also a major spiritual figure, who moved to the Land of Israel and taught significantly about the importance of settling the Land of Israel.
In his youth, R.Y Bivas learned Torah in Gilbralter and then in Livorno. Later in 5591(1831) he became the Rabbi of the Jewish community in Corfu. In 5599 he went on a journey throughout the cities of Europe, where he preached to his fellow Jews to settle the Land of Israel. In the cities he visited he did not stay for more than one day, except for Shabbat. R.Y Bivas may be considered the first of Oriental Jews to preach the return of Jews to the Holy Land, and Rabbi Y. Alkalay continued in his footsteps. In 5611 R.Y Bivas decided to move to the Land of Israel. A few years before R.Y Bivas organized a charity project for the Jewry of Hebron by which ‘property will be bought (in Hebron) in the name of the community Corfu.’ Therefore, R.Y Bivas naturally settled in Hebron. In Hebron he established a yeshiva and also kept his expansive library. In his yeshiva he studied kabbalah and addressed sermons before the scholars of his beit midrash. However, only two months passed, and while lecturing in his bet midrash, R.Y Bivas died suddenly. It is told that, ‘his death was like a ‘death from the kiss of HaShem’ (said about the righteous) as he was speaking words of Torah and lofty secrets he fainted and passed away.’ His house, library, and synagogue, that were called ‘Yeshivat R. Yehuda bivas’ he dedicated to the Sephardic Kollel of Hebron. Rabbi Bivas is buried in Hebron’s Ancient Cemetery.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real Stories from the Holy Land #247
“After shopping at the supermarket my wife told me to go back to get another item. However, I was already on the bus far away from the supermarket I had just shopped at. Nevertheless, I thought to myself that HaShem must be showing me something in this request, so I decided to go to the supermarket close to my planned destination (not the previous supermarket). I looked for the item my wife asked me about and found it there for about half of the original price.”
Sources: Sefer Hebron
Comments, questions, and/or stories,email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Parshat Miketz
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
‘After God has Shown You All this None is Wiser or More Clever than You’
“Blessed are You HaShem... Who has commanded us to light the light of Hanuka.”
Every year we celebrate the Hanuka lights in conjunction with the illuminating flame and light of Yosef in this parsha. This matter is hinted to in the verse: ‘and the house of Jacob shall be like a fire and the house of Joseph as a flame.’ The Wisdom of the Torah is called ‘light’ as our Sages interpret the verse in Ester ‘the Jews had light and rejoice’, ‘light refers to Torah’. It is upon the wisdom of the Torah, the Divine inspiration of Yosef, that Pharaoh exclaims: ‘After God has shown you all this none is wiser or more clever than you’. The wisdom of the Torah is especially connected to Hebron, for the Zohar considers the name ‘Hebron’ to be synonymous with Torah study.
One of the great Torah luminaries, named Yosef, that had a deep connection to Hebron and also visited Hebron was Rabbi Yosef Hayim of Baghdad, the Ben Ish Hai. We explained before, that Rabbi Yosef Hayim’s brother-in-law was Rabbi Eliyahu Mani, chief Rabbi of Hebron, whom the Rabbi Yosef Hayim considered as his master in Kabbalah. The Ben Ish Hai himself was a master Kabbalist, which makes his evaluation of Rabbi Eliyahu Mani even more astounding.
The following story describes some of the Ben Ish Hai’s devotion to Hebron: On a visit of the Ben Ish Hai to Hebron, he tried to enter the Maarat HaMachpela building, pretending that he was unaware that Jews were banned from doing so and were limited to the ‘Seventh Step’ then. In Hebron's alleys word spread among the Muslims: 'a Jewish rabbi came to town, and he plans to pray in the ‘Kal’a' (Maarat HaMachpela)!' Young Muslims left the stalls in the market and worked their way towards the ‘Kal’a’. Hebron of those days, one hundred and forty years ago, was controlled by the Turks. The Qadi of the Muslims hated Jews with all his soul, and he roused the Muslims of Hebron to attack Jews. Whenever a Jew came near the tomb of the Patriarchs, the Arabs would attack him with fists and stones, and he was deported in disgrace and insult. Before he opened in prayer, the Ben Ish Hai was attacked by Arab crowds, and if not for some Turks who took Rabbi Yosef Hayim away, this incident could have ended in a disaster. The Ben Ish Hai returned from Hebron to Jerusalem, but was grieved that he could not pray at the graves of his ancestors. He checked and found that one of the notables of the Arabs in Hebron is greedy, and will do anything for a decent sum.The Ben Ish Hai secretly summoned this man and told him that he is willing to pay generously if he would allow him to pray near the tomb of the Patriarchs. When the Arab heard this, he brought the Ben Ish Hai in secret to the Maarat HaMachpela and waited for a long time until he finished praying, and then brought him safely to Jerusalem. Although the Ben Ish Hai merited to pray at the tombs of his ancestors, his heart hurt for his fellow Jews who did not have money to bribe the Arabs to enter the Maarat HaMachpela building. When he went back to his city and country, the Ben Ish Hai decided to try to redeem the Cave of the Patriarchs so that all Jews could pray there. On his way from Israel to Iraq he passed through Damascus, there sat the Turkish Governor of Syria and Israel. At that time the Governor was not in Damascus, so the Ben Ish Hai convinced an affluent individual named Senor Shemaiah to plead on his part to pay a considerable sum to buy the Maarat HaMachpela so Jews could pray there. A few weeks later, when the Governor returned to Damascus, Senor Shemaiah asked him to allow Jews to buy the Tomb of the Patriarchs, to which he agreed. Jews already prepared to raise a large sum of money to buy the place, but then the Muslim Qadi burned with wrath. He called the wealthy Arab Qadi and incited them until they raised large sums of money that surpassed the sums of money than the Jews were able to pay, and the sale of the Cave of the Patriarchs to Jews was cancelled...
This story allows us to appreciate the incredible gift we have today - Maarat HaMachpela is open every day to Jews, and with the easiest effort one can pray at the graves of our Holy Fathers - which in the not so distant past was but a dream.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real Stories from the Holy Land #247
‘My mother found a disk-on-key in Central Bus Station in Jerusalem, and she gave me the job to investigate who was its owner. When I investigated this, I found that this disk-on-key belonged to no other than my neighbor in Kiryat Arba!’
Sources: ‘Shalom LaAm’ (website)
Comments, questions, and/or stories,email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Parshat Vayishlach
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב אֶל יִצְחָק אָבִיו מַמְרֵא קִרְיַת הָאַרְבַּע הִוא חֶבְרוֹן אֲשֶׁר גָּר שָׁם אַבְרָהָם וְיִצְחָק
'And may our eyes see in Your return to Zion with compassion. Blessed are You HaShem Who returns His Presence to Zion...'
Our Father Yakov's return to the Holy Land after HaShem tells him to return in last week's parsha culminates in this parsha in Hebron, where Yakov settles permanently, in the midst of his fathers Avraham and Yitzhak, who all endeared Hebron. One of the figures of Hebron who endeared the Holy Presence in the Holy Land and also came to settle in this Land and Hebron, was the great kabbalist and chief rabbi of Hebron, Rabbi Eliyahu Mani.
Rabbi Mani was born in Baghdad in 5578 to descendants of King David, as his name is an acronym: Menetzer Nin Yishai (descendant of Yishai, father of David). Rabbi Mani became a pupil of Rabbi Abdalla Somech, one of the leading Rabbis of Iraq, and also married his daughter. Even as a pupil, Elyahu Mani was attached to the study of Kabbalah. He also had the custom of fasting and sleeping on stone in order to join/emulate with the 'suffering' of the Holy Presence in exile.
In 5616 (1856 CE) he decided to move to the Land of Israel. When his community objected to his move, his brother-in-law, the Ben Ish Hai (Rabbi Yosef Haim of Baghdad) convinced them that in order to continue in his kabbalistic studies Rabbi Mani must move to study in the Kabbalistic Yeshiva Bet El in Jerusalem. Rabbi moved to Jerusalem and studied in the Kabbalistic Yeshiva Bet El till 5618, at which he moved to Hebron, for he felt that the weather in Jerusalem caused him to be sick.
Six years later, when the chief Rabbi of Hebron, Rabbi Moshe Ferera, passed away, Rabbi Mani was appointed as the chief Rabbi of Hebron in his stead. For fourteen years Rabbi Mani held this position without receiving any stipend whatsoever, doing so for the sake of Heaven. During these years Rabbi Mani would sign his name with the addition: 'servant of the holy city of Hebron, for the sake of uniting the Holy Blessed be He with the Holy Presence.' Rabbi Mani also established a synagogue called 'Beit Yakov' where he instituted prayers according to kabbalistic intent and practices according to the Kabbalistic Yeshiva Bet El of Jerusalem.
Rabbi Mani held regular correspondence with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Haim - the Ben Ish Hai, who brings much of the kabbalistic practices of the Yeshiva Bet El in his famous halachic work the 'Ben Ish Hai', based on his brother-in-law's testimony. The Ben Ish Hai even considered Rabbi Mani has his rabbi and master in kabbalistic studies. Rabbi Mani also had considerable influence on the Jewry of the Orient, and he convinced hundreds of these Jews to settle in the Land of Israel in general, and Hebron in specific.
Rabbi Mani passed away on the 8th of Tamuz 5658 and was buried in the Rabbi's Section of Hebron's Ancient Cemetery. In difference with the regular custom to bury the dead with their legs facing Jerusalem, Rabbi Mani asked that he and his wife's legs be directed towards the Maarat HaMachpela. Indeed, when visiting the cemetery today, the tombs of Rabbi Mani and his wife strike out as they face the Maarat HaMachpela. It may be that Rabbi Mani's intent by this request was to show the dominant place of Hebron in the journey to and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, just as King David, Rabbi Mani's ancestor, did in his reign and spiritual work in Hebron before reigning in Jerusalem.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real Stories from the Holy Land #245
'We were looking for an apartment before our wedding and we didn't find anything for a long time. Meanwhile, someone offered to leave his caravan, which was in danger of collapsing, so we could repair it and then move into it. However, they could only move out two weeks after our wedding. Suddenly, a week before the wedding, we were told that the previous residents had just moved out, and that we could move in. Within two days we finished the repairs with 2000 NIS and then moved our belongings in before the wedding. Because of the repairs we made, we were given free rent for three years.'
Sources: Wikipedia on Rabbi Eliyahu Mani
Comments, questions, and/or stories,email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Parshat Vayeishev
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Inviting the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
‘And He sent Yosef from Hebron’
‘May You have compassion on Zion, for the time has come to favor her...’
The Midrash teaches that everything that befell Yosef, so befell upon Zion. Yosef is considered a symbol of Zion, and also the numerical value of his name is identical with the numerical value of ‘Zion’ (156). In addition the Arizal ties the term Zion specifically with Hebron, a matter that fits perfectly with Hebron’s identity as being the Beacon of the Holy Land.
One of the famous righteous figures both named Yosef and also associated with Hebron was the ‘Hida’, Rabbi Hayim Yosef David Azulai, author of about 120 Torah works, and also a descendant of the famous righteous figure of Hebron, the ‘Hesed LeAvraham’ (discussed this year in parshat Toldot). Describing the Hida’s Torah greatness is outside the scope of our discussion, but we may suffice with a quote about him saying (similar to Maimonides): ‘from Yosef (Rabbi Yosef Kairo, author of the Shulhan Aruch) till Yosef (the Hida) none arose like Yosef.’ Indeed, there are also very interesting parallels between the Hida and the original Yosef of this week’s parsha.
One parallel between the Hida and the original Yosef is their connection to Hebron, and how they were both sent from Hebron ultimately to the Diaspora. The Hida lived in Hebron and was sent twice on behalf of Hebron’s Jewish Community to the Diaspora to seek support for this community, once in 5613 and then again in 5633. The first time the Hida was sent at the age of 29, he spent six (!) years abroad apart from his young wife and family. Some explain that the reason that the Hida was sent was due to the Hebron Community’s wish to correct the bad impression made by the regular representatives of the Land of Israel’s Jewry to the Diaspora. Because of the tediousness of this task, many honorable residents abstained from going on such a mission, and therefore the regular representatives were usually not Torah scholars. Therefore, in order to correct this impression the community deliberately sent one of the community’s Torah luminaries, so that all shall see that ‘from Zion Torah shall emerge.’ Therefore, the Hida’s journey through the Diaspora, in Sefardic and Ashcenazic countries alike, also acted as a rare bridge between the Torah luminaries of the time between these countries and also between the Torah centers of Ashkenazic and Sephardic countries with the Torah of the Land of Israel.
Indeed, in similarity to Yosef, the Hida was originally accepted in the Diaspora as a layman, none knowing of his rare genius. However, soon they realized that before them stood a true Torah luminary, realizing, as it says about Yosef in Egypt - ‘can such a man be found, that the spirit of God is with him?’ On one occasion, a potential donor remarked that according to halacha he needs to support the poor of his own town before a distant town in the Land of Israel (if this is halachically true is discussed in another issue). To this the Hida replied that he has not come to ask money for the poor, but rather to grant Jewry of the Diaspora the merit of supporting the important mitzvah of settling the Holy Land.
Also, by the Hida’s courageous actions he was able to provide sustenance to Jewry of the Holy Land in time of famine, also a fascinating parallel with the original Yosef. Of course, the Hida did not only provide material sustenance, but also tremendous spiritual sustenance in his many works, from which we benefit to this day.
Another interesting parallel between the Hida and the original Yosef is the fact that both were buried in the Diaspora, but their bones were later brought to be buried in the Land of Israel. Indeed, in 5715, according to the ruling of the Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nisim, the Hida’s bones were taken from Italy where he was buried to be buried in the Land of Israel. Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu was appointed to deal with the Hida’s burial. The miraculous story of the Hida’s burial will follow in ‘Real Stories from the Holy Land..’
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real Stories from the Holy Land #246
‘When the Hida’s bones were brought I asked, ‘is the Hida buried in this coffin?’ I was answered, ‘yes, these are his bones that were collected [after they were scattered]’. I asked, ‘the Hida was not a whole skeleton?!’... After dunking in the mikveh, I approached the Hida and started to open the coffin (to arrange the bones in order)... immediately a tremendous noise emerged from the coffin, and some of the people around me fainted... Then I called, ‘the Hida! You wrote such a and such, and I am doing just as you said!’ When I opened the coffin, I held my breath and asked that the Hida’s bones be arranged on their own. Just then, I suddenly felt my hands being moved on top of the coffin till the bones joined together to become a full skeleton...’ Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu zt
Sources: Wikipedia and www.yeshiva.org, Tanhuma Vayigash 10
Comments, questions, and/or stories,email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Parshat Vayetzei
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
ויאהב יעקב את רחל
'Master of all worlds, who can correct it all? Only Your Unity, when You place Your 'eyes' upon the Land of Israel and upon King Messiah...' (Ramhal's 515 prayers, prayer 195)
To explain this short snippet from Ramhal's prayers would require much kabbalistic elucidation. However, in a nutshell, we may simply explain that this prayer calls for the Unity of HaShem's manifestation as the Holy Blessed be He with His manifestation as The Holy Presence. This unification is what is commonly referred to by many when saying the preliminary utterance before a mitzva: 'Leshem yichud kudsha brich hu ushechinteh'. The Holy Presence is considered the 'Majestic' manifestation of HaShem which lies 'upon the Land of Israel and upon King Messiah.' The connection of 'King Messiah' with this attribute of 'Majesty' is obvious. However, what does the Land of Israel have to do with this attribute of 'Majesty'? It is the Land of Israel which is the Land of Providence - where HaShem's 'Majesty' and Sovereignty is more clearly felt. We may also infer from this linkage of the Land of Israel to King Messiah that a dominant part of the 'spirit of King Messiah' (see Isaiah 11, 2) lies with the 'spirit of the Holy Land', i.e the spirit of this Holy 'Majestic' Presence.
One of the names of this Holy Presence associated with the Holy Land is called 'Rachel' as our Mother Rachel exemplified during her lifetime some of the manners of this Holy Presence. We have noted that, according to the Arizal, the Holy Presence associated with 'Rachel' is especially linked to Hebron. We have also noted that the name of one of Hebron's righteous figures, Rebetzin Menuha Rohel, can literally mean 'resting place of Rachel' (i.e resting place of the Holy Presence called Rachel).
Rebbetzin Menuha Rohel Slonim (1798-1888[1]) was the daughter of Rabbi Dovber Schneuri, the second Rebbe of the Habad Hasidic dynasty. She is considered to be a matriarch of the Habad dynasty as well as Hebron's Jewish population in general.[2] Rebbetzin Slonim was born on the 19th of Kislev 5559 (1798 CE), the very same day her grandfather, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi was released from imprisonment in S. Petersburg, considered by Habad as 'The Festival of Redemption'! Her father chose the name Menucha because he said, "therefore, we shall have a little Menucha ('rest' - after his father's release from imprisonment)."[3] She was named Rachel after an aunt that died in her youth. After she fell dangerously ill, her father promised that she would live to move to the Land of Israel. In 5605 (1845 CE), with the blessing of her brother-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, she and her family moved to Hebron. For forty-three years she served as the matriarch of the Hebron community. New brides and barren women would request blessings from her. She was renowned among both townspeople and beyond, Jews and non-Jews alike for her curative and salvation abilities, and was nicknamed "the grandmother Menucha Rachel". Every bride who visited the Maarat Machpela on the day of her wedding came to get her blessing and the Admor Rebbe Elazar Mendel of Lelov used to visit her home three times a week when staying in Hebron. He was strict about standing when she entered or left the room and always asked her to bless him.[7] She died on the 24th of Shevat 5658 (1888 CE), and her lifespan encompassed all of the first five Lubavitcher Rebbes.[3]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real Stories from the Holy Land #244
'I had a pot that needed to be repaired, so I set out to find a repairman to repair the pot. It 'turns out' that the repairman that I found had just moved that week several houses away from my house...' M.A
Sources: Wikipedia on Menuha Rachel Slonim
Comments, questions, and/or stories,email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
THE HEBRON FUND
1760 Ocean Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11230
P: 718.677.6886
F: 718.677.6883
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
