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Parshat Re'eh
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
פתוח תפתח את ידך
'And grant us with Your great mercy to give charity to the properpoor..." (Likutei Tfilot)
One of the attributes tied to Hebron is the attribute of kindness and charity. One of the reasons for this is the fact that Avraham welcomed guests at this location and gave them food, drink, and rest. Another connection of Hebron, City of the Patriarchs, to the attribute of kindness is hinted to in our prayers when we say 'And He remembers the kindness of the Patriarchs and brings a redeemer for their descendants for the sake of His Name with love'.
This prayer can bear two explanations: one explanation refers to the kindness of God sworn unto the Patriarchs, as we read in the last parsha 'and HaShem shall keep the covenant and the kindness He swore unto your Patriarchs.' Another explanation of this sentence in the Amida refers to the kindness done by our Patriarchs before HaShem, as it says that when Avraham believed in the prophecy pertaining to 'counting the stars', at the Covenant of the Pieces, as being indicative of the multitudes of his descendants - 'and (HaShem) considered his (faith) to be benevolent [tzedaka - the same term used for charity]'. Interestingly, the first time the term 'tzedaka' is used in the Torah is in this very episode of Avraham having faith in HaShem's promise.
This matter sheds light on the concept of tzedaka as charity in general. Indeed, this parsha teaches that a dominant component of the commandment to give charity is the psychological state of the giver, as it says, 'and your heart shall not be sour when giving to him, for on this matter HaShem will bless you in everything that you do'. Also, it should be noted that this verse appears in our parsha in context of the absolvement of loans at the end of Shemita year, saying that one should not detain oneself from giving the poor loans before Shmita year because this loan may be absolved. As we have explained in the past, although the absolvement of loans of Shmita applies globally, nevertheless it is definitely tied to the Land of Israel, as our Sages teach, 'when you observe the Shmita of the Land, then you need to also observe the shmita of money (loans).'
Aside of the halachic implications of this teaching, we can also gain meaning in to the spiritual ramifications of the Land of Israel on the nature of faith, good-will, and charity that we just linked together through the episode of Avraham at the Covenant of Pieces. As can be seen in the last parshiot of Dvarim, the Land of Israel is the Land of Faith and also the Land of Divine Providence. Therefore, it follows so naturally that the ability to give charity with full faith even in the Diaspora comes from this inspirational air of the Holy Land. In other words we can say that the Torah wishes that we tap into this inspirational air of the Holy Land especially in context of the Shmita year, when this inspirational air is brought to an ever higher level, in the accentuated light of the Holy Presence that presides in the Land on this year (Arizal).
One of the locations in Hebron today which reflects its attribute of kindness and charity is 'Hachnasat Orchim Hebron' ('Hebron Guest House') found in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. This Guest House is a center of kindness for visitors to Hebron and in this way follows in the age-old tradition of kindness of Hebron, stemming from our father Avraham at his tent in Elonai Mamreh - Hebron.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #231
'My Rabbi told me that I must take a certain sum of money for the work I do, even though I had been doing this work for free till now. It was hard for me to listen to this advice, so several months passed till I actually made the efforts to make arrangements to be paid. The very day I did this, another Rabbi, unrelated to my Rabbi (mentioned before), told me that 'you must take money for the work you do.'' I.G
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Parshat Eikev
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
והיה אם שמוע תשמעו
“Blessed are You HaShem Who chooses His People Israel with love.”
This blessing, said just before reciting the Shema completes the reciprocal description of the loving relationship between God and Israel, for in the Shema we describe Israel’s obligation to love God. One of the interesting aspects of the love of HaShem upon Israel to contemplate is the fact that in this Recitation of the Shema contains also a section which describes HaShem’s retribution upon Israel when Israel do not observe the commandments and serve idolatry. When we contemplate this matter we may come to the conclusion that it is actually through HaShem’s love upon us that He brings upon us retribution, as the verse says ‘to those that HaShem loves He shall scold.’ Just as a loving father scolds his son for his bettering, so too HaShem brings upon us troubles for our improvement.
On a deeper level, it is actually the Providential nature of retribution that makes people notice God and awaken themselves from the ‘foreign worship’ they were previously occupied with. This is the simple meaning of the verse in Hazinu talking about the retribution upon Israel, ‘How can one [person] pursue a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their [Mighty] Rock has sold them out, and the Lord has given them over?’
On a yet deeper level, one can connect one’s own troubles to the ‘suffering/exile of the Holy Presence’. This means elevating one’s conscious to perceive that one’s own suffering is essentially a kind of revelation from HaShem on the state of the Holy Presence from which one’s soul is derived like a spark from a great fire, so-to-speak.Through this ‘revelation’ one is meant to realize God’s love upon oneself, to realize that HaShem Himself is communicating to us through this hardship to come ever ‘closer’ to us in order to bring us closer to Him.
In this way we understand why it is said ‘there are no happier days than Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur.’ Indeed, both Tu B’Av and Yom Kippur are days when we return greatly to HaShem. Just as Yom Kippur is a day of repentance, so too on Tu B’Av we return to God through internalizing just before the message of Tisha B'Av, the retribution-day of the ages, ‘the loving scolding of our Father in Heaven’. When this message will be fully internalized, not only will Tu B'Av be a day of rejoice, but also Tisha B'Av itself will become a day of rejoice, b”h may this occur speedily in our days.
One of the important events of Hebron that occurred at this time of the year was the Massacre of Tarpat (1929). We can visit the tombs of the martyrs of Tarpat in Hebron’s Ancient Cemetery and take contemplation. Let us contemplate this event as a message for us all. This event occurred in the City of our Patriarchs, the common roots of our whole people and also of mankind. With no doubt, our ancestors had great pain that such an event occurred in their cherished city, and thereby we, as their children, also feel their pain. Yet, it is this pain that awakens us to realize that HaShem is communicating with us through this incident.
Through this contemplation, let each one of us feel their personal ‘revelation’ from HaShem to bring each one of us closer to Him and His Holy Presence. Let us internalize this message in our thoughts, speech, and actions. Let us open the channels to our hearts and make ourselves emerge through these very channels in the rejoicing of Redemption.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #230
‘On the eve of Tu B’Av I was stuck with a dilemma whether to go to the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem (which is rarely opened today) or to go to a wedding of the daughter of a friend of mine. Therefore, I felt an urge to consult with my Rabbi to ask him for his opinion, to which he advised me to do what my heart desires. After asking my Rabbi, he asked me if I had received the invitation to his daughter’s wedding that very evening (!), to which I answered that I had not... Thus, on Tu B’Av night I went to two weddings, of my Rabbi’s daughter and that of my friend’s daughter, and also sent part of my family to pray at the Tomb of Joseph on our behalf and on behalf of all Israel...’ A.I
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Parshat Devarim
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Discovering 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 heightened awareness towards the rectification of the sources of Tisha Bav, the day of the sin of the spies. Just as the 'seven weeks of comforting' lead up to 'the ten days of repentance', so too the 'three weeks of retribution' before these seven weeks are the deeper sources of this process of repentance and rectification. This matter also implies that the deeper sources of Tisha Bav at the end of the three weeks can be found at the 17th of Tamuz at the beginning of the three weeks. In other words, the sin of the spies, which is the source of the events that occurred on Tisha Bav is linked to the sin of the golden calf which is the source of the dire events that occurred on the 17th of Tamuz. Essentially the sin of the golden calf is due to the loss of faith that HaShem is with us. Therefore, the people searched for an intermediary between them and what they saw as the 'distant God', as they saw that Moshe Rabeinu, the messenger of God, was missing. Indeed, when we examine deeply the source of the sin of the spies in this parsha, we see the same process that occurred at the sin of the calf.
The beginning of this parsha describes the departure from Mount Sinai and also the departure of Moshe Rabeinu being the sole judicial power. In this sense, a vacuum is formed from the relative 'absence'/distance of Moshe Rabeinu and the Torah of Mount Sinai which he represents. It is in this relative 'absence', where God seemed more 'distant', that the sin of the spies took hold. In other words, it is this lack of faith, seeing God as distant and uninvolved with what transpires on earth, that paved the way for the sin of the spies, as we are told explicitly in this parsha, 'and on this matter you do not have faith in HaShem your God.'
One of the events in Hebron than transpired just before Tisha B'Av ten years ago was the expulsion of Jews from the Shuk/Marketplace in the midst of the Jewish community of Hebron. Every visitor in Hebron today can easily see this Marketplace with the following sign of protest "These buildings were constructed on land purchased by the Hebron Jewish community in 1807. This land was stolen by Arabs following the murder of 67 Hebron Jews in 1929. We demand justice, return our property to us!"
The fact that this expulsion and the expulsion from Gush Katif, which occurred just two years before, both occurred so close to Tisha Bav heightens our awareness to what may be the more internal sources of these expulsions: the lack of faith in God as being 'King over the whole land', as we just attributed to the sin of the spies which occurred on Tisha Bav. It is this lack of faith which brings people to think that God and His Torah do not have anything relevant to say about the settlement of the Land of Israel today. Nevertheless, it is the spirit of Hebron which instills us, as with Kaleb, with the great faith of the Holy Land. It is with this faith that we can enter the various bustling marketplaces of the Holy Land, on their earthliest level, and at the same time notice there the 'Hand of God'. Indeed, it is in the marketplace that we may conceive the unravelling redemption - 'there is no greater sign of the coming redemption than when the Land of Israel produces fruits in abundance (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a)'
May it be HaShem's Will that through this 'revelation of the marketplace' that we instill within ourselves outstanding faith in HaShem, by which we may correct the sin of the spies and bring redemption upon our Land of Providence.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #228
'There was a friend of mine who I felt I had offended this last Purim. This Rosh HaShana I resolved to go ask forgiveness from her. Just as I was thinking these thoughts, this friend 'happened' to meet me on the street, and I apologized, and we made amends.'
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Parshat Vaetchanan
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
ואתחנן אל ה'
‘Hear our voice, HaShem our God; merciful Father, have compassion upon us and accept our prayers in mercy and favor, for You are God who hears prayers and supplications; do not turn us away empty-handed from You, our King, for You hear the prayer of everyone. Blessed are You HaShem, who hears prayer.’
Our Sages teach that Moshe Rabeinu prayed 515 prayers, the numerical value of ‘vaetchanan’ (and also ‘tefila’), in order to enter the Holy Land. We learn from this episode how important it is to pray to come to the Land of Israel, even if one is detained from actually coming, as was the case with Moshe Rabeinu. In fact, our Sages learn important lessons in the manner of prayer from Moshe Rabeinu’s prayer here. How can it be that we learn so much about prayer from a prayer that seems to have been rejected? Rather, we should understand that these prayers were not granted on Moshe Rabeinu’s personal level at that time, but they were not rejected on our grander-national level. In this sense, we can see the prayers of Moshe as paving 515 paths of prayer for all the generations after him who pray for the settlement of the Holy Land and raising the power of the Holy Presence therein. God forbid should we ever lose hope, rather, we should strengthen our trust in HaShem, reinforce our hope unto God, and pray continuously for redemption.
The Ramhal and his students compiled 515 prayers for the redemption of the Holy Presence and the salvation of all Israel with a constant emphasis on trusting and building one’s hope on HaShem, with each of these prayers ending with the words, ‘in Your salvation I trust, HaShem.’ This type of trust and prayer unto God can be compared to holding fast unto HaShem so-to-speak with full devotion and connection. With this conception we can follow in the footsteps of Kaleb in Hebron, where he supplicated before HaShem in prayer to save him from the plots of the spies through the merit of the Patriarchs. Indeed, it was this power of prayer in Hebron, whose name also hints to the steadfast connection (‘hibur’) to HaShem through prayer, that Kaleb succeeded to brave the plots of the spies and also merit to enter the Holy Land and take Hebron as his portion of settlement.
It is told that that the Alter Rebbe of Habad (Lubavitch), R. Shneur Zalman of Ladi, became a follower of the Hasidic doctrine through his will to learn how to pray full-heartedly. Interestingly, Hebron was Habad’s first stronghold in the Land of Israel. The founder of Habad’s granddaughter Menuha Rahel z”l very much wanted to move to the Land of Israel, and so she did with her husband R. Yakov (Kuli) Slonim. The Habad community in Hebron grew over the years and included one of Habad’s important yeshivas in the Land of Israel, ‘Torat Emet’. One of the significant sites of this Habad community one can visit today is the ‘Synagogue of the Middler Rebbe’ (also called by some ‘Menuha Rahel’) in the midst of the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. This synagogue, a center of Torah and prayer, can also hint to Habad’s special connection to the Torah and prayer so inherent to Hebron, City of our Devoted Connection (‘hibur’) to HaShem through Torah and Tfila.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #229
‘We were once checking a house to purchase, when we asked my brother-in-law whose advice we usually have used and trusted in the past in regard to real-estate. He could not come to see the house, so we asked my other brother-in-law to come and express his opinion. When this brother-in-law came ‘it turned out’ that he recognized the main figure responsible for selling the house, for they work together daily in the same police station.’
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Parshat Matot-Massei
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
ראשי המטות
'May Your mercies be aroused HaShem our G-d, upon the righteous, upon the pious, upon the elders of Your people, the House of Israel, upon the remnant of their sages, upon the righteous proselytes and upon us. Grant ample reward to all who truly trust in Your Name, and place our lot among them; may we never be disgraced, for we have put our trust in You. Blessed are You HaShem, the support and security of the righteous.'
This parsha begins with an address to the righteous leaders of the people about the laws of vows and how they pertain to the relationship between father and daughter and between husband and wife. We learn from this address that it is the responsibility of the spiritual leaders of the people, to bring peace between opposites, i.e masculine and feminine.
Even within one person there are masculine and feminine forces that can be found, for example, in the annulment of vows ['hatarat nedarim']. The feminine' force within a person brings a person to find a personal structure which may be at variance with the constant and regular way of the collective. This search for personal structure brings one to make a vow. However, the 'masculine' force is constant, invariant, which brings a person to abstain from making a vow, which changes one's status from that of the collective whole. Therefore, we can understand why, when annulling a vow, one must first find something that one misunderstood, or didnt know, at the time of the vow, which would supply a reason to annul this vow, and then check this reason ['petach'] with a competent halachic authority.
One example of such a reason is saying, 'if I had known that my future-wife likes to bake cakes, I would not have vowed to abstain from eating cakes.' Essentially, this reason ['petach'] brings one to one's previous state, i.e his/her 'constant masculine' state, before 'the change', i.e the 'feminine' vow, and therefore by this 'reason'/'petach' one can annul this vow. After validating this 'reason' with a competent halahic authority, one must go to three men, which may represent the 'masculine constant collective' in our explanation here, to actually annul this vow. Similarly, in the nullification of vows ['hafarat nedarim'] by a father or husband it is specifically the man in this relationship that is given the right to nullify the vow of a woman.
The importance of the leaders of the People in this section of our parsha shows that the spiritual leaders of the People have both the responsibility and the Divine guidance to bring peace between opposites both within a person and in interpersonal relationships. Indeed, our Sages teach that 'Torah scholars bring peace to the world.'
In the past we have also shown how the relationship between Israel and the Land of Israel is compared to a relationship between husband and wife. Therefore, it is not surprising that we find in the book of Shoftim that the 'reward' given to Otniel ben Kenaz who conquered a city in the Land of Israel, Kiryat Sefer, was to marry the daughter of Kaleb, the hero of Hebron who courageously spoke in praise of conquering the Holy Land, despite the plot of the spies. This special connection between Otniel and Kaleb also explains why Otniel is buried in Hebron and not in Kiryat Sefer. Otniel's burial in Hebron ties an interesting connection between Hebron and Kiryat Sefer. Our Sages explain that Otniel's name is a derivative of the term 'anao el', i.e God answered his prayers. What did Otniel pray for? Our Sages teach that the prayer said by Yabetz in Chronicles II 55 is actually the prayer of Otniel, whose other name was Yabetz. They homiletically interpret this prayer in Chronicles to refer to Otniel's prayer, to be a great Torah scholar, to teach many students, not to forget the Torah he has learned, and other similar spiritual requests.
Indeed, Otniel is identified as one of the great Torah scholars of all time who was capable of regaining, by his in-depth Torah analysis, 1700 Torah laws that were forgotten during the mourning period on Moshe Rabeinu's passing. In this way, the city Otniel conquered, Kiryat Sefer - 'City of the Book' - can connote Otniel's special connection to the Book of Books, the Holy Torah. Yet still, Otniel is buried in Hebron which also refers to Torah, as the Zohar teaches: 'Hebron refers to Torah, for one who occupies himself with Torah is called a haber - Torah scholar'.
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Real Stories from the Holy Land #227
'I usually take a ride with someone. However, one day I wanted to give joy to my wife by calling her on my way home, and this was not possible if I took my regular ride. Therefore, I took a ride on the regular Hebron mini-van where I could talk with my wife at ease. It turns out that just that day this mini-van took a different route than it normally does, which brought me much closer to home than usual.' Y.A.B
Sources: Temura 16a
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