Parshat Mikeitz / Chanukah
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
לשכנו תדרשו
Seeking the Holy Presence in the Holy Land
(כֻּלָּנוּ בְּנֵי אִישׁ אֶחָד..." (בראשית מב"
בהעלתך את הנרות אל מול פני המנורה... יאירו שבעת הנרות
"Experiencing G-d" is the ever-greatening demand of the generations. All affiliations realize, whether openly or privately, that as time passes it is no longer sufficient enough to only "tell" each other about G-d, but rather we must also yearn and act in ways to merit the "showing" of G-d's Presence in our lives and before the world at large. How long will G-d's Name be desecrated - how long will the Holy Presence be in Exile? The People yearn for the words of the prophet:
וְלֹא יְלַמְּדוּ עוֹד אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ וְאִישׁ אֶת אָחִיו לֵאמֹר דְּעוּ אֶת
(יְקֹוָק כִּי כוּלָּם יֵדְעוּ אוֹתִי לְמִקְטַנָּם וְעַד גְּדוֹלָם..."(ירמיה לא
"No longer will man tell his friend: 'know G-d!', for all will know Me from young till old".
But what are the primary causes for our unnatural situation, so distant from the countenance of HaShem's Presence? The Torah even promises us special Divine Providence with regard to the Shemitah year saying: "And I will command My blessing for you on the sixth year and (the land) will make produce lasting for the three years"(Lev. 25,21). Although we know of stories of the pious who showed this level of providence (R. Mutzafi, for example, grew wheat for matza and on the sixth year produce tripled), where is this level of Providence for the People at large?
Isaiah indeed asks these questions before G-d, in context of the desecration of G-d's Name: "why do You make us go astray from Your ways, hardening our hearts from Your fear?"(63, 17) But the questions of Isaiah before G-d are indeed an answer for us. In what context are these questions posed? No other than the Exile of the People from The Land. (See also Rambam in "8 chapters, ch. 8) That is, the Exile of the Shechina is directly related to the Exile of The People from The Land. (See also Hagiga 5b: "once Israel was exiled there is no greater nullification of the Torah than that").
Indeed, even the Shemitah year, that was given as an example as to the level of Providence, is observed today (according to most opinions) only on Rabbinic basis, for the very same reason, the state of Exile. In order for Shemitah to be observed on a Biblical basis the majority of Jews in the world must live in The Holy Land as the Rambam explains more clearly in the laws of Trumot (1, 26), which have the same wording in the Torah 'when you (the national whole) enter The Land'.
In the present era, even in the areas settled by the Jews who ascended from Babylonia, even those [settled] in the era of Ezra, [the obligation to separate] terumah does not have the status of a Scriptural commandment, merely that of a Rabbinic decree. [The rationale is that] the Scriptural [commandment to separate] terumah applies only in Eretz Yisrael and only when the entire Jewish people are located there. [This is derived from the phrase] "When you enter...." [Implied is that] the entire [Jewish people] must enter [the land], as they did when they took possession of the land originally and as will happen in the future when they take possession of the land a third time. In contrast, the second time [the people] took possession of the land, in the time of Ezra, only a portion entered. Hence, they were not obligated according to Scriptural Law.
Similarly, it appears to me that the same concept applies with regard to the tithes. In the present era, this obligation [as well] has the status of a Rabbinic decree like terumah." "More precisely, the majority of the Jewish people, for the majority is considered equivalent to the entire whole". (Moznaim pub. footnote)
Actually, at least 50 Torah commandments are directly dependent on the majority of Jews living in The Land. In comparison, at least quantitatively, Orach Haim, which comprises the laws of our daily, Shabbos, and holiday lifestyle deals with about 45 Torah commandments. It is therefore not surprising that we do not see the fulfillment of the Torah's promises regarding Shemitah on a national level, especially when on a halachic perspective "The Nation" is still not in The Land, for the majority of worldwide Jewry still do not live in The Land.
In fact, the last time the majority of Jews was in the Land was before the era of Ezra, i.e. First Temle period, as is indicative in the quote from the Rambam above. Indeed, the Shechina was missing (at least to its ultimate level) in the Second Temple (Yoma 21b). Today, we are closer, more than countless generations before us, to this great goal.
As Jews we know of two types of mitzvot: mitzvot that pertain to the individual and mitzvot that pertain to the group whole. "Leshichno Tidrshu" aims at bringing awareness to the many commandments that pertain to us as a group whole, so that one day we will merit to obey these commandments in practice.
This is done via "Hebron", literally to connect (lehaber), the people to our common roots "כולנו בני איש אחד", the Holy Patriarchs, and by connecting to the unifying force of the Shechina, symbolized by the central stem of the Menorah that all six other lights turn to (see Shabbat 22b). This unity is only fully realized in The Holy Land, the place of the Holy Shechina, as it says "Who is like Your People Israel One People in The Land". (Chr. 17, 2 and Zohar 3, 93b)
