Hebron Torah: Torah thoughts from Kollel Ohr Shlomo in Hebron: 2013

Parshat Vaera By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

Parshat Vaera

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"וָאֵרָא אֶל אַבְרָהָם אֶל יִצְחָק וְאֶל יַעֲקֹב.. וְגַם הֲקִמֹתִי אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתָּם לָתֵת לָהֶם אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן אֵת אֶרֶץ מְגֻרֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר גָּרוּ בָהּ:."

"Because of Fathers You shall save the sons..." It is because of HaShem's covenant with our Forefathers of Hebron to give their descendants the Holy Land that He redeemed our ancestors in Egypt, and it is because of this covenant that He will redeem us in the future, ending Exile and returning our People to our Holy Land.

It is fascinating to note Rashi's commentary on the opening verses of this week's parsha, which shows that the memory of the covenant with our Patriarchs is actually the cause of HaShem's listening to Israel's prayers for redemption, and not the other way around, as we may think. Only in the fourth verse are the shouts of Israel unto HaShem mentioned, and there Rashi comments that as a result of the covenant with the Patriarchs "therefore I listened to the shouts of Israel".

It is also fascinating to note which covenant is the cause of redemption here. We would think that most obviously the cause of redemption would be HaShem's covenant with our Fathers to make the People of Israel a great Nation as numerous as the stars, etc. which negates the present state of suffering and bloodshed on the People in Egypt. However, as we look at our title quote, the cause for redemption is the Patriarchal covenant in regard to the Land of Israel.

Here again, we can link the preference of this covenant to a cause-and-result connection. Although the suffering of Israel is a very important matter before HaShem, as seen in last week's parsha, it is the state of Exile, i.e. Israel's absence from the Land, that is ultimately the cause for Israel's suffering. Therefore, the alleviation of this suffering must come through, first and foremost, the memory of the covenant with our Fathers in regard to the Land.

It is also interesting to note that these beginning verses of this week's parsha come as an introduction to the latter part of our parsha which focuses on the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians. In halacha we find that a man, who lives in the Diaspora, who buys a slave from another man, living in the Land f Israel, is penalized to free the slave he just bought free of charge, "since if he had not made this purchase, this slave would not have left (the Land of Israel) for the Diaspora".

In a somewhat similar sense, the Egyptians were penalized on keeping Israel in the Diaspora in Exile, as it says, "My firstborn son Israel.. you refuse to send - therefore I will kill your firstborn son". The verse does not explain the reason for killing the firstborn because of "killing Israel", but rather because of refusing to send Israel back to the Holy Land. That said, when we pay closer attention to the emphasis on the Land in our title quote, we notice that a specific point in the Land, as hinted in the words "the Land that they lived" may take especially high importance in this covenant.

This may hint to Hebron, the only place in the Holy Land all our Patriarchs lived and were buried in, as a crucial point in HaShem's remembering the covenant, and ultimately redemption.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #50: In the great blizzard in Israel last week, a few children played underneath a pergola. Suddenly, a great crack was heard - the pergola collapsed in the snow... but no children were there. Just two minutes before, the children changed their place of play elsewhere.

To share your story too please contact gmoshemoran613@gmail.com

Sources: Gittin 43, Rambam Avadim 8, 6,, Yoreh Deah 267, 82, Exodus, 4, 23

Parshat Vaera By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

Parshat Vaera

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

This may hint to Hebron, the only place in the Holy Land all our Patriarchs lived and were buried in, as a crucial point in HaShem's remembering the covenant, and ultimately redemption.

To share your story too please contact gmoshemoran613@gmail.com

Sources: Gittin 43, Rambam Avadim 8, 6,, Yoreh Deah 267, 82, Exodus, 4, 23

Parshat Shemot By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

Parshat Shemot

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"ה' א-הי אבתיכם נראה אלי א-הי אברהם יצחק ויעקב לאמר פקד פקדתי אתכם..ואומר אעלה אתכם..אל ארץ זבת חלב ודבש"(שמות ג)

"...And He remembers the kindness of Fathers and brings a redeemer for the children of their children for the sake of His Name with love..." It is the memory of our Fathers of Hebron that sparked HaShem's love and compassion to redeem us in Egypt, and it is this same memory that will spark our future redemption, may it come speedily.

It is also this memory and connection to our Avos among the People which awakened the faith in redemption in Egypt as we see in our title quote, and so too this very connection awakens our faith towards our future redemption. Indeed, it is via our Forefathers and Hebron-Mamreh that we touch on a key part of breaking from bondage to become truly free, not only from Egypt or other historic bondages, but also from the bondages of every-day life that enslave us from noticing God in our lives, from perceiving the Holy Presence.

As Moshe describes HaShem to Pharoh as God of the "Hebrews - Ivrim", a term coined with the inception of our Patriarchs, we understand that in the eyes of those people or matters that enslave us, a beginning crucial point in breaking free is the knowledge that our God is "the God of the Hebrews".

In explaining the meaning of "Hebrews -Ivrim" in its first context in regard to Avraham, our Sages say that Avraham was on one side - "ever" (sing. of "ivrim") of the world in the service of the True God, while the rest of the world was on the other side of the world, in foreign worship.

Thus, to be a "Hebrew" means to have the courage to surpass ("laavor" - same Hebrew root as "ivrim") the conventional modes of thinking that keep the rest of the world bound in spiritual slavery, to arise to the "side" of Truth. Our Patriarchs, the original "ivrim" bravely paved the path for us to continue in their ways despite the rest of the world on "the other side", thereby emancipating our people to be subject only to the True God and no other power.

Similarly, we find in halacha that a slave who takes the courage to flee from his master to the Land of Israel, the Land of the Holy Presence, is thereby let free. Therefore, it is not surprising that the location our Patriarchs cherished both in life and death, Hebron, is called Mamreh, meaning to go "despite - lamrot (same root as 'mamreh')" the conventional. Thus, by connecting to our Patriarchs and Hebron-Mamreh, we are instilled with the strength and courage to surpass bondage despite all that blocks us. "Free is only one who studies Torah". "Hebron refers to Torah, for one who involves oneself with Torah study is called haber..."

Real Stories from the Holy Land #49: "Our boiler had been causing numerous power-outages in our private home in Kiryat Arba. One evening, my wife decided to change the boiler "shabbos-clock" in hope that this would solve the problem. At the very second she just finished installing the new "shabbos-clock" there was a power-outage, what seemed to be obviously connected to a faulty installation. However, we were wrong - at that very second, there was a general power-outage in the entire city/neighborhood. This taught us the value of giving benefit of the doubt..."

To share your story too please contactgmoshemoran613@gmail.com

Sources: Breshit Raba Lech Lecha 41, Rambam Avadim 5, 10, Avot, 6, 2, Zohar Shlah

Parshat Vayechi By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Vayechi

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֹתוֹ בָנָיו אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ בִּמְעָרַת שְׂדֵה הַמַּכְפֵּלָה"(בראשית נ)"

"... Therefore we have come before You HaShem our God... that You remember the merit of our Forefathers buried here, that You have mercy upon us, that Your compassion overcome Your attributes (of judgment), and cease our exile, quicken salvation.. and bring our.. Messiah."

With HaShem's mercy, more people than ever can indeed plead these words at the real burial site of our holy Patriarchs, Ma'arat HaMachpela, Threshold of the Garden of Eden, the Gateway of all souls to Heaven. Indeed, the spiritual value of Ma'arat HaMachpela as the Gateway to the Afterlife is so great that it champions with Jerusalem as one of the choicest spots in the world in regard to burial.

So writes Rabbi Tokachinsky zt"l, one of the foremost halachic authorities on modern burial and mourning in "Gesher Hahaim" (p.299) "It is an ancient tradition that the dead (who died in Hebron) are not to be sent to be buried outside of Hebron, even to Jerusalem, and even if the deceased had bought a grave or had a family grave-site in Jerusalem. And this is not only because of the honor of the burial-site of the Avot, but even more so because of the teaching in the holy Zohar (1, 57b), that Adam saw light coming out of the Garden of Eden to Ma'arat HaMachpela, and therefore he decided to be buried there, and so saw Avraham our Father a"h (ibid 127).

And also they said that when a man's soul leaves This World, it first comes to Ma'arat HaMachpela (Zohar Hadash Noah) , and there is the gateway to the Lower Garden of Eden (see Rabeinu Behayei p. Hayei Sarah and Tuv Haaretz p. 37): 'and we can thus conjecture that for this reason our teacher, Ramban zt"l, left Jerusalem for Hebron at the end of his days to dig a grave there, as he wrote to his son, Rabbi Nahman. And according to tradition he was burieded next to Ma'arat HaMachpela' ".

Based on these words, it is no wonder why all our Patriarchs wished to be buried not only in the Holy Land, as burial therein is also of great value as explained last year, but also specifically in Ma'arat HaMachpela. Not only Adam and our holy Patriarchs chose to be buried in Hebron. According to a number of amazing sources, although Moshe Rabeinu's first burial spot "is unknown", he was subsequently led after death in tunnels to Ma'arat HaMachpela to be buried with our Avot.

With that, let us conclude the book of Breshit, "the book of the Avot" and commence with the book of Shemot, the advent of Moshe Rabeinu...

Real Stories from the Holy Land #48: "On my way to Kiryat Arba, I was waiting quite a while to hitch a ride in Jerusalem to the "tunnel road" leading to Kiryat Arba, but nobody stopped. Even after praying for a ride, nobody stopped. Then I remembered that hazal say that prayer without Torah learning is not received, so I started to discuss Torah with another person also waiting. Immediately, a car stopped and took me just where I needed..."

Sources: Prayer at Maarat HaMachpela, Gesher Hahaim, Sifri veZot Habracha, Sefer HaTmuna 3, p.60

Parshat Vayigash By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Vayigash

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"וְכִלְכַּלְתִּי אֹתְךָ שָׁם כִּי עוֹד חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים רָעָב פֶּן תִּוָּרֵשׁ אַתָּה וּבֵיתְךָ וְכָל אֲשֶׁר לָךְ"(בראשית מה)

"Bless upon us, HaShem our God, this year and all kinds of its produce for goodness, and bestow dew and rain for blessing on all the face of the earth; and make abundant the face of the world and fulfill the whole of Your goodness... Blessed are You HaShem who blesses the years."

The request for rain in Shemoneh Esreh, while beginning this week in the Diaspora, has already been said in the Land of Israel for close to two months since the 7^th of Heshvan. In general, we see a higher sensitivity to the need for rain in the Land of Israel than the Diaspora, as the Torah teaches us that this Land is not like the Land of Egypt which receives water from the Nile, but rather is dependent on rainfall, a matter that strengthens the need for prayer and greater faith, as befitting this Land of Faith.

Nevertheless, Torah does not maintain that residents of the Land of Israel should pray alone, but also mandates regulations in commerce, agriculture, and more in order to provide for good sustenance for the residents of the Holy Land. The importance of sustenance in the Land of Israel is highlighted in this week's parsha in our title quote, which shows that in lack of proper sustenance, Jewish settlement in the Land is under danger of exile, God forbid, as our ancestors went into exile as result of the famine in the Land.

One example of such regulations in commerce is the ruling brought from the Talmud in the Rambam and Shulhan Aruch: "It is forbidden to do business (earn a profit from selling second-hand) in Eretz Yisrael with articles on which our lives depend (i.e the staple products: flour, oil, wine). Instead, one person should bring from his produce heap, and another person should bring from his produce heap, so that they sell cheaply. In places where oil is abundant, it is permitted to do business with oil."

The poskim extend the permit on oil to all products that are abundant, so it is difficult to find a case where this law is applicable today, although we do see that the government today does subsidize basic necessities, a matter that seems in accordance with the spirit of halacha (even if not instituted with that intention).

Nevertheless, we learn from this law, along with others, that the material well-being of the residents of the Land of Israel is a matter that concerns Torah, for as we have shown many times before, the settlement of the Land of Israel is a great mitzvah/value in Torah and in the Divine plan to greaten the power of the Holy Presence in our Holy Land.

It is also Hebron which stands as a symbol of our People's most ancient source for both spiritual and material devotion to our Holy Land in the purchase of the Field of Machpela by Avraham our father for 400 silver pieces.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #47: "One week, I lost my cell-phone's charger. A day or two later, my cell-phone's case broke, and a little bit later that week I lost the cell-phone itself. Since so many unusual things regarding my cell-phone happened at such a short period of time, I decided to examine my ways in regard to speech, etc. and repent. Suddenly, the next week my cell-phone was found by the same people who the previous week said they searched thoroughly and didn't find it..."

Sources: Bava Batra 91a and Yad Rama there, Rambam Mechira 14, 4, Hoshen Mishpat 231, 23

Parshat Mikeitz By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Mikeitz

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"הנמצא כזה איש אשר רוח א-הים בו... ויוסף הוא השליט על הארץ" (בראשית מא-מב, ו)

"Upon Israel, and upon our sages, and upon their disciples, and upon all the disciples of their disciples, and upon all those who occupy themselves with the Torah, in this [holy (in the Land of Israel)] place or in any other place, upon them and upon you, may there be abundant peace, grace, kindness, compassion, long life, ample sustenance and deliverance, from their Father in heaven; and say, Amen."[1]

Torah, its study and practice, is what gives our People dominion and blessing to such a state that all nations will exclaim, just as Pharoh said upon Yosef in our title quote, "who is great like this People who have such righteous laws and statutes like all this Torah etc."[2] Indeed, both the stories of Yosef and Hanuka are stories of how spiritual greatness ultimately lead to manifest political power and prestige, despite the great odds.

In regard to Yosef, it is important to understand that this spiritual greatness was quite probably due in part to his upbringing in Hebron, which the Zohar equates with Torah greatness, for a Torah scholar is called a "haber".[3] In regard to Hanuka, a key question is, "what is so special about the miracle of Hanuka that it was instituted to be a forever-binding holiday - behold, many miracles, similar to oil lasting eight days, happened to Israel that were not instituted as holidays?"

In explaining the reason for the institution of Hanuka, Rambam clinches with the following sentence: "They appointed a king from the priests, and sovereignty returned to Israel for more than 200 years, until the destruction of the Second Temple."[4] This means that a major part of the miracle of Hanuka is the return of national sovereignty to Israel for an extended and important period of time. As we have shown before, the sovereignty of Israel is deeply rooted to the Land of Israel, as our Sages teach that a king must be appointed only after entering the Land and may be appointed only within the Land.[5]

Hebron, in turn, as the roots of Israel's connection to the Land of Israel and as the first kingdom of David, holds a crucial place in the establishment of Israel's sovereignty in the Land of Israel. Indeed, also today we see how Hebron is key in reinforcing and leading the message of Israel's sovereignty in the Land of Israel. It is with this consistent message, stemming from our spiritual roots to this Land, that we show ourselves and the world at large, that we are deeply and spiritually rooted to our Holy Land, Land of the Holy Presence. Just as HaShem provided us miracles in the past by this spiritual greatness, so too we trust fully that He will show us such miracles as then at this time.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #46: "For more than a year, I have hitchhiked numbers of times a day to Ma'arat HaMachpela from Kiryat Arba. Throughout this whole period, even though many police vehicles have passed by me, never have they stopped to give me a ride (they're probably busy with their work). Suddenly, last week, on two separate occasions and different times of day, and by different police, I was voluntarily (without signing to hitchhike) given a ride by the police (without being arrested J) to Ma'arat HaMachpela. Then I remembered how the parsha told how Joseph was prosperous even in jail..."

[1]Kadish Derabanan

[2]Deut. 4, 8

[3]Zohar 3, 160a

[4]Rambam Megila veHanuka, 3, 1

[5]Sifri on Deut. 17, 15

Parshat Vayeishev By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Vayeishev

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking for the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"וישלחהו מעמק חברון"

"Atone for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, HaShem, and lay not [the guilt of] innocent blood among your people Israel." These words comprise the prayer of the elders of a city adjacent to the site of a murder whose culprit is unknown, otherwise known as the instance of "egla arufa".

Our Sages teach that before Joseph was sold by his brothers he had been learning this Torah topic with his father Yaakov, as our Patriarchs were fully knowledgeable of the Torah even before it was given at Mount Sinai.[1] What meaning can we gather from the connection and parallels between the sale of Joseph and the instance of "egla arufa"?

The source of Joseph's sale by his brothers stemmed from their hatred towards Joseph and their will to murder him. Similarly, "egla arufa" is brought as atonement for the merest connection to murder. Joseph is sent out by his father to search for his brothers in fields of pasture, and, according to his elder father's interpretation, is killed there by a wild beast. Similarly, in "egla arufa" the corpse is found "outside in the field" and is examined by the elders of the city to determine who should take responsibility.

In regard to Joseph, both Yakov and Reuven, who held leadership roles, felt responsible for the 'death' of Joseph. [2]Similarly, in "egla arufa" the leaders are meant to feel responsible for a murder in their vicinity, to an extent that they must seek atonement and proclaim that they "did not spill this blood". Ultimately, the sale of Joseph was the beginning of the Exile from the Holy Land to Egypt.

"Egla Arufa" applies only in the Land of Israel,[3] a matter that highlights the unique high sensitivity of the Holy Land, and the Holy Presence therein, to bloodshed. In fact, the only reason for court/human-induced exile in Torah (to a refuge city) is due to bloodshed, and Exile from the Land is also linked to bloodshed in Pirkei Avos.[4]

Now we can find more meaning in the Torah's description of Yaakov sending Joseph specifically from "the depths of Hebron" as showing how "HaShem provided the cure before the blow". Our Sages teach[5] that Joseph's descent to Egypt, beginning with his departure from Hebron, was pre-destined in the "deep" prophecy of Abraham of "Hebron", who was told that his offspring will be in exile in a "land that is not theirs", afterwards to "leave with great possession".

Based on what we have just studied, the "depths of Hebron" are even deeper - Hebron, as the very source of our People's connection to the Holy Land, which allows for the atonement for connection to murder in the form of "egla arufa", and as a City of Refuge for negligent murderers, provides the cure and atonement for the near-murder by the brothers. Hebron, City of our Unifying Roots, rectifies these sources of hatred by love, stemming from being the children of the same fathers, still very much alive today - "Od Avinu Hai!"

Real Stories from the Holy Land #45: A few decades ago there were numerous attempts to settle the settlement in Elon Moreh next to Shechem, but without success. One time we decided to leave from Kiryat Arba next to Yeshivat Nir, as the Torah says that Joseph left the "depths of Hebron and arrived at Shechem". Indeed, this time we succeeded."

[1]Midrash AgadahBreshit Vayigash 45, 27

[2]Reuven's confession is explicit in the verses, and Yaakov's feeling is posed by Alshich Breshit 37, 34

[3]Rambam Rotzeah uShemirat Nefesh 10, 1

[4]Chapter 5, 9. See also Shabbat 33a for the reason.

[5]Sotah 11a

Parshat Vayishlach By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Vayishlach

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב אֶל יִצְחָק אָבִיו מַמְרֵא קִרְיַת הָאַרְבַּע הִוא חֶבְרוֹן אֲשֶׁר גָּר שָׁם אַבְרָהָם וְיִצְחָק:

"Every day I have faith to receive the Countenace of the Master, and we shall return in the settlement of Hebron, and in Jerusalem, and also Zion. Strengthen, please, the hand of Your servant... and bless him with the blessing of parents... My help is from HaShem Creator of Heaven and Earth."[1]

Ultimately, the long journey of Yaakov to and within the Land of Israel, to 'receive the Countenance of his Master', worshiping God in Bet-El, and more, culminates in his arrival to the location both his father and grandfather cherished, both in life and in death, Kiryat Arba-Hebron.

Last year we pondered the question: what is so unique about Kiryat Arba-Hebron that all our Patriarchs, including Adam, so cherished this location? Last year on this week's parsha we discussed one explanation, and this year we would like to discuss yet another.

According to Rav Haim Vital,[2] the great disciple of the Arizal, Kiryat Arba, literally meaning the 'City of the Four', was (or is) the 'battle-ground', so-to-speak, between the four primary sources of holiness, Adam and our three Patriarchs, versus the four sources of evil, the giants 'Anak, Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai'.

The reason Hebron was chosen to be such a pivotal 'battlefront' is because 'Hebron was built seven years before Zoan of Egypt'[3]. The significance of Hebron being built before Zoan of Egypt lies in the fact that "Egypt" was the first-born son of Ham (son of Noah), while Canaan was Ham's fourth son. Even though logic would hold that 'Egypt''s first city, Zoan, be built first, nevertheless, Hebron, in the portion of Canaan, was built even before the first city of Ham's first-born son Egypt, because of its great importance.

The reason Hebron was so important among the Hamitic line, was rooted in the fact that Hebron was the first and primary claim of the Canaanites to the Holy Land. However, as we see dozens of times in the Torah, HaShem had already allotted the Holy Land for the Jewish People, a matter that definitely came in conflict with the Canaanites' aspirations, which came to their height and source at Hebron.

For this reason, our holy ancestors settled in Hebron, taking the 'front-lines' in preserving the Holy Land for the Jewish People. These ideas shed light on one of the 613 commandments to destroy the seven Canaanite tribes of the Land of Israel (who are non-existent today). [4]Yet still, Hebron today stands as a 'battlefront', so-to-speak, between the schemes of the enemies of Israel versus the Godly plan to give the Holy Land to His holy People, Israel.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #44: "Almost every day for the past year I have hitchhiked a number of times a day from Kiryat Arba to Hebron. However, last week I was given a ride for the first time by a particularly interesting man, Bar Hebron, who is the only survivor of the Hebron massacre about 80 years ago to return and live in Kiryat Arba-Hebron. Interestingly, within seven days again I 'happened' to receive a ride from this man to Hebron, yet at a different time of the day..."

[1]End of Psikta Zutrta

[2]Etz HaDaat Tov, Shelah, 'vayaalu banegev'

[3]Num. 13, 22

[4]Rambam Melachim veMilchamot 5, 4

Parshat Vayetze By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Vayetze

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Returning to the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"אָנֹכִי הָאֵ-ל בֵּית אֵ-ל... אֲשֶׁר נָדַרְתָּ לִּי שָׁם נֶדֶר עַתָּה קוּם צֵא מִן הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת וְשׁוּב אֶל אֶרֶץ מוֹלַדְתֶּךָ"

"...Eternal love You will bring them, and the covenant of the Fathers upon the sons You will remember. May it be Your will HaShem our God and God of our Fathers that You raise us with joy to our Land..."[1] Hebron, city of our Forefathers, is an eternal reminder for ourselves and before God that HaShem eternally loves us, as He loved our Forefathers and chose their offspring as his holy People forever.

No matter how long the exile from our Land has lasted, we know, and our ancestors knew, that Hashem's love and covenant to our Fathers is everlasting, that a day will come, and all our People will be raised to our Holy Land. Indeed, our Sages teach us that "the deeds of the Forefathers are signs for their descendants"[2] - just as Yaakov went into exile for many years and was called by HaShem to return to the Land, as we see in our title quote, so too our People will listen to HaShem's call permeating both through Torah and reality, and return to the Land of the Holy Presence.

This intricacy of listening to HaShem's 'voice' both in the explicit terms of the Torah and through the in-explicit terms of reality is clearly found in Yakov's speech to Rachel and Leah about returning to the Land of Israel, ending with our title quote. To more fully appreciate this speech, it is important to note that Yakov was already explicitly commanded by God to return to the Land, Yakov had already vowed to return and worship God in the Land, and also the Torah, which according to our Sages Yakov was fully aware of [3] mandates that one can force one's spouse to move from the Diaspora to the Land of Israel.[4]

Nevertheless, instead of bluntly telling Rachel and Leah, 'HaShem commanded me to return to the Land', Yakov goes on in a lengthy speech (10 verses long) explaining, with seemingly excessive detail, the background of the need to return to the Holy Land. Yakov doesn't even mention God's command to him till the last verse. Rather, he begins with how reality, the change in Laban's attitude towards him and his personal experience with Laban, 'show' that things are different than what they used to be.

To begin with, we can learn from this speech that even when one has good reasons or even Godly imperatives to do a mitzvah, one should preferably not force the matter on others, but rather explain the matter in a way that will agree with the other person. Secondly, we learn that although we receive explicit messages from God in the Torah we should also be aware of God's 'speaking' to us through reality and Providence, of course with the caution that these function as reinforcement signs,[5] but yet don't dictate, as Torah does, what to do.

Indeed, it is via Hebron, our eternal reminder of our connection to the Holy Land, that we are more greatly aware to the call of God permeating both through the Torah, which is full of the high importance of our People's return to the Land, and through reality, which has shown us the unprecedented return of our People, in the last half-century, to our Holy Land.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #43: "I have been praying and learning in Ma'arat HaMachpela regularly for the past year. This past Shabbos I came to Ma'arat HaMachpela and decided to ask another person who I have seen regularly there, but have hardly ever exchanged words with, if he would like to learn a specific topic with me. Moments later, before I got a chance to ask him, he took the initiative and asked me if I would like to learn with him the exact same topic."

Note: The halachic issues we raise in Leshichno Tidrishu are meant to increase awareness to these issues but not to rule halachic rulings. A competent posek should be consulted in all matters of practice.

[1]Musaf of Rosh Hodesh

[2]Tanhuma, 9

[3]Tana Dvei Eliyahu Zuta, 4

[4]See Ketubot end of ch. 13, Rambam Ishus, 13, 19, and Shulhan Aruch Even Haezer 75, 4

[5]See Rambam Avoda Zara 11, 5

Parshat Toldot By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Toldot

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"וירא אליו ה' ויאמר אל תרד מצרימה שכן בארץ אשר אומר אליך"

"And may our eyes see in Your return to Zion with compassion. Blessed are You HaShem who returns His Holy Presence to Zion."

These words formulate in all our prayers the constant yearning our People have for the return of the Holy Presence to Zion, Jerusalem and our Holy Land. As we explained last year, our Sages interpret God's command (in our title quote) to Yitzhak to 'dwell - shechon

- in the Land' as a command 'to make the Shechina dwell in the Land'.[1]

Indeed, this imperative applies to all Israel as we say in Tehillim: "Trust in HaShem and do good; dwell in the land and be nourished by faith", on which are Sages remark, 'dwell - shechon - make the Shechina dwell in the Land'.[2]

As we have shown many times before, it is by having trust in HaShem especially in His Land of Providence and doing good therein that one 'dwells in the Land', makes the Shechina rest among us, leading to the real and palpable nourishment of faith in our lives.

Similarly, just as Yitzhak was commanded not to leave the Holy Land, so too halacha bids us not to leave our Holy Land, save a few exceptional cases, as Rambam rules: "It is forbidden to leave Eretz Yisrael for the Diaspora at all times except: to study Torah; to marry; or to save one's property from the gentiles. After accomplishing these objectives, one must return to Eretz Yisrael. Similarly, one may leave Eretz Yisrael to conduct commercial enterprises. However, it is forbidden to leave with the intent of settling permanently in the Diaspora unless the famine in Eretz Yisrael is so severe that a dinar's

worth of wheat is sold at two dinarim ... Though it is permitted to leave

Eretz Yisrael under these circumstances, it is not pious behavior. Behold, Machlon and Kilyon were two of the great men of the generation and they left Eretz Yisrael only out of great distress. Nevertheless, they were found worthy of death by God". [3]

Simply, this does not mean that leaving the Land has liability of death, God forbid, but rather that Divine judgment was harsher on them because of their departure, especially in context of their high ('great men') position. Interestingly, we see that just as Machlon's downfall was in his departure from the Land of Israel, so too his widow Ruth's ascent to (solid) conversion, 'under the 'wings' of the Holy Presence', began with the ascent to the Land of Israel, as her first words of devotion prove, "where you go I shall go", simply referring to the Land of Israel. Therefore, it is not surprising that Ruth is buried in Hebron, the symbol of our people's age-old connection to our Holy Land, the Land of the Holy Presence.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #42: "My brother-in-law sent a set of seforim from Northern Israel with a messenger just before 'Shabbat Hebron' last week 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 meters 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 about 25 meters away."

[1]Breshit Raba 64, 3

[2]Tanhuma Reeh, 11

[3]Rambam, Melachim veMilchamot 5, 9- in the past we noted that there are poskim who permit more reasons to leave, but all opinions agree that to leave for mere leisure is forbidden.

Parshat Vayera By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Vayera

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Yearning for the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָהָם אֶל עֶפְרוֹן וַיִּשְׁקֹל אַבְרָהָם לְעֶפְרֹן אֶת הַכֶּסֶף אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר בְּאָזְנֵי בְנֵי חֵת אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שֶׁקֶל כֶּסֶף עֹבֵר לַסֹּחֵר:

Enduring One, may Your mercy be aroused and please take pity on the son of Your beloved because it is so very long that I have yearned intensely, to see speedily the splendour of Your strength..."[1]

The words for "yearning intensely" - "nichsof nicsafti" - are a clear allusion to Laban's description of Yakov's flee stemming from intensive yearning - "nichsof nichsafta" to the Holy Land in general, and Hebron, "the abode of your father" (Isaac), in specific.[2]

Indeed, the yearning for Hebron can be traced even further back to the purchase of Maarat HaMachpela by Avraham in our title quote from our parsha in the form of the same word root - k.s.f, here used to mean money, but also extrapolated in the Zohar to allude to the 400 spiritual worlds of pleasure yearned for and achieved by the righteous.[3]

We can understand that the usage of the root k.s.f. both for yearning and money is not simply a play on words: money and where one puts it is a product of one's yearning for a particular matter or thing. Last year on this week's parsha we discussed the great halachic importance attached to purchasing land from gentiles in the Land of Israel, as a type of regaining and/or re-conquering of the Holy Land for the People of Israel, so important that it can override Rabbinic prohibition on Shabbat in an unprecedented level.[4]

In parshat Balak this past year we discussed how this re-ownership and re-unity with the land is compared to the unity of husband and wife by Isaiah, which also begins with yearning, kisufin, and money, kesef, of kidushin (betrothal).[5] In both cases, marriage and purchase of the Land of Israel, the Holy Presence rests between husband and wife and between the People and the Holy Land.[6]

It is therefore no surprise that adjacent to the story of the purchase of Maarat HaMachpela appears the story of the marriage of Rivka to Yitzhak. The telling of the story of the purchase of the Machpela Cave is not only important history giving our people a deeper claim to our Holy Land - the very methods of marriage and of ownership in general in halacha are extrapolated by our sages from the story of Avraham's purchase of the Machpela Cave in this week's parsha.[7]

Our sages teach us that in truth HaShem first 'looked' at the supernal Torah and thereby created the world.[8]This means that, if the halachic source of marriage, all ownership and monetary possession stems from this 'story', then that means that all marriage and possession in the world over stem from the lessons and secrets imbibed and hidden in the story of the purchase of

Maaras HaMachpela.

Real stories from the Holy Land #41: "My name is Moshe. I once came across a book titled "Maarat Sdeh HaMahpela", which was called such partially because its author, a famous kabbalist, was named Moshe, coming out of the acrostic of this title. This past Shabbat I was honored with hagba (raising the Torah scroll for all to see), and as I lifted the Torah I wanted to look for the letter mem on the scroll, as there is a custom to look for the first letter of one's name on the Torah scroll when lifted. Without any effort, the first words my eyes centered on, among hundreds of words before me, were no other than "Maarat Sdeh HaMachpela".

[1]Yedid Nefesh

[2]Gen. 31, 30

[3]Zohar 1, 123b

[4]Rambam Shabbat 6, 11 and Orah Haim 306, 11

[5]Isaiah 62, 5

[6]Sotah 17a and Yalkut Shimoni Tehilim 863 and much more

[7]Beginning of tract. Kidushin at length

[8]Zohar 2, 161a

Parshat Vayera By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Vayera

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Re-discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"וירא אליו ה' באלוני ממרא"

"From Your place, our King, may You appear and rule upon us, for we are awaiting You. When will You rule in Zion? Speedily in our days forever You shall dwell among us..." [1]

Our hearts and the hearts of all Israel yearn for the return and re-discovery of God's Kingship, the return and re-discovery of the Holy Presence, in Zion, in our Holy Land. The time has come to follow in the footsteps of Avraham our father, who searched all places on the globe for the Holy Presence and found it in our Holy Land, even before being commanded by HaShem to go to this Land in the beginning of last week's parsha.[2]

The time has come to follow in our father Avraham's footsteps, who ran after his bull, in this week's parsha, from his tent in Hebron to close-by Ma'arat HaMachpela, 'discovered' the Holy Presence there, and thereafter continued to make a pilgrimage of prayer every day to that spot.[3] The time has come to recognize and re-discover the Godly significance of location in our thoughts, speech, and daily lives

In halacha we find many references to the exact definitions of location designated for the 'dwelling' of the Holy Presence among us, from the measurements of the Temple Mount, via exact measurements of the Land of Israel, to even the measurements of an ad-hoc minyan in arbitrary rooms in the Diaspora. After all this is said, what sources do we have as to the spiritual dimensions in regard to Hebron and Ma'arat HaMachpela

As we see from Avraham's close-by pilgrimage within Hebron to Ma'arat HaMachpela, we learn that even several meters can make a difference in the spiritual intensity of location, even outside of the Temple Mount. Nevertheless, there are sources that point to the Torah's saying that Kaleb 'reached Hebron', without saying 'Ma'arat HaMachpela', showing that all of greater Hebron has spiritual power like Ma'arat HaMachpela, sufficient to save Kaleb from the scheme of the spies. [4]

There is yet another source suggesting a distance of three parasangs (6 km or 4 miles) as being at-least the extent of spiritual intensity stemming from Ma'arat HaMachpela, causing the nations 'to lick the dust of the earth' there in honor of the [5] tomb of Yaakov. That said, however, if we take into consideration the other holy places of Hebron, such as the Tomb of Jesse and Ruth, the ancient cemetery full of saints, and the many yeshivas and Kollelim spread across Hebron-Kiryat Arba, every meter we walk is a spiritual journey, spanning past, present, and future, into connecting to the Holy Presence in our Holy Land.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #40: "It was about 22:00 on Hoshana Raba night and I had still not davened Maariv. Even though I live in a neighborhood of Kiryat Arba several miles away from Ma'arat HaMachpela, I had a special 'hankering' to pray specifically at Ma'arat HaMachpela on this special night, even though finding a minyan there at such a late hour was close to impossible, especially since most people would begin the tikun of Hoshana Raba by then. I hitchhiked to Ma'arat HaMachpela, and just as I arrived, a goup of soldiers, well over enough for a minyan, 'happened' to come then and began to pray Maariv."

[1]Kedusha of Amida Shabbat

[2]Zohar 1, 78a

[3]Ibid, 127b

[4]Shaar Hahatzer 380

[5]Zohar Shmot 1

Parshat Lech-Lecha By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Lech-Lecha

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Venturing for the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

"והקמתי את בריתי ביני ובינך... ונתתי לך ולזרעך אחריך את ארץ מגורך את כל ארץ כנען"

"Blessed are You HaShem our God King of the World that has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to place him (the baby) in the covenant of Avraham our father."

This blessing, said at a baby boy's first mitzvah, circumcision, highlights the centrality of Avraham our father at the very onset of our lives, and with them highlight how central are our roots stemming from our three Patriarchs in general as the forerunners of our sacred covenant with God.

Indeed, this week's parsha begins the core topic of our first book in the Torah, Breshit - the story of our holy Patriarchs. As Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook zt"l noted numbers of times,[1] the first two parshios of Breshit are basically a kind of 'pre-history' till we reach parshat Lech Lecha which begins, with our Patriarchs, the main history that concerns most of the Torah.

It is also this mitzvah of circumcision that, as our title quote teaches us, that connects us, via our covenant with God, to our Holy Land. The connection between bris mila and our Holy Land is actually so great that the Zohar explains the reason that the descendants of Ishmael have had such a strong grip on the Land of Israel for such a long time is because of the merit of the brit done on Ishmael in this week's parsha.

However, the Zohar continues and says that because this circumcision was done at a later age and other factors, unlike Isaac and his decendants, Ishmael's circumcision is 'imperfect', and thus his descendants will not merit to hold the Land forever.[2] As we have shown many times, Hebron is key in the connection of our People to our Holy Land. It is therefore no wonder that the place of the first circumcision of Avraham occurs in Elonei Mamre, i.e. Hebron, as we see in the beginning of next week's parsha.

Indeed the very name, 'Elonei Mamre' is, according to the Midrash, based on the figure of Avraham's colleague, Mamre, who advised Avraham to commit the commandment of circumcision, despite numbers of adversaries. The reason he was called 'Mamre', our sages add, is because he advised despite - 'lamrot' (verb root same as 'mamre') - adversaries who advised Avraham not to commit circumcision for numbers of reasons.

In this sense, Hebron, Elonei Mamre, today continues this legacy of Mamre.[3] Hebron stands in the leadership of "fighting the case" for the Holy Presence in our Holy Land, thus continuing the legacy of our ancestors and patriarchs and keeping the covenant with God and His Holy Land.

Real Stories from the Holy Land #39: "It was almost 22:30, last time in Kiryat Arba one can find a minyan for Maariv. I was in a different neighborhood of Kiryat Arba from this minyan and needed to hitch a ride to make it in time for the minyan, which was about half-an-hour walk away. I saw about 6-8 people waiting to hitch a ride, which would normally mean I had no chance. With confidence in God I decided to proceed several meters away from the group of hitchhikers, saying to myself 'I'm going to do a mitzvah, I trust in HaShem to help me". Just then a car stopped and took me straight to the minyan on time."

[1]See 'Sichot Rav Tzi Yehuda'

[2]Zohar 2, 32a

[3]Breshit Raba Lech Lecha 42, 8