Parshat Yisro By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Yisro
By: Moshe Goodman, Kollel Or Shlomo, Hebron
                                                                                        
 
בס״ד
                                   
לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Shechina in Our Holy Land

"כבד את אביך ואת אמך למען יאריכון ימיך על האדמה אשר ה' א-היך נותן לך"
What is the connection between honoring parents and a lengthy life in the Holy Land? To answer this question we need to study what is the deeper meaning of parents and the deeper meaning of honor.

To begin, there is honoring one's personal parents and there is honoring our national parents,  our holy  Patriarchs and Matriarchs, who in their merit HaShem promised us the Holy Land. There is also the concept of giving honor to the Shechina, as the Zohar 2, 90a states that the word "et" comes to include the Shechina.

Indeed the Talmud in Kidushin 30b states that there are three partners in forming man, his father, mother, and HaShem (referring to the Shechina which gives him his soul). Furthermore, our sages teach us that honoring one's parents is similar to honoring God (ibid). Simply put, we may say that by honoring our parents we connect to our roots ultimately stemming from our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, thus connecting to the Divine promise of the Land. We also connect to the Shechina, which is so connected to the Land.

To study this matter more deeply let us take a look at one of the halachos regarding the special honor we give to our Patriarchs and the Land of Israel. It is well known in halacha that when praying the Amida one is to position one's body in the direction of the Land of Israel, and more specifically in the direction of Jerusalem. It is also known that one must have intent to what one says in the Amida specifically in the bracha of Avot, which focuses on our connection to HaShem via our Forefathers. Without this intent specifically in this bracha the whole Amida is rendered invalid, unlike all other brachot of the Shemoneh Esreh (Orah Haim 101, 1 - Mehaber says that one is to begin amida again, while Rama says that one shouldn't repeat only because chances are that he won't have intent the second time; according to some opinions Modim is also an exception).

As to the dominance of our Patriarchs in regard to prayer we have more sources. Many sources state that if one wants to achieve merit before God one should mention the merit of the Patriarchs as Moshe Rabeinu did in his plea after the Sin of the Calf, while another source states that all prayers ascend via  Maarat Hamachpela (Rama Mipano in "Kanfei Yona").

This last source is quite perplexing considering that we have sources saying that prayers ascend via Jerusalem (see Shlomo's prayer in Kings 1, 8) in addition to the fact that halacha requires one to face Jerusalem in prayer as we mentioned. A solution to this seeming contradiction may be that ultimately our prayers ascend via Jerusalem, but they pass on the way via Maarat Hamachpela to receive the merit of our Patriarchs.

Now the crucial place of the Patriarchs in prayer is more understandable. Our very connection to God in general, and in prayer specifically, stems from our Forefathers and their, and ultimately our, personal experience of God's Presence, as the Jew tells the King of the Kuzars in the beginning of the Kuzari ( by R. Y. Halevi). One of the names for  God denoting a specific type of connection to God is "The Ancient of Days" (Daniel 7, 11). It is when we honor our parents, also connecting to our ancient ancestors, that we connect to HaShem as "Ancient of Days", connected to the concepts of "antiquity" and "eternity", thus achieving a lengthening of days.

It is by giving honor to our parents that we connect to the "Honor of HaShem", a term used many times in Tanach to refer to the revelation of the Shechina (example - Num. 14, 10), which is so closely connected to the Land of Israel as we have shown in previous weeks. Now we may understand why by honoring parents one merits specifically a long life specifically in the Land of Israel. May HaShem, "the Ancient of Days", lengthen our days in the Land of Israel in peace and prosperity.

Real-life Providence Story #3: One person recounts: "I once sent my tefilin with a specific Rabbi to be bound in a factory after they had been checked. After several days, when I received the tefilin in return,  I had to sleep overnight in a different city than my home-town. That night I had difficulty putting the straps in the hand-tefilin as halacha requires, so in the morning I asked a random person if he could help me pull the straps through the tefilin. The person who I asked recognized the tefilin and the sticker on them which marked the name of the Rabbi that I had sent my tefilin with. He  wrote on paper (since he couldn't talk while praying): I am the same person who put your parchments in the boxes the other day..." 

Parshat Beshalach By: Rabbi Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Beshalach
By: Moshe Goodman, Kollel Or Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
Seeking the Shechina in Our Holy Land

"... עד יעבור עמך ה' עד יעבור עם זו קנית. תבאמו ותטעמו בהר נחלתך מכון לשבתך פעלת ה', מקדש א-ני כוננו ידיך. ה' ימלך לעולם ועד..."
" Till Your People pass, HaShem" - refers to the first entrance (to the Land), "till the People You have acquired will pass" - refers to the second entrance (to the Land) - from this (The Sages) inferred - worthy was Israel that a miracle be performed for them in the time of Ezra (second entrance) similar to that was performed in the time of Yehoshua (first entrance to the Land), but sin caused (this not to happen)" (Brachot 4a).

Maharsha on Yoma 9b explains this passage saying that because the whole (or at-least majority) People did not come to the Land (but rather a minority portion) in the time of Ezra, therefore they did not merit miracles as in the time of Yehoshua. May HaShem grant miracles upon us, in our present third entrance, as He did to our ancestors in the era of Yehoshua.

Based on our discussions in previous weeks, connecting the presence of the People in The Land to the presence of the Shechina, it is especially clear why our parsha's verse talking about the People's entrance to the Land is juxtaposed to the entrance of the People to the Temple mount... When the Shechina rests among Israel in the Land there is special Divine aid in making a Temple for the Shechina. Indeed, when it is clear before the World that the Holy Presence rests among Israel, the barriers blocking our People from our Holy sites in Hebron and Jerusalem will be much more easily removed. Then it will be clear before all, that HaShem, who showed His Majesty in the past to our ancestors, is King in the Present, Ruler of all in the future - "HaShem will be King forever".

Tu Beshvat teaches us a unique lesson on God's special Providence and Majesty in the Land of Israel. Tu Beshvat is the New Year in regard to counting the number of years for fruits of trees in the Shemita cycle and Maaser cycle. For example, if one has a tree in the Land of Israel that has already grown even small fruit at the date of Tu Beshvat, those fruit on the tree are rendered to be of the previous halachic year in regard to mitzvoth of the Land.

Say, for instance, that a fruit budded on the third year of the Maaser cycle before Tu Beshvat, thus being liable for the tithe to the poor, a similar fruit that however budded after Tu Beshvat is considered to be in the fourth year, liable for the second tithe to be brought to Jerusalem instead.

Why is Tu Beshvat the turning point in regard to fruits of the tree? The Talmud in Rosh HaShana 14a teaches us that at this date the majority of rains have fallen. This means that by Tu Beshvat the primary biological basis for the growth of fruit, i.e. rainfall, has been established and thus Tu Beshvat is the decisive date as to the maturity of fruit-growth. However, looking deeper this explanation is still not sufficient. If what is important is simply the bio-ecological setup of fruit-growth, then why isn't rainfall simply checked retro-actively after about two months to find its mid-point? Why is the Hebrew date used?

The Torah in Breshit 8, 22 tells us that the year is divided into 6 seasons: "seed, harvest, cold, heat, summer, and winter". Our sages explain in Baba Metzia 106b that "winter" is from mid-kislev till mid-shevat subsequently beginning the period called "cold". Is this climate depiction accurate in all locations? Definitely not. Rather, it is especially in the Holy Land that nature operates according to the classic Divine plan and according to the Hebrew calendar , and thus Tu Beshvat is mid-shevat, signaling the end of the period called "winter" which the sages notified as being the point at which most rainfall has fallen. May we notice HaShem's Majesty over nature always.

Real-life Providence Story #2 - One person recounts: "I have been looking to buy real-estate for a number of years. Once, I was about to buy a house, had shook hands, etc. One day, my wife decided to ask someone randomly about the house we planned to buy, a matter she has never done all these years (randomly). The first person she asked randomly, did not only know the house, but he "happened" to be an engineer who worked on repairs on the house about 16 years ago. He told us crucial information on certain problems we had no idea of before. Ultimately, we cancelled the agreement to purchase, based on the seller's admission".

Parshat Bo By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Bo
By: Moshe Goodman, Kollel Or Shlomo, Hebron

It is well known that God commanded us 613 commandments at Sinai. It is also well known that unfortunately a large portion of these commandments we are unable to observe today for security, political, or other reasons. The primary groups of mitzvoth that we yearn and pray  to keep but are still not in our grasp as a people include: mitzvoth of the Beis HaMikdash (app. 160 mitzvot), mitzvoth pertaining to the Land of Israel (app. 50), and full Judicial and political power according to the Torah (app. 40). 

However, unlike just 65 years ago, the primary requirement in mitzvoth pertaining to the Land of Israel, i.e. the majority of worldwide Jewry living in the Land of Israel, is not only not limited, but encouraged by many organizations that aid in Aliyah. With God's kindness, we have merited that, according to a recent census, the Land of Israel has the most Jews than any other country in the world. Indeed, the ultimate goal of the majority of worldwide Jewry living in the Land of Israel is closer and more realistic than it has been for about 2500 years (according to one census we need about another million/million and a half Jews to shift the balance).  If we cooperate in unity, both Jews who are able to come and Jews who are unable to come to the Land of Israel, we can, with God's help, make this great dream a reality more speedily than ever. 

The Torah promises us that the mitzvoth are "not beyond the sea" nor "in the heavens".  Rather , "the matter is extremely close to you in your mouth and heart to do it" (Deut. 30, 14). It is by communicating to each other, and imbibing within our hearts the meaning  and importance of this dream that we can make this dream reality. It is for this reason that "Leshichno tidrshu" has set out to greater awareness to this matter to hasten the realization of this dream.

The Torah talks extensively about this dream, the in-gathering of exiles, in Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 2  and 3 saying that first the people will contemplate "the blessing and the curse" that have become on them, return to God, and listen to His Voice to keep all the mitzvoth with all their heart and soul. Then God will in-gather the exiles, circumcise our hearts, etc. In "Leshichno tidrshu" we have set out to "listen to His Voice to keep all the mitzvoth"  by studying "the mitzvah", explained by our sages to be our Oral Tradition, Halacha, in regard to the group of mitzvoth so close to our grasp, the mizvot of the Land (this study is also alluded to in the Psikta which learns this concept from a different verse).

We have also made efforts "to return to God", by publicizing awareness to the Holy Presence.  We hope that through all this, we can come to contemplate the ways of God, so that we may complete these steps to the in-gathering of exiles in the fore-mentioned verses. The goal is not to show miraculous stories, or grandiose wonders, but rather to show ways of contemplation of everyday events, to open our hearts to see the ways of God in both blessing and, God forbid, curse. By doing such we become more aware to the concept of Providence in our daily lives. By contemplating God's Providence, we become more aware to God's Holy Presence and live and experience the spirit of the Holy Land, where the "Eyes of HaShem Your God are upon it from the year's advent till its end." This idea is definitely not novel, as we see that King David pleads many times  to God in Tehilim that he may tell of God's Providence upon him to others.

This brief supplement completes one of the primary messages of Hebron, bringing unity among the people by tapping into our common roots, the Patriarchs (Hebron also means to unite - lehaber). In contrast to the study of the mitzvoth of the Land in our first section which is catered mainly for those familiar with Torah sources, this new supplement is catered for the general public, religious and non-religious alike. We believe that the message of the Land of Israel can and should be delivered to the general public in unison as a way of experiencing God's Presence in daily life. We hope that these stories will give inspiration to others to contemplate God's Providence in general, and especially in the Holy Land.

Parshat Shemot By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman

Parshat Shemot
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron 
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו

Today's Quest for the Holy Presence in the Holy Land
" וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂאתִי אֶת יָדִי לָתֵת אֹתָהּ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב וְנָתַתִּי אֹתָהּ לָכֶם מוֹרָשָׁה אֲנִי ה'"

Why do we pour a fifth cup of wine on Seder night? Many will answer: for the Prophet Eliyahu.. But few have studied in depth some of the earliest sources for this interesting custom.

According to a number of versions of the Talmud Psahim 118, R. Tarphon suggests to drink a fifth cup on upon saying Hallel. In what context is this fifth cup supposed to be instituted? The answer to this question is under dispute by some of the foremost poskim. Some say, like the Baal Hamaor and more, that indeed the fifth cup is obligatory.

Others, like the Ramban, say that only if there is someone who needs to drink (i.e. sick, elderly, etc) may he drink a fifth cup a drink on the pretext of saying the Great Hallel upon it. This opinion is adopted into halacha by the Rama in Orah Haim 481, 1 where he says that, even though generally speaking one may not drink wine after the fourth cup, one who is very thirsty may drink a fifth cup and say upon it the Great Hallel.

A third opinion, such as the Rambam and others, holds that R. Tarphon agrees that the basic obligation is four cups but a fifth cup is commendable. All this said, what is the reason for this fifth cup? A number of reasons have been given among the sages, but one of the most fascinating is the reason given by the Yerushalmi brought by the Orhot Haim, one of the foremost Rishonim.

This Yerushalmi explains that R. Tarphon brought a fifth cup corresponding to the fifth term of redemption - "ve'hevaiti", brought in our title quote. This matter is explained more in depth in a Yemenite haggada (p. 66) which shows how the four first cups correspond to the primary basic facets of man, while the fifth optional cup corresponds to the higher facet of man in enlightenment, for "it corresponds to 'I will bring you to the Land' - the Land of the Living, as David says 'I will walk before HaShem in the Land of the Living' (referring to enlightenment) and by knowing such one will break free and be a servant of HaShem and not a servant of servants".

Indeed, the enlightenment par excellence, prophecy, is limited to the Land of Israel in Sifri Shoftim 32 (exceptions are for the sake of the Land - see Kuzari 2, 14). Now we may understand why this fifth cup is so enigmatic, for in contrast to the first four cups which represent the first four constant concepts of redemption, the fifth concept of redemption, coming to the Land, has not always been constant, such as during the Exile.

Now we may understand why this fifth cup is connected to Eliyahu Hanavi. It is well known that Eliyahu comes to harken the Redemption. Redemption means the end of Exile, the return of the People to the Land and the return of the Shechina with them. Similarly, it is the fifth cup that comes to harken the redemption - "I will bring you to The Land".

As our title quote shows us, our roots to our Land are deep-rooted in HaShem's promise to our forefathers. It is in Hebron that our common roots as a People and our common roots to this promised Land are especially clear, as the "Holy Ones in The Land" (Tehilim 16) constantly remind us of unbroken connection from antiquity till present, that this Land is the Land of our Living Essence.