Parshat Emor By: Moshe Goodman

Parshat Emor
By: Moshe Goodman, Kollel Or Shlomo, Hebron                                                                                                                                                                                                   בס״ד
 לשכנו תדרשו
  Speaking for the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת... עד ממחרת השבת השביעית תספרו חמשים יום והקרבתם מנחה חדשה לה'. ממושבותיכם תביאו לחם תנופה... ביכורים לה'" (ויקרא כג, טו-יז)

"May the Merciful One bring back the service of the Bait Hamikdash speedily in our  days" - with these words we express, every evening of the Omer Count, our yearning for the rebuilding of the Bait Hamikdash in general, and the renewal of the Omer offering in specific.

In addition to the Omer offering, brought specifically from the Land of Israel, as we discussed in parshat Vayikra, there is the Two Loaves offering, also brought specifically from the Land of Israel at the culmination of the 50 days from the previous Omer offering. So Rambam teaches us (Tmididin u'Musafin, 8, 2) that from the words "from your settlements" (brought in our title quote) our Sages learned that the "new offering", i.e. the Two Loaves, is to be brought solely from the Land of Israel, the true settlement of our People.

Not only is the Two Loaves offering parallel to the Omer offering in regard to its location of origin, but also in regard to the term "bikurim", first produce, used for both offerings (we discussed this term in regard to the Omer in parshat Vayikra). How can both offerings, 50 days apart from each other, be considered the "first produce"?

Many commentators point at the fact that the Omer offering comes from barley, while the Two Loaves come from wheat. During the 50 day Omer Count we go progressively from the "first produce" of barley, most adequate for animal consumption, to the "first produce" of wheat, the primary human staple. That said, why is the Land of Israel and its first produce so dominant in the theme of these 50 days? Moreover, the same theme of counting 7 weeks till reaching 50 repeats itself in regard to the Shemitah and Jubilee cycle, of course clearly unique to the Land of Israel. So again, what do the numbers 7 and 50 have to do with the Holy Land?

The Zohar (in numerous places) teaches us that 7 represents the "lower (natural) land", while 50 represents the "upper (supernatural) land". As we have mentioned many times before, it is in the Holy Land that we can receive the Countenance of the Holy Presence. The Zohar teaches us that there are two ways of receiving this Presence. One way is the way of "seven", to acknowledge God's Presence in our natural world, while the way of the "fifty" is to acknowledge God's Presence in the supernatural. This explains why Shavuot, Day of the Giving of the Torah, is on the 50th day of the Omer, since the Torah is considered to be the "blueprint" of this natural world ("God looked at the Torah and created the World" Zohar 2, 161a), or, in other words, super-dates the natural world, and is thus, by essence, supernatural.

Based on these concepts, we can understand the deeper meaning of the verse: "And Hebron was built 7 years before Zoan of Egypt" (p. Shlah). "Degel Mahaneh Efraim's" (on parshat Hayei Sarah) explains that these words allude to the level of Hebron as supernatural super-ceding ("before") the lower natural world ("seven") which is spiritually adjacent to the low evil forces alluded to in the words "Zoan of Egypt". Indeed, it is within Hebron that souls ascend to the Garden of Eden, again emphasizing the supernatural aspect of self that super-cedes the natural body, ascending to supernatural Heaven.

It is on this soul-supernatural level that humans are so distinct from animals. Thus, by going from an animal-level offering of barley towards human-level wheat offering, we are going from the natural towards the supernatural. May we merit to experience the prophecy: "As you have left Egypt I will show you wonders"(Micah 7, 15).

Real Stories from the Holy Land #15: "More than a month ago my wife asked me to inquire if there are any private sellers of eggs in Kiryat Arba. I inquired and was told that someone of the name Tor might sell. However, I made no more effort to contact this person (who I didn't know). This past week I was given a ride from Ma'arat HaMachpela by someone of the name Tor, who said that his son used to sell eggs. About 40 minutes later, suddenly my wife, after not asking for more than a month, asked: "what about the eggs?"                                                                               

Parshat Acharei-Kedoshim By: Moshe Goodman

Parshat Acharei-Kedoshim
By: Moshe Goodman, Kollel Or Shlomo, Hebron                                                                                                           
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Calling Ourselves Towards the Shechina in Our Holy Land

"וכי תבאו אל הארץ ונטעתם כל עץ מאכל וערלתם את ערלתו את פריו" (ויקרא יט, כג

"Even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, HaShem your God will gather you from there...  will bring you to the land which your forefathers possessed... and He will do good to you... And HaShem your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, [so that you may] love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, for the sake of your life" (Dvarim 30).

It is by bringing us to the Land of Purity (Mikvaot ch. 8) that HaShem circumcises our hearts to be aware of His Holy Presence upon us, thus causing us to love Him with all our heart and soul. These words shed light on the meaning of the mitzvah of "orlah", literally meaning "uncircumcised (fruit)" or "blocked (see Rashi) fruit" mentioned in our title quote as being specifically connected to entering the Land. Although according to our Oral Tradition much of the laws of orlah are the same outside the Land, there are certain laws of orlah which retain the unique quality of the Land (prohibition in state of doubt, for example).

The meaning of "orlah", "uncircumcised" or "blocked" אטם is connected to the concept of impurity טמא, which blocks one's spiritual channels, as we discussed at length in parshat Vayeshev. We can say that it is because of our Holy Land's high sensitivity to purity, which means opening the spiritual channels (see p. Vayeshav), that the initial fruits of "blockage (orlah)" are especially prohibited in the Land. This sensitivity is explicitly mentioned earlier in our week's parsha (Lev. 18, 28): "And let the Land not vomit you out for having unpurified it, as it vomited out the nation that preceded you."

Ultimately, however, this difficult "blockage" is lifted to give way to the path of holiness, the "holy fruit" of the fourth year unique to the Land of Israel (Rambam Maaser Sheni veNeta Revai 9, 1). The Midrash on our title quote (Vayikra Raba 25, 3) teaches us that it is by coming to "the Land our forefathers possessed" and planting trees within it that we follow this path of holiness emulating how God first planted trees in the Garden of Eden (nevertheless, it may be said that today building houses in the Land proceeds planting trees - see "Nahalat Yakov sect. 3).

This path of holiness goes through a difficult, initial and inevitable stage of "blockage"-impurity till this blockage is removed. Similarly, in regard to the return to Zion in general it is said in Tehilim (126): "those who sowed with tears, with rejoice will reap (their harvest)". It is our support of the settlement of Hebron that all these strands of thought come together: to emulate God in settling the Threshold of the Garden of Eden, the Maarat HaMachpela, to "plant trees", build and settle our Holy Land, to remind HaShem to return our People to Zion, "to remember the kindness of our Forefathers and bring us a redeemer, for His Namesake with love".

Real Stories from the Holy Land #14: "There is a couple who lives in Kiryat Arba who we had been friendly with for a number of years, even though we didn't live in Kiryat Arba. We hadn't heard from them for several months. One week, we decided to buy real-estate in Kiryat Arba. Suddenly, that same week this couple asked us (without knowing at all about our recent decision to move to Kiryat Arba) if we could host their daughter by us for Shabbat."

Parshat Tazriah-Metzorah By: Moshe Goodman

Parshat Tazriah-Metzorah
By: Moshe Goodman, Kollel Or Shlomo, Hebron                                                                                                           בס"ד
                                                                       
                           לשכנו תדרשו                     
          
Delivering the Message 
of the Schechina
in Our Holy Land
  
"אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר"
"Speedily bring upon us blessing and peace quickly from four corners of the earth, and break the yoke of nations from upon our necks, and make us walk upright towards our Land..." (second blessing of Shema) "Before she has birth pains she shall give birth to a son... for... Zion shall give birth to Her sons..." (Isaiah 66, 7-9)

We have learned in the past of how the People revive the power of the Shechina in the Land, but it is evident from Isaiah's prophecy that it is ultimately Zion, the power of the Shechina in the Land, that will "give birth" and revive our People.  We can say that it is specifically because of this Holy Presence that the Land is uniquely susceptible to leprosy. So we learn from the Rambam in Tumat Tzaraat 14, 11, that from the words of the Torah "the house of the Land of your possession" (Lev. 14, 34)" (national possession) we learn that leprosy of houses applies only in the Land of Israel.

It is well known that one of the primary causes for Torah-ordained leprosy is the sin of slander. Therefore, considering the sensitivity of the Land to ill-speech, it is clearer why the sin of the spies, who slandered God and the Land, was so severe, as HaShem tells Moshe: "and all my blasphemers will not see It (the Land)" (p. Shlah). With the same token, it is clear why the merit of Kaleb, who spoke forth positively despite the other spies, was so great.

From whom did Kaleb receive this great inspiration to speak up despite all the odds? "And he (Kaleb) reached Hebron" (p. Shlah) - our sages (see Rashi and more on this verse) teach that it is from the merit of Hebron, the power of our Patriarchs, that Kaleb mustered the courage to speak up for the sake of our Holy Land. Hebron means to connect (haber), to communicate. Also, "the term Avot refers only to three (Patriarchs)" (Brachot 16b).

According to Maharal (in many places), the number three is intrinsically related to the concept of connection and communication. He explains that this is because while the number one has no separate entity to connect to, and number two represents two separate entities disconnected in essence, three is the first number to represent two entities connected by a third "bridge". It is by connecting to the power of our Avot and Hebron, that we too can connect ourselves and communicate unto others the true meaning of our Holy Land.

It is by delivering this message to others that we give merit to our people to inherit the Land, just like Kaleb was granted Hebron in merit of his speech: "For to Kaleb I will give Hebron, for a different spirit was with him" (p. Shlah). Let us invigorate ourselves and others with the spirit of Kaleb: "We shall surely arise and conquer it (the Land), for we shall surely be successful" (Num. 13, 30).

(Note: Last week's last quote was a bit misleading (unintentionally), for it combined two similar verses which talk about the same matter into what was quoted as one verse. The 2 verses are: Lev. 9, 4 and 6)

Real Stories from the Holy Land #13: The same day that I sent our readers last week's story about hashgaha in connection to the parsha, I took my family to the zoo. The zoo was very crowded on Isru Hag, so on the way back from the zoo we decided to go by foot instead of bus. On the way we consistently saw caterpillars all along the path. Then I remembered that the only place caterpillars are mentioned in the Torah was in that week's parsha - "marbe rablaim"(Shemini-This is without mentioning all the animals in the zoo mentioned in parsha).

Parshat Shemini By: Moshe Goodman

Parshat Shemini
By: Moshe Goodman, Kollel Or Shlomo, Hebron                                                                                                           בס"ד
                                                                       
                           לשכנו תדרשו                     
          
Calling Ourselves Closer 
to the Holy Presence 
in Our Holy Land

"בקרובי אקדש ועל פני כל העם אכבד"
"Our Father, our King! Reveal the honor of Your Majesty speedily... and ingather our exiles among the nations... and bring us to Zion Your city with rejoice..." (Musaf of 3 festivals) 

Thus, we call unto HaShem to bring us close to Him, and HaShem calls us closer to Him with love as we read in Shir Hashirim on Pesah: "I am to my Beloved and my Beloved is to me". This week's parsha teaches us the fine balance between love and fear of God, as HaShem calls us to come close to the Shechina in the inauguration of the Mishkan with love, while bidding us not to get close in an improper way as in the fear of the "foreign fire" of Nadav Avihu. Similarly, the caution in regard to dietary laws in the second part of our parsha, is also a call of closeness to God: "And you shall be holy for I am holy" (Lev. 11, 45). This is even truer with regard to the Land of Israel, Palace of our Father in Heaven. Rambam in Maachalot Asurot (ch. 10) spells out four categories of Biblical dietary prohibitions that, although some have similar ramifications outside the Land, all four have laws unique to the Land of Israel. The first of the four is the prohibition of Hadash, which we explained in parshat Vayikra as dependent on the "omer" barley specifically reaped in the Land. The second prohibition is the produce from a mixed/grafted vineyard ("kilei hakerem") which is a Biblical prohibition only in the Land of Israel (Rabbinic in the Diaspora) (halacha 8). The third prohibition is "Orlah", produce of a tree that was planted within three years. When this prohibition is in doubt, in the Land of Israel it is still forbidden, while in the Diaspora it is permitted (halacha 12).  The fourth prohibition is "Tevel", all produce that Trumot and tithes have not been taken from it, and of course this prohibition regards only produce that grew in the Land of Israel. With the same token, just eating the produce of the Land properly indeed brings one very close to HaShem. The Bach, one of the foremost halachic authorities, explains (end of Orah Haim 208) the significance of saying in the after-blessing "to eat from its (the Land's) fruits and be satisfied from its goodness". He explains that eating properly from the fruit of the Land while maintaining the purity of the Land connects one to the Shechina. In regard to this purity we should remember our examination, in parshat Vayeshev, of Shaar Hehatzer's statement that living in Hebron places one in a state of purity. It is in Hebron that we live our title quote: "I will be sanctified with those that are close to Me". By connecting to those close to HaShem, our Holy Patriarchs and Matriarchs, we purify ourselves, sanctify ourselves, sanctify HaShem among us, make ourselves ever-closer to HaShem, and receive HaShem's Countenance upon us. "This You shall do, for today HaShem shall appear unto you" (beginning of this week's parsha).  

Real Stories from the Holy Land #12: "One week my wife forgot our apartment (in Kiryat Arba) keys on two separate days. This never happened before, especially since my wife is a very organized person. I decided to check what significance I can gather from this episode by checking the parsha, for the Shla says that what happens during the week is hinted in the parsha. I found that the only parsha in the Torah that has the letters מפתח ביתו, was in that week's parsha (Bo) that this episode happened. These words literally meaning "from the entrance of the house", but also can mean "keys of his house" when vowels are changed.