Parshat Shelach
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
"Fighting the Case" for the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"ויעלו בנגב ויבא עד חברון... וחברון שבע שנים נבנתה לפני צוען מצרים"
"וְעַבְדִּי כָלֵב עֵקֶב הָיְתָה רוּחַ אַחֶרֶת עִמּוֹ וַיְמַלֵּא אַחֲרָי וַהֲבִיאֹתִיו אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר בָּא שָׁמָּה וְזַרְעוֹ יוֹרִשֶׁנָּה"
"Please, King full of compassion: I have come today to the Holy city of Hebron, may it be re-built speedily... to ask from our King... that He have compassion upon us... till when will You not have compassion on Jerusalem? And if not for our sake, have compassion for Your sake and for the sake of Your mighty Shechina trapped with us in Exile... and if because of the Babylonian Exile which lasted only 70 years, the Forefathers of the world made such commotion (to end it - as brought by our Sages), what shall we say about this bitter exile more than 1900 years that we are in exile after exile downtrodden and ashamed... Therefore, we have come before You... that You should remember the merit of our holy Forefathers... so that You should have compassion upon us... and end our Exile..." ("Prayer at Maarat HaMachpela" in "Shaarei Dima")
Although for every week's parsha I must put down the sources and the words available on the topics which we discuss and share with you, this week's parsha Shlah is so dense, from beginning to end, with topics such as Hebron, the Avot, the Land of Israel, and the Shechina that it has been considerably difficult to decide where and how to begin, and even more so how to end. Therefore, let us focus on a practical part of the parsha that all of us are already familiar with - the mitzvah of taking Halla.
For starters, the opening words in the Torah to this mitzvah are, "when you come to the Land", and the Shulhan Aruch begins these laws with (Yoreh Deah 322 - entitled): "the difference between Halla of the Land of Israel and Halla of the Diaspora". One of these laws states (ibid, 2): "Halla is Torah-ordained solely in the Land of Israel... and only when all (the majority - Aruch HaShulhan and more) of Israel are upon it, as it says: "when you come", the coming of all of you and not just part of you... otherwise it is rabbinic."
Although there are many laws pertaining to Halla, one of the most basic requirements for liability is that the batch become one unit, fluids and solids together. We may recommend to meditate on these ideas while kneading dough via the concept of Hebron. It is Hebron, "City of the Patriarchs", which reminds us both of our commitment to the Holy Land "promised to our Patriarchs" and the concept of unity of our people in the Land ("one people in the Land" - Shmuel 2, 7, 23) by its very name "hebron-lehaber", "to unite".
When we raise the Halla to become "the holy teruma", we can meditate on how through the unity of our People, ingathered in our Holy Land, the spirit of holiness is raised towards the Cohanim, messengers of HaShem in the Bais HaMikdash, raising ourselves towards the Holy Shechina in our Holy Land. It is this "spirit of holiness" that Kaleb tapped into by praying in Hebron many years ago, instilling within him, and all that go in his footsteps till today, "the different spirit" of courage and bravery to "fight the case" for the Holy Presence in our Holy Land. It is when we connect to our roots, to the Torah, called "Hebron-haber" (Zohar on title quote), to the Forefathers, and to the Holy Presence with them, that we stay faithful and forever true to our Holy Land, despite our enemies and even despite "leadership" among us that confuses us from the truth.
Just as many women add a personal prayer subsequent to raising halla, befitting the auspicious time of committing a mitzvah, may we also add a personal prayer for all Israel while fulfilling this mitzvah, befitting this mitzvah particularly, along (or around) the lines of: " You, HaShem, have commanded us to take halla in our Holy Land as it says: "when you come to the Land... and when you eat from the bread of the Land you shall raise a teruma to HaShem." HaShem, Our Merciful Father! Have mercy upon Your children and return us to Your Holy Land, united, so we may glorify Your Name, and raise Your spirit of holiness. And if not for our sake, please redeem us for Your sake and the sake of Your Holy Shechina."
Real Stories from the Holy Land #20: "Once I had a driving test in Kiryat Arba, but was detained at my home in Efrat, about a 20-minute drive away. I waited for a ride to Kiryat Arba for about 45 minutes at the usual "hitch-hiker spot" till I missed the period for driving tests entirely. Usually, it takes about 5-10 minutes to hitch-hike to Kiryat Arba from that spot. As soon, as I "gave-up" and just started to cross the street, a car voluntarily stopped for me offering me a ride to my home in Efrat in the opposite direction of Kiryat Arba."
