Parshat V'etchanan
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron
בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Loving the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"ואהבת את ה' א-היך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך"
"And I prayed to HaShem at that time saying: O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand, for who is [like] God in heaven or on earth who can do as Your deeds and Your might? Pray let me cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordon, this good mountain and the Lebanon" (first words of parsha).
Moshe Rabeinu, our sages teach, relentlessly prayed 515 prayers to enter the "Good Land" (M. Tanaim 3), even after God's decree to not allow him such. Our prayers and the prayers of our ancestors to enter our "Good Land" and revive the Holy Presence therein unite with and gain inspiration from the prayers of our greatest teacher and prophet. However, unlike Moshe Rabeinu, the "decree" not to enter our Holy Land has ceased, the "three oaths" have been annulled, and the time has come to redeem our Land.
The "three oaths" refer to the Divine oaths set upon Israel and the Nations at the onset of Exile in regard to the nature of this Exile. These "oaths" were, according to Ketubot 111a: 1. that Israel may not return to the Land of Israel by the masses, 2. that Israel may not rebel against the Nations (that subdue them) 3. that the Nations not subdue Israel too much.
These "three oaths" are learned from three verses in The Song of Songs (2, 7; 3, 5; and slight variation in 8, 4) saying "I bid you by oath Daughters of Jerusalem... that you not arouse the love till it is desirous." It is apparent from the story brought in Ketubot (ibid) that these oaths were not only Divine oaths, but were considered, at least by some of the Talmudic sages to have halachic significance, forbidding the ascent to the Land of Israel. Nevertheless, it is clear from a vast span of halachic opinions that these "oaths" are obsolete.
Some explain that these "oaths" have aggadic significance only, describing the Divine plan during Exile, but do not have halachic significance, and we also do not rule according to the Talmudic sage(s) who hold that these "oaths" have halachic significance (see Avnei Nezer P"2, Yoreh D. 454, 42-45, Maharal Netzah Y. 1 and 24, Rambam does not bring these "oaths" in his extensive Mishneh Torah meant to cover the "entire Oral Law" (Rambam's words)).
Others explain that indeed these oaths have halachic significance, but if the Nations grant Israel to return to their Land (as voted on in the UN about 65 years ago) these "oaths" are null and void (Maharsha on Ketubot ibid, R. H. Palagi, Rebbe of Pilov , and many more). According to the Kabbalists, these "oaths" were only binding for the first thousand years of Exile, and are afterwards void (intro. To "Etz Haim" and more). (For more study see "Nefesh Eda", R. Y. Zisberg).
In any case, it is clear from the source of these "oaths" in Shir HaShirim that these "oaths" are binding only till "the love is desirous". With the end of these "oaths", as we have explained, and with the advent of our People's return to the Land, it is indeed clear that this "love is desirous". As our parsha commands us, and as we say numerous times a day, we are to love HaShem our God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our might.
The Sifri (here) parallels the terms "hearts" to Avraham, "souls" to Yitzhak, and "might" to Yaakov. It is by loving HaShem via connecting to our Patriarchs and Hebron that we ultimately love and long for His Holy Presence and our Holy Land, threshold of His Holy Presence, with all our being. "For indeed Jerusalem will be rebuilt when Israel longs for (the Land) the fullest extent of longing till they desire her stones and dust" (end of Kuzari).
Real Stories from the Holy Land #27: "It was Tuesday after Shabbat Chaya Sara and I was driving to Hevron in my car. I pulled over (at a hitch-hiker's spot) and 5 people squeezed into my Subaru. As I pulled over a blue fiat blows past me without picking anyone up. It took about 5 minutes till everyone got settled. I got to the point where the Arab village meets the road. The road was littered with 100's of rock. The blue car was 180 degrees on the road, the windshield was smashed out, the driver was surrounded by soldiers and was bleeding from his forehead. Because I stopped to do a hessed on my way to the city that represents hessed, Hashem did hessed with me and spared me from the rock attack."
