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