Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy
Land
"כבד
את אביך ואת אמך למען יארכון ימיך על האדמה אשר ה' א-היך נתן לך"
"For from Zion Torah will be delivered and the word of
HaShem from Jerusalem.”
Although, as we see in this week's parsha, the first
Torah and prophecy to our Nation was delivered at Mount Sinai and before in
Egypt in the Diaspora, our Sages teach in the Mechilta that once Israel entered
the Land all prophecy must be rooted in the Land of Israel. In the Mechilta
this concept is compared to the exclusivity of the Beit HaMikdash to Jerusalem,
this exclusivity occurring only after a period of time of in-exclusivity in
regard to the location of the Bais HaMikdash. If so, the Mechilta asks, how did
Yehezkel receive prophecy in Babylon? The Mechilta answers that, because
Yehezkel began his prophecy in the Land of Israel, therefore he was allowed to
continue his prophecy even when he was exiled to the Diaspora. Similarly, in a halachic sense,
Torah rulings, at least in their highest levels, may only be ruled in the Land
of Israel. So halacha mandates, based on this pasuk “For from Zion Torah will
be delivered etc.”, that the initial establishment of months, leap years, etc.
must be established by the Sanhedrin in the Land of Israel. In addition, there
a numbers of laws that can only be ruled by those with “special ordination”
(which we still do not have today) in the Land of Israel. Similarly, the grand
Sanhedrin of Israel of 71 elders is specifically located adjacent to the Bais
HaMikdash in Jerusalem, and in its absence many of the Torah's laws cannot be
implemented today. The dominance of the Land of Israel in such important facets
of Judaism, such as Torah and prophecy, highlight how the Holy Land stands as
such an important cause in the spiritual wellbeing of our People. Indeed,
Isaiah describes the Land to the People as a mother to children,
“Lift up
your eyes all around and see, they all have gathered, they have come to you;
your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be raised on [their]
side,” and this concept is also echoed in the Yerushalmi (Moed Katan 3,
1).Based on this concept, we can more easily understand why the Torah links,
in our title quote, the respect towards parents to our wellbeing in the Land
of Israel, the “parent”, so to speak of our People. When we talk about
Hebron, this message becomes double-folded. Hebron is both the source of our
People's connection to the Holy Land, the 'parent' of our People, as Israel's
first bought property therein, and Hebron is also literally the location of
our holy parents, the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The Arizal explains that by
honoring our parents, i.e. our cause, we awaken the spiritual cause to our
wellbeing. Thus, by also giving honor to Hebron we awaken the spiritual
causes for the wellbeing of our People at large.
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Real
Stories from the Holy Land #53: “I decided to spend a certain amount of money
on a mitzah in Hebron, and so I did. Within 5 minutes of doing so, I was
offered a job that payed for all the money I just spent... with about a 50%
increase...”
Sources:
Rambam Kidush Hahodesh 1, 8 and 5, 1, ibid. Sanhedrin, 5, 1-17, Shaar
Hamitzvot, Yitro
