Parshat Massei By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

Parshat Massei

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

To print, click HERE

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

 

"זאת הארץ אשר תיפול לכם בנחלה ארץ כנען לגבולותיה" 

"May it be Your Will before You, HaShem our God and the God of our Fathers that You raise us with joy to our Land and plant us in our boundaries..." (Mussaf Shabbat)

The boundaries of the Land of Israel are explicitly and elaborately detailed in this week's parsha, a matter that highlights the importance of every parcel of land in the Land of Israel before HaShem. Not only is the specification of the boundaries of the Holy Land important in the Written and Oral (halacha etc.) Torah in regard to the mizvot of the Land upon the People (Trumot, Maaser, , Shmita, etc.), but  also in regard to the responsibility upon the People to conquer and settle the Land, as is clear in the Written Torah in our title quote.

In the Oral Torah this principle can be ascertained from the halachic ruling (Biblically based) that only if Israel first conquers  the land specified in the Torah and only afterwards conquers territory outside these boundaries does that territory receive status as the Land of Israel Proper (Biblically liable for Truma etc.). This halachic principle is shown by our Sages when they describe HaShem's criticism on David's conquest of other lands before conquering the entirety of the Land of Israel specified in the Torah as he should have done.

We illustrated this concept in this way to fit even the viewpoint of the Rambam who does not enumerate the conquest and settlement of the Land of Israel to be a positive mitzvah, but according to the Ramban and the accepted halachic stance (as brought in the authoritative halachic summary 'Pithei Tshuva') that conquering and settling the Land is a positive mitvah even today, it is even clearer that the boundaries of this Land specified in the Torah are crucial in regard to the commandment of  conquering the entirety of the Land of Israel.  According to the Ramban's halachic stance we are not only commanded to settle the Land but also bidden to not leave this Land in the hands of another nation or desolate, as he ascertains from the verse 'you shall conquer the Land' (Num. 33, 53).

Spiritually speaking, as we have shown in the past, the Land of Israel is a spiritual entity, Abode of the Holy Presence, described by the prophet Isaiah (62, 5) as a 'wife' to Israel, her 'husband'. Therefore, the devotion of our People to the entirety of this Land, as specified by God, is crucial to our loyalty to God and His Holy Presence, for denying any parcel of this Land from Israel is tantamount to denying the word of God (in this week's parsha determining that it belongs to Israel), and His Holy Presence in this Land (for if God's word is not held holy, then what is holy about His Presence?).

By connecting to Hebron, we connect to the very roots of our People's connection to this Land, thereby strengthening our devotion and loyalty to the Holy Land and the Holy Presence therein. Our Sages teach us that our Forefathers foresaw the future, and therefore they travelled and lived in locations crucial for the future of their descendants many years later. It seems that is not for naught that specifically our holy Fathers of Hebron, the 'Roots of our People to the Land', lived an extended period of time, in addition to Hebron, in 'the land of the Philistines', identified as the area of the 'Gaza Strip' today, to strengthen our ancestors, as in the time of David and Goliath the Philistine, and us today, grappling with the identity of this location as part of our Holy Land, that indeed this whole Land is the Holy Land given by God to His People Israel.  

 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #80:

 

"One day, I was too tired to go to work, so I told my boss that I hurt my hand in an accident (which was a lie). Three minutes later a cab came and bashed into my leg, injuring me in a real accident." (Y.S) 

 

 

Sources: Rambam Melachim 5, 6, Hashmatos lesefer haMitzvos LaRamban mitzvah 4, Ramban on Num. 33, 53, Pithei Tshuva Even Haezer 75, 13, Psikta Zutrta Lech Lecha 12, 8 

Parshat Balak By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

Parshat Balak

By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

To print, click HERE

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו 

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

  

"מה טבו אהלך יעקב משכנתיך ישראל" 

"How good are your tents Jacob, your sanctuaries O Israel!"

Many pronounce these words upon entering the synagogue in recognition of the sanctity of the synagogue and the Holy Presence that rests there. Because of this holiness attached to the synagogue there are many laws that pertain to its establishment, use, respect, and more.

Some of these laws seem to highlight the relationship of the synagogue as place of the Holy Presence to the 'Land of the Holy Presence', the Land of Israel. One of these laws mandates that all synagogues in the Land of Israel are forever sanctified even if explicit stipulation was put upon them at their building that they may be used for a different purpose when destroyed.

This law does not apply to synagogues in the Diaspora, for the reason that our Sages taught, that 'all synagogues in the Diaspora are destined to be relocated in the Land of Israel' (Megila 29a), this meaning that these synagogues have a somewhat temporary nature which allows for stipulation on their use to hold. Another law that highlights the connection between the synagogue and the Land of Israel is the necessity that synagogues of the Diaspora face the Land of Israel. With the same token, synagogues in Israel face Jerusalem, 'City of the Holy Presence.'

If so, why did our Patriarchs, Kaleb, and others go specifically to Hebron to pray, and not to Jerusalem? To begin with, we should mention that, although Jerusalem is the primary place of the Holy Presence, Hebron is also mentioned in the Zohar as being a focal point of the Holy Presence which attracted our Patriarchs and others to pray at this location. In regard to the question, 'why not first Jerusalem', it could be that Jerusalem was meant to be spiritually developed through the initial spiritual development of Hebron (and perhaps other cities as well) as we find with David who first developed Hebron and only afterwards Jerusalem (and perhaps for this very reason the location of Jerusalem was less known till the age of David - see Zvahim 54b in which David searches with Shmuel the location of the Bait HaMikdash).

Whatever the reason, we can say that the Land of Israel is like a live organism of holiness - each plot of it essential to the entire corpus. That said, just as a body has critical organs, so too the Land of Israel has focal points of spirituality, Jerusalem and Hebron ranking as two of its greatest focal points. 

  

  

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #77:

"One morning I arbitrarily taught 1st grade boys in Kiryat Arba one halacha for about one minute at the end of the class. The halacha was that if one forgot to say Birkas Hamazon one should preferably say it within 72 minutes of eating, but if not, one can still say it as long as he is still satisfied from the last meal (and not hungry). About 2 hours later I was asked by a teacher, who didn't know anything about what I had taught, 'till when can I say Birkas Hamazon if I forgot?'"  

Sources: Megila 28b, Orah Haim 151, 11, Zohar Bo