בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"בקע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ... לְשֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת אֶלֶף וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים וַחֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת וַחֲמִשִּׁים"
"From fear save me, guide me to Zion the holy place of my destiny, HaShem, hear my voice!" (Adir Ayom veNora of Melave Malka)
Before entering the Land of Israel, we see that the Torah conducts a census of the Jewish People via the commandment of the 'half-shekel', read this week both in context of the weekly parsha and in context of the first of the four special readings before Pesah, Parshat Shekalim. Although we know that it took another 40 years, after the first census in our parsha, till the People reached the Land, ideally speaking these numbers of the People could have entered the Land immediately if not for the sin of the spies. Therefore, yet again are the people counted at the end of these 40 years before entering the Land.
We yet again see the dominant role of census in context of entering the Land of Israel in the book of Ezra-Nehemia, which details with great elaboration the numbers of groups, even the seemingly insignificant groups among them, who returned to Zion after the Babylonian Exile. Indeed, also from a halachic perspective does the census of the People in regard to the Land of Israel take an important role. Based on this census, determining how many Jews live in the Land of Israel versus how many in the Diaspora, can it be determined one of the crucial criteria for the advent of much of the mitzvos dependent on the Land (such as Truma, Maaser, Shmita, Yovel, and more) on a Biblical level, which requires a majority of worldwide Jewry to be living in the Land of Israel.
It is therefore not surprising that important events have occurred in conjunction with important censuses of Jewry in the Land of Israel. When 600,000 Jews, men and women, lived in the Land, the State of Israel was formed, and when 600,000 Jewish men alone, indicative of the 'Legions of Israel' in the book of Bamidbar, lived in the Land, much of the Land was redeemed in the 'Six-Day-War'.
Although, in absence of the Bait HaMikdash, we do not have the Biblical 'half-shekel' today, what we do have is the contribution to the great Return to Zion which is counted before HaShem and may also serve as atonement in a similar way, as our Sages teach that the Land serves as "an altar of atonement'.
The message of the 'half-shekel' proves to be especially meaningful in regard to Hebron. Many have pointed at the 'half-shekel' highlighting the fact that each Jew is only half, coming to completion only with his fellow Jew. This was highlighted especially in the Mishkan where all extremities of the People, from the first camp of Judah, exemplified by Bezalel, to the last camp of Dan , exemplified by Ohaliab, joined together to build an abode for the Holy Presence.
Similarly, it is in Hebron that the extremities of the People in a political sense, Benjamin from Rachel's line, exemplified in the form of Abner, and Judah from Leah's line, exemplified in the form of David, joined together in a treaty, strengthening Israel's sovereignty in the Land by making a united Kingdom, the Kingdom of David, the prototype of Mashiah son of David.
Real Stories from the Holy Land #59: "One afternoon at 4 pm, a friend of mine, who has been learning with me in the same collel in Hebron for about a year-and-a-half, suddenly took me to the side and discussed with me how we can together strengthen our Torah-learning, something he's never done before. 'It turns out' that at that very same time, my wife was driving and was miraculously saved from an accident with a tractor before her."
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Sources: Rambam Trumot 1, 26, Shmita Veyovel 10, 8, Ktubot 111a, Samuel II, 3, 19-21
