קדושת ציון גליון #46 – תשרי

דרישת ציון על טהרת הקודש ◆ דעת תורה בנושאי ארץ הקודש ת”ו

שלום רב וגמר חתימה טובה לכל החברים,

אנו שמחים בזאת להגיש בפניכם את גליון חודש תשרי של שנת התש”פ, וזאת אחר מאמצים רבים ועצומים מצד חברים רבים באגודה להוציא לאור את הגליון על-אף הלחץ הרב בו היינו שרויים, אחר שבחודש אלול העלון יצא רק בחציו השני של החודש. בגליון זה תמצאו מאמרים מאלפים בעניינים שונים – הן בענייני דיומא והן בנושאים העומדים במהלך כל השנה במרכז סדר היום של עם ישראל בכלל ויראי ה’ בפרט.

אנו מודים לכל מי שהצטרף למבצע המנויים ולכל שאר התורמים, המאפשרים את הופעתו הסדירה של העלון. אמנם, לאור הביקוש ההולך וגובר והפעילות הנצרכת בעקבותיו – הן ביחס לעלון עצמו והן ביחס לשאר פעולות האגודה – מחובתנו להגביר את ההכנסות בהתאם. בגליון זה מופיעה קריאה של אחד הקוראים, אשר תשודר אליכם גם בקובץ שמע בימים הקרובים, ובו בקשה שקשה לסרב לה – שכל אחד יתרום סכום מזערי, אשר יתחזק את העלון מדי חודש, מבלי שיורגש כלל על-ידו. כמובן, שמי שידו משגת מוזמן לתרום על-פי יכולתו, ואנו מצדנו מתחייבים, שתהיה תמורה מלאה לתרומתו בהגברת הפעילות בכל התחומים. אנא מכם, בפתח השנה החדשה – שכל אחד יעשה כפי יכולתו וישתתף במפעל חשוב זה, ויבורך מפי עליון!

בברכת שנה טובה ומתוקה וגמר חתימה טובה לכל הקוראים הנאמנים,

יהודה אפשטיין.

אגודת ‘קדושת ציון’.

Download (PDF, 1.69MB)

Reprinted with permission.

ניתן לתרום לאגודה ולהוצאת העלון באחת מהדרכים הבאות –

העברה בנקאית:

שם בעל החשבון: עמותת קדושת ציון
בנק: 20 (מזרחי טפחות)
סניף: 459
חשבון: 109491

בכרטיס אשראי דרך הקישור הבא: נדרים פלוס

Make out US charitable tax-deductible (checks) to:

Central Fund of Israel

c/o Marcus Brothers Textiles

980 6th Ave

New York   NY  10018

Attn:  Arthur Marcus

Include a note that it is for Kedushas Tzion.

Or for Israeli residents:

Jay Marcus

13 Hagoel St.

Efrat , 90435

Eretz Yisrael – A Privilege, Not a Burden!

Eretz Chemdah: An Inside View – Ratzon HaShem

Ratzon HaShem

I came to learn in Eretz Yisroel after three years in Beis Medrash (post high school). I grew up in Lakewood, New Jersey, and, like most of my friends, when I came to learn in Eretz Yisroel I had no long-term intentions. I came to do the two-year Eretz Yisroel experience. Like most bochurim, this obviously included Shabbos seudos at the homes of many different types of people.

At one of those Shabbos meals, the question was posed: “How can people live in chutz la’Aretz if there is a mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisroel?”

I was put on the spot because honestly, I had never thought of it. I was indeed aware there is a mitzvah according to the majority of opinions, but somehow that all was theoretical knowledge. I totally ignored the step of applying my knowledge to my actions—I just honestly never thought about it.

After that Shabbos seudah, I decided to research the topic a little bit, until I discovered that Reb Moshe Feinstein ztz”l wrote a teshuva that there is no obligation to live in Eretz Yisroel, rather it is a mitzvah kiyumis—a mitzvah that one gets sechar for doing—but is not an absolute chiyuv to do.

I was happy. As far as I was concerned the “issue” was resolved. There is a legitimate opinion that there is no chiyuv to live in Eretz Yisroel, therefore I could live happily ever after in Lakewood. Case closed.

Sometime after that I had a conversation about this with a talmid chacham I knew. He told me something that changed my life. He asked me if, as a Yid, I saw mitzvos as a burden, or am I happy to be part of the Am Hanivchar (Chosen Nation) excited to do ratzon HaShem even if it isn’t the easiest thing. Without too much thought, I knew that the answer was the latter—a Yid has to be happy with his mitzvos and not look at it as if it is a burden.

He told me, even if we accept Reb Moshe’s view (which I understood not to be the pashtus), why does that give you the security to live in chutz la’Aretz? You have a mitzvah that is definitely ratzon HaShem to live in Eretz Yisroel, so even if it is not a chiyuv, shouldn’t you want to try to do it? He added, you don’t think it is easy? Many mitzvos aren’t easy and that just increases the sechar, as the Mishna in Avos says, “l’fum tza’ara agra.”

This talmid chacham continued to note that the many maalos of living in Eretz Yisroel mentioned throughout the Torah and chaza”l such as, “Eretz asher Einei HaShem…” meaning HaShem’s special Hashgacha Pratis in this Land or the famous gemara (Kesuvos 110b) stating the difference between one who is living in Eretz Yisroel and one who is living in chutz la’Aretz, concerning their relationship with HaShem. I once again was aware of these maalos, but somehow, I never thought about trying to apply them to my life. He asked me to forget about if it is a chiyuv or not, am I not interested in all these maalos?

I thought about this for a while and took it to heart. The reason a Yid is in this world is to do ratzon HaShem, not to look for loopholes in it. The ratzon HaShem in this case is very clear—HaShem wants Yidden to live in Eretz Yisroel.

I was just a bochur at the time, but when I started shidduchim my condition was clear. I went back to the States for shidduchim like the norm, but I knew that for the long term, I needed to live in Eretz Yisroel. My parents thought I wasn’t being rational, but they agreed I can “try” my condition for a year, and to rethink it if I still don’t find my bashert by then. A year passed and I started getting nervous, but then HaShem sent me my bashert, and B”H she agreed with my condition eagerly.

We got married B”H and started off in Yerushalayim, which was the normal place chutznikim my age lived. I continued learning in the same yeshiva I did as a bochur. My wife B”H found work for an American company through the computer. Neither my parents or my in-laws were financially supporting our stay in Eretz Yisroel, but we had Siyata Dishmaya and my wife had decent work. After a little less than a year, however, we realized that we barely could afford our budget, and this was without the added expenses that come with children. It was a hard but obvious decision: We knew we had to move out of the mainstream Yerushalayim to somewhere where the expenses were much cheaper.

After looking at the various options and spending a Shabbos here and there, we moved to the community we thought made the most sense.

B”H we are very happy, and I thank HaShem daily for letting me live my dream in Eretz Yisroel, as the gemara says, “duchta deMoshe v’Aharon lo zachu lah…” a place where even Moshe and Aharon did not merit….

 

Adjusting

For me, adjusting to our new community outside Yerushalayim wasn’t such a big deal. I continued learning in the same yeshiva in Yerushalayim, taking a bus every day.

For my wife, it was more challenging. We moved from a mostly English-speaking community to a building where almost nobody knew English. It took time, but eventually, she got connected to the English-speaking community there and also learned to make friends with our Israeli neighbors.

The chutznik community gave us a lot of chizuk. It wasn’t a group of people of which most were moving back after 2-3 years. It was an oylam of people doing the same thing we were doing.

– Yekusiel A., Gush Etzion

This article is part of Matzav.com’s Eretz Chemdah series featuring English speakers, living in, settling, and building up Eretz Yisroel. For more info please contact info@naavakodesh.org or visit naavakodesh.org/eretz-chemdah

Reprinted with permission from Naava Kodesh.

TRY Mentioning This Mishna Berurah to Your Local Rabbi This Shabbos…

M.B. 429:2:

שלשים יום, ומתחילין מיום הפורים עצמו. ועכשיו נוהגין לדרוש בשבת הגדול [כשאין ע”פ חל בו דאז צריך להקדים בשבת הקודם] ובשבת שובה [והעיקר להורות לעם דרכי ה’ ללמד המעשה אשר יעשון דהיינו דיני הגעלה וביעור חמץ ואפיית המצה ושאר הלכות פסח וכן בשבת שובה לדרוש לפניהם הלכות יוה”כ וחג הסוכות לבד מה שדורש מענין התשובה אבל אם יהיה הדרשה רק בפלפול או דרוש בעלמא אין יוצאין בזה ידי חובתן] ומ”מ מצוה לכל אחד לעסוק בהלכות פסח ל’ יום קודם וכן בחג עצמו [אחרונים].

‘Cherut’ – Negative Liberty Leads to Positive Liberty

On the Etymology of חרות

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013

The appearance of the root /חור/ with the meaning of nobleman, aristocrat, or elder appears mostly in the later books of Tanakh. Melachim I 21:8, 11 and Kohelet 10:17 juxtapose חורים with elders or contrast them with youth. Nechemiah (2:16; 4:8, 13; 5:7; 7:5; 13:17) consistently juxtaposes חורים with nobleman or priests (see also 6:17). Yeshayahu 34:12 and Yirmiyahu 27:20, 39:6 similarly place חורים in the context of royalty and is commonly translated as “nobleman.” In Rabbinic literature חור came to mean freedom (e.g. Gitten 4:4; Targum on Shemot 21:2; Bereishit Rabbah 92). Daat Mikra, however, understands חורים as aristocrats who were free from paying taxes throughout Tanakh (e.g. Melachim I 21:8; Nechemiah 2:16).

However, the original meaning of the root /חור/ appears too have been “white.”[1] In Bereishit 40:16, R. Saadia Gaon interprets חרי as “white bread,” a symbol of royalty (see Ramban).

Yeshayahu 29:22 uses יחורו as pale, and is understood by multiple commentators as being the Aramaic equivalent of “white” (Radak, Metzudot Tzion and Ramban on Bereishit 40:16; see Daniel 7:9). Being pale-faced may be a symbol of royalty since it implies that one is at leisure to stay in-doors protected from the sun.

Esther 1:7, 8:15, and Yeshayahu 19:9 (according to Ibn Ezra and Radal; see especially R”I Karo) use חור as “white linen,” especially in the context of royalty (Esther Rabbah on 1:6; see Jastrow on חור). It is possible that חור/white linen is related to, and possibly derived from, חור/hole (Rashi on Bereishit 40:16 and Yeshayahu 19:9 relates חור to wicker and nets).

Thus, three etymologies may be suggested: 1) the white bread-royalty connection; 2) the pale-royalty connection; and, 3) the white linen-royalty connection. Either way, it is not surprising that חור is a common name among the royalty (e.g. Shemot 31:2; Divrei ha’Yamim I 4:1; Yehoshua 13:21)

Hirsch (Shemot 32:16) threads the disparate meanings of /חור/ into one conceptual whole, and relates it to the well-known rabbinic dictum (Avot 6:2):  “Do not read engraved [חרות] but free [חרות], for there is no person who exemplifies freedom as one who engages in Torah study.”

“Now חור means white, free and open, from which we get the meaning of opening and hole. The basic meaning seems to be “unhindered.” Hence: free, open, and the unhindered i.e. unbroken, rays of light: white. So that חרות   could also mean “opening” in the sense of the stone being bored clean through, or actually “freedom,” and in this sense חרות על הלחות would mean “in free mastery over the Tablets” and thereby express that ם” וס” שבלוחות בנס היו עומדים. The Tablets did not bear the writing but the writing bore and held the Tablets. Then the sentence in Avot 6:2 אין לך בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתורה , that the Torah makes “free,” would be a literal fact, brought home to one’s mind by a glance at the writing of the Tablets. Just as the writing of the Divine Evidence was not only independent of the material but raises the material serving it to its own level of freedom above the ordinary laws of Nature which govern matter, in the same way human beings, who take upon themselves the spirit of this writing and make themselves the representatives of this spirit, are raised, borne and held by the very spirit itself, above the blind force of ‘you must,’ the lack of free will which clings to all matter, i.e. they become “free.” (See Maharal, Derech Chaim, for a similar interpretation).

[1] As is common in all languages, the concrete becomes a metaphor for more abstract concepts. Thus, “white” becomes “clear” and “logical” as in מחוור

From BM’EI HA’DAGA, here.