Parashat Va’etchanan: What is so Special About Living in Israel Even During These Times of War?

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Parashat Va’etchanan
What is so Special About Living in Israel Even During These Times of War?

Divine Promise and Increased Aliyah Rates
I am always moved to tears whenever we get up to Parashat Va’etchanan where Moshe expresses his deepest love and yearning for the land of Israel, and the pain that he won’t be able to live here. This Parasha is also permeated with words of the overflowing goodness awaiting those of us who merit to make Aliyah to the Promised Land. If you feel afraid of Iran, Chamas, and Hezbollah, the end of Parashat Va’etchanan brings strength and encouragement: “When Hashem, your G-d, brings you into the land to which you are coming to possess it, He will cast away many nations from before you… nations more numerous and powerful than you. But Hashem, your G-d, will deliver them to you, and you shall smite them. You shall utterly destroy them; neither shall you make a covenant with them, nor be gracious to them” (Devarim 7:1-2). Rashi explains, וְלֹא תְחָנֵּם NOR BE GRACIOUS TO THEM - Do not grant them a settlement (חֲניָּה) in the land (Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 20a). How pertinent is this divine message to the present political conflict! Even during the current long-winded war, I’m so grateful to be one of the 7,427,000 Jewish residents of Israel! I feel so privileged to be living under Hashem’s direct supervision and much safer than anywhere else in the world, as international antisemitism is on the rise. Although sadly European Jews are canceling their flights to Israel these days, it turns out that the current war is not deterring Jews from the USA, Canada, and Mexico from making Aliyah to Israel, rather, interest has only increased. After years of a consistent Aliyah decline from these countries, since October 7, we have seen an Aliyah surge from North America. These are numbers we haven’t seen in decades. Compared to last year’s 7.2 million Jewish inhabitants in Israel over two hundred thousand more Jews live here today! I find it especially touching that several parents of fallen lone soldiers decided to make Aliyah to honor the memory of their sons. Many of the women who attended my annual lectures in North America over the years are now either building homes here or streaming into Israel with their families as it is becoming clearer than crystal that Israel is the only place for every Jew. I look forward to welcoming such a new family to Bat Ayin next month B”H (With Hashem’s help)!

Waking Up to Sing Hashem’s Praises With the Birds of Our Homeland! 
Moshe’s personal repetition of the Torah is sprinkled with words of encouragement describing the goodness to be enjoyed in the Holy Land and his yearning for it: “Pray let me cross over and see the good land that is on the other side of the Jordan, this good mountain and Levanon” (Devarim 3:25). “For I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan, but you will pass over, and you will possess this good land” (Devarim 4:22). With words like these Moshe instills in us the gratitude for being able to enter the Land of Israel and even more so to conquer it and to live permanently within it. He also admonishes us that the privilege of living in Israel comes with strings attached to keeping the laws of Hashem’s holy Torah. This too, is a great advantage for us as “what great nation is there that has G-d so near to it, as Hashem our G-d is at all times that we call upon Him? Which great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances, as this entire Torah, that I set before you this day? (Devarim 4:7-8). When I think back to all the pogroms, exploitation, and poverty my ancestors have lived through on foreign soil, how can I not wake up singing Hashem’s praises with birds of my homeland, enthusiastically jumping into the mitzvot of being involved in Torah and tending the Land of Israel?  How can I not keep my windows clean and let all the light of the holy land shine through? How can I not continue to thank Hashem all day long for taking me under His wings and bringing me close to Him? We must strengthen our emunah that every single day, Hashem performs miracles for His Chosen People, even if it isn’t written in the daily news. Learning about some of the recent miracles teaches us to extrapolate and believe that G-d, the Almighty does many more hidden miracles to protect his people. Even if we don’t deserve it – if we don’t all keep his mitzvot or don’t keep them well enough – we do deserve Hashem’s love and protection! This is due to all the suffering we have been through during the last century and all the brave soldiers and pioneers who have sacrificed their lives so that we can live relatively safely in our homeland. We must stop having guilty consciousness – let us stop being afraid, negative, and fearful. Our attitude of hope, prayer, and faith will attract deliverance and bring about the final redemption!

Ensuring Perpetual Goodness for the Jewish People
In Parashat Va’etchanan, Moshe’s Repetition of the Ten Commandments includes several changes. There are two views in the Talmud regarding these changes. According to Rabbi Tanchum bar Chanilai the Ten Commandments mentioned in Shemot were written on the first set of tablets. Whereas the repetition in Devarim represents what was written on the second tablets. According to the other approach, the Ten Commandments as recorded in Shemot is the exact quotation of G-d’s words, while in Devarim they are Moshe’s personal paraphrasing (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kama 54b-55a). One of the changes that strikes me is that in Devarim during the fifth commandment to honor your parents the phrase “that it be good for you” is added:

ספר שמות פרק כ פסוק יב כַּבֵּד אֶת אָבִיךָ וְאֶת אִמֶּךָ לְמַעַן יַאֲרִכוּן יָמֶיךָ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר הָשֵׁם אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ:

“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days be lengthened on the land that Hashem, your 

G-d, is giving you” (Shemot 20:12).

ספר דברים פרק ה פסוק טז 

כַּבֵּד אֶת אָבִיךָ וְאֶת אִמֶּךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ הָשֵׁם אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְמַעַן יַאֲרִיכֻן יָמֶיךָ וּלְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר הָשֵׁם אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ:

“Honor your father and your mother as Hashem your G-d commanded you, so that your days be lengthened, and that it may go well with you on the land that Hashem, your G-d, is giving you” (Devarim 5:16).

It does not mention the word good in the first tablets, since they were ultimately destined to be broken… If this term had been mentioned in the first tablets, all good would have, G-d forbid, ceased from Israel once they broke (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kama 54b-55a).  Therefore, only the second version, written after the breaking of the tablets, contains the word ‘good,’ so that there would always be good for the Jewish people. Moshe adds to the individual reward for honoring parents – longevity – the general reward for fulfilling all the mitzvot. Thus, the mitzvah to honor parents becomes a model for all the mitzvot and its reward similarly is the model of the reward for fulfilling them all as it states, “In all the way which Hashem, your G-d, has commanded you, you shall go, so that you may live and that it may be well with you, and so that you may prolong your days in the land you will possess” (Devarim 5:30). 

Only in the Land of Israel is it Surely Good for the Jews
As is well known, the mitzvah of honoring parents is the only one of the Ten Commandments whose reward is explicitly stated both in er Shemot and in Devarim: “So that your days be lengthened.” This reward for honoring parents makes sense: When we honor our parents, who gave us life, we too will merit life – i.e. to live a long life. Yet, it strikes me that both Torah verses mention an additional aspect of the reward for honoring parents, which is often overseen. The reward of a long life is promised specifically “on the land that Hashem, your G-d, is giving you.” Not only is the reward for honoring parents to live a long life, the reward also includes the privilege of living in the promised land. This second lesser-known reward for honoring parents is surely no less valuable than the first. But what is the connection between honoring parents and being fortunate to live in the land of Israel? Perhaps we can explain that living in the land of Israel is the greatest honor. Rather than bowing our heads with a hunched over back through the effect of millennia of exile antisemitism, here in Israel we live to see the fulfillment of the prayer, “May the Merciful One break the yoke of exile from our neck, and may He lead us upright to our land” (Grace after Meals). As a reward for honoring our parents, we become honored to live an upright life in our homeland also called our Motherland and Fatherland. In a certain sense, the land of Israel is our parent, as all human souls are created at the Temple Mount. The Temple below is connected to the Temple above. From this place, the souls descend and ascend on the ladder (Kli Yakar, Bereishit 12:1). Since the land of Israel is linked to goodness in several Torah verses such as “For Hashem your G-d is bringing you to a good land…” (Devarim 8:7); it may also be that Moshe added the phrase “that it be good for you” in the book of Devarim because now that the Israelites are on the verge of entering the Holy Land, only now will it surely be good!

Gratitude Focus for the Week of Parashat Va’etchanan – 

Some Tips for Appreciating the Land of Israel Even During Times of War

Friends from abroad often ask, “Are you ok? Is your life in danger?” “What’s it like to live in Israel now in times of war?” Especially during wars or trying times, people question, “Isn’t it scary to live in Israel?” Of course, there are challenges, as with all good things in life. Indeed, our rabbis teach that the Land of Israel is acquired through tribulation (Babylonian Talmud, Brachot 5a). There are many strong positives about living in Israel. The strongest is very much a sense of belonging – of a shared destiny. Even with people you don’t know or don’t agree with there is a strong sense that we are all in it together. People are also truly friendly in Israel. I am not talking about the American friendliness of smiling and saying, “have a nice day!”
The population is both diverse and similar at the same time. I have never come across such a sense of community in any other place. Imagine, on Yom Kippur, most Jews (both religious and secular) fast for an entire day and stay away from any electronics. In almost all of Israel, everything shuts down, stores, businesses, cars, and more.  The whole country stops, and there is no traffic in the Jewish areas whatsoever. When you believe that Israel is the destiny of the Jewish people, living here you have a sense of history, and being part of it.

Tips for Loving the Land

• Israel is One of the World’s Safest Countries – The media is continually reporting that Israel is at war, that there are explosions, terrorist assaults, rockets, and so on. This is quite rare. The benefit of Israel is that the country is always prepared for a military emergency; the Iron Dome system shields us from the sky, and soldiers are stationed on the borders, ready to defend. Simultaneously, homes in Israel are outfitted with bomb shelters, and in new homes, there is a security room located in the apartments, so inhabitants do not have to run far to find cover. All of the people of our small country are united by war. It is a fantastic sensation when everyone becomes more tolerant and considerate of one another.

• There Simply isn’t Another Country for Jews – If Russians, Germans, British, Americans, Swedes, and other nations may live anywhere in the globe without encountering hostility, the tendency to reject Jews and occasional outbreaks of violence against us is concerning. In this aspect, “we have no other country. As a result, we cleave to this small piece of land, we love it so much, we raise families here, and we wish each other to live to the age of 120. Without Israel, where would we be?  There simply would be no place for us, G-d forbid.

• Israel Gives Me the Feeling of Being at Home – What does it feel like when you land at Ben-Gurion International Airport, and everyone claps? The clear Tel Aviv sky stretches before you; the warm air of Israel surrounds you like a cocoon. The palm trees wave in the breeze as if greeting your arrival. To me and so many others, it feels like home. In Israel, wherever you go and whatever you do is a Jewish experience. From shopping to using public transportation, you are bound to mingle with fellow Jews and learn something special about them in the process. A person on the bus sitting next to you, may ask you to listen to her blessing over her drink and to answer, “Amen.” I am grateful that our children grew up in an atmosphere where being Jewish is the most natural thing in the world, where we can feel at home among fellow Jews.

• You Really Experience Jewish Holidays in Israel – When winter approaches we are surrounded by Chanukah menorahs and decorations that bring the festive atmosphere to highways and malls. Even the radio stations air familiar Chanukah songs. Around Pesach, the soda bottles have an attractive new design and bear the words, “Chag Sameach!” (Happy Holiday). On Lag B’Omer, traditional bonfires illuminate almost every park and lot throughout the country. Yom Kippur is particularly heartwarming. The roads are car-free, as the sanctity of the day pervades all of Israel. White-clad Jews of every religious denomination mingle in the streets, wishing each other a happy and blessed year.

• Miracles Are the Norm – In Israel, G‑d’s Divine Providence is apparent. The numbers don’t always seem like they will work out on paper; but somehow, things miraculously fall into place. We experienced this personally after we made aliyah. I recall making a budget and writing all our expenses on one side of the paper and our meager income on the other. The numbers didn’t match up. In the end, I just tossed the paper and somehow we never lacked the essentials even though we both learned full-time and none of us worked consistently. We tasted G‑d’s blessing to the Land of Israel: “Forever are the eyes of Hashem your G‑d upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year” (Devarim 11:12).

• Experiencing Jewish Unity – One of the best things about living in Israel is witnessing the kindness and unity of our people. This is especially evident at the holy sites in Eretz Yisrael. At King David’s and Rachel’s Tombs, drinks and pastries are distributed in abundance. Children offer books of Tehillim as gifts to passersby. At the Kotel (Western Wall), young girls may share packages of homemade challah and treats, soothing crying youngsters and warming the hearts of all those present. Wherever we go in Israel, while the styles of dress and religious backgrounds are different, the look of excitement and belonging in every pair of eyes is alike. These experiences strengthen our love and passion for being here. We pray for the time when G‑d will gather all Jews from around the world and return us as a nation to our beloved homeland! (Inspired by Nechama Dina Hendel, Three Reasons I Love Living in Israel).

How Can We Transform Our Homes from the External to the Internal Dimension?

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 Parashat Metzora  How Can We Transform Our Homes from the External to the Internal Dimension?

 

How do I Reunite the Torn Apart Pieces of my Psyche? 

I feel the ground is being torn down from under my feet. Everything is topsy-turvy! The house never looks as messy as at the peak of Pesach cleaning. With my head in the depths of the kitchen cabinet and pots and pans scattered all over the kitchen floor, I am overwhelmed by a feeling of dissolvement.  It is as if all the different parts of myself are turning into torn-apart pieces, that I must sort out and bring back together in a different composition. There are treasured, vital items in the kitchen, and in my character that I must give their proper place, remove any external grime or dust, and make them shine. Some things are still important and usable, yet to a lesser degree. I will also remove their external attachment and keep them while relegating them to the backstage of my kitchen cabinet and psyche. There are other items that I painfully must be ready to let go of. It could be a favorite tunic or utensil that has been used up and become utterly threadbare and tattered or completely dilapidated. Correspondingly in my psyche, this could refer to a strong will to keep a thought, an attachment, or a relationship that no longer serves me. In the wake of Pesach, we are shedding layers on many levels and learning to let go. With every chametz crumb – we discard – we mustn’t forget to include its inner dimension and let go of any ego attachment. When I become humbled by feeling powerless and unable to keep my life under control, that is when I invite Hashem inside to help me reorganize my torn-apart pieces into a new and greater whole. 

The Blessings in Disguise within Plagues 

Even among the hardest tests we undergo, we can find many matters for which to be grateful. Parashat Metzora which is mostly about the plague of the spiritual skin disease of tzara’at, teaches us about the treasure found within the agony of the plagues.  Similarly, we have experienced positive effects during our recent plague of the coronavirus pandemic, such as reduced road traffic accidents, better communication, closeness among the family units, and other blessings in disguise. I believe the Coronavirus has helped us to discard the external or superfluous while treasuring the essential and internal. It has taught us that rather than dispersing our energy to the outside, it is vital to strengthen our connection with our loved ones, focusing, and investing more in them. In other words, the coronavirus has taught us a lesson on living more inner lives. 

ספר ויקרא פרק יד פסוק לד כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם:

“When you come to the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, I will place a lesion of tzara’at upon a house in the land of your ancestral possession” (Vayikra 14:34). 

This is [good] news for them that plagues would come upon them, (Torat Kohanim 14:75), because the Amorites [residents of Canaan] concealed treasures of gold in the walls of their houses during the entire forty years that the Israelites were in the desert, and in consequence of the plague they would demolish the house and discover them  [Vayikra Rabbah 17:6]; (Rashi, Vayikra 14:34).

How Can Plagues be a Result of Elevating the Sparks?

Rashi explains that the plague on the house is good ‎tidings for its owner because tzara’at required the owner to tear down the whole ‎house, which revealed treasures buried underneath by the previous ‎Canaanite owners, amounting to far more in value than the worth of the entire house.‎ The inner meaning of the “good tidings” is not only finding the material treasure” but the process of elevating divine fallen sparks. Kedushat HaLevi reminds us about the rule that the true joy we ‎experience is when we elevate the fallen sparks from the ‎‎Shechinah bringing them to the level of serving their ‎Creator. When we succeed in elevating fallen sparks, then the innerness within these sparks elevates not only the inner part of ourselves but even the sparks of the exterior part of ourselves, ‎known as the ‎חצוניות‎/chitzoniyut, so that we are enabled to discard this part of ourselves.‎ Our house has an internal and external dimension. The internal dimension is comprised of elevating the sparks, whereas the discarded parts constitute the external dimension. Comparing the human soul to the inner spark, and the body without the soul to the exterior, explains why the body of a deceased becomes impure. This is because it has lost the inner spark that connects it with the divine – the source of purity.  Similarly, once the sparks within the external parts of our home are elevated, then these external parts likewise become impure by losing their connection to the Divine. When our Torah verse speaks of the house’s exterior ‎suddenly displaying signs of a plague, this is nothing other than ‎the foul-smelling residue left behind in their house after the ‎Israelites had elevated fallen sparks by fulfilling G-d’s mitzvah (Devarim 20:16) ‎not to allow any of the Canaanite residents to survive.  ‎‎Rashi speaks of the glad tidings for the ‎Jewish people when they discover tzara’at upon the houses in the land of Israel that they newly conquered, referring to their joyful discovery of being able to raise the sparks so that they became elevated to spiritually higher regions. Yet after these sparks had left the houses, the houses became exterior and had to be demolished. This is the good news for the treasures that were found after demolishing the houses are the sparks, for the main happiness is to raise up sparks (Based on Kedushat Halevi, Parashat Metzora).

What is the Recipe for Elevating Sparks?

People often ask me “How do we elevate sparks?” I explain that raising sparks entails focusing on and connecting with Hashem through even the most pleasurable or the most painful experiences. For example, when we eat the most delicious Shabbat meal in a way that rather than succumbing to the temptation of taking selfish pleasure, we dedicate the pleasure we experience to serving Hashem by honoring Shabbat. Conversely, when we go through the hardest pain, which could easily make us feel that Hashem has forsaken us, yet we nevertheless choose to trust Hashem believing that this too is for the best, then we also elevate sparks. In both situations, a person is naturally so entrenched in the intensity of his experience that it is a great challenge to devote this personal experience completely to G-d. This principle applies firmly to the original war of conquering the Land of Israel without “allowing any soul to live from among these peoples’ cities, which Hashem, your G-d, gives you as an inheritance” (Devarim 20:16). Being a combat soldier ready to kill in a war is about the greatest pain a person can experience. It can tempt a person to succumb to his lowest animal instincts of anger and aggressiveness while fighting for the sake of victory for its own sake. When the soldier rises above his own selfish survival instinct to engage in violence and rather focuses on the mitzvah of serving Hashem by obliterating every single person among the evil enemy, what could be a greater way of raising up fallen sparks? 

A Woman’s Pesach Cleaning – The Rectification from the Tree of Knowledge 

The strong connection with Hashem that is necessary against all the odds to raise up sparks transforms us from living in the חצוניות/chitzoniut – ‘exterior realm’ to entering into the פנימויות/penimiut – ‘internal realm.’ Rav Shlomo Carlebach teaches us that during Pesach Hashem illuminates such a great light for us, through our innerness, that we are bound to enter the internal realm. When Hashem wants to give us something so heavenly, we need to purify the external so we can stand completely ‘inside,’ without allowing any stronghold for the ‘exterior realm.’ Cleaning the house is one of the greatest rectifications for the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. This rectification is handed over to the woman. It may seem lonely at times, for as much as the husband and children try to help, they can never enter totally into the domain of the woman’s rectification. In the place where a woman cleans and organizes while investing so much depth and seriousness – in that place, she is truly alone (Based on Rav Shlomo Carlebach, Lev HaShamayim: Pesach pp.85-88). Everything about the Tree of Knowledge is about the external dimension. It is what brought about the very first exile, from the utmost innermost place – the Garden of Eden. When we clean the house mindfully, we shed its external layers of dust and grime and thereby transform our home from the external dimension of the Tree of Knowledge to enter the internal dimension of the Tree of Life. Through Pesach cleaning, we have the opportunity to touch such an elevated place, which only a woman can reach. 

                     

Gratitude Focus for the Week of Parashat Metzora

“Japanese people have always regarded cleaning as more than a common chore. It’s normal there for elementary and junior high school students to clean their classrooms together. Cleaning is carried out not because there is dirt, but because it’s an ascetic practice to cultivate the mind.” (Shoukei Matsumoto, Guide to a Clean House and Mind p. 3). Every year, before Pesach, we are commanded to prepare our homes by getting rid of all the chametz, to start fresh and clean, to sweep out all the gunk and crumbs. We can do the same thing with the homes called our bodies, where we store a lot of aches, pains, annoyances, disturbances, stresses, maladaptive habits, etc. Guided meditations are a great way to clear your mind/body of the “chametz” before Pesach.

• Invite Your Community to Join Your Guided Meditation – preparing their minds and psyches for Pesach. Set the mood by lighting candles or dimming lights and turning off phones and other distractions. You may ask the following four questions as part of your Pesach meditation. 

1. What will you be cleaning for Pesach?

2. Why will you be cleaning for Pesach?

3. Does cleaning your space free you to be able to focus your attention inwards?

4. Which items are meaningful to you? How will these items help inspire you this Pesach?

• “We are Closer to G-d when We are Asking Questions Than When We Think we Have Answers” (Avraham Yehoshua Heschel) – While you go about your Pesach cleaning ask yourself questions about the chores you are doing that will inspire you to shed exterior layers of yourself. For example, when cleaning a certain kitchen drawer, you could ask how this drawer is a reflection of the state of your psyche, and how you can reorganize it in a way that will affect your inner being positively. When you scrub suborn stains, you could ask, what are the stubborn stains of my character that I need to remove? and what would be the most effective way to remove them? How do you think the process of cleaning and searching for chametz impacts your spiritual preparation for Pesach?

• Look for Hidden Treasures – Pray to Hashem to find your lost objects while you clean for Pesach. Perhaps during your ordeal of Pesach cleaning you may find a long-lost precious earring or any other item you may have displaced. Rejoice and feel grateful to Hashem for opening your eyes to find hidden treasures!

• Allow Yourself to Be Grateful for the Healing Opportunity of Cleaning – While we focus on removing all of the physical chametz from our homes, notice how the act of cleaning can spark an internal process of introspection, and strengthen your connection to Hashem. You can make your Pesach cleaning a collaborative event by engaging in a post-cleaning discussion and celebration to share what you gained from the experience and discuss what stands out to you most about your experience of cleaning for Pesach.

• Set an Intention for Your Pesach Cleaning to Remove the External Chametz for the Sake of the Mitzvah – so that you can elevate the sparks and transform your home to be aligned with the inner dimension. Focus on how the process of cleaning for Pesach is a way to rectify eating from the Tree of Knowledge – the source of everything external.