RABBI DAVID ETENGOFF: PARASHAT HASHAVUAH
  • Blog: Rabbi David Etengoff: Parashat HaShavuah
  • Sefer Bereishit 5782&5783
  • Sefer Shemot 5782&5783
  • Sefer Vayikra 5782&5783
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5782&5783
  • Sefer Devarim 5782&5783
  • Sefer Bereishit 5780& 5781
  • Sefer Shemot 5780&5781
  • Sefer Vayikra 5780&5781
  • Sefer Bamidbar 578&5781
  • Sefer Devarim 578&5781
  • Sefer Bereishit 5778&5779
  • Sefer Shemot 5778&5779
  • Sefer Vayikra 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5778&5779
  • Sefer Devarim 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bereishit 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bereishit 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bereishit 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bereishit 5771&5770
  • Sefer Shemot 5776&5777
  • Sefer Shemot 5774&5775
  • Sefer Shemot 5772&5773
  • Sefer Shemot 5771&5770
  • Sefer Vayikra 5776&5777
  • Sefer Vayikra 5774&5775
  • Sefer Vayikra 5772&5773
  • Sefer Vayikra 5771&5770
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5771&5770
  • Sefer Devarim 5776&5777
  • Sefer Devarim 5774&5775
  • Sefer Devarim 5772&5773
  • Sefer Devarim 5771&5770

4/26/2020

Parshiot Acharei Mot - Kedoshim 5780, 2020: "The Glory of Eretz Yisrael"

0 Comments

Read Now
 
Picture


Rabbi David Etengoff

Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chana bat Shmuel, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Shoshana Elka bat Avraham, Tikvah bat Rivka Perel, Peretz ben Chaim, Chaya Sarah bat Reb Yechezkel Shraga, the Kedoshim of Har Nof, Pittsburgh and Jersey City, and the refuah shlaimah of Mordechai HaLevi ben Miriam Tovah, Moshe ben Itta Golda, Yocheved Dafneh bat Dinah Zehavah, Reuven Shmuel ben Leah and the safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
Midrash Tanchuma, Parashat Yitro 10, teaches us that Torah study is comprised of three essential categories: Talmud — logical analysis, Halacha — Jewish law, and Aggadot — non-halachic expository sources. Talmud Yerushalmi, Megillah IV:I maintains that each of these were given to Moshe at Mount Sinai. The p’sak of the widely accepted posek, the Radbaz (Rabbi David ben Zimra, 1479-1573) highlights the great significance of the Aggadot:

G-d forbid that anyone would dare suggest that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi held that Aggadah is false and inessential to Jewish learning. Rather, it was given [to Moshe] from Heaven, just like the rest of the Oral Law. Moreover, just like the halachic portion of the Oral Law is based upon the 13 hermeneutic principles [of Rabbi Yishmael], the Aggadah is derived from the 36 hermeneutic principles [of Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yossi HaGalili]. (Sheilot u’Teshuvot Radbaz, Section IV: 232, translation and brackets my own)
 
The following midrashic passage on Parashat Kedoshim is particularly significant in light of the halachic ruling of the Radbaz:

Another way of understanding “You will send forth Your help from Your sanctuary…” (Sefer Tehillim 20:3)  Rabbi Levi said: “All which is good, all blessings, all consolations that the Holy One blessed be He will give to the Jewish people will come solely from Zion. [This includes:] Salvation…Power…Blessings…The Shofar [of Mashiach] … Dew, Blessing and Life…Torah… Help and Heavenly Support… (Midrash Rabbah Vayikra, Parashat Kedoshim IV:4, translation and brackets my own)
 
In this midrash, Rabbi Levi supports each of his statements with a variety of pasukim from Tanach. Throughout this process, Eretz Yisrael emerges as Hashem’s unique sanctuary from which everything that is truly good will ultimately spring forth. In some ways, his presentation is a paean of praise for our beautiful and blessed land, reminiscent of the stirring words of another Rabbi Levi, namely, Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi (1075-1141), who emphasizes the eternal link that binds Eretz Yisrael to Am Yisrael and the Torah:

The land’s distinguished qualities are manifest first and foremost in the nation, which is the precious treasure and heart… The land is then aided by the deeds and laws [of the Torah] that relate to it, which are like the cultivation of the vineyard [of the Khazar king]. Ultimately, this precious nation cannot achieve Divinity anywhere else, just as the vineyard cannot successfully grow anywhere else except on [its special] mountain. (The Kuzari: In Defense of the Despised Faith, translation, Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin, page 155, with my emendations)
 
Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi’s phrase, “Ultimately, this precious nation cannot achieve Divinity anywhere else…” is powerful indeed, and echoes a celebrated statement of Chazal (our Sages of blessed memory):

Our Rabbis taught: “One should always live in the Land of Israel, even in a town wherein most of its inhabitants are idolaters, but let no one live outside the Land, even in a town wherein most of its inhabitants are Jews; for whoever lives in the Land of Israel may be considered to have a G-d, but whoever lives outside the Land may be regarded as one who has no G-d. For it is said in Scripture, ‘To give you the Land of Canaan, to be your G-d.’ (Sefer Vayikra 25:38)” (Talmud Bavli, Ketubot 110b, translation, The Soncino Talmud, with my emendations)
 
Little wonder, then, that Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi penned his famous poem, Libi b’Mizrach:

My heart is in the East, and I in the uttermost West --

How can I truly taste that which I eat? How shall it be sweet to me?

How shall I fulfill my vows and my bonds, while yet Zion lies beneath the fetter of Edom, and I in Arab chains?

A light thing would it seem to me to leave all the good things of Spain --

Seeing how precious in mine eyes to behold the dust of the desolate sanctuary.
(Translation, Nina Salaman, with my emendations)
 
May the time come soon and in our days when the Mashiach will bring us to Eretz Yisrael, where we will reap its endless blessings and witness the fulfillment of the bracha: “Sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the banner to gather our exiles and gather us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are You, Hashem, Who gathers in the dispersed of His people Israel.” (Translation, The Complete ArtScroll Siddur)  V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom and may Hashem in His great mercy remove the magafah from klal Yisrael and the entire world.

Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:rdbe718@gmail.com

*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

Share

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

Details

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Author

    Talmid of Rabbi Soloveitchik zatzal

    Categories

    All
    Parashat Hashavuah

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog: Rabbi David Etengoff: Parashat HaShavuah
  • Sefer Bereishit 5782&5783
  • Sefer Shemot 5782&5783
  • Sefer Vayikra 5782&5783
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5782&5783
  • Sefer Devarim 5782&5783
  • Sefer Bereishit 5780& 5781
  • Sefer Shemot 5780&5781
  • Sefer Vayikra 5780&5781
  • Sefer Bamidbar 578&5781
  • Sefer Devarim 578&5781
  • Sefer Bereishit 5778&5779
  • Sefer Shemot 5778&5779
  • Sefer Vayikra 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5778&5779
  • Sefer Devarim 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bereishit 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bereishit 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bereishit 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bereishit 5771&5770
  • Sefer Shemot 5776&5777
  • Sefer Shemot 5774&5775
  • Sefer Shemot 5772&5773
  • Sefer Shemot 5771&5770
  • Sefer Vayikra 5776&5777
  • Sefer Vayikra 5774&5775
  • Sefer Vayikra 5772&5773
  • Sefer Vayikra 5771&5770
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5771&5770
  • Sefer Devarim 5776&5777
  • Sefer Devarim 5774&5775
  • Sefer Devarim 5772&5773
  • Sefer Devarim 5771&5770