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TISHA B'AV AV 5778 • JULY 2018

ISRAEL EDITION

SPECIAL EDITION FOR TISHA B'AV

Relief from the Arch of Titus in Rome, showing some of the vessels captured from the Temple

To dedicate HaMizrachi in memory of a loved one or in celebration of a simcha: [email protected] 2 Doron Perez

Torat HaMizrachi Senseless Hatred – Cause and Cure

ow is it possible to be group and community, you were worthy the other is totally disqualified, we are genuinely kind to someone of endless kindness. But if you were part treading dangerously close to the abyss and to hate them at the same of another sect whose values and beliefs of senseless hatred. Htime? time? threatened mine, you were scorned and hated. There was no middle road. Only How blessed we are to have had a Remarkably, this is what the black and white. Either you’re ideologi- renewed Jewish society in for 70 seems to say regarding the spiritual cally with me or against me. years now. We face many challenges in cause of the destruction of the Second Israel and around the world as to how Temple: Thus the hatred and infighting in Jeru- best chart the way forward. These issues salem was so disastrous on the eve of are often extremely divisive because they “During the Second Temple period the people destruction that Josephus describes the touch the very essence of Jewish life and occupied themselves with , Mitzvot society as “a great body torn in pieces.”3 destiny. and loving kindness. Why was the temple destroyed? Because they acted with Sinat How do disagreements deteriorate into Hence we should always be very wary Chinam, senseless hatred.”1 such deep hatred? of what the Sages tell us is the spiritual cause at the heart of destruction: totally How is this possible? In the War Scroll, found near the Dead disqualifying the views of others in our Sea in the caves of Qumran, we can per- society and the inability to see any valid- The Netziv suggests an answer. The haps detect an answer. The text – prob- ity in their point of view. More than any people being hated were not the same ably written by the Essenes – describes other, the month of Av is the time of year ones being showered with loving kind- its followers as “the sons of light” and to reflect on this cause and to imagine ness: “As a result of the senseless hatred in all others (including fellow Jews) as “the and strive for its cure. their hearts that one harbored for the other, sons of darkness.” they suspected all those who did not follow 1 Yoma 9b. their path as a God-fearing Jew of being a This changes the rules of discourse. 2 Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, HaEmek Davar, Sadducee and a heretic.”2 introduction to the book of Genesis. We are no longer debating views or 3 The Jewish War, Book 5:1. If you were part of my community of ideas. We are delegitimizing the other as believers and followed my customs a person. It is no longer about perspec- Rabbi Doron Perez is Head of you were accepted, but if not, you were tives but about the person – vicious ad the Mizrachi World Movement rejected. hominem attacks. It’s no longer about right and wrong, but about you and me. Sectarianism reigned supreme prior All who think and act like me are ‘good’ to the destruction. There were many and bring spiritual light and morality Would you like to distribute distinct sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, to the world and all who disagree are HaMizrachi for the Chagim in Essenes, Zealots and Sicarii, and more ‘bad’ and immoral, invoking spiritual your community? Contact factions within these sects. If you were darkness. When I am absolutely right [email protected] part of my faction, specific ideological and you are absolutely wrong; when

Mizrachi World Movement Chairman Mr. Harvey Blitz Head Rabbi Doron Perez Editor-in-Chief Daniel‏ Verbov [email protected] ‎54 King George Street, ‎ Creative Director Jonny Lipczer www.mizrachi.org Production Manager Meyer Sterman [email protected] Follow us Design Hadas Peretz, Estie Brauner 3 Mizrachi ‎ Educators Tisha B’Av in the Rabbi Rabbanit Independent State Reuven Taragin Shani Taragin of Israel

ur feelings on Tisha B’Av today Even if we absolutely controlled and suffering till today (Crusaders, burning differ vastly from those of lived completely peacefully in Israel, we of books and communities, Holocaust, our ancestors. Our ancestors would still need to fast and mourn over etc.), because it all stems from the desta- Omourned something that was a distant the missing Beit Mikdash. bilization of our relationship with God, memory and no more than an imagined reflected in the continued future. Today, all Jews – young and old – A close reading of Rashi (and the Ritva) Churban HaMikdash. can walk the streets of Yerushalayim and reveals that he mentions both indepen- daven freely at the Kotel. dence and the rebuilding of the Beit Tisha B’Av’s message is much broader Mikdash as conditions for a transforma- than just the longing for the Beit Mikdash Some have even suggested that this tion in the status of Tisha B’Av. I think it also includes the recognition of the difference makes fasting on Tisha B’Av this is because the two are inextricably reason for and the implications of the anachronous. Support for this position linked. Recent Jewish history has shown continued churban. is brought from the Gemara in Rosh us that even the founding of a Jewish Hashanah (18b) which states that, in a State – and even the willingness to make As Religious Zionists, we feel an addi- time of ‘shalom,’ the fast days become major concessions in the pursuit of tional pain on Tisha B’Av. We see our holidays. Based on Rashi’s explanation peace – have not put an end to Jewish return to Eretz Yisrael as the beginning that shalom means Jews achieving inde- suffering. Rashi’s linkage accounts for of the redemption process so its being pendence, one might conclude that this by explaining that true indepen- incomplete is all the more frustrating. Tisha B’Av should now become a day of dence and peace will only be achieved When we read of the churban we feel that celebration. with the rebuilding of the Beit Mikdash. we are closer than ever to completing the process of rebuilding the Beit Mikdash. There are two reasons why this posi- Continued anti-Semitism and Jewish God has returned us to our Land and tion is rejected. The first is that other suffering stem from the world’s rejection awaits our response of truly returning to Rishonim (Rashba, Ritva) explain that of us as God’s people. This will cease Him in a way that justifies the rebuilding the independence Rashi refers to is a only once God clarifies the world’s pur- of the Holy Temple. situation in which Jews live without fear. pose and our place within it. All this will Sadly, we have not yet arrived at this be indicated by the rebuilding of the May we fast and reflect on Tisha B’Av in stage. Beit Mikdash. a way that can facilitate the realization of the dreams of Jews all over the world The second reason is that Rabbeinu Tisha B’Av commemorates not only the and throughout the generations who Chananel believes that ‘peace’ means suffering at the time of the destructions have still yearned while mourning for the rebuilding of the Beit Mikdash. of the Batei Mikdash, but all of our 2,000 years.

Rabbi Reuven and Rabbanit Shani Taragin are the Educational Directors of World Mizrachi and RZA- Mizrachi USA. Rabbi Taragin

Second Temple ruins in the Ophel Archeological Garden, Jerusalem (Tamar Jordanian, Wikipedia 0.3) is also Dean of the Yeshivat HaKotel Overseas Program

4 Beatings‎ or Blossoms? Mizrachi Educators Rabbanit Shani Taragin

he three Haftarah readings (mateh, which also means tribe) “And it shall come to pass, that like as we read at this time of the with his tribal name engraved upon I have watched over them (shakadeti) year begin with the first it. The next morning, only Aharon’s to pluck up and to break down, and to Tchapter of Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) staff blossomed, brought forth buds, overthrow and to destroy, and to afflict; who was inaugurated as a prophet and bore ripe almonds, indicating so will I watch over (eshkod) them to 40 years before the destruction of God’s selection of Aharon and his build and to plant, says God.” (Jeremiah the first Beit HaMikdash. Upon descendants as priestly leaders. 31:27) his initiation as national prophet, So Yirmiyahu could have seen the God asks him: “What do you see?” almond rod as a mateh of leadership The same verb – “shakad” – used and divine selection. for the word almond is employed Yirmiyahu answers, “I see a rod in these words of comfort too! (makel) of an almond tree (shaked),” However, God enjoins him to look Just as God brought the makel of whereupon God responds, “You closely – “What do you see?” i.e. striking quickly like the shaked, so have seen well for I shall bring My do you see a staff of leadership and too will He bring redemption and word quickly.” Rashi explains that selection, or as you appreciate the rebuilding. The employment of the the almond rod is indicative of the context of God’s words and the same verb underscores the message of speed of God’s punishment: Just as religious-historical zeitgeist, do consolation; sometimes we are meant the almond blossoms for 21 days you see impending punishment to anticipate the beatings of exile and until fruition, so too will God bring represented by the makel? Yirmiyahu punishment, and sometimes we are punishment during the 21 days intuitively answers correctly – he sees meant to see the blossoming of fruit between the 17th of Tammuz and a makel of almond grain (Radak) – and redemption. Tisha B’Av. The Malbim (Jeremiah the imminent punishment. 1:11) explains that one should not What do we see? Do we see and just focus on the almond, but on Nevertheless, Yirmiyahu later anticipate rods of retribution or do Yirmiyahu’s identification of the encourages the people by telling them we see blossoms of redemption? rod as a makel – a rod. Not a staff that God will heal their wounds and The answer lies not in prophetic of leadership (mateh) or a cane of return their wearied souls to the Land of interpretation, but in our support (mishenet), but a makel, Israel. internalizing the messages of the a rod used for beating. Yirmiyahu prophecies of the past for the present. understood that God’s message was Are we deserving of the fruitful an indicator that He was to bring His almonds and blossoms or are we to ‘rod of striking and punishment’ upon be wary of impending punishment the Nation. for not properly following religious directives? The answer is that Perhaps that is why God asks, “What what we see is up to us! This is the do you see?” for Yirmiyahu could season when we determine what will have easily seen the same rod and blossom. Let us take these 21 days to identified it as a mateh! In Parshat heart and view our lives with clearer Korach (Bamidbar 17), after Korach’s vision and understanding! rebellion against the appointment of Aharon as the Kohen Gadol (High Rabbanit Taragin is a senior Priest), God demonstrated the divine educator in women’s higher nature of selection. Each tribal leader educational institutions in was commanded to bring a staff Israel

5 MK Yuli Yoel Edelstein If My Grandfather Could See Jerusalem Today

he period between the 17th For 2,000 years, we have mourned for take him to the dozens of start-up of Tammuz and Tisha B’Av Jerusalem; for 2,000 years, Jerusalem has incubators and to the cultural institutions, is laden with the pain of been the focus of every prayer, every synagogues and playgrounds which Thistory. These are days for which our request, and every hope; for 2,000 years, crowd the streets of modern Jerusalem. Sages instituted a number of decrees we have turned towards Jerusalem with I would tell him, “Your hope was not in order to keep the memory of the deep longing. for naught!” Jerusalem not only has a burning of the Beit HaMikdash and glorious past, but a wonderful present the destruction of Jerusalem imprinted Today thank God, after meriting the and a promising future. Today, perhaps in our minds. And indeed, even 2,000 rebirth of Jewish sovereignty 70 years more than ever, this is a city of beauty, and years after the Temple’s destruction, ago and the liberation of Jerusalem people come from around the world to the Jewish people still remember their 51 years ago, we can see a different enjoy it and learn from it. Finally, I would national tragedies, place ashes on their Jerusalem with our very own eyes. This tell him that despite all the challenges, heads, and together with Jeremiah, is a colorful and developed city whose Torah and tidings – of creativity, blessing, lament, “How does the city sit solitary, that walls are strong and streets are bustling; and peace – still emanate from Jerusalem. was full of people!” (Lamentations 1:1) where Torah study and technological innovation combine. Today, the Three Weeks are not just a reminder that the prophecies of If only I could take my own grandfather – destruction were fulfilled in full. They who did not merit seeing the dream and remind us, to recall the words of Rabbi yet continued to pray “L’Shana HaBa’a Akiva, that the prophecies of comfort BiYerushalayim HaBenuya” – for a tour of have also been fulfilled. Thanks to Jerusalem, I would show him how the city is flourishing once again. I am encouraged by the words of " Zechariah, who stood in Jerusalem at the countless I would take him to the Knesset, the beginning of Shivat Zion, the Return to symbol of the sovereign State of Israel. Zion, and cried out, “Jerusalem shall be prayers, I am sure he would be proud to see his inhabited without walls for the multitude grandson presiding over the foremost of men and cattle.” (Zechariah 2:4) In boundless symbol of modern Jewish democracy. other words, the walls and boundaries I know he would be moved to see the that confined the destroyed city will national institutions of today standing one day burst from the sheer amount of efforts and within eyeshot of those from the time of people and trade. David and Solomon. daring acts of Thanks to countless prayers, boundless I would take him to the Hebrew University, efforts and daring acts of courage, this courage, this one of the world’s leading research prophecy is now our reality. Together institutions, and to the National Library, with Jews from around the world, I pray which houses the spiritual and intellectual that our eternal city will continue to grow prophecy is now treasures of the Jewish people. I would and flourish and that its light will shine take him to Machane Yehuda, filled to throughout the entire world. our reality capacity with vendors and customers, a cacophony of colors and smells and MK Yuli Yoel Edelstein is the the lively sounds of business. I would Speaker of the Knesset

6 Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon Ask the Questions and If My Grandfather Could Rabbi See Jerusalem Today Answers

hen I brush my teeth and 2. The concern about brushing and all the brachot in the Amidah are wash my mouth with water, teeth is that we may swallow water. considered brachot. On the other am I still considered to be Therefore, since toothpaste is not fit for hand, the Tefillat HaDerech text is like Wfasting? fasting? consumption, one can use it l’chatchila, a prayer, and it appears in the Shulchan since there is no fear of swallowing it. And Aruch (Siman 110) with other prayer It is forbidden to wash one’s mouth if the purpose of washing our mouth is issues, and not in Hilchot Brachot. The on a public fast day (Shulchan Aruch to remove the toothpaste (and we have Tosafot (Berachot 60b; Pesachim 104a) 5167:3), although the Rema (Darchei no intention of swallowing the water), it also writes that Tefillat HaDerech does Moshe 100:1) writes that the Maharil seems that this is permitted l’chatchila. If not begin with “Baruch” because it is a permitted ‘rubbing’ one’s throat with one wants to be stringent, one can brush “Tefilla B’Alma” (a regular prayer). water, but not on Tisha B’Av and Yom and wash with mouthwash, and then Kippur. The Mishna Berura writes there is certainly no prohibition (because Apart from that, the reason it is (5167:11) that brushing teeth can be mouthwashes are not fit to drink). impossible to fulfill someone else’s allowed in a case of discomfort, but prayer obligation is because of “a request one should tilt one’s head so as not to Therefore, it is permitted to brush one’s for mercy,” and the whole essence of mistakenly swallow, which is also the teeth on a lesser fast day l’chatchila. Tefillat HaDerech is a request for mercy! Minchat Yitzchak’s opinion (4:109). However, this is not the case on Tisha B’Av and Yom Kippur (although there So there are those that say one can exempt But in our times, we can allow tooth is room for discussion, but we are others, but it is best if everyone says Tefillat brushing l’chatchila (from the outset)! accustomed to be extra stringent on HaDerech for themselves (Kinyan Torah Why? these days). Responsa 2:119). Others have written that one cannot exempt others (Rav Chaim 1. Because we are used to brushing When a group of people travel David Halevi, Mayim Chaim Responsa, our teeth every day, and we do feel together, is it better that one person 1:8). uncomfortable if we don’t brush. says Tefillat HaDerech for everyone or that each person says it for Indeed it is preferable if each person says themselves? it for themselves, but it is worth having one person say it out loud with everyone The answer depends on whether Tefillat saying it with him (if someone finds HaDerech (Prayer for a Journey) is a it difficult to say, or is concerned that bracha or a tefilla, a blessing or a prayer. perhaps there is no obligation to say it on If it’s a blessing, one would be able to this particular journey, he should listen exempt others, but if it’s a prayer, the and answer Amen.) Gemara says that prayer “is a request for mercy” and that each individual is supposed to pray for himself (apart from a person who doesn’t know how to).

Is Tefillat HaDerech a bracha or a tefilla? Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon is Head of Mizrachi’s Shalhevet Educational On the one hand, when the Gemara or Advisory Board, Chairman of the the Rishonim talk about “Tefilla” they Halacha Education Center and are usually referring to the Amidah, Rabbi of Machon Lev

Photo of Rabbi Rimon: Yehoshua Halevi 7 Rabbi Sacks Listening to the Prophetic Voice

t this time, as we recall the were the world’s first social critics and future depends on us and the choices we destruction of our two Temples, their message continues through the make. we read three of the most sear- centuries. To paraphrase Kierkegaard: ingA passages in prophetic literature, from when a king dies, his power ends; when Nor was the prophet distinctive in the beginnings of Jeremiah and Isaiah. a prophet dies his influence begins.1 blessing or cursing the people. In , blessing comes through priests not Perhaps this is the only time of the The prophet was distinctive not because prophets. year when we are so acutely aware he (or she – there were seven biblical of the enduring force of Israel’s great prophetesses) foretold the future. The Several things made the prophets unique. visionaries. The prophets had no power. ancient world was full of people who The first was their sense of history. The They were not kings or members of claimed to know the forces that govern prophets were the first people to see the royal court. They were (usually) fate and “shape our ends, rough-hew them God in history. We tend to take our sense not priests or members of the religious how we will.” Judaism has no time for of time for granted. Time flows. As the establishment and they held no office. such people. The Torah bans one “who saying goes, time is God’s way of keeping Often they were deeply unpopular, practices divination or sorcery, interprets everything from happening at once. But none more so than Jeremiah, who omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts actually there are several ways of relating was arrested, flogged, abused, put on spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or to time and different civilizations have trial and only narrowly escaped with who consults the dead” (Deuteronomy perceived it differently. his life. Only rarely were the prophets 18:10-11). It disbelieves such practices heeded in their lifetimes: Jonah for because it believes in human freedom. There is cyclical time: time as the slow example, and he spoke to non-Jews, The future is not pre-scripted. The turning of the seasons, or the cycle of the citizens of Nineveh. Yet their prophet warns – not predicts – of the birth, growth, decline and death. Cyclical words were recorded for posterity and future that will happen if we do not heed time is time as it occurs in nature. All that became a major feature of Tanach. They the danger and mend our ways. The lives, dies. The species endures, individual members do not. Kohelet contains the most famous expression of cyclical time: “The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course … What has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Then there is linear time: time as an inexorable sequence of cause and effect. As French astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace said in 1814: If you “know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed,” together with all the laws of physics and chemistry, then “nothing

Jeremiah on the ruins of Jerusalem (Horace Werner, Wikipedia 0.3) would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present”

8 Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Listening to the Prophetic Voice

before your eyes. Karl Marx applied this monotheism and morality. Somehow idea to society and history. It is known the prophets sensed that idolatry was as historical inevitability, and when not just false but corrupting. It saw the transferred to human affairs it amounts to universe as a multiplicity of oft-clashing a massive denial of personal freedom. powers. Might defeating right. The Only by being fittest surviving while the weak perish. Finally, there is time as a mere sequence Nietzsche believed this, as did the social faithful to God of events with no underlying plot or Darwinists. " theme. This leads to the kind of writing do we stay pioneered by Herodotus and Thucydides, Their third great insight was the primacy scholars of ancient Greece. of ethics over politics. The prophets have faithful to one surprisingly little to say about politics. Each of these concepts has its place, Yes, Samuel was wary of monarchy but we another but none was time as the prophets find almost nothing in Isaiah or Jeremiah understood it. The prophets saw time as about the way Israel/Judah should be the arena in which God and humanity governed. Instead we hear a constant though His people might forsake Him, played out the great drama of life, insistence that the strength of the nation He would never forsake them. Jeremiah especially in the history of Israel. If is not military or demographic but moral may have lost faith in people; he never Israel was faithful to its mission, it would and spiritual. If the people keep faith with lost faith in God. flourish. If it was unfaithful it would fail. God and one another, no force on earth It would suffer defeat and exile. That was can defeat them. If they do not, no force Prophecy ceased in the Second Temple Jeremiah’s tireless – and timeless – message. can save them. era. But the prophetic truths are eternal. Only by being faithful to God do we The second prophetic insight was Jeremiah, the most passionate and stay faithful to one another. Only by the unbreakable connection between tormented of all the prophets, has gone understanding the deep forces that shape down in history as the prophet of doom. history can we defeat the ravages of Yet this is unfair. He was also supremely a history. Only by being open to a power prophet of hope. He is the man who said greater than ourselves can we become that the people of Israel will be as eternal greater than ourselves. It took a long time As the saying as the sun, moon and stars (Jeremiah 31). for biblical Israel to learn these truths. We He is the man who, while the Babylonians must never forget them again. goes, time were laying siege to Jerusalem, bought a " field as a public gesture of faith that Jews 1 Kierkegaard actually said: “The tyrant dies and is God’s way would return from exile: “For this is what his rule is over; the martyr dies and his rule begins.” the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Papers and Journals, 352. of keeping Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land” (Jeremiah 32). everything from Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Jeremiah’s feelings of doom and hope is the Emeritus ‎Chief Rabbi happening at were not in conflict: they were two of the United Hebrew sides of the same coin. The God who ‎Congregations of the once sentenced His people to exile would be Commonwealth the God who brought them back, for @RabbiSacks . www.RabbiSacks.org

9 Ordinary Heroes The Power of Jerusalem

hlomo (Nagosa) Mula, a former “We were told that anyone who gets to First, their guide got drunk. Secondly member of Israel’s Knesset, was only Jerusalem will never die, because it is a they had to split up into smaller groups so 16 when he left his home to go to sacred place, with streets flowing with they wouldn’t be caught. And third, after SIsrael by foot. milk and honey.” hiding for a few hours in the trees, they were confronted by a huge snake. It was the stories of the holy city of Jerusalem was very much part of young Jerusalem – with the Golden Temple at Shlomo’s childhood in Ethiopia. When After they’d overcome those obstacles, its heart – that led him and his friends they slaughtered a cow, they would place they were then attacked by a band of to endanger their lives back in the early it in the direction of Jerusalem. When armed robbers, who made them strip 1980’s. they went to bed, they would lie with to their underwear and stole whatever their heads in the direction of the Holy remaining money they had, eventually “I had heard stories about Yerusalem City. And in the winter, whenever a letting them continue on their way. (Jerusalem) ever since I was born,” he rainbow appeared, they would stand still recalls. “We would sit in a circle and the and listen. “We believed it was a sign that Eventually, the group managed to make adults would talk. We were 11 brothers God wanted to speak to us. We would their way out of the jungle, only to be and sisters – I was number 5, the stand in silence, look at the rainbow and faced with the trek across the Kassala sandwich child – and we just listened. wait expectantly for Him to whisk us away Desert. An endless sea of sand with no It was forbidden to interrupt an adult to Jerusalem.” water in sight. After almost five days of speaking.” continuous walking – over 400 miles – One day, after rumors began arriving that with eyes burning, throats dry and feet Shlomo’s parents talked about Jerusalem Jews from the Tigray region had managed sinking into the sand, they reached the as an enchanted place, almost heavenly; to reach Jerusalem, his friend Azamaro edge of the desert. But it was there that a place where the righteous people live. said to him, “Let’s go to Jerusalem!” despair began to set in.

“How does one get to Jerusalem?” It was Shlomo’s eldest brother who Shlomo asked in wonder. “Just like the encouraged them all to carry on. “Not Jews from Tigray,” said Azamaro. “First much longer. Jerusalem is waiting for us. we walk to Sudan, and then we cross A few more hours of suffering and that’ll the desert to Egypt, walk to Beersheba be it!” If only... (where our forefather Abraham lived), and on to Jerusalem.” As soon as they entered Sudan they were captured and thrown into prison. They It was a crazy plan. Escaping Ethiopia spent 90 days under torture and repeated to Sudan was wrought with danger – interrogations. The guards enjoyed thousands of miles of jungles, deserts, beating them up with sticks and branches hostile locals, tigers, lions, snakes… the and tried to break them mentally as well. stuff of movies… ‬”I almost gave in,” recalls Shlomo. “Was But in 1981, Shlomo and 15 friends the goal really worth all this suffering? – with no shoes, a cob of corn and an But I knew that whoever broke first earthenware water bottle – set out for would condemn the rest of us to death. I Jerusalem, after paying a local guide $2 knew Jerusalem was waiting for us, with to take them to Sudan. “We walked fast. its sweet milk and honey flowing in the With every step we felt that Jerusalem streets.” was getting closer.” But it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park.

10 The goal became even more important On February 3rd, 1984, Shlomo Mula And then they saw a huge bird roaring in after Azamaro, the friend who had and his friends reached Gedarif. A the sky, splitting the clouds before landing instigated the trip, died in jail. Mossad agent handed them some nearby. “We were really scared. We’d clothes. They were able to change their never seen a plane before.” One day they were suddenly transported shirts and pants for the first time in three to a refugee camp, Um-Rakuba, along years. “Follow me!” ordered the agent. The soldiers pushed them into these with thousands of other Africans who had Shlomo and his friends didn’t know what birds; it was dark, cool and very noisy tried to escape their own corrupt or war- to expect. They had every reason to be inside. They sat on the floor. And then torn countries. suspicious. the soldiers took off their masks and helmets and starting singing “Heveinu ‬Although they didn’t know it at the time, But after yet another long walk, they Shalom Aleichem” in Hebrew. there were Mossad agents in Um-Rakuba, finally came to a clearing occupied by a charged with transferring the Jews to group of armed soldiers, faces covered “I had no idea what was happening until another camp at Gedarif, run by the Red and wearing helmets. someone told us: This is a plane from Cross. This too involved a night-time Eretz Yisrael. The white soldiers are Jews. getaway, another long walk, hiding and “This time we thought we were finished,” We have come to take you to Jerusalem!” bribing a local driver. said Shlomo.

Dr. Avshalom Kor

What’s in a ג ּ ְל ִידָ ה Word

, ְּג לִ י דָ א because we are talking about , ְּג לִ י דָ אִּ f you come to Eretz Yisrael in the Mishna (for example in Tractate Mikvaot summer, you are likely to find 7:1), as one of the types of freezing ice, as food! And the Torah even tells us ְ“וטַעֲ מֹו ְּכצַּפִיחִית ּבַ ְּדבַ ׁש” )לא, שם( :cold water permitted for immersion in a its taste . ְּג לִ י דָ ה – yourself eating ice cream הַ ֶׁ“הַ ּש ּשֶׁ לֶ לֶ ג ג ְו ְהַו ּבָ רָ הַּבָרָ ד ד ְ וְוהַ הַ ְּכְּכפ ֹו רפֹור“ :is a fas- Mikveh, a ritual bath ְּג לִ י דָ ה IThe creation of the word at the end of a Said Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the man who א The letter) ְו”הִ ... ְוגְלִהִ גְ ידלִ י ...ד” cinating story combining verses from -revived the for day-to ה Tanach, Onkelos’s translation of the word is the Aramaic equivalent of the the definite article] at the start of day life: If this is sweet ice, then the word] הַ ְּי דִ י עָ ה .Torah, and even Italian is fitting for our summer food. And ְּג לִ י דָ א (.a word in Hebrew at the end, giving it ה years ago, a need arose to give a name we’ll write it with a 140 to this beloved summer treat. Anyone However, in both places, in Bereishit the same form as another Biblical food: .cheese , גְ בִ י נַ ה or and in the Mishna in Mikavot, the text is – ְׁשנִּיִ ים מִ ְקרָ א ְו דאֶחָ ּתַ ְרּגּום who reads anyone who just takes a look at Onkelos’s referring to plain ice, not to ice designated translation – is familiar with the word for consumption. And the Italians can add that the Hebrew -at the end, from word for ice cream, coined by Eliezer Ben א written with an , ְּג לִ י דָ א Ya’akov’s words to his father-in-law Lavan: Therefore, we must return to the first Yehuda, sounds very much like its Italian !morning we came across manna in the counterpart, gelato “ ה זֶ עֶ ְׂש רִים ׁשָ נ ה ָ אָ נ ֹו כִ י עַ ּמֵ ְך... ּבַ ּיֹום אֹכַ לֵ נִ י :Sinai Desert, after we had left Egypt חֶ רֵ ב ְו קֶ רַ ח ּבַ ּלַ ְי לָ ה ” )בראשית לא, מ( Dr. Avshalom Kor is an Israeli לוָתָעַ “וָתָעַל ׁשָ ׁשָכַ כַ ְבְב ּתָּתָהַּטַ הַּטַ לל ְ וְהִ והִּנֵהּנֵה ל לעַ עַ ְְּפּפנֵינֵי הַּמִ הַּמִ ְְדד רּבָרּבָ ּדַ ק linguist and expert on Hebrew מֶחֻ ְ פַ סס, קּדַ ּכִ ְכפֹור עַ ל הָאָרֶ ץ” (שמות)שמות טז, ידט,:יד) . ְּג לִ י דָ א ice) as) קֶ רַ חְ Onkelos translates as grammar and semantics ְכפֹור is also found in the Here, Onkelos translates the word גְ לִ י ד And the word 11 Photo of Dr. Kor: Roy Achiron 1111 11 Israel Tourism Inspiring. Educational. Experience.

riel and Dalia Porat made It’s hard to believe that 13 years have How they faced the challenge of from France in the 80’s, passed since those traumatic days of growing anything in the sand, the water fell in love with Gush and doubt and destruction, and many of those shortage… settledA in the community. Their families are still struggling to rebuild and aim? To do well in , and to establish new communities. And experience with them the elation and raise their six children, all born there, to satisfaction at overcoming the obstacles love and respect their people and their But Ariel – and many like him – did not and building anew. Building a strong, country. give up hope. Despite the pain, sorrow motivated and faithful community and and hardships, he pulled himself out of establishing a renewed Jewish presence in Ariel founded Shtil Neto, a company the mire and rebuilt his business. He the land of our forefathers. providing saplings to all the pioneering relocated his nursery and continued to farmers of Gush Katif and nationwide produced saplings so that production Come and join us at the Katif Visitors’ for over 18 years. Why saplings? Because never really stopped. Today his state-of- Center for a family experience that one of the revolutionary agricultural the-art nursery provides bug-free saplings allows you to learn about the past while initiatives born in Gush Katif was Alei to farmers throughout the country and is appreciating and admiring the spirit of Katif – bug-free lettuces, leafy vegetables an amazing testament to the power of the Gush Katif that is still very much alive and fresh herbs supervised and approved Jewish spirit. and well today. by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. And one of the conditions for this enterprise But it doesn’t end there. Tours can be tailormade to suit your to work best is to also use controlled and group and time frame. The minimum approved bug-free saplings. Many families “People never really disappear as long as visit is an hour, but a guided day tour can in Israel and overseas enjoy Alei Katif we can remember them.” include visits to neighboring rebuilt Gush produce to this day! Katif communities and their cutting edge Today, you can hear Ariel’s story, and the agricultural and other initiatives. Ariel was part of the miraculous story of the Gush and its families, at the transformation of the desert into a exciting Visitors Center in the Gush Katif A visit to the Gush Katif Heritage Center blossoming agricultural paradise. He Heritage Center in . is an experience that will bring you face and Dalia built a beautiful home, lived to face with modern Zionist history and modern Zionism, and their children Tours are led by former Gush Katif inspire you with meaningful insights into went to school and played happily on the residents who will share their own your own Jewish and Israeli identity. streets of Gadid. personal stories with you.

Until their lives were shattered. Come and be inspired! Opening Hours Sunday-Thursday: In August 2005, the Porats and hundreds Learn how the Gush Katif residents 09:00-15:00 of other families from 25 beautiful, settled and developed the Friday, Shabbat, Chagim: closed thriving communities in Gush Katif and for 35 years: North Shomron were uprooted from For more information: their homes and their lives. How they took their first steps in the desert… 077-4324101

GUSH KATIF HERITAGE CENTER

12 David M. Weinberg ‎ Israel Inspiring. Educational. Experience. Insight‎ If I Forget to Build in Thee, O Jerusalem

hank God a thousand times that the streets of Jerusalem are no longer empty. They are filled Tdaily with close to one million residents and tourists. Darchei Tzion einan avei- lot – the roads to Zion are no longer in mourning!

Keeping it this way requires constant renewal. Jerusalem needs 6,000 new apartments a year just to meet the demands of natural growth. Unfortunately, there has been almost no major residential construction in Jerusalem for two decades, Yeshivat HaKotel (MathKnight-Ma’ale HaYetzira, Wikipedia 2.5) mainly because of diplomatic constraints. has grim implications for the attachment Under the deanship of Rabbi Hadari, who Jerusalem already abuts Ramallah in of mainstream Israelis to Jerusalem. passed away this year, Yeshivat Hakotel the north and Bethlehem in the south. grew into a powerhouse of scholarship Environmental lobbies have stymied Jerusalem must grow in order to remain a and leadership training, with alumni plans for housing projects in the green pluralistic and modern metropolis; a city active in all walks of Israeli and Diaspora mountains west of the city. So the only for all Jews – and E-1 is the right solution. Jewish life. direction to grow is eastwards, beyond the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus Just 50 years ago, naysayers said that it Rabbi Hadari’s powerful personality into the quadrant known as E-1, along was insane to build over the , and spiritual worldview were what drew the road to Ma’ale Adumim. This is the or to move back into the mainly-Arab Old me and so many others to the . last significant piece of unsettled land in City of Jerusalem. Pioneers like He uniquely combined Volozhin with the Jerusalem envelope, and some 50,000 Aryeh Bina and Yeshayahu Hadari, the Zionism. He was questing for “Cossacks homes can be built there. founders of Yeshivat Hakotel, defied such with shtreimels,” as he once picturesquely opposition. described it; meaning that he was seeking Every Israeli prime minister since to raise a generation of soldiers who Yitzhak Rabin has promised to expand They waded into the ruins wrought by 19 were also scholars deeply entrenched Jerusalem into E-1, but has been blocked years of Jordanian occupation, intent on in Jewish learning. Specifically, this was by successive American administrations. bringing Torah study back to the Temple Torah flavored by the Hassidic thought Washington argues that precinct. The first classes were held on of the Sfat Emet and Rav Zadok, and of E-1 interferes with Palestinian Tisha B’Av, our day of lamentation for infused with Rav A.Y. Kook’s Zionist- territorial contiguity. Israel argues that a the destruction of the First and Second transformational bent. system of road underpasses is sufficient to Jewish Temples. It was more than connect Palestinian autonomous areas. symbolic that davka on this day modern He was a true boneh Tzion, a builder of Israel’s Religious Zionist frontiersmen Jerusalem. May his memory be a blessing. The result of this standoff is that trail-blazed their way back into ancient upwardly-mobile young Israeli families Jerusalem. have few affordable housing options in David M. Weinberg is the Vice- Jerusalem, and they have been moving Great philanthropists like Kurt President of ‎the Jerusalem elsewhere. This leaves Jerusalem Rothschild of Canada and Maurice Wohl Institute for Strategic ‎Studies primarily with a socio-economically poor of England later helped build the yeshiva’s www.davidmweinberg.com population – Arabs and Haredi Jews. This colossal building. www.jiss.org.il ‎

13 One on One Should we be Actively Building the Beit HaMikdash?

Rabbi Therefore, even though, with God’s So we have to wait. help, we have merited a government fter the incredible victory which has the status of kingship to Even when King David wished to build in the Six-Day War in 1967, a certain extent, it is definitely not a the Temple, God told him that the time our Rabbi, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda complete kingship,1 and so we need had not yet arrived. God told him: HaKohenA Kook, would emphasize to focus all of our energy in this Now is the time of wars. Now is the Maimonides’ words at the beginning direction. time of building up the kingdom. The of the Laws of Kings, that the time for building the Temple will come establishment of the Kingship of Israel However, there is something else that later – through your son Solomon. precedes the building of the Temple, we should do to advance the building and that our current mission is not of the Beit HaMikdash. Maimonides The halachic delay tells us that the to build the Temple but to build the wrote in Hilchot Beit HaBechira time has not yet arrived.2 We have a lot Kingship of Israel. (6:6), that the holiness of the Land of of work ahead of us. When the Six-Day Israel is established through conquest, War ended and Rav Tzvi Yehuda’s class whereas the holiness of the site of the for his top students recommenced, Temple is determined by way of the he humbly asked, “What should we Divine Presence. learn now?” One student suggested, “Perhaps the laws of the Temple?” Our Every mitzvah And how do we cause the Divine master warmly grasped that student’s Presence to come to rest on that site? hand and said to him, “Before we learn of every Jew Through Torah and Mitzvot, kindness that we have a lot more to learn about " and love. In the Amidah prayer, one of the laws of kings and their wars.” throughout the blessings is “God builds Jerusalem,” the world and in which “Jerusalem” is referring to the Nevertheless, throughout history the Temple and “builds” is in the present Jews have expressed a longing for the throughout the tense. Yet how is God building it? We Temple and the , and don’t see anything happening right every prayer ends with: “May it be God’s generations now. Surely we should be saying, “He will that the Temple should be rebuilt speedily builds will build it”? in our days.” We should derive strength and courage from this burning longing Jerusalem, We do not see because we are looking to add one more mitzvah, more Torah through our limited, mortal eyes. learning, more kindness and more and when a Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen holiness. Kook explained that every mitzvah of certain amount every Jew throughout the world and One by one, mitzvah by mitzvah, is reached, the throughout the generations builds kindness by kindness, the Temple will be Jerusalem, and when a certain amount rebuilt. Temple will is reached, the Temple will actually be constructed. A particularly important 1 Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook explains that since the actually be mitzvah is groundless love, as in Rav government was elected by a majority, it contains some of the Kook’s famous words that the Third obligations of kingship but none of the privileges. constructed Temple will be built through groundless 2 If we are unable to build the Temple for halachic reasons, it is love (Orot HaKodesh 3:324). a sign that God does not yet want us to do so.

14 Rabbi Rabbi Should we be Actively Building the Beit HaMikdash? Shlomo Aviner Yisrael Ariel

Rabbi Yisrael Ariel As the Sages said: “He who has not and planned to build the Mikdash in seen Herod’s Temple has never seen a place of the Dome of the Rock (exactly “Rise and Let us go up to Zion” beautiful building in his life.” where the First and Second Temples were too) and to begin the work of the hy has the The Second Temple was destroyed sacrifices. The plan was aborted fol- still not been built? After and the Jewish people exiled, but lowing the Tartar’s invasion of Jerusa- all, that is what we have attempts to rebuild the Temple con- lem. And in recent generations, Rabbi Wbeen praying for in every generation: tinued. A very important description Kalischer, the Chafetz Chaim and “May it be Thy Will… that You take us is found in the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbi Kook have aroused the public up in joy to our Land and plant us in Rabbah 64) in which Rabbi Yehoshua to make the necessary preparations for our borders, and there we will make our ben Hanania – one of the heads of building the Temple again. obligatory sacrifices before You.” the Sanhedrin – went up with others from the Exile to build the Third Our modern spiritual and political Our generation merited the God of Temple with royal permission. The leadership has yet to completely free Israel restoring us to the Temple pre- people made their way en masse to itself of the Exilic mentality and suffices cinct through miraculous events, with Jerusalem. As they reached the Rimon with a prayer area at the Western Wall. the army of Israel entering the Temple Valley, the king’s clerk arrived with an But we are comforted by a new and Mount to the moving sounds of the annulment of the permit. There was a alert generation, proudly carrying the shofar. So our question is even louder: suspicion of rebellion, and Yehoshua “Flag of Jerusalem” raised by Rabbi why have the people delayed in ful- ben Hanania calmed the anger by Kook, and calling for the rebuilding filling their obligation to renew the expressing hope that the Temple of the Mikdash in Jerusalem. Our Temple service? would soon be rebuilt. But the fire of young people are engaged in the laws rebellion had been ignited, the people of the Mikdash and acting to rebuild it Let us look at what our ancestors did did not give up on building the Bayit, speedily in our days, as they issue the for the sake of the building of the and Bar Kochba, guided by Rabbi clarion call: “Rise and let us go up to House of God. In Second Temple times, Akiva, fought the Roman legions. His Zion to the House of God our Lord.” approximately 42,000 Jews made Aliyah soldiers reached Jerusalem but were from Babylon. Despite being desper- brutally thwarted by Hadrian. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner is Rosh ately short of resources and surrounded Yeshiva of Ateret Yerushalayim by enemies, the first thing they did was The mitzvah of building the Mik- and Rabbi of Beit-El to renew the Temple service (See Ezra dash has occupied our Torah lead- 3:10). ers in every generation, and a major Rabbi Yisrael Ariel is the part of the Talmud is dedicated to Founder and Head of the The Hasmoneans did the same after the topic. Maimonides says that the Temple Institute in Jerusalem expelling the Greeks from the Temple mitzvah of building the Temple – – as we say in the “Al HaNissim” prayer which covers 200 of the 613 com- on Chanukah: “Your children entered mandments – is an obligatory mitz- the Holy of Holies of Your House, cleaned vah in every generation. He himself To dedicate HaMizrachi in Your Temple, purified Your Sanctuary, endangered his life to pray at the memory of a loved one or and lit candles…” Despite the hardships Temple Mount, making that day a per- in celebration of a simcha: and the wars, the Second Temple was sonal festival for the rest of his life. [email protected] built in all of its glory, and that period In the 13th century, Rabbi Yechiel of was a golden age in Jewish history. Paris made Aliyah with 300 other rabbis

15 Sivan Rahav-Meir ‎ Current Matot-Masei Torah

Keep Going Perhaps our history is the solution and shouldn’t be talking about us as victims the explanation. After all, the journey but as victors. The Jewish people was “These are the journeys of the Children of Israel has not yet ended. The Torah details not saved from the Holocaust but who came out of the Land of Egypt.” the journeys in the past but we still emerged victorious, and it is incumbent (Bamidbar 33:11) haven’t reached our final destination. upon us to continue to win.” The people would reach the Land but his first verse of the portion of would also be exiled from it, and then Wheat and Chaff Masei, which we read a week they would return and be driven out yet before Tisha B’Av, reminds us again, and only in our generation would Sometimes we don’t need commentary. Tof the 42 geographical stations through they merit a renewed ingathering in The Torah verses speak for themselves. which the Children of Israel passed on Eretz Yisrael. Before they left for war, the tribes of their way from Egypt to Eretz Yisrael. Reuben and Gad ask permission from The Torah spends many verses describ- The expression “these are the journeys” Moses to leave their property and ing this long journey in between each of not only summarizes the journeys of the children behind: “Pens for the flock we these places.We can interpret the listing past, but foresees the journeys of the shall build here for our livestock and cities future: we are destined to experience for our infants.” (Bamidbar 32:16) In many more than 42 milestones. Cities that order. First the business, then the and villages, shtetls and ghettos, family. pogroms and camps... We should Moshe Rabbeinu answers them, but he And it’s not just our national journey. changes the order: “Build yourselves cities always look back According to Chassidic commentaries, for your infants and pens for your flock.” " the verses tell us that we should always First the kids, then your job. and contemplate look back and contemplate the journeys in our personal lives, and know that This is not semantics. It’s an order of the journeys in there is a reason for and significance to ethical priority. As Rashi writes so every milestone. And that we should be simply: “they were more concerned our personal always looking forward to the next stop, about their money than their sons and lives, and know and remembering that our journeys will daughters…” Moshe said to them, no! never end. Make the important important and the that there is a less important less important. Career is Rabbanit Esther Jungreis once wrote for the family and not vice-versa. reason for and that throughout all these journeys, the Jewish people must preserve its sense This reminded me of the advice given significance to of being created in God’s image: “In the to parents in Israel so they don’t forget midst of the Nazi horrors, I always said their children in the car in the heat of every milestone to myself: In spite of it all, thank God summer: leave your mobile phone next I am on the side of the murdered and to the child, because you’ll never forget of these names in different ways. The not on the side of the murderers. I saw that… Ramban (Nachmanides) writes that how the most cultured nation in the “The secret of this matter has not been world could sink to carry out the most Sivan Rahav-Meir is a popular revealed to us.” It’s a mystery, some- terrifying evil in the world. And when I Israeli journalist, broadcaster thing we need to decipher. think about our journeys, it appears they and author of #Parasha

Photo of Sivan Rahav-Meir: Eyal ben Yaish - Ma’ale HaYetzira

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