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7 Cheshvan 5766 - November 9, 2005 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Shema Yisrael Torah Network

Opinion & Comment
The Bris For All Generations

by Rabbi Yechezkel Spanglet

Sixty-two years ago, a tormented Yid sat with his hands enveloping his face, weeping uncontrollably in his dilapidated bunk. There in Auschwitz, he had experienced inhumane conditions beyond imagination. He did not know if he would witness the next sunrise. He had reached the brink of total despair.

That night, his Rebbe appeared to him in a dream and stated the following words from Krias Shema. "Vechoro af Hashem bochem — Hashem will arouse His wrath against you." In a firm, reassuring voice, his Rebbe instructed him to pause between the words vechoro af and Hashem bochem, transforming the meaning to, "Even when His wrath is aroused . . . Hashem is with you!" Buoyed by this encouraging dream, this Yid did not succumb, but survived one of the most horrifying epochs of world history.

From where did this Yid draw his strength? What is the secret of Am Yisroel's resiliency throughout the most oppressive periods in history?

This week's parsha speaks of a bris, a covenant. A covenant is an irrevocable agreement. This bris was offered by Hashem to Avrohom Ovinu and his descendants. The pesukim state, "I will establish my bris between you (Avrohom) and your descendants after you, throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a G-d unto you and to your offspring. And I will give you and your descendants the land of your sojourning — the entire land of Canaan — as an everlasting possession; and I shall be G- d to them" (Bereishis 17:7-8).

These pesukim delineate the bris that ensures our survival as a people, graces us with the gift of Eretz Yisroel, and promises that the Almighty will always be with us. We, in turn, are obligated to follow the mitzvos of our Creator as embodied in His Torah.

Regarding this bris, Rashi states in Parshas Nitzovim: "He has sworn to your forefathers that He will never exchange their descendants for another people. He cannot separate Himself from you." We are eternally bound to Hashem and, as it were, He is bound to us.

Against the dehumanizing onslaughts of the mightiest nations and empires, despite the Temple destructions, the Crusades, and the Siberias and Auschwitzes of history, defying all natural laws, Am Yisroel has survived. In recent history, Klal Yisroel rose like a phoenix out of the ashes of the Holocaust to rebuild itself and establish Torah centers in many parts of the world. Land and people were once again reunited. Many years of desolation surrendered to spiritual and agricultural development.

I once asked the mashgiach of one of Yerushalayim's prominent yeshivos: "We can understand these tzoros on a collective level because Am Yisroel, collectively, has survived. However, what about the millions of individual korbonos who perished through the barbaric acts of our enemies?"

The mashgiach replied with the following story. When the Mir Yeshiva sojourned in Shanghai during World War II, a talmid overheard Rav Yechezkel Levenstein murmuring something inside of his study. Rav Levenstein was describing the fate of his cheder classmates during the war. In Yiddish, he exclaimed, "Und Chaim iz geven a korbon, un Berel iz geven a korbon" (Chaim has become a sacrifice and Berel has become a sacrifice). Then he groaned, "Aber Ich hob geven a posule korbon" (However, I remain an unfit sacrifice).

The mashgiach explained to me that all of the Yidden who surrendered their lives because they were Jews played an identical role in this promise of eternity. Since they perished al kiddush Hashem, their neshomos live eternally . . . just as Am Yisroel does as a whole.

The posuk continues (17:8): "I will give you and your offspring after you the land of your sojourning, the entire land of Canaan as an eternal possession; and I will be a G-d to them (your descendants)."

Inextricably tied together with the eternal bris between Hashem and Am Yisroel is the promise of Eretz Yisroel. Rashi comments on the latter part of the posuk, "There [in Eretz Yisroel] I will be a G-d to them, but one who dwells outside of the Land is like one who has no G-d." Rashi's words are enigmatic. Do we not all have a G-d? Is He not everywhere?

The Maharal (Gur Aryeh) here and on Vayikra 25:38 explains that the Almighty imbued Eretz Yisroel with a special G-dliness, an elevated holiness. There is a unique dimension to Am Yisroel's relationship with Hashem when they live in Eretz Yisroel.

The Ramban (Vayikra 25:38) elaborates that when Hashem created the universe, He assigned certain celestial representatives called "sarim" to guide and navigate the daily functions of the nations of the world. However, one part of creation, one land, is uniquely His. No sar or any other force holds sway over Eretz Yisroel except for the Master of the universe Himself.

The previous posuk (17:7) already stated that the people of Israel are His people. No earthly or heavenly force can affect their destiny, save the Almighty Himself. These two unique entities, Land and People, merge as one: Am Yisroel is the People of Hashem, as Eretz Yisroel is the Land of Hashem!

Rashi means "there" — in Eretz Yisroel — "I will be a G-d to them." I will imbue the Land with a special G- dliness and unique holiness guided by My direct intervention.

Outside of Eretz Yisroel, there will be a different dimension of Divine assistance and Presence of Shechina. Sarim and Heavenly emissaries will direct the interplay of society. It will be "like" one has no G-d.

The Ramban illustrates further to what extent Eretz Yisroel is saturated with holiness. In Vayikra 18:25, the Torah exhorts Am Yisroel not to stoop to the immoral practices of its Canaanite predecessors. The posuk states, "The Land became contaminated and I recalled its iniquity upon it; and the Land spewed out its inhabitants [the Canaanites]."

The Jewish people are warned against immorality not because it defies their holy nature or mission as the Chosen People, but because the Land cannot abide immoral inhabitants and will expel wrongdoers, just as the throat expels unwanted food.

The Ramban drives home the point. Kedushas Eretz Yisroel is unfathomable. Therefore, we follow the footsteps of our Ovos only in Eretz Yisroel because only here could they have reached the lofty heights of the Ovos. The hills and valleys echo the words of the prophets only where prophecy could become a reality. The Beis Hamikdosh only materialized on the holy soil where Shomayim and Eretz merge as one.

The Kosel becomes uniquely suited as the porthole through which all tefillos and expressions of yearning gather and ascend to Heaven. The Shechina still remains on Har Habayis, despite its present desolation and desecration, waiting for all Bnei Yisroel to return.

Quoting the Sifrei, the Ramban states that the primary obligation to perform mitzvos is in Eretz Yisroel. One is certainly obligated in mitzvos in chutz la'aretz. However, one cannot achieve the same level of spiritual elevation in golus as in the Palace of the King. Hashem gave us Eretz Yisroel because the bris in its highest and purest form can only be actualized in the Holy Land.

Today, how vibrant is the bris of Hashem, Land and People! Hashem continues to fulfill His part of the bris: we exist, and He is a G-d to us. As far as our part of the agreement, the number of those who adhere to Torah and mitzvos is growing all over the world. Kiruv efforts are intensifying. Kollelim, yeshivos and kehillos are springing up everywhere thanks to benevolent benefactors. In Eretz Yisroel the yeshiva population has grown from a handful of talmidim and avreichim during the time of the Chazon Ish to over 117,000 today.

The nisyonos for us to keep our part of the bris, however, are great. The Ramchal in Mesillas Yeshorim exhorts that one should be on constant guard against the onslaught of the yetzer hora, which attempts to draw us away from the service of Hashem. One must acknowledge that the sole reason he performs a mitzva is to fulfill His will and increase kovod Shomayim. Subsequent to embarking on a mission or making a decision, one should ask himself, Is this what Hashem wants of me?

*

How do we strengthen our connection with the Land of Hashem? One avenue is through tefilloh. The Tanna Dvei Eliyahu exhorts one to grieve for the glory of Hashem and the glory of Israel throughout his life, longing for and suffering over the glory of Yerushalayim, the Beis Hamikdosh and the swift occurrence of the Geulah.

We can also embrace the aspirations of our Gedolim. I was zocheh to meet HaRav Mordechai Gifter for the first time on the campus of Telz Yeshiva fifteen years ago. My friend introduced him to me in one of the dormitory rooms. The Rosh Yeshiva, sensing my surprise, stated, "I have a beautiful large home nearby. However, from the day I was summoned from Telz Stone [to take over the helm of the yeshiva in Wickliffe], I have taken up residence in the dormitory."

His trembling voice rising to a crescendo, he exclaimed, "I will remain in this temporary dwelling, for my real home is Eretz Yisroel!"

I also recall the passionate remarks of HaRav Nachman Bulman, exhorting us to rise above the insatiable thirst for material gains and pleasures that plague the modern world and aspire to the highest pursuit of spirituality by making Hashem's nachalah our own. In the community that he founded in Migdal Haemek, Kiryat Nachliel, his pride and joy were the elementary-school children of Western olim, who embraced Torah values in their purest form.

The Novi states that the day will come when Rochel Imeinu's tears for the return of her children from golus will cease. When HaRav Chaim Shmuelevitz would visit Kever Rochel, he would groan, "But I, Chaim, plead with you, Mamma Rochel: Do not hold back your voice from sobbing! Let your tears continue to flow until all your children return home!"

May the ultimate fulfillment of the bris to Avrohom Ovinu in this week's parshoh be fulfilled speedily in our days!


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