Shoftim 2021 Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Discover the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
And You shall Arise to the Place Hashem Has Chosen.
In continuation of our study on the relationship between the Land of Israel and the Temple, we will discuss this parsha’s description of how one should receive a halachic ruling. The Torah says that if one doubts how to rule on a halachic issue, one is to seek the verdict of the Sanhedrin at the Temple – “You shall Arise to the Place Hashem Has Chosen.” One example of the centrality of the Sanhedrin at the Temple Mount can be seen in the case of witnesses of the new month. Ideally, the Sanhedrin is supposed to sanctify a new month every month of the year, according to witnesses who saw the new moon. Due to the absence of the Sanhedrin today, our calendar is based on “pre-sanctified months” by the Sanhedrin when it was existing. Our Sages learned that when the Sanhedrin sanctified months according to testimony, this matter was so important that the witnesses could violate the laws of Shabbat in order to arrive at the Temple Mount to deliver their testimony. Parallel this matter in regard to the land of Israel is the centrality of the Land of Israel in Torah, halachic leadership, and in sanctifying the new month in specific, which can be in part seen in the following law: The Rambam rules according to the passages in the Talmud that only the Sanhedrin in The Land of Israel may establish our calendar. In effect, the calendar we have today is due to the Sanhedrin [in the Land of Israel]’s pre-sanctifying (when it was last operative) all the months for many years later to this day. The importance of The Land of Israel in regard to this matter is learned (in Brachot 63a) from the verse: ‘For from Zion will Torah be delivered and the word of HaShem from Jerusalem’ (Isaiah 2, 3) (this inference is also cited by Rambam in Kidush Hahodesh ch. 1, 8).
Hebron, our People’s first settlement in the Holy Land, is the age-old reminder of our People’s constant connection to the Land. No matter how many “new months” have passed, we should remember the Land of Israel’s Sanhedrin’s dominance in our calendar – as signifying the Torah leadership of the Holy Land throughout the ages – ‘For from Zion will Torah be delivered and the word of HaShem from Jerusalem’ (Isaiah 2, 3).
Real Miracles: The Six-Day War
Well, on the second day of combat, they mounted the rockets to the wings of the planes. We set out to attack artillery positions throughout the Gaza Strip. On the first raid, we were fired upon. Eighty percent of the planes returned damaged. You should know that we attack at the lowest altitude and at the lowest speed, up to 200 knots. This allows us completely accurate hits but also eases the enemy’s anti-aircraft fire, and it fired at us even with submachine guns. We repeated and attacked throughout the day. It lasted from eight in the morning until after six in the evening. There were no casualties, and no soldiers hurt, although we took part in many difficult operations. Bold rescue operations, a pioneer pilot from the enemy territory. They all returned safely, even with damaged planes with leaking fuel tanks. So many moving parts, gears, and who knows what, that anyone can paralyze their move with so many vulnerabilities.
“Word of the Week” No. 26 Year 67 and “We the Warriors” p. 45