Building from the Hidden to the Revealed - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

shalom my friends we find ourselves in a very exciting and interesting period of time not coincidentally both in world history and in our journey through the torah and the hebrew calendar two weeks ago we celebrated the holiday of purim and two weeks from now we celebrate the holiday of passover we're right in the middle now both are holidays of redemption but very different kinds and in some ways they seem like opposites purim is a deep and mystical redemption one in which a series of seeming coincidences lead to the reversal of the decree of a holocaust against the jewish people men women and children they seem like coincidences the queen doesn't appear at the feast the king kills the queen and needs a new queen he falls in love with esther mordechai overhears a plot against the king etc etc it appears to be a series of happenstances and coincidences but we know better we know there's no such thing as a coincidence that's why we wear masks on purim to convey our recognition that god uses nature to appear like coincidence in his orchestration of everything to bring about the redemption of israel and the redemption of the world but the redemption of purim is as hidden as it gets god's name is not even mentioned not even once in the entire magilla and now we're well on our way to pesach to passover where we'll be celebrating another redemption but a redemption that in many ways could not be more different as opposed to the hidden redemption of purim passover is as revealed a redemption as the human mind can imagine egypt the world's greatest superpower is brought to its knees by ten nature defying plagues that even pharaoh's sorcerers admit very early on are done by none other than the finger of god the whole world hears of the awesome and unimaginable parting of the sea and the deliverance of israel from being slaves to pharaoh to being the chosen servants of the one true god creator of heaven and earth yet despite the fact that the entire redemption was led by moses from the beginning to the end moshe's name is not even mentioned not even once in the entire haggadah and so this period we experience the entire range of redemption from the hidden to the revealed and interestingly at the same time in the cycle of the torah reading we're finishing the book of shemot exodus and graduating to the book of vayikra leviticus and with your permission moving forward i'm not going to refer to it as leviticus but by vayikra i don't like the latin name so much it's always rubbed me the wrong way it sounds so latin so abstract and some people perceive it that way in my youth i remember feeling a little disappointed when we uh arrived at vayikra because it felt like all the exciting stories about the genesis of the world noah the flood abraham isaac jacob joseph the tribes slavery exodus it's over and now we're getting into the nitty-gritty details of sacrifices and laws but now at this stage in my life and in my torah journey i'm really excited for us to dive into this together and swim through these holy waters because within these details are hiding the most wondrous mysteries and deepest secrets to serving god and coming close to him and together we can reach new heights and greater depths because that's what we're here for together we're here to do something to do something real we're healed we're here to to build something not only spiritually but physically as well and i believe that is one of the reasons that hashem has continued to bless us in this endeavor because we have not just come together to be but we have come together to build rabbi sax brilliantly points out that the parsha begins with the words that contain the contain the deepest fixing of the sin of the golden calf which immediately preceded it the first verse exodus 35 uh verse one vayakel and moses gathered vayakel and moses gathered all the congregation of the people of israel together and said to them these are the words which the lord has commanded that you should do them and he proceeds to mention the sabbath and immediately delve into the details of the construction of the mishkan of the tabernacle and why is this such a deep fixing because as rabbi sachs pointed out the same word vayakel is used in the construction of the golden calf in exodus chapter 32 verse 1 it says when the people saw that moses was so long and coming down from the mountain they assembled vayakel they assembled around our own and said come make us gods who will go before us the same word that is used for moses assembling the people to build a dwelling for the divine presence in the world was used to describe the people assembling together to create the exact opposite an idol a graven image a substitute for god the word vayakel has at its root kehillah which is a type of community or gathering of people rabbi sachs points out that in a kehillah while the members can be very different from each other they're assembled together for a collective undertaking which involved the unique contribution of each and every member and that is the brilliance that moshe understood under divine guidance that the real way to bring together a fractured broken nation is to build something great together something meaningful something real that is what we are building with this fellowship and by extension that is what we are building on our mountain here on the judean frontier we have all come together in this fellowship as a very diverse group of people from different backgrounds different world views different faiths so many different types of jews and non-jews there are many among us who find themselves in the no man's land of faith in which they can't even seem to find a box or a category into which they belong nonetheless as different as we all are in many ways we are building something here something real we're building a community of people who are courageous enough and humble enough and thirsty enough to put aside that which divides us in favor of that deeper truth which unites us that authentic and powerful love for god and desire to serve him sometimes it may not even be clear to us exactly what we're building perhaps it's being revealed to us over time but i believe that deep down we all feel that we are indeed building something historic and beautiful here together because we all know that our primary purpose in this world in this life is to build a home for the divine presence a dwelling for the divine presence in the world and while both the mobile tabernacle and the fixed temple were indeed physical structures hashem tells us in exodus in shimod 25 8 vaasuli mikdash vashahanti betoham and they will create for me a sanctuary and i will dwell within them not just within it not just within the building not just within the structure but within them within their hearts that is what we're building this fellowship and that's what we're building on this holy mountain in judea it was among these mountains the king david composed so many of the psalms it was within these hills that this young faithful shepherd taught the world how to pray and with god's help and miracles we've built not only this fellowship but we're in the final stretch of building a physical manifestation of that same mission a spiritual center to connect to the god of israel through the land of israel through the nation of israel and through the torah of israel in a way that is only possible to do in the hills of judea for while the first seven years of king david's kingdom was over those judean mountains in hebron the last 33 years was over those judean mountains in jerusalem what starts in judea ends in jerusalem and this fellowship is at the core of everything hashem we have come together before you from different backgrounds perspectives and faiths brought together by the one mission to bring your presence and your light into the world please use us in building not only within our own hearts but physically within the world a sanctuary within which your presence can dwell and through which you can shine your light of love and healing and redemption to all of mankind and as we mentioned venture forth from the hidden redemption of purim allow us all to experience the unimaginably powerful and revealed redemption this coming passover for which we have been yearning and praying since the beginning of time please hashem bless us as we continue to build our community in this fellowship bless us as we continue continue to build this spiritual center here in judea and above all bless us to be a part however small in the building of the baitamidas for you on mount moriah in jerusalem thank you jeremy and thank you my beloved friends i look forward to seeing you next week when bizrad hashem i will be sitting in jeremy's seat as he has graciously given me the opportunity and the privilege to share the honor of leading the fellowship for the beginning of sephir vayikra we've been speaking and sharing and thinking and praying about ways to grow and evolve as a fellowship and as a community and sharing these different roles is just many of the different ways that we're talking about in which we can come together and expand this great and holy mission we're on together so as always please reach out with your thoughts and your questions and uh love and blessings to all of you from here in judea shalom shalom this highlight was taken from the land of israel fellowship every week hundreds of families from literally around the world come together on our live zoom sessions to strengthen each other to inspire each other and to learn torah from the land of israel in which we connect the dots between the bible the hebrew language and the confusing events of our times go to www.thelandofisral.com or click on the link below to join thank you