Chizuk During Iron Sword Through the Beautiful Uniqueness of the Land of Israel by Rabbi Avi Herzog

thank you uh so much KH and again um my personal thanks to uh to Rabbi Sam Shore to KH to David huser for all of those that are involved in this uh in this wonderful project um of kuk over these few year few weeks that uh we need it um before I begin I'm fully aware of course as we all are uh especially those that are here that there may be unfortunately a siren going off at any moment moment um obviously just feel free to excuse yourself and do what you need to do without flinching um I may have to do the same here in gatv there was no siren today but there were not far from here um and if I have to do the same please understand in advance that if I stop I will notify you that there's a siren I have to go I have a minute and a half to get to for a few second walk to my to my M to my safe room so I will let you know if the need um if the need should arise okay um good afternoon to all I would like to dedicate today's shiur um on the occasion of the Y site of my dear mother-in-law uh to her memory uh Sarat elzer uino I had the privilege of knowing her until she passed away in the year 2016 uh seven years ago today um and she was a not only a a major figure in in my life for all of those years as my mother-in-law um but she really had a a tremendous tremendous impact um on me just if I may a few words a few very brief words about my mother-in-law Susanna frish um she was a survivor of the Shah and while she did not go through the camps she was one of those who was fortunate enough to escape but not as in the news is coming and you better leave now before it's too late but rather basically being told on the spur of the moment that you need to leave now and if you don't um your life will be in danger and so my mother-in-law together with her sister my M other my young mother-in-law I don't recall how old she was but she was just a child um basically took two suitcases with her in one of her suitcases she took whatever clothing she could quickly gather and in the other she the way that it's reported is that that that that we're told a story is that she took a suitcase full of books number one she loved to read she was an Avid Reader um that's something my wife certainly picked up from her I can't say that I picked that that I picked that up from my mother-in-law maybe indirectly I did through my wife I do not know or however these things work um but another reason she took books with her she took school books too because she just assumed that she'd be going back to school very soon um so she took her school books and other book books with her that she would enjoy reading that she would have ready to go back to school so my mother-in-law was a Survivor and we all know that it's not too long ago that the world was experiencing the Shah my only to right now is that the if I may just for the sake of putting a label on it not to compare meaning I realize of that it's not a 100% comparison but we are indeed going through a Shah um of our own today especially with October 7th um it is a Shah of sorts not to minimize what happened in World War II by any stretch of the imagination my only thought and of course all of ours is that indeed we will soon see the light at the end of the tunnel I I thought to myself that today in our shiur we will focus on the the positive side side we'll focus on the beauty as I have on your Source sheet that I shared with you um or the unique special quality of ER is and that will hopefully provide us with some for those of you that had the opportunity to be present either in person or to see at a later date um in the archives or in YouTube sh I presented this past year on y I believe it was some of this material is the same so it's possible you've heard me say some of this before it's also possible that you're familiar with every single one of these sources because these are pretty basic uh mot sources that we will go through today um I believe that they are so pertinent for our time right now and they certainly bear and are worth uh repeating I had the the privilege of being a day school teacher for over three decades in the United States before my wife and I made Aliyah four years ago and year in and year out I would share with my students my most favorite PUK in tanak my most favorite PUK in the more limited sense of just the part of tanak and then in addition I would throw in for good measure my most favorite comment of Rashi on the gar and my most favorite comment of Rashi on the Kash I'm going to leave out my most favorite um my most favorite comments of Rashi on the Kash and the g for another day is that is not pertinent to what we're discussing today but I do wish to begin and you'll see this on your sheet with my most favorite and there's a backstory here um if you don't mind dividing me and if you do mind I I apologize I'm going to tell the story anyway the story goes like this I was privileged to know pers he was the editor of Encyclopedia tmit and he was also a visiting rosha Yesa in ski Yesa uh in Chicago and when I was in ER is in he had a bunch of us boys over at his home one afternoon for sud for sud he lived in excuse me he lived in ban I believe um and um he had several of us over to his home as I mentioned and at one point during our time together with him he took us outside to our front M PES set he stretched out his arms I'm not sure if you can see them on your screen but he stretched out his arms he had us looking at the beautiful beautiful view of and he said now on some level we did but we were also a bunch of 18 year olds and were caught off guard I at least wasn't exactly sure what he was getting at and I'm not sure any of us were at that particular moment and then he quoted for us the pasuk the you see in front of you which is obviously meant literally but at the same time used byav as a metaphor is surrounded by mountains but at the same time surrounds his Nation for now and forever more and then he became a little bit emotional as I am right now he actually began to cry you could see tears streaming down his cheeks and then he said now do you see speaking for myself I certainly did and at that moment that became my singular most favorite PUK in the entirety of tanak and yes in case you're wondering I have been through all of tanak more than once this bar is my favorite and it's thanks to to hler and are standing on hiset that Shabbat afternoon my favorite PUK in all of is the ultimate or final PUK in the next excerpt that I have here for you we're familiar with this PUK I'm sure from other contexts let's just take a look at this beautiful text and the way that the Tor the way that M as the mouthpiece for describes ER is we are on the cusp now in saim of entering ER Israel of all of those present the only one that will unfortunately not be able to enter is Moshe rabenu himself if nature takes its course with anybody else and somebody else unfortunately is not able to enter that unfortunately is simply part of the life cycle but guaranteed not to be able to enter was Moshe as he has already been told he will not be able to but nevertheless describes is as follows is that is the land that you are about to come to to inherit it it is not like that you left from there where you would simply plant and then um either it it's there is a a disagreement here as to exactly how this P or this half of the PUK is to be understood either you will water the land or the land will simply water itself for you at your feet K like the vegetables of the like the vegetables of the garden okay thatu can be understood in different ways nevertheless we're comparing this to the land that you are coming to to inherit it is not like that rather it is a land of mountains it is a land of it is a land of valleys you will drink water by the rain from the heavens at first glance one would think that there is a br in these words and in a sense there is but it might be more of a hidden ra than we realize how so one would think at first glance that the PUK is simply contrasting the twoim and is and MIT possesses the quality of X but in ER it's going to be so great by contrast it's going to be y but if we take a look at those words again that's really not what the is saying and the point this out is described as it's going to be in a rather simple task by comparison to be able to see the yield to be able to produce from the fields all you have to do is plant all you have to do is water in fact the ornos will rise up and that's why I said maybe it will water itself the Nile River and it will water your fields for you your Orchards for you and you then will see the yield of your particular efforts it's rather straightforward however in Pas we see the land you are coming to is not like that at all rather we are dependent in ER is upon the we are dependent upon the rain those of us that are privileged to live here understand we understand why there's such a big deal made about the first Reign that is referred to the first reign of the Year excuse me that is referred to as the we understand what it means to really be dependent upon the Reigns from the heavens and we know the great effort that hilly areas like Yim to this day must go through and certainly before we had our modern technology that we have today um the reason behind the celebration of the the annual that took place in the mikash it was a big big deal when water was drawn to because it takes our effort so to me this is a but the is hidden and it's not necessarily it isn't actually how it appears upon a surface reading but rather when we read it again we realize that the is that erel does produce for us but it will take our effort it'll take greater effort here than it takes in say Egypt where we are coming from at least according to the way the pasuk is presenting it presenting it if sees that we put forth the effort that is necessary for our sustenance here that indeed he will bless us with that forthcoming sustenance and then the p goes on to tell us you needn't fear for and this is my favorite p and that's why I bolded it for you it is a land that seeks after always God's eyes are always upon it from the beginning of the year until the end of the year and then of course a new with the beginning the next day of the ensuing year this PUK for me is my favorite PUK in all of because it is a constant reminder on a daily basis of this exact point that is always seeking our welfare is seeking the welfare and looking out for the welfare of er Israel and I think these words are really very pertinent for us today in what we're going through it may be challenging for us to really perceive this but we are promised this that we may not necessarily Now understand exactly why what is transpiring is transpiring but at the same time it is the land about which the Torah testifies that that God's eyes are always upon it I would like to move now to a different passage it's a pasuk where we will see that the word erets the word land referring of course to is a or it is a guiding word it becomes the light Motif as it were of this particular excerpt of this particular par we will certainly be familiar with much of it we will certainly be familiar with the regarding the sh which is found within and we will certainly be familiar with the very last P because that PUK is referenced and cited in and in this short excerpt the Torah tells us as follows I whenever I read these words I try to imagine for myself just how emotional this must have been foru because he knows that he will not be privileged to witness any of what he's describing and they all will be and somehow he has the the wherewithal to be able to present the following to them is bringing you to an to a good land notice the words that I bolded for you it is a land of streams of water other sources of water literally jutting out from her ating from The Valleys from the mountains words that we are all familiar with a land of wheat um a land of barley of geen of Vine or grapes figs pomegranates Zen by the way sometimes this this that term zmen is mistranslated as olive oil no that's sh Z Z SH means oil producing olives it's a to the themselves but be that as it may andash here referring to dates or to date honey furthermore we're told you won't be lacking anything in the land you will not find it particularly difficult in order to eat bread we're going to focus on that word a little bit later as um as contrasted to the word that we saw earlier its stones are stones of of iron in other words they do fortify you and from its mountains you will be able to to dig H copper much of this of course is meant as a metaphor and not to be taken literally be that as it may you will eat and then you will be satisfied and then you will bless this is the source for what we'll call benching um to me it's always interesting as an amateur linguist that the word benching comes from the Yiddish which of course bench meaning blessed that we all know but Benin and then we just we um supplanted the the yish suffix with the American suffix and so the Benin became benching because it's an action verb but at the same time we will bench or praise God recite the on the good land has given us that he has provided for us take a look at the way that I divided this part particular par for you I did not simply present it at as one excerpt which contains the word eret seven times the seven times thereby transforming that word into a to a guiding word but rather I divided it in half with the midpoint the words ER zash take a look at a very interesting pattern here first the opening phrase begins with the term it closes with the term we don't have time to go into a whole uh detailed sh today but there is something behind the fact that this par is bracketed with the term ER at the onset and er at the upon the conclusion but if we take a look at the two halves we see a contrast which was also referenced in the previous excerpt that we saw where is compared to because first tells us follows Hashem is bringing you to a good land Hashem is bringing you to a land of is provided for us by it is simply there we we may have to go out to collect it we may have to in the olden days raise it with buckets into into a hilly areas such as yush for example but at the same time it's provided for us as a finished product by God that's one of the ways that is is indeed an ER okay in addition we find that is is an let's just take the word and let's let take the word we'll leave the fruits out of it for a moment Wheat by itself growing in the field it is a finished product in so far as it has grown as much as it is going to but it is not yet a product that is usable for us is representative of those items that grow in the field which are gifted To Us by God but at the same time in order for us to be able to benefit from them we must put forth our effort as well we must human beings take the and turn it into flower enabling us to then be able to benefit from to enjoy and partake of that particular the wheat and the S and the truth is the same thing is true for the Gan if we do not water all of our fruit trees all of our plants then they will not grow furthermore we need to go out and we need to pick the grapes and we need to pick the grapes at the right time what an incredible metaphor and I'm just thinking of this now as I'm speaking um for literally this week and last week and next week too the weeks when the fields must be harvested where certain fruits if they're not picked and now of course unfortunately there's a shortage of of workers and so many are volunteering their time to wake up early in the morning to go to the fields to pick because those that normally do are either busy um as they were called up on called up to the or helping out right now as is needed in many other ways we human beings must tend to GE to toone and if we don't they will simply R so those and the same thing is true for these are representative to me of those particular aspects of nature thatu does provide for us but they're not a complete picture or unit until we also put forth our own effort they're referring to a joint effort then there's another aspect and that is those that are even one further step removed notice the contrast or the shift from to bread is the finished product you will not be lacking anything if you indeed put forth the effort then you will have the finished product you'll be able to look at that product and you'll be able to say look what I did look what I produced so as soon as you enter ER Israel you will notice that aad is providing some items for you represented here to me anyway represented here by uh by way of by way of by way of water that is providing for you period ready to drink then once you are settled you will realize that you will also have to work the land like anywhere but you'll have to work for the overwhelming majority of the gifts that provides for you and then and only then when aad sees that you put forth the effort you'll be able to sit back and you will bless but at the same time time you'll be able to bask in what you did in we in what we human beings indeed have accomplished here in ER is Isel is a place that a has gifted to us it is a place that the thought with which we began today that K's eyes are always upon it it is a place where Kad provides our needs for us it is a place where we will need to put forth our effort it is a place where then if we indeed do put forth our effort we will be blessed with the land on this good [Music] land I'm going to skip the next source that I have for you we're all familiar with this certainly as it has made our way in its way into our sedur as the the second paragraph of sha we're going to skip over most that excerpt with the exception of the last P which I also bolded for you and there we are told as follows if we do what asks of us if we indeed are worthy then we are told like the word you will have long days or many days and those of your descendants as well on the land of course a reference to is that promised your forefathers and mothers to give to them as the days of the heaven on the earth in other words just as the sh have always and will always exist never mind now getting into any theories as to what year the world's going to expire if at all we'll leave that for a different time but and are eternal so too is if we are deserving is eternally ours I just want to stop for a moment and just to make mention of something that on some level we're all aware of and that is that number one we all need of course and we all are doing our part to ensure that this is a guarantee that we are all doing our part towards what's incredible to me is the the number the percentage of Kim andot and so many others that are involved now in literally assuring that ER Isel is ours to keep so many of whom are putting their lives on the line for us so that we can have this Shure on Zoom today are engaging in a way of that they never even thought about before we all know about the campaign for making seat seats which has really unbelievably taken off and I'm only using this as one of many examples but think of all those that are actually actively making seat seat that until three weeks ago didn't know how to make t SE and so many who never would have consider considered making SE SE Bako girls making SE for soldiers in their families where one generally speaking of course there are exceptions don't even enroll in the Army because that's for yenim that's for them that's not for us are you kidding me a group of Vis meeting with the meeting with a group that were displaced that have nowhere to go and they simply go there to cheer them up with music and with singing with Dancing On A Beautiful video that I saw bringing them wine that was bottled just for them apparently it's unbelievable the way that am Israel is coming together but more than that and on par parallel to that is the way that so many people are involving themselves those that are on the front line and that are risking their lives for us that they themselves are involved in finding their own ways of fulfilling their you can have somebody who never in his or her life even gave a second thought to and suddenly you'll have a young woman taking on lighting Shabbat and you'll have a young man or not such a young man putting on seats to eat for the very first time because throughout the country and indeed in the diaspora as well people are realizing that our strength is in simply being the best person that we can and that it means being involved in of course but also at our own way because we do need both of those ingredients in order to ensure that the that we just read a moment ago indeed remains a reality and it remains a truth I just want to end with a to me I think the most moving midash that I've ever come across um just by way if I may again of another backstory very quickly my first exposure to this particular midash was through my wife when we were first dating and she indeed um put these words to a song like she has done with so many other pukin I across this mid for the first time through her many years later a couple of decades later probably about 20 years 15 20 years ago my wife and I went to um to an art show of a young woman whom we know who um does beautiful paper cutting work simply stunning and out of all the many pieces that were there so is this midash so of course we felt compelled it was an no-brainer to purchase that particular piece as well as a few others we were supporting our friend and now it adorns with those others um and other pieces as well it adorns our dining room wall and M tells us as follows and again if you have heard any of my past about Israel or if you saw this m elsewhere then it's not new to you but I do think it be is repeating V tells us as follows there's a story told about a gentleman who left to go to the ASP or at the beginning of the story he wished to leave to go to that to go to the diaspora excuse me the said to him now either that means I assume it means he went to a group of to ask their permission or word got out that this guy was hoping to leave and so they went to pay him a visit but either way this group of said to him sorry no can do ain't going nowhere why meaning before us it had already been decreed and by the way in today's sh we're not going to get into why this is the case but that for one who lives of course in you may not leave that doesn't mean you can't leave for a day it doesn't mean you can't leave for work it doesn't even mean that you can't leave for certain reasons for a lengthy period of time but generally speaking just to go on a trip because one want wishes to go on vacation to go to Disneyland sorry it is forbidden to leave Yim to anywhere else in ER Israel so Disneyland was a bad metaphor on my part or a bad example because that's not in ER Israel um but to leave ER excuse me to leave to go to anywhere else in is to go to to go to to visit yes but to live no if you're a jerusalemite you are and that's where you belong to out side of er to the diaspora all the more obviously so that it is forbidden to leave so I'm sorry we are Banning you from leaving in all due respect guys guys with a capital G because they were at least you're my case at least I I get the blanket isur I understand that and I'm even on board with that at least I'm imagining in my own head that that's what he would have said but here my case here my reason at this point you don't know why I wish to go I am jealous of those that live in the diaspora why am I jealous because they yearn for they wish to return toim they know what it feels like to not be here and to want to be here my whole life I Tak it for granted in the literal sense by way of metaphor I have never tasted the taste of Kim the taste of Yearning I've lived here my whole life I have no idea what it means to wish to come back please allow me to leave so that I can experience and know for myself this taste of your name for your excuse me for and guess what he got his wish they allowed him to go but it wasn't just a blanket permit to go but it was conditional and the condition is that everywhere you go young man on the condition that he tells everybody about the beauty of how incredibly pertinent are these words literally today my wife just told me a story today of a friend of ours and there are so many stories like this but this actually happened yesterday and my wife heard a story this morning with um her walking partner I'm not going to mention her name because I'm not sure that I have permission to do so in a public forum where this woman who lives here in gadv like we do and she and her husband made alah um I believe about 40 years ago her sister meaning also a woman who is not so young anymore probably about 60 certainly in her 50s if not older decided that she wants to come now to help out ER Israel in our time of need and then when she comes here like so many are doing find out what it is that she can and should do here so she hopes to come she wants to come but she didn't want to do so without calling her elderly mother and so she called up her elderly mother to tell her mom I just want to let you know that with your permission maybe she didn't ask permission I'm not sure but I would like to go to ER Israel because they need us I have to go I have to go help in any way that I can if it means going to The Orchards that's what I'll do if it means collecting garbage that's what I'll do I need to go to ER Isel to help out not only did my friend's sister receive her mother's blessing but her mother responded with I want to go to unbelievable at the end of the story is that the two of them this woman and her mother are planning on coming I believe this week if they can to ER Israel just to help out or talk about to provide the best possible by being here in ER Israel and making their trip to help out in a time of need back to the M on the condition what greater homage to this mid than people that are coming to Isel tell out that people in diaspora and perhaps some of you watching on the screen at this particular moment or at a later date indeed you are in the diaspora and you are not only speaking of the beauty but you're doing much more than lip service by giving of yourselves Jews world over by giving of themselves to to help out in every single way they possibly can will see our efforts in everything that we described above see the efforts of the that never even thought about putting on SE seat and that are suddenly doing so see the young women that never heard of or at least never experienced lighting their Roat in their own homes that are suddenly doing so seeing the effort that we are all putting forth from every single Walk of Life in ER coming together with such a strong level of that may literally have never been experienced in our history it it's really quite unbelievable we're all doing everything that we can we pray that aad we know that aad is doing everything that he must in return to ensure and just to close with where we began this morning excuse me this afternoon and that is so that this land will be ours it will be ours IM for all eternity Isel is described in the Torah in the particular excert that we saw this afternoon as indeed being in that par begins and ends with the descriptive is was chosen for let's never make any mistake about that as in ER it indeed is and always will be we are guaranteed that in and we will be deserving to hold on to is forever more my favorite in the entire just coming back to it and closing with this as we come full circle that eyes are always upon from the beginning of the year until the end of the year year in and year out indeed may we continue to all find in every way that we can just as we are being and bringing to those that are ensuring that is forever more have a wonderful afternoon and let's all have as good of a rest of the week as we possibly can