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Parshat Tetzaveh
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Discovering the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land

You Shall Take Aharon and His Sons To Be My Priests

'Blessed are You HaShem Our God and Master of the Universe Who has commanded us to bless Your People Israel with love' - Priestly Blessing.

This parsha is the first in the Torah to put major emphasis on the priestly rite, the descendants of Aharon, who wear the priestly garb in the Temple mentioned in this parsha. Our Sages teach that it was originally Moshe Rabeinu who was supposed to take on the priestly rite, but when he refused to take the role of speaking before the People and Pharaoh in parshat Shmot, the priestly rite was given to Aharon in his stead. Indeed, the concept of 'clothing', as is discussed in detail in this parsha, also represents the way one 'communicates' or expresses oneself to others.

The attribute of speaking and drawing oneself close to the People through the attributes of love, care, and love of peace. that were the attributes of Aharon, teach us who HaShem wants to be His priests in the Temple of His Holy Presence. The Holy Presence is HaShem's revelation upon the People, and is even coined 'the Assembly of Israel' in the Zohar. 'The Assembly of Israel' in the Zohar refers to the lofty spiritual identity of the People of Israel as revealing the Name of God in the world, and as such the 'soul' or 'internal essence' of Israel is identified with the Holy Presence itself. Therefore, we understand why it is Aharon, the great righteous figure who possessed these attributes of love and closeness to the People, who merited for himself and his descendants to serve in the Sanctuary of the Holy Presence. Although Moshe Rabeinu is our greatest prophet and teacher aloof and beyond human comprehension, it is specifically the righteous closeness to the People through the saintly figure of Aharon which is called for in order to make the Holy Presence rest among Israel.

This matter also teaches us how instrumental the care Jews have for each other is in making the Holy Presence rest among Israel and in our Holy Land. Hebron, Beacon of the Holy Land and the Holy Presence therein, means 'unity', hinting to the high importance of unity and peace, stemming from the kindness of our Patriarchs, in making the Holy Presence rest with us in our Holy Land.

One of the saintly figures of the Kohanic rite who lived in Hebron was Rabbi Avraham Hayim HaKohen, grandson of R. Yoshua Valk Katz, the author of the famous commentary on the Tur,  the 'Drisha UPrisha.' Rabbi A.H HaKohen left Poland in 5508 (CE 1748) for the Land of Israel. On the way, he stayed two years in Constantinople, where he published his Kabbalistic commentary on Tehilim called 'Eretz HaHayim.' In 5510 (1750) he moved to Hebron. The Hida saw him in Hebron and testified about him: 'I saw that he had a work on the entire Tanah, and he acted in pious behavior, a holy man may be said upon him.' In 5524 (1764), he was appointed as the head of the rabbis of Hebron. Rabbi A.H HaKohen passed away in Hebron, and is buried there.

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #256

'One morning I decided to write a text message to my father-in-law to send thanks in general for helping our family. Little did I know that, by surprise, my father-in-law had just brought lots of supplies to help our family, just that morning before I wrote the message'...

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