B"H

Thursday, Iyar 6, 5783 (Hakhel Year) 21st Sefirah / April 27, 2023

One of the mitzvot in this week’s Parsha, Kedoshim is “Lo Tignovu” - “You shall not steal.”

It is told that soon after the War of Independence, a Jewish thief was caught in Israel. The people came to then Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and complained, "We apprehended a Jewish ganef (thief)!  This is terrible..." Ben Gurion smiled and said, "I feel relieved now, for now I know that we are a country like all other countries!"

Yesterday, the 5th of Iyar, Israel officially celebrated 75 years from the War of Independence in 1948.

But in truth Israel is not a country like all other countries. Israel is a land whose very existence is a constant miracle just like the existence of the Jewish people for over three thousand years.

In Deteronomy (11:8-12) the Torah says, "You shall keep all the commandments that I command you this day, that you may be strong and go and possess the land... And that you may prolong your days upon the land which the L-rd swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey... A land which the eyes of the L-rd your G-d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year unto the end of the year."

Our sages tell us that, the Torah, the Jewish people and the Holy Land are inseparable. This is very vividly expressed in the fact that when a Jew prays anywhere in the world, they always face in the direction of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

The Jewish people, even when physically separated from the land, were always emotionally attached to the Holy Land. Three times daily we pray, "To Jerusalem Your city return us with mercy."  Also in the Grace-after-Meal we mention the Holy Land and the Holy city of Jerusalem.

"The air of the holy Land of Israel makes a person wise," is a saying of our Talmudic sages. 

Rav Ashi, who lived in Babylon and recorded the Babylonian Talmud said about the Talmudic scholars in Israel, "One of them is like two of us."

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai said, "Three wonderful gifts did G-d give to the Jewish people, but they were all acquired through pain; Torah, the Land of Israel, and the World-to-Come."

Indeed, Israel didn’t come without a price. Tens of thousands of soldiers gave their lives for the defense and protection of Israel, during the past seventy five years. May their memory be a blessing.

We express our best wishes to our brothers and sisters in Israel that there be true Shalom-peace from here on. May we all celebrate in the joy of the land. 

Each night, between Passover and Shavuot, we perform the mitzvah of Counting the Omer and recite the following prayer; “The Compassionate One, may He return for us the service of the Holy Temple to its place, speedily in our days. Amen.”  May this prayer be fulfilled immediately when we will enjoy everlasting peace and tranquillity with the coming of Moshiach.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY