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The Holy Generation by Rav Shlomo Aviner
Heart of the Nation by Rav Dov Bigon
Jerusalem Day by Rabbi Ya'akov Filber
Arafat, the Pope, and Purim: The Covenant Against Jerusalem by Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute - Jerusalem

The Holy Generation

by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner

In a tour of the Old City, a tour guide said, "We are now standing at the site of King David's palace, and it is from here that he saw Bat Sheva bathing." He's insane! Is this all he could find to arouse the imagination of the students? Instead of arousing their imagination to King David's good traits, his patience, his forbearance of insult, his thirst for G-d, his military prowess, his holiness and purity, and to his devotion to the building of the Israelite monarchy, he provoked their imaginations with this? As if our imaginations are not sufficiently provoked by all the evil winds blowing in from the west! Yet that tour guide's words were no slip. Rather, they represented an entire world view, as if to say, "I am emphasizing that David was nothing more than a human being, a human being with weaknesses, a great man with great weaknesses, a man composed of both good and evil, not an ideal man." Listen O heavens! Is this what he found necessary to say? Indeed, one student responded, "It is easier for me to identify with a figure like this than with a pure and holy man," and the tour guide nodded in agreement. Woe to the ears that hear such things! To our great chagrin, this was not just the slip of a solitary individual. Rather, it represented an entire approach, to take the great and holy personalities of our faith and to "bring them down to eye level."

Life is hard, it is true. Our struggles against the evil impulse are not easy. Sometimes we fail. Sometimes we are frustrated and in despair because we do not succeed in escaping from the evil impulse. Yet what is the solution? To increase our courage, to increase our longing for G-d, to gaze upon our great personalities and to emulate them. Instead, people take those personalities and belittle them, transforming them to just plain folks, with one hand in good and the other hand in evil, a mixture of light and darkness-as if that is how we can identify with them! Instead of drawing the student higher and higher, arousing in him yearning, understanding and awareness, and giving him strength, they instead leave him below and they pull down with him all those who are above, to make it easier for him to identify with them. The student can then study Torah one moment and look at obscenity on the internet a moment later.

Yet King David himself did not identify with his sin. Rather, our sages say that he "wept over his sin for three hundred years", as it says, "I water my couch with my tears" (Psalm 6:7). This is unconnected to our sages' comment that "Whoever says that David sinned is only mistaken." Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel says that he did sin, but even in his view, King David was a giant of a man, repented fully, was saved from sin and purged of it. Indeed, King David committed one severe sin one time in his life according to Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel, but that does not make him a sinner. If someone lies one time in his life, that does not make him a liar. If someone loses a battle one time, that does not make him a loser. We do not assign a label to somebody over a one-time deed. David is not a sinner, not by half, a third or a forth. He is a great man, righteous and saintly. Yet even a righteous, holy man can sometimes stumble. Even our teacher Moses came to anger and came to error. He was not therefore called quick-tempered or bumbling. We do not judge a person based on isolated incidents.

Before we express new ideas about King David that our sages never expressed, we have to learn the basics first. There is nothing stopping us from saying new interpretations on the Bible. There are hundreds and thousands of such interpretations, but they have to be expressed out of faith and reverence. For that reason, we must study basic works like Mesilat Yesharim. Whoever learns its chapter on Chassidut [saintliness] will see that King David thirsted for the word of G-d, and not for sin, G-d forbid. David said in his Psalms: "As the hart pants after the water brooks, so my soul pants after You, O G-d. My soul thirsts for G-d, for the living G-d" (42:2-3); "My soul longs, indeed, it faints for the courts of the L-rd" (84:3); "My soul thirst for you, my flesh longs for You" (63:2); "I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love" (84:3). Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato teaches us that if a person wishes to achieve the level of saintliness, he should study the Psalms and follow what they say. Surely every young student studies Mesilat Yesharim. Probably the tour guide from the beginning of this article learned it as well. He must therefore review it ten times, a hundred times, until its words penetrate the depths of his soul.

The persona of King David is not up for grabs. We cannot say about him whatever we wish. We cannot build him a new personality that partakes of all worlds, that provides legitimacy to walk dialectically through the pure and impure pathways of life without discriminating between them. Even if we follow the approach of Abarbanel, we must learn how King David profoundly repented, out of his fierce longing for the holy.

Heart of the Nation

by Rav Dov Bigon

As of Now To Defend and to Rebuilt Jerusalem, Heart of the Nation "The Israelites shall camp with each person near the banner having his paternal family's insignia" (Numbers 2:2). The Israelites were arranged around the Tabernacle, each by his banner. Each banner had its own color, and the color of one was unlike the color of another. The color of each was like the one on the breastplate stones (Rashi). Each person recognized his own banner and each person recognized his own place and his own task in the general setup of all the tribes of Israel together. At the heart of all the tribes was the king's legion. This refers to the kohanim and levi'im who served in the Tabernacle and in the Temple, may it be rebuilt speedily in our day. To what can this be compared? To a person with limbs that are different from one another, but which complement one another. In the center of the body, the heart and mind are the most vital limbs, providing the whole body with life. Through them, the body's purpose is revealed. In the same way, each tribe of Israel stands at its banner and place. Each one has a role in the national tapestry. Together with this, we must remember constantly that the Jewish People as well possess a heart and mind, namely, Jerusalem and the Temple. There, the King's legions serve, referring to the priests who see the King's countenance and bestow of their spirit upon the whole nation and the whole world, through their holy service.

Right now, we have finally come home. We are living at the height of a remarkable period of ingathering of the exiles, and the nation's renewed progress in Eretz Yisrael. This comes after thousands of years, during which we were like dry bones (Ezekiel 37). The headline story of our generation is our return to Jerusalem, the eternal city, heart and light of the world. Yet the work is not done yet. We must strengthen ourselves and unite together as one man, to defend Jerusalem and to continue rebuilding it, just as during the times of Ezra and Nechemiah the enemies of Israel were unable to resign themselves to the rebuilding of Jerusalem. We thus had to defend it simultaneously with building it: "So we labored at the work. Half of them held the spears from dawn till nightfall.... so that at night they could be a guard to us, and labor by day" (Nechemiah 4:15,16). May G-d, who "comforts Zion and builds Jerusalem," come to our aid. Rejoicing with Jerusalem and looking forward to salvation,

Jerusalem Day

by Rabbi Ya'akov Filber

Jerusalem, by the mere mention of its name, sends a shiver through the hearts of every single Jew. Jerusalem knows no boundaries and is restricted by no borders. It stands on earth below and in heaven above-Celestial Jerusalem and Earthly Jerusalem. When we ask ourselves which preceded which, and which is dependent upon the other, it seems obvious at first glance that the main Jerusalem is the celestial one, and that from heaven it evolves into our lower world. Then, in our mundane reality it stands before our eyes as "beautiful, city of the great King" (Psalm 48:3). Yet that is not so. In the Midrash, our sages reveal to us that the truth is the opposite, as they said (Tanchuma, Pekudei 1): "...We likewise find that celestial Jerusalem corresponds precisely to earthly Jerusalem. G-d so loved the earthly Jerusalem that He made another in Heaven, as it says, 'Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of My hands; your walls are continuously before Me' (Isaiah 49:16)." Earthly Jerusalem, over whose liberation we celebrate each year anew on the twenty-eighth of Iyar, is the main Jerusalem, regarding which the Torah said, "You must set out and go up to the place that the L-rd your G-d shall choose" (Deuteronomy 17:8). When we say, thrice each day, "Return mercifully to Your city Jerusalem, (Shemoneh Esreh prayer), we are referring to this Jerusalem. For that reason, the liberation and rebuilding of earthly Jerusalem is the dream of generations. Moreover, its fulfillment is an essential precondition to the ascent of the Jewish People in their land. It is a precondition not only of the physical and political rebirth of the nation, but even more so of its spiritual rebirth. As the Talmud taught (Ta'anit 5a), "G-d said: I shall not enter the celestial Jerusalem until I enter the earthly Jerusalem." What does this earthly Jerusalem contain that caused our sages to say (Berachot 58a), "Jerusalem is the embodiment of eternity"? What does it possess that makes it an eternal city? Jerusalem's eternity lies in its power to bond things together, as it says, "O Jerusalem, built as a city where things are bound together" (Psalm 122:3). This process of bonding is already found in the very name of Jerusalem. As our sages said in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 56): "Abraham called Jerusalem 'Yirah' [reverence] and Noach's son Shem called it 'Shalem' [peace]. G-d said, 'I shall call it the combination of their two names-Yira-shalem,' hence Jerusalem." Yirah, reverence, marks the relationship of man to G-d, whereas Shalom, peace, marks the relationship between man and his fellow man. Jerusalem is what unites these two realms. It is Jerusalem which unites the nation as well, with all its factions and divisions. That is why Jerusalem "was not divided up among the tribes" (Megillah 26a). The Jerusalem Talmud calls Jerusalem "a city that makes all Jews friends" (Chagigah Ch. 3), and says that it "unites all of Israel together" (Bava Kamma Ch. 7). Jerusalem is called "The Sanctuary of the King." Here as well there is a bonding between two elements: The Temple Sanctuary is associated with worship of G-d, whereas the monarchy is associated with the political and national framework, and Jerusalem unites these two elements as well. Jerusalem also unites the Jewish People in their land. Therefore, the ingathering of the exiles cannot come to pass unless we first see "Binyan Yerushalayim," the rebuilding of Jerusalem. As the Rabbis expounded in Tanchuma (Noach 11): "We have a homiletic tradition that Jerusalem will not be rebuilt until the exiles are about to be gathered in. If someone tells you that they have already been gathered in and Jerusalem has not yet been rebuilt, do not believe him. Why? Because it first says, 'The L-rd builds Jerusalem' (Psalm 147:2), and only then, 'He gathers together the outcasts of Israel' (Ibid.). "Israel said before G-d, 'Was not Jerusalem already built and destroyed?' G-d replied: Through your sins it was destroyed, and you were exiled from its midst. In the future, however, I shall build it and never again destroy it, as it says, 'For the L-rd builds up Zion. He appears in His glory' (Psalm 102:17)." During the Destruction, when the Kohen Gadol [High Priest] saw that the Temple had been destroyed, he ascended to the roof top of the Sanctuary, accompanied by many groups of young kohanim, holding the Sanctuary keys in their hands. They said, "Master of the Universe! Since we did not merit to be faithful treasurers before You, we are handing back the keys to Your house!" and they threw them upward. A sort of hand emerged and took them (Ta'anit 29a). Now, in our own day, that the keys to the Tabernacle are about to return to us, we must be faithful treasurers in order to merit them speedily.

Arafat, the Pope, and Purim: The Covenant Against Jerusalem

by Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute - Jerusalem

Today is Purim, that day of turnabout and the hidden, protective hand of Divine Providence. How remarkable that the Pope is visiting Jerusalem this week and arriving in Israel today. Is this mere coincidence-is there ever such a thing? And is it a coincidence that today, on Purim, the Israel Defense Forces plans to withdraw from 6.1% of Judea and Samaria, in the framework of the last stage of the second Oslo withdrawal? Sometimes it seems that the news coming from Israel must be an elaborate, year-long Purim play - t simply can't be real. What sane people would willfully bring about the circumstances that guarantee its own destruction, in return for nothing? Are we dreaming? Or could it be that we are all insane?

The great Chassidic master Rabbi Nachman told a story called "The Tainted Grain".

It is short enough to repeat here in its entirety:

A king once told his prime minister, who was also his good friend, "I see in the stars that whoever eats any grain that grows this year will go mad. What is your advice?" The prime minister replied, "We must put aside enough grain so that we will not have to eat from this year's harvest." The king objected, "But then we will be the only ones who will be sane. Everyone else will be mad. Therefore, they will think that we are the mad ones. It is impossible for us to put aside enough grain for everyone. Therefore, we too must eat this year's grain. But let us make a mark on our foreheads, so that at least we will know that we are mad. I will look at your forehead, and you will look at mine, and when we see this sign, we will know that we are both mad."

Here in Israel, some of us have the feeling that we must surely be living out some absurd parody of Jewish existence. The country is aflutter with excitement over the Papal visit; the Vatican's flag adorns the streets that will be used by the motorcade, banners declare "Jerusalem welcomes His Holiness the Pope" Israel Television broadcasts non-stop live coverage of every move the Pontiff makes. The papers are full of commentaries, interpretations and editorials that ring praises for the "new relations" between the Church and Israel.

Israel's leaders, the perennial emperor with no clothes and the paradigm of "see no evil, hear no evil," insist that this is strictly a "religious" visit and carries no political connotation. In a frenzied orgy of neurotic self-flagellation, overjoyed to simply have the opportunity to be used by the partnership of Arafat and the Pope for the goals of Palestinian statehood, this morally bankrupt and spiritually bereft leadership has honestly convinced itself that the Pope is coming strictly as a spiritual pilgrim. They are overjoyed that last week, the Pope found it expedient to "apologize" to the "people of the Covenant", while at the same time, refusing on his visit to utilize the humanitarian power of his office by meeting with the families of Israeli soldiers missing since the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yaqub due to his "tight schedule." And just as our leaders ignore the fact that he could not bring himself to so much as mention the Jewish people by name, so too, they find it convenient to overlook the Pontiff's insistence that the Jewish star be removed from the ambulance that will accompany his motorcade throughout the visit. However, the Palestinian Authority sees it differently. As we reported yesterday, the Palestinians "have signed a petition calling on "Pope John Paul II to intervene to lift the siege of Jerusalem" the petition will be officially presented to the pope when he visits the Temple Mount next Sunday. In addition, a photo exhibit entitled "Our Story", which depicts Israeli aggression in the Palestinian Authority and in Lebanon, will run at Orient House the entire week of the pope's visit."

Yesterday, Israeli news reported that "Local Arabs removed Israeli flags that had been placed in eastern Jerusalem in honor of the visit, and replaced them with Palestinian flags. Similarly, a Palestinian flag was unfurled over Orient House today." When the Pope ascends to the Temple Mount this Sunday, there to be welcomed by NO Israeli official, but by representatives of the Palestinian Authority, the entire complex will be bedecked in Palestinian flags - "…but let us make a mark on our foreheads, so that at least we will know that we are mad."

Last month, in the very midst of Israel's fever-pitch preparations for the Pope's visit this week, Israel was shocked to find that the Vatican announced the signing of a special agreement with the PLO. What a remarkable alliance! But truthfully, it is understandable if the peace-loving, godly Pope has apparently forgotten that the nobel-prize winning Arafat is the most accomplished terrorist and murderer of our generation, single- handedly responsible for the deaths of scores of innocent men, women and children. After all, this is the man who proved to the entire world that murder really does pay off, for he has received recognition, and is accepted internationally as a head of state. Besides, America's leader has embraced Arafat and put good faith in him, and more importantly, in utter madness beyond all sane reasoning, in their self-imposed death march, so have the Israelis-so, who could blame the Pope?

This covenant, entitled "Agreement of Principles Between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Holy See," and marked by Arafat kissing the Pope's ring, calls for "a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli dispute to be achieved through negotiation and agreement to establish the national, legitimate, and inalienable rights and the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people to ensure peace and security for all peoples of the region on the basis of international law and UN resolutions, including the relevant Security Council resolutions, on the basis of justice and equality." Thus, while dealing with the peace process and Jerusalem, the document did not once mention Israel, nor did it mention Israel's security, or the need for normalized relations between Israel and the Palestinians.

It also states "that an equitable solution for the issue of Jerusalem, based on international resolutions, is fundamental for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, and that any unilateral decisions and actions altering the special character and legal status of Jerusalem are morally and legally unacceptable." This historic agreement "calls for a special status for Jerusalem, internationally guaranteed."

Thus, the Vatican considers Israel's declaration of Jerusalem as it capital to be an example of "unilateral decisions and actions altering the special character and legal status of Jerusalem" - which is "morally and legally unacceptable."

Is the Vatican fit to teach the world what is morally and legally unacceptable? As it did during the Crusades, the Inquisition and the Holocaust? Where is it written in Israel's Bible (does anyone remember that Israel brought the Bible to the world) that Jerusalem has a special character and legal status, other than its relationship with the Jewish people? Where is it written that anyone has a say in Jerusalem's status, or that it requires "international guarantees?" Do London, Paris or Rome require international guarantees? Is the Pope coming to visit Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people, having never been an Arab capitol, nor ever the capitol of any other people in the world? He will be met at Orient House under Palestinian flags, by Palestinian children wearing t- shirts that bear the logo "Welcome His Holiness to Jerusalem, eternal capital of Palestine." What interest has the Pope in visiting the Temple Mount, seeing that the site as well as the concept of the Temple has no place in Catholic theology or doctrine? We are not fooled. Political support for the Palestinians - and not religious reasons - is the main purpose of the Pope's trip to Israel. It is a clear follow-up of last month's PLO-Papal Jerusalem declaration.

Yesterday was Ta'anit Esther, the Fast Day of Esther. It was on this day that Queen Esther, faced with the reality of the wicked Haman's plan and the realization that she alone could intercede with the king, declared that all the Jews in Shushan should join together in fast, repentance and prayer. Traditionally, repentance and prayer offered on this day is regarded as having singular merit, and the power of prayer on the Fast of Esther, as well as its ability to be accepted and to nullify evil, is very great. With blasts from the silver trumpets created by the Temple Institute for use in the Holy Temple, a special prayer gathering was held at the Western Wall to cry out to G-d to nullify these decrees, and to bring about a new manifestation of the miracle of Purim.

We have learned that the Purim story all began when the evil King Ahashverosh of Persia decided that the Temple was not going to be rebuilt. To celebrate this, he held a lavish pagan banquet...and as an act of total profanity, he donned the Priestly garments, and served the feast using the sacred vessels that had been plundered by the Babylonians, and taken from Jerusalem at the time of the destruction of the First Temple. Despite the fact that this banquet was calculated and designed for the sole purpose of humiliating and degrading the Jews, all the Jewish people of Shushan attended anyway - even the great leaders of the generation. The sole exception was Mordechai, who donned sackcloth and ashes.

Today all of Israel celebrates Purim; those in Jerusalem and other ancient walled cities will celebrate Shushan Purim on Wednesday. "These things should be remembered and kept throughout every generation" (Esther 9:28).

The sages expound upon the meaning of this verse: an aspect of Purim is revisited, and reemerges, every year. What is the aspect of Purim "remembered and kept" today? We can find it in the incredulous expression of "the King" (as we taught, whenever the words "the King" alone are mentioned in the Scroll of Esther, it refers not to Ahashverosh, but to the Holy One, blessed be He, the King of Kings): "Will he even assault the Queen in my own presence, in the house?" (Esther 7:8)

These are the words of the One G-d of Israel to Pope John Paul II. The Holy One declares: I came back to My house, My palace, Jerusalem, together with my Queen, my people Israel. You dare to come here, to cast doubts about the status of Jerusalem, to interfere with its sanctity, and to try to cast doubts on Israel's sovereignty? You have the audacity to come to My house, and assault My people - in My own presence?

With blessings of "the Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor" (Esther 8:16)