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Parsha and Chagim ideas from the rabbis of Kerem B'Yavneh
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It was just a week ago that the overseas program of כרם ביבנה Kerem B'Yavneh went on a טיול Tiyul, the post-פסח Pesach טיול Tiyul. And we went somewhere that we'd never ever been before, a place called מעברות הירדן Ma'abarot HaYarden or in Arabic the name is קסר אל יהוד Kasr al-Yahud. It's the place which יהושע Yehoshua took the Jewish nation and crossed the ירדן Yarden into ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. And how do we know that's the place? Well, it's explicit in the תורה Torah and brought down in the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch that it's where the ירדן Yarden is parallel to the town of יריחו Yericho. And the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch writes that when you go to that place you make a ברכה Beracha: ברוך אתה השם אלקינו מלך העולם שעשה נסים לאבותינו במקום הזה Baruch Ata Hashem Elokeinu Melech HaOlam She'asa Nissim L'avoseinu Bamakon Hazeh. It's מרגש Meragesh, it's exciting. You come and you stand in the very place where יהושע Yehoshua led the twelve tribes and you envision the נד Nad, the נד Ned, the pillar of water that was going higher and higher and higher and higher to the Jews as they were standing on עבר הירדן Ever HaYarden and looking to the right and seeing the water going up and up and up and up and up. And as they were standing there and as the water was going up, יהושע Yehoshua received a message from הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu to share with the Jewish people that they're about to enter the land and there's a מצוה Mitzva of ירושת הארץ Yerushat Ha'aretz. You have to go into the land and conquer the land from the non-Jews who live there. This מצוה Mitzva is not a standard מצוה Mitzva; it's a מצוה Mitzva which is parallel to all the other מצוות Mitzvos of entering the land, conquering the land, and dwelling there. It's a מצוה Mitzva which everything else depends on, the entire תורה Torah depends on. And as the Jews were standing there watching this supernatural miracle taking place of all the water rising and rising, I imagine it was somewhat fearful. In fact, the פסוק Pasuk even says when they went in to get the stones וימהרו Vayeimaharu, they were rushing because they recognized the significance of the moment and it was fearful to see. But it wasn't only them who saw that miracle taking place. All the nations who at that time lived in the land of Israel, they also saw this enormous pillar of water going higher and higher and higher. It was a declaration: the Jewish people are entering their land. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is returning his nation to their land. And as the Jews saw the miracle and as the non-Jews saw the miracle, everyone recognized the time had come. The time had come where הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu had chosen his nation to enter his land and dwell his שכינה Shechina amongst us again in הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu's palace. And that was so significant that the rabbis declared in the גמרא Gemara in ברכות Brachos and brought down in the שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch that whenever you go there, or at least every thirty days, you make the ברכה Beracha שעשה נסים לאבותינו She'asa Nissim L'avoseinu in this very place. And I'm wondering if in the future generations they're going to look back and they're going to say, well, let's make another ברכה Beracha for all the miracles that have happened in the last two years. The miracles of עם ישראל Am Yisrael returning to their land in our time. The miracle of going from six million Jews being killed just eighty years ago to having over six million Jews, over seven million Jews in the land of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael today. The miracle of the קיבוץ גלויות Kibbutz Galuyos taking place. And when we think of the גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין Sanhedrin that says that חזקיהו המלך Chizkiyahu HaMelech was fitting to be the משיח Mashiach after the destruction of סנחריב Sancheriv and he just had to sing שירה Shira, just had to thank הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu would have made him the משיח Mashiach and brought the final era in. And the שפת אמת Sfas Emes explains on a deeper level, what was the reason why he didn't sing שירה Shira? Why didn't he praise הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu for those great miracles that took place at that time? And the שפת אמת Sfas Emes says that his level of בטחון Bitachon was so high. He was so sure that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu was going to do the miracle that he took it almost for granted. That's just the way it is. That's just the way that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu relates to the Jewish nation. And in a way in our time, we've come to that state as well. We've got so used to the miracles. We're so expecting that הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to win the war on our behalf. It's obvious to us. It may be sooner, it may be later, but it's obvious to us that all the people who were captured are going to return. It's obvious to us that all the nations around us who for years and years have been building up their stockpiles of weapons are eventually going to crumble before our very eyes. It was obvious to us that חמאס Chamas, חיזבאללה Chizballah, Syria and Iran were eventually going to be decimated. We haven't got to that final stage yet, but we're so much closer this year than we were this time last year. And we thank הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu for those miracles. And we have to be careful not to fall on that trap the way the שפת אמת Sfas Emes defines the חזקיהו המלך Chizkiyahu HaMelech. But to recognize in the same way as the Jews stood as they were entering the land of Israel at the מעברות הירדן Ma'abarot HaYarden and they said this is a נס Nes that's taking place and הלכה Halacha says to remember that miracle again and again, we in our time, we're reliving the miracles. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is doing the miracles for us. And this time of יום העצמאות Yom Ha'atzmaut is a time where we have to be... and thank הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Barukh Hu. Not to take anything for granted. ואני בחסדך בטחתי Va'ani Bechasdekha Batachti. It's true that I trust in you, יגל לבי בישועתך Yagel Libi Bishuatekha. But even though I trust in you, even though יגל לבי בישועתך Yagel Libi Bishuatekha, nevertheless, I rejoice. Even though ואני בחסדך בטחתי Va'ani Bechasdekha Batachti, even though I trust in you fully, nevertheless even though I know it's going to happen השם Hashem, I know you're on our side and I trust in you deeply, even so, יגל לבי בישועתך Yagel Libi Bishuatekha. I rejoice when you have a ישועה Yeshuah. And when we rejoice over השם'ס Hashem's ישועות Yeshuos, then הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Barukh Hu will say, \"My children, you appreciate everything I'm doing for you. Let's do that final stage. We'll be זוכה Zokhe for the משיח צדקנו במהרה בימינו אמן Mashiach Tzidkeinu Bimherah Beyameinu Amen.\"