Operation HOME Again Newsletter vol. 26 | 2.24.23 | פרשת תרומה | ג׳ אדר |
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With wishes for a Good Shabbos, we at Operation Home Again are excited to share this week's newsletter. From The HOME Desk: Enjoy a brief update from behind the scenes at OHA. Calling Us HOME: As we approach a full year from the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian War, it is worthwhile to revisit the letter written by Rishon L'Tzion Rav Yitzchak Yosef, addressing Jews in Chutz L'Aretz on the eve of the war. Welcome HOME: Rav Zev Leff shares Divrei Bracha at the welcoming event in Yerushalayim for the new Afula community. Rav Leff references the Chazal that Eretz Yisrael must be acquired through yissurim and suggests how best to fulfill this necessary precondition for living in Eretz haKodesh. A Few Minutes From HOME: Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf discusses the tachlis of Am Yisrael and addresses the questions: Why were we created as a nation? And, why were we given the Torah?
The Parsha Brings Us HOME - Terumah: The Gemara in Ketubos explains why Hashem asked Bnei Yisrael to build a Mishkan for him in the Midbar even though, as the Alshich HaKadosh brings, the ideal place for the Mikdash is only in Yerushalayim. _________________
Please share with family and friends and help us inspire a return HOME. שבת שלום |
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Kalaniyot (Red Poppies) are sprouting across the land after the blessing of the winter rains. In the picture, hundreds of the flowers grow in a field near Har Tavor. |
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From The HOME Desk This Week’s Look Behind the Curtain: Maale Amos: Serenity and Torah in the Judean Mountains In preparation for the arrival of dozens of families to Maale Amos from America, the Rosh Kollel of Maale Amos Rav Dovid Steinhaus wrote a letter addressed to all those interested in moving to the community. Rav Steinhaus writes about his personal experience living in the yishuv and the opinion of the Gedolim throughout the years regarding settling in a community in the Judean mountains. We have translated an excerpt from the beginning of the article below. _____________________ First of all, I would like to introduce myself. I was born in Gateshead, England, learned at the Gateshead yeshiva and then at the yeshiva of Moreinu v’Rabbeinu, Rav Dovid Soloveitchik zt”t in Yerushalayim, Ir HaKodesh. As a young avreich, I was looking for a way to live in the special atmosphere of Eretz Yisrael and continue to study in Kollel without the large expenses of renting or buying an apartment in the big cities. Baruch Hashem, I merited to learn for many years in the kollel in the yishuv (Maale Amos), and then to become the head of the kollel. I feel that, with Chasdei Hashem Yisbarach, I grew here more than I would have in Chutz L’Aretz, and even more than I would have grown in the big cities in Eretz Yisrael.
B’Chasdei Hashem Yisbarach, in the serene and peaceful atmosphere in the yishuv I was zoche to publish several sefarim that many enjoy and gain chizuk from - and it seems that the special relaxed atmosphere of the settlement had a big part to play in these sefarim. !הודו לה' כי טוב We have been privileged to raise a family in the yishuv and to see them now blessed with their own children, all Bnei Torah and wonderful Ovdei Hashem, and we have a lot of nachas d’kedushah from them and from all the grandchildren. .חסדי ה' כי לא תמנו! כן יתן ה' וכן יוסיף ברוב רחמיו וחסדיו _____________________ For more information about the community Aliyah to Maale Amos, contact registerkumu@gmail.com. You can read the full article (Hebrew) by clicking on the document below. |
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Calling Us HOME This Shabbos will mark one year from the start of the Russian-Ukranian war. A week before the start of the war, the Rishon L'Tzion (Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel) Rav Yitzchak Yosef wrote an official letter addressed to Jews in Chutz L'Aretz. Now a year out, it is worthwhile to revisit his words as his message has only become more relevant with the passage of time. _____________________ To our dear and beloved Jewish brothers living in foreign lands, especially Ukraine: During these times, when the sounds of war are heard, it’s appropriate for every Jew with yirat Shamayim (fear of heaven) to hasten his way to Holy Land, as promised by the prophet Ovadia (1:17): וּבְהַר צִיּוֹן תִּהְיֶה פְלֵיטָה וְהָיָה קֹדֶש (On Mount Zion there will be refuge, and it will be holy) . . .[A]scending to the Holy Land is always a very great and important mitzvah, and at all times we must strive to reach the Holy Land and especially the holy city of Jerusalem. And now that there are sounds and fears of war, the issues are unfolding in a way as to see it as a type of call from Shamayim to ascend to the Holy Land from all the foreign lands in the entire Diaspora, and especially to the holy city of Jerusalem, because these are the places where the Divine Presence rests, and they have more protection. . . [T]here is a sacred obligation on each and every Jew who has fear of Heaven in all the lands of the Diaspora to make every effort to hurry and hasten his footsteps to Eretz Yisrael, and to make aliyah quickly to our Holy Land, and not to delay at all. . . And Hashem, May He be blessed who feeds and sustains everyone will, with Heavenly assistance, provide everyone with a good place to live, and food and adequate income. With the blessing of the Torah, Yitzchak Yosef Rishon L'Tzion Chief Rabbi of Israel _____________________ The original letter in Hebrew can be seen below. |
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Welcome HOME Rav Zev Leff shares Divrei Bracha at the welcoming event in Yerushalayim for the new Afula community. Rav Leff references the Chazal that Eretz Yisrael must be acquired through yissurim and suggests how best to fulfill this necessary precondition for living in Eretz haKodesh. |
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A Few Minutes From HOME Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf discusses the tachlis of Am Yisrael and addresses the questions: Why were we created as a nation? And, why were we given the Torah? |
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The Parsha Brings Us HOME: Terumah _____________________
וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ (שמות כה:ח) And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. (Shemos 25:8) מֵעִיקָּרָא כְּתִיב: ״תְּבִיאֵמוֹ וְתִטָּעֵמוֹ״, וּלְבַסּוֹף כְּתִיב: ״וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם״. (תלמוד בבלי, כתובות סב:) Initially it is written: “You bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, the place that You, O Lord, have made for You to dwell in” (Shemos 15:17), which indicates that Hashem’s original intention was to build a Mikdash for Am Yisrael after they had entered Eretz Yisrael. And ultimately it is written: “And let them make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” (Shemos 25:8). Hashem, as it were, could not wait to 'dwell among them' and therefore commanded Bnei Yisrael to build a sanctuary in the Midbar, but ultimately the designated place for the Beis HaMikdash and the dwelling of the Divine Presence is only in Eretz Yisrael. (Talmud Bavli, Ketubos 62b). אלשייך הקדוש: כי שם שער השמים, ומאז נברא העולם שרתה שכינה במקום ההוא, כי על כן הקריבו שם קרבנם אדם ונח, ואברהם את בנו יצחק. והטעם כי הוא מכוון כנגד בית המקדש של מעלה, כאומרם על ׳מכון v.שבתך׳ , מכוון לשבתך Alshich HaKadosh: For there [in Yerushalayim] is the gateway to heaven, and since the creation of the world the Divine presence has rested in that place, and this is why Adam HaRishon and Noach brought their sacrifices there, and Avraham brought his son Yitzchak there [as a sacrifice]. The reason [that the Divine presence rests there] is because it is aligned with the Beis HaMikdash in heaven, as they explain "your dwelling place ", infers "the place aligned with where you dwell." |
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