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Parshat Noach – Leah Goldsmith

In last week’s parsha, man made a vow to guard the garden and keep it. Ten generations later we witness the total moral crumbling of mankind. No-one is guarding or keeping anything. Noach is building an ark for over 120 years and people are asking, “Why are you building this ark?” Noach explains “Unless we perfect the world, it will go under.” But they really don’t listen. It is getting really dark before the storm and people don’t heed, dark skies turn to black skies, like the plague of darkness in Egypt. Noah says to rectify but time has run out – it’s all over for most of the world aside from the Noach family and the animals they collected and preserved.

Fast forward ten generations and its 1948 BCE. The first man to see and know Hashem, Abraham, leaves it all behind and goes to a land he knows nothing about. He returns to the garden of Adam, to the Land of Israel. His life there is not easy. Every day holds a new test, a new inconvenience, a new hardship. Our Rabbis bring down that Israel is a land acquired through hardship. He has to sweat over the many tasks set before him in Eden/Israel. Notwithstanding, that very place is the field of vision where if you look hard enough, all you see is open miracles

Going full speed ahead in time into modern history, it is 1948 and we have “officially” cast anchor as we again take vows to guard the land and keep it. The very land that remained fallow for the two thousand years, its people were kept from it, where nothing grew for any nation. Jews wandered about aimlessly looking for a haven, a place they could call home. The time wasn’t right during the exile of Tohu VaVohu. But now, there is no change of course. Most of the world would like to see us in the sea and controversy surrounds the very idea of Israel. Why? The world still has some time to rectify but even our own fellow Jews ask “Why are you building this ark/Land” They do not realize that the sky is turning dark. . The Chesed Avraham,Rabbi Avraham Azuli, a saint and commentary on Kabbalah and torah subjects (1570-1644) who gave in depth explanations of the Ariz”l said about the days prior to the 7th millennium that “The lower waters will rise up and cover the world and Israel will remain like Noach’s ark.” He prophesied hundreds of years ago about the time that will come when simultaneously problems will flood the world, chaos will rule and only little Israel can be our refuge. (paralleling to the end of the sixth millennium- 6 days of creation- 6 millennium making this hour the one Adam ate from the tree of knowledge)- Unless we perfect the world, it will go under. In the prophets like Zechariah 13:8 there is a clear description of this.

Here on Itamar, the very heart of Israel we are doing our best to guard the Land and keep it. We are tested every single day. Our enemies also know what the heart means to the body. This is THE safe haven as uncanny as it sounds. It’s time to board the boat. “Don’t miss the boat!” Hashem sticks to His time table. Soon it will be time to light the Shabbat candles in more ways than one.

Shabbat Shalom- Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Bereishit

Bereishit

 

The ultimate aim in the creation of man was that he should strive to emulate G-d by following His attributes, like by being compassionate, giving and having a positive influence over the scheme of things. Also in deeds, like keeping Shabbat- just like G-d did. Adam was the forerunner, the first man. He was given the job of being “Tzaddik Yesod Olam”- the Righteous One, the foundation of the world. By connecting the elements of earth, wind, fire and water with his human intelligence and will, he was to make heaven on earth. “And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 1:7) There is a famous saying- “Lo bashamayim hee”- It is in the hands of people to make it happen. Bringing it all to a practical level of worship, he was told to guard and keep the Gan, but almost as soon as we cut the ribbon on a brand new world, he fails at “minding the store”. This led to his downfall. Forgetting that he was from the dust of the earth and emulating G-d, he wanted to know it all and to be on the same level of G-d.

 

2,000 years later, the plan for knowing G-d was put into motion by the first believing man, Abraham. He was returned to the Gan, the Land of Israel, rectifying Adam’s expulsion. Here, he maintained a new order of faith in one G-d. Everything was given to Adam, but it was only the Patriarchs in the Land that experienced the reality of G-d in their lives. Their ascent into higher spiritual dimensions was acquired through many tests and hardships, scenes in which they were brought down to their knees. Abraham says, “Who am I but dust and ashes” (Vayera 18:27) He was promised the entire Land, but had to pay for a burial plot for Sarah in Chevron. He was promised the Promised Land, but had to fight in wars. He knew G-d, but he, Abraham, had to “make it happen”. He had to do the guarding and keeping.

 

In Masechet Yoma there is a tractate dealing with the place called “Even Hashtiya “. This is the foundation stone from which the entire world was formed. This is the stone that protrudes from the floor of the Temple Mount in the area of the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem. It was here that Abraham was promised seed as many as “the dust of the earth”. It all begins and ends right here in this place. Abraham called this place, HaHar (the mountain) which in Chasidism symbolizes great love, the Divine attribute personified by Abraham. He wasn’t looking to eat from the tree of knowledge and he didn’t want to know it all. He ran to serve G-d through serving humanity. He is called AV hamone goyim- the father of many nations, but the covenant was passed through Abraham’s son, Yitzchak. Yitzchak, who was bound on an altar on this very stone was ready to give his life for G-d. Ya’akov, his son, had a dream of a ladder going up to heaven on this stone. He called this place HaBayit (the House) where the soul experiences the absolute unity of G-d. He later became the father of the 12 tribes that make up the unit of the House of Israel. These foundations are all based on this foundation stone, made of dust, the stone that was made “in the beginning”.

 

Rectifying a long exile of AGAIN 2,000 years, we return to walk the paths of our fathers into the Land- to guard it and keep it. We are only at the beginning of climbing the mountain and building a home. Please help us to do so.

 

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parshat Ki Tavo

Parshat Ki Tavo

 

“V’haya Ki Tavo el Ha’aretz” – “When you come into the Land”. (Dvarim 26:1)

 

Being that this parsha falls on the birth date of the Holy Baal Shem Tov, the father of Chassidut, and of the Alter Rebbe, I want to open a window to a Chassidic teaching pertaining to the above passuk. It is likened to when a soul descends from it’s heavenly source ‘into the land’- into this physical world to fulfill it’s purpose.

 

Am Yisrael was delivered from Egypt and wandered the domain of the empty desert where nothing was accessible and nothing was needed. They nursed Divine inspiration for 40 years. They did not have to eat, change their clothes or worry about a thing. Finally they reached their destination. Their guide and leader did not continue on with them, the manna stopped falling and a new realm of their identity unfolded as they entered the gates of the Land of Israel through the mountains of Har Gerizzim and Har Eval. Here they faced the call to choose between the blessing and the curse. They walked 60 kilometers from the Jordan to these mountains, to the Land of Shechem, a place their forefathers had purchased at the dawn of Judaism. Here was the first “station” of being inaugurated for the 1st Patriarch, Abraham. Here is the parcel of land Jacob bought as he first entered the land with his family after 22 years in the house of Lavan. Here, as they come to receive the torah in Israel, Am Yisrael now put to a final rest, Yosef Hatzaddik in the land that he was sold by his brothers. Am Yisrael are positioned on the 2 scales of Gerizzim and Eval and the blessings and curses are read. Now it was time to actualize G-d’s plan for them. This was the very special day they were motivated to so accordingly.

 

Blessings and curses in essence we bring upon ourselves. There is free choice and there are mitzvoth to do. It does not contradict. We can be blessed if we acknowledge the vitality in our lives, to know and understand what make us tick. We can also be prevented from being cursed if we just check to see how the word meaningful measures into the pitcher we pour and drink from each day. When we read Ki Tavo we think to ourselves, “Who am I, What am I, What am I doing, Am I REALLY alive? There is no greater curse than to be alive and not feel it. This parsha is positioned precisely at the time we need to hear it, close to the Day of Judgment and the beginning of a new cycle in our lives as we approach the New Year. It is clearly a time to ask, “Have I fulfilled my purpose and how have I enriched the world?”

 

Dear Readers,

It goes without saying that facing these very mountains written about in our parsha, and seeing them every day for the last 24 years while most people only read about them- has been a tremendous G-d given gift. Yes, today we have reached this point again as we enter the Land and try to settle it. It is spoken about with many many husks, doubts, confusion, and strife, even as if it belonged to someone else (G-d forbid!). It is in fact none of the above. It is the primordial covenant between G-d and the Jewish people. May the Torah prove to the entire world that we cannot ever run from the truth. May all the people who hold Israel dear – raise the banner of Har Gerizzim and Har Eval – they have chosen to be blessed!!

 

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Leah’s blog Aug 4th – Erev Tisha B’av

Leah’s Blog – Tisha B’Av and Living in the Protective Edge

A place I like to visit is a little bend at the bottom of the road that winds around the ample body of Mount Gerizzim. It’s a place of pools of water collected from the underground streams there, its greenishness a contrast to the summerlike beige sunbaked fields in the valley right below it but the first thing that comes to meet you is the pungent scent of the ripening fig trees. The mood there is absolutely primitive and if you’re lucky to be there alone, it feels primordial. Low walls of mossy grey rocks embedded into part of the slope of the mountain define a claim to territory, old and ancient.

Beyond the summit of the mountain, above and over the sharp edge that separates this paradise of myrtle and early autumn leaves and the drip drip drip of the sparkling water and the quiet, of soft moist air, a tire is burning. I can just make out the black smoke as I remember Dina taken by Shechem, probably in this very place where evil tries to come to meet goodness.

Erev Tisha Ba’Av 2014 and no buffer zone separates good from evil as a busload full of pious men with their holy books and little old women with wagons full of vegetables ready to prepare the meal before the fast gets abruptly impounded by a terrorist on a bulldozer in our Jerusalem. Hothouses is Eshkol are punctured by the shrapnel of a thousand little bullets and still, no peace has come to Israel as when Yaakov, called Israel returned and knew no peace. There is no safe border because we are all living on the edge. Yet, on this day, maybe the blackest of days when we have a custom to eat ash, we know that when we need to- we are a nation of warriors. The Shimon and Levi come out in us as we turn to each other as the cherubs in the Temple of old and say “Ish et reyehu ooleachiv yomar chazak” – Together we will overcome!

 

Leah Goldsmith

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Leah’s Blog July 25th 2014

 

 

There is a little blue glass bowl I have, a permanent fixture on our kitchen table, always full of sweet candy. After noticing that it is always full, no-one ever asks if it was someone’s birthday or anniversary. It’s just a fact in our home, that there is always something sweet here.

It is not easy to be the mother personally of two boys, soldiers in fighting units, engaged in the war of good over evil this summer. It falls into a solemn time when the fun of the sun is shadowed by our grief for when Rome came against Israel, destroying our Temple, setting our land on fire, scattering us and saying our hope is lost. This is why we have a custom of dipping our bread into salt. To remember.

As a mother living in Israel in this generation, I can say I have the merit of immersing myself in the mikveh of blind faith. I don’t know where the boys exactly are. What they eat, if they sleep, if they can drink when the hot reeking dust of the enemy blows into their faces. I wonder what dangers they encounter and if they internalize what they see. I immerse myself now in steadfast prayer, spontaneously, like never before. Please let them come home safely. Our boys are part of an army whose comradery supersedes any other because “Love your neighbor as yourself” has been so ingrained despite the hundreds of generations since Rabbi Akiva said it. It is a way of life. How they enter the fight in complete will, from the deepest place in their hearts and souls to serve Hashem, the nation and all goodness in the world.

This Shabbat I am baking challah with honey.

This is for the hope restored and ignited that no army or force can ever extinguish. This is for the dreams of all the Jewish generations coming true, for prayers answered. This is not a time for despair. As the missiles fall on Israel, planeloads of her people come to return to her, even now. And here, on the mountain, where I can just make out the sea I wait, knowing prophecy does come true. “Veshavu Banim legvoolam”.  – Your children will return to their land” Jeremiah 31:17

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Leah’s Blog – Reflections on the disengagement

My Blog- The hot Summer of 2014

It is almost a decade ago that our family took an unforgettable bus ride into what was soon to be the demolished Gush Katif. It was a last opportunity to ride as a civilian into that area of Israel, a collage of splendid greenhouses of celery, lettuce and I remember tasting the sweet tomatoes that were too good to be true. There were songbirds, cows, roosters and the steady slushy sound of the waves filling out the quiet, the peace. The beautiful villas that decorated that flourishing oasis facing the blue Mediterranean Sea made me wonder why we hadn’t spent more time in the salty sandy dunes of Gaza in all the years we had lived in Israel.

That tranquility ended abruptly as only a week after our visit, the residents of that paradise that they made in the sand piles were dragged from their homes by our army. Killing factories, bases for Chamas and missiles replace the synagoges and on top of the broken debris of hothouses, training camps for terrorists have been set up. When we passed Ashkelon on that day in the hot glaring blaze before the disengagement I remember seeing signs of doves and slogans for peace, banners rippling in the hot dusty wind of summer. People said, “If we only give it to them- we can have peace!” Something that reminded me of throwing Yosef into the pit, for after that was done the torah tells us the brothers sat down to eat bread.

Today houses in Tel Aviv have sandbags on their windows. There is no eating bread in peace, as the missiles launched from the surf in Gush Katif destroy those Tel Aviv dreams.

This summer has had us praying more. We believe our prayers were offerings that were accepted and are accepted now. As this Shabbat comes in and enters our hearts we thank Hashem for the open miracles He in His goodness has shown us here in Israel as hundreds of deadly rockets have fallen all over. In His mercy we have seen little damage. We also ask to pray for the refuah shelayma of our dear soldier of Itamar, Mordechay Chay Ben Bracha Yehudit who was wounded yesterday. We ask him to protect our soldiers going in to operate and that they all return safely (our two sons included!)We ask Hashem to give clarity of decision to our leaders to preserve the entire Israel at this time of great blessing as the rocks give wine and the prophesy of our Land coming to life returns. We as an entire country have experienced the result of folly, of the mistake of ripping away a limb from the body of Israel in leaving Gaza and pray that all of Israel remains forever in our hands. Hashem promised it to us, an everlasting legacy. To all of our friends out there, a friend brings a friend- please spread the word about our mission here and we need you now more than ever.

Shabbat Shalom, a Shabbat of Shalom in the true sense of the word

Leah Goldsmith

Itamar