by Rav Zalman Baruch Melamed, translated by Hillel Fendel
The atmosphere of freedom of the Festival of Freedom, Passover, will yet remain with us many days after the holiday has ended. What does this atmosphere include? It includes the feelings of joy and well-being that we experienced during the times of the Exodus – a sense of release and liberation from the subjugation that was both spiritual and physical.
by Rabbi S. Yosef Veitzen, translated by Hillel Fendel
Just like we don't rely totally upon the State to build Yeshivot, so too we cannot rely blindly upon it to actualize the values of Zionism.
Q. What is the definition of Jewish rule over the Land of Israel? Why is the democratic State of Israel defined on the one hand as embodying the rule of all its citizens (wherein there is a significant percentage of non-Jewish citizens), and on the other hand, it declares itself a state that, according to the Torah, constitutes Jewish sovereignty?
Why is the military rule over Judea and Samaria under Jordanian laws considered Jewish sovereignty? What is the limit beyond which, G-d forbid, Israel would not constitute Jewish sovereignty?
Q. I know that one may not listen to his parents if they tell him not to fulfill another Torah commandment. But what happens if they simply do not want him to fulfill the commandment in its most "honored" manner? For instance, they tell him not to buy a beautiful etrog, but a cheaper one – must he fulfill the mitzvah of honoring his parents, or may/should he buy the nicer etrog?
And in this connection, what if one's parents tell him not to live in Judea/Samaria? Is living there considered an extra important mitzvah, and therefore he should ignore his parents, or is it only a "beautification" of the existing mitzvah of living in the Land of Israel?
by Rav Shimon Cohen, yeshiva.co, translated by Hillel Fendel
This week's Torah portion of Metzora is often read publicly together with its sister portion, Tazria, and both deal with issues of impurity: tzaraat, leprosy of the body, clothing, and home, as well as the purification process after such curses are visited upon us.
Let us discuss the connection between tzaraat and the Land of Israel. The relevant passage in Metzora dealing with tzaraat of a house – the last type of leprosy discussed in the Torah – begins as follows: "When you come to the [Land] that I give you as an inheritance, it can happen that I will place a leprous curse in a house in your Land of Inheritance" (Vayikra 14,34).
On this verse, the Midrash HaGadol states something rather enigmatic: "After the Torah states that tzaraat applies after we arrive in the Land of Israel, the next issue to be mentioned should have been leprosy of the body (and not of the home) – but in fact, 'there is no first and last in the Torah,' meaning that the Torah is not written chronologically."
