Q&A: What Makes Am Yisrael Special?

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Q: Is what distinguishes Am Yisrael from all the nations the Torah? And if there is a Jew who is not connected to the Torah, then ostensibly he should not feel different from all the nations, right?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife

[Answered by Rav S. Yosef Weizan, https://www.yeshiva.org.il/ask/]

A: The Israeli segula [deepest inner essence of the collective Hebrew soul] is of course connected to the segula of the Torah, which is united with the soul of Israel. However, both the specific Israeli component and the special part of Torah that is for everyone, can, for awhile when things are not yet revealed, exist only in a specific form. But this is only for a limited period. Over time, ultimately, we were promised that the Israeli segula will break all the shells and all the barriers and be revealed outwardly. If not in the father's life, then in the son's life. And if not in the son's life, then in the grandson's life. Israel is promised that they will do t'shuva [return to living their true inner essence].

Balak: How Will the Redemption Come?

by Rav Yehuda HaKohen, visionmag.org

Bilaam with Balak's messengers

After learning of Moshe’s stunning victory against the Amorites, King Balak of Moav forged an alliance with Midian in order to wage war together against the Children of Israel. Once realizing the extent of Israel’s strength, however, Moav and Midian enlisted the infamous Bilaam to attack the Hebrew tribes through spiritual means.

Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain – the second Admor of the Sokhatshov Ḥasidic dynasty – teaches in his Shem MiShmuel that Balak did not necessarily seek Israel’s destruction but was determined “to strike it and drive it away from the land” (Bamidbar 22:6). Pointing out that Israel posed no direct threat to either Moav or Midian, as neither people’s territory was en route to the Promised Land, the Shem MiShmuel quotes our Sages as teaching that Balak’s primary goal was to prevent the Hebrew tribes from entering the Land of Israel (Tanḥuma Balak 4, Bamidbar Rabbah 20:7).

The State of Israel Is a Torah Commandment

by Rav Moshe Kaplan, meirtv.com/en

What are the sources that discuss national sovereignty in the Land of Israel as a positive commandment? How strong are those sources? Is the commandment a personal or collective commandment? Is the requirement to fulfill this commandment still applicable today? Watch below to get all the answers!

Parshat Hukat: Rejecting the "Mann," Ready for Food

By Baruch Gordon

Baruch Gordon shines a unique light on the Jewish people's complaints to HaShem about the perfect Mann He provided them in the desert. No longer a generation with a slave mentality, the Hebrews entering Israel were ready and willing to take on the hard work necessary to live by the labor of their own hands. Just like today...

Parshat Hukat: Lessons in Israel Advocacy

by Rav Yehuda HaKohen, visionmag.org

“The Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelled in the south, heard that Israel had come by the route of the spies, and he warred against Israel and took a captive from it. Israel made a vow to HaShem and said, ‘If You will deliver this people into my hand, I will consecrate their cities.’ HaShem heard the voice of Israel, and He delivered the Canaanite, and it consecrated them and their cities. It named the place Ḥormah.” (Bamidbar 21:1-3)

Rashi teaches that the captive abducted from Israel was actually a female slave taken from the Canaanites during a previous battle. That the entire Hebrew Nation mobilized to rescue the captive indicates the appropriate response to even the slightest provocation. By permitting an enemy to take even a slave girl, Israel would be displaying weakness and inviting further aggression. But by responding with maximum force, the Hebrews sent a clear message strong enough to discourage future attacks.