15 Mar Parshas Pekudei Rosh Chodesh – Adar II and The 2 State Solution
Parshas Pekudei
Rosh Chodesh – Adar II – 5784 (Mar 3-4, 2024)
and the 2 State Solution?
“He transforms the barren wife into a glad mother of children”. (Hallel psalm 113)
This year (5784) Adar II Rosh Chosed coincides with Parshas Pekudei. We read Psalm 113 in the Hallel prayer on Rosh Chodesh (New Month) and other occasions where we refer to the Land of Israel as the Mother and the Nation of Israel as Her Children as the verse refers to the process of igniting the barren concealed Holiness of Mother Land and Her children, the Nation of Israel as the birth of a new entity… The Final Redemption, The Messianic Era.
Israel as The Holy Land-
Much of the Holiness of the Jewish Land and Her Holy People are intimately connected and are currently concealed and awaiting our efforts to reveal and ignite it’s true potential through our merits. If we are going to prepare for the arrival of Mashiach, we must not only rectify ourselves, but we must also know that we must also rectify the Land of Israel as the Torah teaches.
Obstacles
It is not enough to rely on the force of Might (gevurah) to fight anti-Semitism and fight our enemies in Israel and the Jewish Nation by protest, demonstration, letter writing, or military action. This is however the unfortunate reality of the process of our sovereignty which we are engaged in and a condition of our current world state as the state of the world is saturated with might- gevurah. However, action must be accompanied by conscious thought and dedication to G-d, Torah study and Torah values.
Thought disconnected from action without having a G-d Consciousness is empty. We need to engage in both simultaneously.
Mission
Our mission as Jews includes a focus on the Final Redemption, the Messianic era as the time of the unifying of the Mother and Her Children. This is a reference to the rectification and elevated Holy existence according to Torah values;‘The Land of Israel (the Mother) and Her Children ( the Nation of the Jewish People)’ and the birth of a new entity, the Messianic Era.
It is insufficient to deal with the rectification of our Land or the People on either a wholly intellectual or wholly emotional level. We need to focus on and acquire Unity- Harmon (the emanation of Tiferet). It is through the interinclusion of our thoughts and actions and a G-d consciousness that our efforts are to be fruitful.
The Land of Israel will not be acquired and elevated through war, politics and protest alone.
It will require the efforts of the individuals and the collective National of Israel to Learn , Live and Teach Torah values.
Regarding a 2 State Solution
The Talmud teaches that Land that is conquered in response to an enemy attack or eminent threat is considered to be no different than the ‘Biblical’ Land of Israel as it is G-d who Willed the victory. A gift. Ultimately, All is G-ds. Accordingly, in a most extreme case, land must not be given away unless it is decided by a Sanhedrin (a Torah Supreme Court which currently does not exist but may exist again when there is a 3rd Holy Temple). It is also stated that remuneration for a captive (a kidnapped vicitim) is also at the discretion of the Sanhedrin and if decide, must be minimal so as not to encourage such activity.
When Moses appointed Joshua as the leader of the Jewish Nation, it was Joshua’s mission to conquer the land, to rid land of idolatry and immoral ways. Joshua almost completed his mission but had decided on his own, in opposition to his mission , to spare a few individuals in the land he was to conquer. We know today as Gaza and Trans-Jordan (The West Bank) . These are regions that throughout history have remained problematic to Israel and the Jewish Nation.
The Talmud teaches that we must ‘build a place for Him to dwell’. This is understood to mean each Jew shall build himself as place for G-d to dwell by living in Torah appropriate way and speaks to each Jew and his intimate connection in his relationship to elevating himself and the Land and the Nation of Israel.
When the Jew becomes elevated, the Land becomes elevated. To usher in the Final Redemption, only the Jew and Righteous Gentile may dwell within the Land. This ensures the continued holiness of the Land and Her people.
We hasten the Final Redemption by elevating the Barren Mother-The Land of Israel , and her Children- the Jewish Nation through the merits of our Mitzvot.
Purim- Parshat Zachor
We are fast approaching Purim and the reading of Parsha Zachor where we are commanded To Remember- the evils of Amalek. This includes the mitzvah to wipe out completely the 7 Cannanite nations that occupied in the Land. The 187th positive mitzvah is that we are commanded to kill and destroy the seven nations [of Canaan]1 because they are the prime worshippers and original source of idolatry…And; The 49th negative prohibition is that we are forbidden from allowing any individual from the seven nations to live. [This is commanded] in order that they not ruin other people and cause them to err by following idolatry. Maimonides
Given the gravity of our current state of affairs it is of the utmost importance that we find clarity of our immediate and long term decisions and their consequences. >
Leib Getzel (Lawrence) Lax
Addictions and Counseling
lawrencelax.com (Counceling Site)
lawrenceJlax@gmail.com