First Aliya: Aharon received instructions to light the Menorah, a seven-branched candelabrum illuminating the interior of the Tabernacle. The Menorah was crafted as a single piece from pure gold. All the candles on the Menorah inclined towards the middle candle, which itself was directed towards the most sacred place or Qodesh haQodashim.

Second Aliya: Moshe was commanded to prepare the Leviyim (Levites) for religious service in the Tabernacle, a temple built in the desert. The Leviyim were then installed in their sacred service. They worked in the Tabernacle starting from age 25, and retired from this service at 50.

Third Aliya: The people of Israel celebrated their second Pesach since leaving Egypt. A second Pesach, one month after the first, was established for those unable to bring the Pesach sacrifice on time. Our sages say that those impure at that time were the ones who had carried Yosef’s remains. Yosef had made his brothers swear to bury him in the land of Israel. When those in charge of Yosef’s body came to Moshe, uncertain of what to do because they were impure and could not celebrate the first Pesach, Moshe didn’t know what to answer. Moshe then asked HaShem for instructions because everything Moshe did or said was through direct communication with God.

Fourth Aliya: This Aliya recounts the beginning of the long-awaited journey to the Promised Land. The Tabernacle or Mishkan was finished, and all the tasks related to it had been assigned to the Leviyim and the Cohanim. It was finally time to set out! The Israelites needed some sort of guidance (a GPS!) to know when to depart and where to go. HaShem indicated the creation of silver trumpets to signal when the camp should move. Also, a cloud that hovered over the Tabernacle would rise and move in the direction they needed to follow.

Fifth Aliya: On the 20th of Iyar, the Mishkan cloud lifted, initiating the journey which should have lasted a few months but ended up taking 40 years. This Aliya also discusses Yitro, who joined us before the giving of the Tora and now, a year and a half later, decided to return to his land in Midyan. The Tora illustrates that the Aron ha’Edut, the Ark of the Covenant, would always travel ahead of the people. This interesting point underscores a fundamental principle: the People of Israel must always follow the Aron, that is, the Tora.

Sixth Aliya: This Aliya begins with the famous verse “Vayhi Binso’a haAron” that we chant before taking the Tora out. Later, the Tora describes the complaints of the people about their living conditions in the desert. The Tora depicts the “manna”, a nutritious heavenly food the Israelites could gather in the desert, indicating they had ample food even in the desert. This clarifies that those complaining weren’t doing so out of genuine need. Moshe expresses his immense frustration at the people’s behavior. However, God promises to fulfill their desires and sends the “selav,” or quail, for the people to eat meat. Moshe is instructed to appoint a Sanhedrin to help him govern the people and teach them Tora. Moshe, the greatest prophet of all time, couldn’t lead an entire people alone. The Tora’s message is that a leader should always strive to lead alongside other capable individuals.

Seventh Aliya: Quails descended on the camp in large numbers, and the people ate more than enough meat. This obsessive behavior, given the availability of “manna,” wasn’t appropriate for God’s People. After overeating vast amounts of meat, many people died. Aharon and Miriam spoke negatively about Moshe (Lashon Hara), saying that Moshe was too occupied with his responsibilities to the people and never at home, even though he was married to Tzippora. Aharon and Miriam also thought it wasn’t right that only Moshe had direct communication with God (prophecy), as they were also prophets, and had regular lives with their families! HaShem responded that they couldn’t be compared to Moshe. Moshe was a “full-time” prophet who communicated with God 24/7, making a normal family life impossible. However, Moshe was the only exception in all of history exempted from having a normal family life. And yet, he was married and even had two children! Miriam was punished with a form of leprosy for speaking against Moshe, but Moshe interceded for her, and she was healed.

Rabbi Jacob Bitton

The Tora recounts that during the forty years the people of Israel lived in the desert, God provided them with a miraculous food called man (manna). This heavenly bread fell each morning in the desert and nourished the Jews sufficiently, daily, and directly. It could not be stored —except for Shabbat— nor hoarded, traded, or negotiated. Its purpose was not only nutritional but also educational.

The man came to break the chains of material and psychological dependency on Pharaoh, who until then had given them bread in exchange for keeping them enslaved. That dependency was part of a system of total control.

The man broke that system, as sustenance no longer came from the oppressor but directly from God. It wasn’t a transaction. It didn’t come with conditions. It didn’t create slaves. It was the bread that liberated an entire nation from tyranny.

THE BUSINESS OF HUMANITARIAN AID

Today, amid a terrible war that began with the October 7 massacre, Israel is once again doing what no one else would: being the exception to the rule. This time, by feeding the enemy — giving food to those who still hold malnourished hostages and who murdered Israeli civilians and swore to destroy the country.

Many —rightfully— ask: Why feed them without first demanding the release of the hostages that Hamas still holds?

The official answer came from Prime Minister Netanyahu: this food distribution operation, coordinated with the United States through the GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation), also has a key strategic objective — to break the dependency of Palestinian civilians on Hamas and thus deprive the terrorist organization of its most powerful weapon.

THE MERCHANTS OF HUNGER

Just like Pharaoh in Egypt, Hamas rules by controlling hunger. Until now, Hamas managed the food distribution coming from allied humanitarian organizations like UNRWA —or food that it outright stole, moved to its storage facilities, and then sold to civilians at exorbitant prices. With that money, they financed terrorism, kept their militants satisfied, and blackmailed the civilian population with food. Hundreds of thousands of people lived under Hamas domination to access so-called “humanitarian aid.”

Now, for the first time, the people of Gaza are receiving bread that —like the man— no longer passes through the criminal and enslaving hands of tyranny and is given without demanding anything in return.

THE END OF HAMAS?

This Israeli-American aid program represents an existential threat to Hamas and its grip on Gaza. And so far, it is working very well. In just three days, Israel has distributed over 1,300,000 food rations — unconditionally and with no strings attached.

Signs of panic are already visible within Hamas, while a glimmer of hope is rising among the population, which is beginning to overcome its fear and break free from the pharaonic terrorist organization.

For the first time, Gazans are expressing gratitude to the United States and Israel, to Trump, and Abu Yair (=Netanyahu).

The man falling from Israel’s sky is now descending upon the desert of Gaza — and it is showing both Palestinians and the world who builds and who destroys, who enslaves and who liberates, who gives and who blackmails with hunger.

Will it work?

Beneath Jerusalem: The Hidden City That Rewrites History

In rabbinic literature, there is frequent mention of an upper Jerusalem and a lower Jerusalem (Yerushalayim shel ma‘ala veYerushalayim shel mata). The classic or conventional meaning of this expression is that the lower Jerusalem is the city we know and miraculously recovered in 1967, while the upper Jerusalem is the celestial, platonic city—the “virtual Jerusalem.” However, today I believe this expression can be expanded or even reinterpreted: there is an upper Jerusalem, the one we walk today—the Old City and the plaza of the Western Wall (Kotel HaMa’aravi)—and another Jerusalem: the one currently being excavated beneath the plaza of the Kotel.

I’m not referring to the already famous Kotel tunnels (Minharot haKotel) or the fascinating ruins of the City of David (see here: https://cityofdavid.org.il/en/), but rather to a new excavation of subterranean Jerusalem—a significantly larger archaeological site—that began during the days of COVID, when the Western Wall plaza was virtually empty, without worshippers or tourists, making this delicate work finally possible. The site is still neither open to the public nor officially recognized, which is why there are no official videos of the location yet.

In this archaeological site, retaining columns have been carefully erected, and today the Kotel plaza is literally “floating” above this subterranean city. Thousands of archaeological artifacts have already been found but have yet to be classified or studied.

Over these past few years, archaeologists have partially reconstructed certain historical levels of Jerusalem. Israel’s best archaeologists and engineers are searching for ways to continue excavating to reach deeper and older levels while preserving the more “modern” layers.

Here are a couple of examples:

1. Aelia Capitolina and the burned granaries

The first level of the city being uncovered beneath the Kotel plaza is “Aelia Capitolina,” the city built by the Romans when they tragically destroyed Jerusalem in 68 CE and transformed the Jewish city into a Roman colony.

One of the most impactful and emotional discoveries at this level has been the granaries of Jerusalem, preserved in their entirety, dating back to the days of the destruction of the Second Temple. It was the year 67 CE. The Romans had besieged Jerusalem. Their strategy was clear: isolate the city until hunger forced its inhabitants to surrender. They had successfully used this tactic in Gaul and Britannia. However, the Jews of Jerusalem were prepared. They had constructed enormous water cisterns and irrigation systems. Most importantly, they had granaries—huge storage rooms filled with wheat and barley that could sustain the city for years. The Roman army, powerful as it was, could not indefinitely maintain an excessively prolonged siege due to the immense cost involved. Therefore, there was a chance that time would favor the entrenched Jews in Jerusalem.

But there were deep internal divisions regarding how to fight the Romans. Some believed it was wisest to resist from within and negotiate surrender as a last resort. Others argued for attacking the Romans. Those supporting the latter option tried to impose their views and force the people to fight. And what did they do? They burned the granaries (Sarfu et haAsamim)—setting fire to the entire city’s food reserves. This act became one of self-destruction. Not everyone left to fight, and those who did were defeated. Those wishing to resist could no longer do so and died from starvation. The result was the total collapse of Jerusalem. It was not in vain that our sages said Jerusalem was destroyed because of senseless hatred (sin’at chinam), meaning the “political hatred” among the Jews themselves.

I believe the discovery of these burned granaries carries profound symbolic significance because, unfortunately, today in Israel there are those willing to “burn the granaries” to impose their ideology without realizing the damage that destructive attitude causes to the unity of the nation and the future of Medinat Israel.

2. From your ruins I will rebuild you, O Jerusalem (מחורבותיך אבנך)

King Uziyahu ascended the throne at 16 years old, around the year 775 BCE, and reigned for 52 years. His reign began amid a national tragedy: a devastating earthquake estimated at 8 on the Richter scale. The destruction was so great that even the prophet Zechariah, writing 250 years later, referenced it as a symbol of Jerusalem’s worst natural catastrophe.

Facing that disaster, Uziyahu had two options: abandon Jerusalem and relocate the capital to another city, or stay and rebuild it from the ruins. He chose the latter. Instead of fleeing, he decided to act. He fortified the city, built watchtowers at strategic points, restored irrigation systems, and modernized the city’s defenses. He excavated cisterns, encouraged cultivation in desert areas, and developed advanced military technology. Instead of succumbing to pain and chaos, Uziyahu brought peace, economic growth, and stability to Israel. Most impressive is not just what he built, but when he built it: after collapse. His story reminds us that rebuilding after disaster is not only possible but is a duty of Jewish leadership.

Many of the structures discovered in these excavations at the deepest level excavated thus far indicate reconstruction after seismic collapse and are attributed to Uziyahu’s legacy.

The example of the king of Judah could not be more fitting for today. Israel faces a profound crisis following the tragedy of October 7, and, with God’s help (BeEzrat HaShem), King Uziyahu’s legacy will inspire us to rebuild from the ruins. Israel rises from mourning not merely to survive but to stand taller and firmer than before. Like in the times of Uziyahu, Israel stands up with determination, transforming pain into strength and destruction into a new beginning.

May the lessons of these ancient ruins inspire Israel, and may HaShem enlighten us to build a stronger and more united society than ever before

תרגום לעברית

בספרות הרבנית מדברים על “ירושלים של מעלה” ו”ירושלים של מטה”. הפירוש הקלאסי או המקובל של ביטוי זה הוא ש”ירושלים של מטה” היא העיר שאנו מכירים ושחזרנו אליה בדרך ניסית בשנת 1967, ואילו “ירושלים של מעלה” היא העיר השמימית, האידאלית, ”הוירטואלית“.
אך נדמה לי שכיום ניתן להרחיב או אף לפרש מחדש ביטוי זה: קיימת ירושלים של מעלה – העיר העתיקה ורחבת הכותל המערבי – וישנה גם ירושלים אחרת: זו שנחפרת בימים אלה מתחת לרחבת הכותל.
איני מתכוון למנהרות הכותל המוכרות כבר, או לאתר עיר דוד המרתקות (ראו כאן: https://cityofdavid.org.il/en/), אלא לחפירה חדשה של ירושלים תת-קרקעית, אתר ארכיאולוגי עצום בגודלו, שהחל להיחשף בימי הקורונה, כאשר רחבת הכותל הייתה כמעט ריקה – ללא מתפללים או תיירים – וכך התאפשר לבסוף לבצע את המשימה המסוכנת הזו. האתר עדיין אינו פתוח לציבור ואינו מוכר רשמית, ולכן אין עדיין תיעוד רשמי של המקום.
באתר זה הוקמו עמודי תמך בקפידה רבה, והרחבה של הכותל המערבי כיום ממש “מרחפת” מעל עיר תת-קרקעית זו. עד כה נמצאו שם אלפי ממצאים ארכיאולוגיים שטרם מוינו או נחקרו.
במהלך השנים האחרונות שוחזרו חלקית כמה שכבות היסטוריות של ירושלים. הארכיאולוגים והמהנדסים הטובים ביותר בישראל מחפשים דרכים להמשיך ולחפור לעומק – לשכבות עתיקות יותר – תוך שימור השכבות העליונות והמודרניות יחסית.
אשתף אתכם בשני ממצאים בולטים
איליה קפיטולינה והאסמי השרופים
השכבה הראשונה שנחשפת מתחת לרחבת הכותל שייכת לעיר “איליה קפיטולינה”, העיר שבנו הרומאים לאחר שבעוונותינו הרבים החריבו את ירושלים בשנת 68 לספירה והפכו את העיר היהודית לקולוניה רומית.
אחד הממצאים המרגשים והמזעזעים ביותר שנחשפו בשכבה זו הוא אסמי החיטה של ירושלים, שנותרו בשלמותם, המתוארכים לימי חורבן בית המקדש השני. השנה הייתה 67 לספירה. הרומאים צרו על ירושלים. האסטרטגיה שלהם הייתה ברורה: לבודד את העיר עד שתיכנע לרעב. הם כבר הצליחו בכך בגליה ובבריטניה. אך היהודים בירושלים היו מוכנים: הם חצבו בורות מים ענקיים, בנו מערכות השקיה, ובעיקר – היו להם אסמים מלאים חיטה ושעורה שהספיקו להזין את תושבי העיר במשך שנים. צבא רומא, חזק ככל שהיה, לא יכול היה להחזיק במצור ממושך בשל העלויות הגבוהות. הייתה אפוא תקווה שהזמן יעבוד לטובת המגנים היהודים.
אך בתוך ירושלים שררה מחלוקת קשה כיצד להילחם. חלק מהאנשים סברו שיש להתבצר ולהתנגד, ובמקרה הצורך להגיע למשא ומתן עם האיב. אחרים סברו שיש לצאת ולהילחם ברומאים. וכדי לכפות את דעתם על הציבור הציתו את התבואה של כל תושבי ירושלים: , שרפו את האסמים – . זה היה מעשה של התאבדות לאומית. מי שיצא להילחם – הובס. ומי שניסה להחזיק מעמד – מת מרעב. וכך נפלה ירושלים. לא בכדי אמרו חכמינו ז”ל שירושלים נחרבה בגלל שנאת חינם, כלומר: ״שנאה פוליטית״ בין היהודים לבין עצמם.
אני סבור שגילוי “האסמים השרופים” טומן בחובו סמליות אדירה, כי גם היום, לצערנו, יש בישראל מי שמוכן “לשרוף את האסמים” כדי לכפות את השקפת עולמו, מבלי להבין את הנזק ההרסני שנגרם לאחדות העם ולעתידה של מדינת ישראל.
מחורבותיך אבנך
המלך עוזיהו עלה לשלטון בגיל 16, בערך בשנת 775 לפני הספירה, ומלך 52 שנה. תחילת שלטונו התרחשה בעת אסון לאומי: רעידת אדמה הרסנית, שהוערכה בעוצמה של 8 בסולם ריכטר. ההרס היה כה נורא, עד שגם הנביא זכריה, שחי כ-250 שנה לאחר מכן, הזכיר את רעידת האדמה הזו כסמל לאסון הטבע החמור ביותר שפקד את ירושלים.
מול האסון הזה עמדו בפני עוזיהו שתי אפשרויות: לנטוש את ירושלים ולהעביר את הבירה לעיר אחרת – או להישאר ולבנות אותה מחדש מתוך החורבות. עוזיהו בחר להישאר. הוא בנה חומות, הקים מגדלי שמירה, חידש את מערכות המים ושיקם את מערך ההגנה של העיר. הוא חצב בורות מים, פיתח את החקלאות באזורים הצחיחים, וקידם טכנולוגיה צבאית מתקדמת. במקום להיכנע לכאב ולכאוס, עוזיהו הביא שלום, שגשוג ויציבות לישראל. לא רק מה שבנה מרשים – אלא מתי שבנה: לאחר החורבן. סיפורו מזכיר לנו ששיקום לאחר אסון הוא לא רק אפשרי, אלא חובה של ההנהגה היהודית
מבנים רבים שנחשפו בשכבה הארכיאולוגית העמוקה ביותר שנחפרה עד כה מראים סימני שיקום לאחר קריסה סיסמית, ויוחסו למפעל השיקום של עוזיהו.
דמותו של מלך יהודה הזה רלוונטית מאוד לימינו. מדינת ישראל חוותה משבר כבד בשביעי באוקטובר. המורשת של עוזיהו תעניק לנו השראה לשוב ולבנות מתוך החורבות. ישראל קמה מאבלה – לא רק כדי לשרוד, אלא כדי לעמוד זקופה, חזקה ונחושה מתמיד. כמו בימי עוזיהו, ישראל מתייצבת בעוז – והופכת כאב לעוצמה, וחורבן להתחלה חדשה.
יהי רצון ש ובעזרת ה׳, נלמד מן ההריסות הקדומות, וה׳ יזכנו לבנות יחד חברה ישראלית איתנה ומאוחדת יותר מאי פעם

THE PROMISED LAND

The establishment of the Jewish State was not an easy process, even after the Balfour Declaration (1917) in which the British, and later the League of Nations, recognized the right of the Jewish people to a National Home and assigned for the future Jewish homeland the entire territory of modern-day Israel plus the territory of Jordan. Two problems arose: first, the incessant violence and aggression of the Arabs and their refusal to accept a Jewish State. But the most serious issue was that Jewish leaders like Hayim Weizmann or Sir Herbert Samuel had assured the British authorities that once they have their land, Jews would arrive fast and in large numbers … but they did not … the conditions in Israel were very difficult and the “millions” of Jews who were escaping from Europe emigrated mostly to America.

PEEL COMMISSION

In 1936 a special commission headed by Lord Robert Peel was established to reassess the situation of the future Jewish state and unfortunately, the commission concluded that this project was unfeasible and should be abolished. The commission assigned only a few small and isolated territories where the relatively few Jews who were there will live (17% of Israel’s today’s territory. See here). But miraculously, and before this division of territories had an official character, it was canceled because the Arabs providentially rejected the offer of the English (75% of Israel’s territory. See map)

THE GREAT SPEECH

Anyway, today I want to tell you about the impressive (but not very well known) speech that David Ben-Gurion gave before the Peel commission to convince the English that the arrival of the Jews in Israel might take time, but it was imminent. Ben-Gurion insisted that the historical memory of the Jewish people, allows us to forget neither our origins nor our destination. To illustrate this point, Ben Gurion intelligently used the example of the “Mayflower”, when the first English settlers arrived in America in 1620. The story of the Mayflower represents the founding of the modern United States and the primordial link between the United States and England. 

BRITISH TRIVIA

Ben-Gurion addressed the English and the U.S. representatives saying: Over 300 years ago, a ship, whose name was the “Mayflower,” arrived in the New World. The Mayflower’s arrival at Plymouth Rock was one of the greatest historical events in the history of England and the United States of America. But I would like to ask any Englishman here on the committee: What day did the Mayflower leave the English harbor? And I would like to ask Americans: do you know when exactly the Mayflower arrived in the new world? Or how many people were on that boat? Who was the captain? How long did the journey take? What kind of food did they bring to eat on the boat?

BEN GURION’S PROPHECY

More than 3,300 years ago, long before the Mayflower departure, our people left Egypt, and any Jewish child in the world, wherever he is, knows: what day we left Egypt, how many of us we were there, who our leader was, how long the journey lasted for and even what food they ate when they left. What’s more: we still eat this food every year on the anniversary of our departure from Egypt. And we celebrate this event with a festive dinner where we tell the story of our beginnings to our children and grandchildren to ensure it will never be forgotten. And at the end of that ceremony, we say a very famous phrase: “Next year in Jerusalem.” Now we are trapped in the Soviet Union or Germany, where Hitler is destroying us, and we are still scattered all over the world. And although right now our return to the land of Israel is not visible, eventually, next year or the next we will return to Israel, because in the same way that we never forget our origin, we will never forget our final destination: Jerusalem.

And so it was …

Rabbi Yosef Bitton

כימי צאתנו מארץ מצרים הראנו נפלאות

Today, on the 28th of Iyar, we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim; the day when Jerusalem after 1900 years of being under a foreign nation, finally returned into our hands. This year, 2023, marks the 56th anniversary of this glorious day. As we previously explained, the events which took place on the Six-Day War are nothing short of Miracles of Biblical proportions. One example that pertains to the conquest of Jerusalem is that, against all logic, King Hussein of Jordan decided to join Egypt in the war against Israel. During the first day of the war, on the 26 of Iyar- Monday, June 5th, 1967- in the morning, Israel had already destroyed virtually all of the Egyptian warplanes and disabled all its airports and military bases. Miraculously, Israel’s air force had remained virtually intact. Israel had asked King Hussein not to intervene and assured him that they will not attack Jordan, as long as Jordan does not attack Israel. But Nasser, far from accepting defeat, was bragging that the Egyptians were defeating the Israelis, and that morning Jordan attacked Western Jerusalem, where the Jews lived. At that time Jerusalem was divided. The Western part belonged to the Jews while the Eastern area (including the Old City, Western Wall, etc.) belonged to Jordan.

YOU SHALL NOT ESCALATE!

At first, Israel’s reaction to the Jordanian attack was very moderate. Israel was willing to tolerate these attacks (as Israel does so many times today when Hamas attacks from Gaza), reasoning that it may have been only a symbolic demonstration of strength or to convey solidarity to Egypt. Yet despite Israel’s desperate pleas, the Jordanian army kept attacking the Jews- even beyond Jerusalem. The civilian population- schools and even the Hadasa Hospital- were attacked indiscriminately. The Israeli generals had no choice but to react and defend themselves. In the early afternoon, Jordan’s military air bases were destroyed by Israel. All Jordanian aircraft were inoperable. Once the Jordanian problem was over in the air, Israel faced them on the ground. Unlike the Egyptians, the Jordanians were very close to Israel, and it was easy for them to obtain reinforcements or supplies. But thanks to the unexpected and miraculously low number of Israeli losses, Israel was able to relocate three paratrooper brigades to improve the defense of Jewish Jerusalem. I insist on using the word ‘defend’ because at that moment, every Israeli and Jew in the world, prayed solely for Israel’s survival after the concerted attack of four Arab nations. No Jew in his or her right mind could have imagined or dreamt before the war of conquering any enemy territory, let alone the Old City of Jerusalem.

FROM DEFENSE TO CONQUEST

The bloodiest battle of the Six-Day War was simultaneously the most difficult battle in the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict. This battle took place on the second day of the Six-Day War at Giba’t HaTachmoshet (Ammunition Hill), the battle to defend Yerushalayim. The battle lasted several hours and claimed many lives. But eventually, Israel won. One reason why this battle was so arduous was that the Israeli army did not use air support to avoid civilian casualties and destroy religious sites in Eastern Jerusalem. The following day, on the 28 of Iyar (the Third day of the war) Israel went on the offensive. Prime Minister Levi Eshkol authorized the entry to Eastern Jerusalem (which was until then under Jordan) but clarified that Israel will be going towards the Old City; however, once the war was over, the Jews would leave Eastern Jerusalem immediately… It was as if the political and military leaders of Israel were afraid of success and did not see themselves as worthy of having Yerushalayim. “What would the world say?” They wrongly thought. They believed the world, particularly the Vatican, would not allow Jews to guard the holy Christian sites. I can’t avoid thinking about the spies that Moshe sent to explore the land of Canaan, that saw themselves as “locust in front of giants”, afraid of winning a war that HaShem promised they would win. I believe that at that unexpected moment –still carrying on our shoulders 20 centuries of endless persecution and humiliation– were not mentally prepared to win a battle for Jerusalem. all we desired for this war was to survive. Jerusalem was not in anyone’s plans. Only in God’s plans for His people.

A GIFT FROM HEAVEN

Then the unexpected happened. Israeli soldiers had entered the Old City and were able to conquer it almost without any resistance from the Jordanians. At 10:00 AM, the battle for Jerusalem was over. Israeli commander Mordechai Gur repeated twice the iconic words engraved into Jewish history, “HAR HABAYIT BEYADENU, HAR HABAYIT BEYADENU!” The Temple Mount is in our hands, The Temple Mount is in our hands!”. It was the providential and stubborn intervention of Jordan in the war that allowed us to liberate Yerushalayim. And how can anyone explain Hussein’s huge error of judgment, to enter a war which was already lost as evident from the first day of battle? When we escaped slavery in Egypt, HaShem intervened numerous times in ‘the heart’ (that is, in ‘the mind’) of Pharaoh. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and the ruler of Egypt made illogical decisions, which ended up dragging his own people to a total collapse. I believe that this should be our interpretation of what happened to the King of Jordan when he decided to attack Israel. King Hussein’s mind was (providentially) blurred when he made the decision to join the war against Israel. Otherwise, in theory; the Old City, the Western Wall, and all of East Jerusalem would still be in Jordanian hands…

AN UNFORGIVABLE MISTAKE?

But amidst the shock of unexpected victory, I believe that we Jews too, made a big mistake. The Jordanians had already capitulated and withdrew, defeated, from Jerusalem. The mayor of Jerusalem handed over the keys of the Old City to Israel, including the access to the TEMPLE MOUNT- the site of the Bet HaMiqdash, the Holiest place in the Holy Land for the Jewish people and the Jordanians assumed that the victorious Jews would rebuild the Temple. After all we have been praying for it for 2,000 years! However, inexplicably, instead of staying on Har haBayit and not moving from there, everyone, including the Army Rabbis, instinctively ran from the Temple Mount to the Western Wall…. a symbolic but humble ruin of the Temple of Jerusalem. How did we miss this opportunity? Was it a human mistake? An underestimation of the significance of the Bet HaMiqdash by the mostly secular Israeli Generals (See this article and a radio interview, and this article about this delicate issue, in Hebrew)? Or maybe it was not yet the right time to have the Bet HaMiqdash, and HaShem “intervened” in the judgment of our leaders and did not allow them to see the opportunity to recover our Temple Mount and rebuild the Bet haMiqdash. Perhaps it is too early to know the answer or understand the reason behind this. Meanwhile, we Jews of this generation enjoy the incomparable privilege that our ancestors could not have even dreamed of having again Yerushalayim, our Capital, the city where earth meets heaven.

We already saw the importance of Mibtza Moked- the operation taking place on Monday, June 5, 25 of Iyar, 1967, which was the beginning of the Six-Day War. These attacks by the Israeli air force destroyed the Egyptian Air Force and were decisive in Israel’s final victory.

We started exploring how to explain the fact that all the Israeli planes reached their targets and were not intercepted or shot down by the Egyptian defense system. “Providentially,” the anti-aircraft defense systems were not operating between 7.00 am and 8.00am , because Egyptian planes carried very important military and political personnel (see here).

But this is not the only unusual event that happened that day.

MIG vs MIRAGE
Knowing that the possibility of war was imminent, every morning the Egyptian air force carried out reconnaissance flights over the Sinai Peninsula with MiG 21 aircraft. These planes of Soviet origin were sleek and modern. To say the least, they were far superior to Israel’s old French Mirage planes. These inspection flights began at 4:30 AM, and continued until 8:30 AM, with new shifts every 60 minutes. The Egyptians had calculated that if Israel would ever choose to attack, it would be during the first hours of the morning, so they coordinated their flights for that eventuality. On Monday morning, the 26 of Iyar, 7:15 AM, the Israeli planes took off towards the Sinai Peninsula. At 7:30 AM, The MiG 21s should have been flying off the Egyptian air base en route to Sinai. The confrontation between the two air forces would have been inevitable. Israel expected its planes to eventually find the MiGs –which is why Israel dispatched nearly 200 aircraft, leaving only twelve planes behind– predicting that many would be shot down by the powerful Egyptian air force.

A 15-MINUTE DELAY
At 7:30 AM, the Israeli planes were entering the Sinai, ready to face the MiGs and anti-aircraft artillery in the following 15 minutes. But that did not happen. The Israeli planes arrived undisturbed at 7:45am and were able to bombard the Egyptian runways, preventing their enemy planes from taking off, and they managed to destroy the MiG combat planes on the ground!

If the MiGs had taken off at 7:30 AM as usual, they would have discovered the Israeli fleet and alerted the anti-aircraft defense forces. And they surely would have destroyed dozens of Israeli Mirage planes in battle.

What happened? Why were the MiGs not in the air?

That very day, the 7:30 AM shift was delayed. They did not leave on time because the officer in charge was late. Muhammad Sidiqi Mahmud, the Chief of the Egyptian Air Force, organized a party for his pilots the previous night (Sunday, June 4th) to raise their morale. The party, which included much dancing, food, and drinks, extended late into the night, and this had delayed the officer and pilots by a few critical minutes.

JORDAN JOINS THE WAR

Despite Israel’s request not to enter the war before June 5th, Jordan joined Egypt and put its army under the command of an Egyptian general, Riyad, to be more effective in the coordination between the two forces. The Jordanians had very advanced military equipment, provided by England, and at 7.30 am the Jordanian radars were filled with small dots that indicated the invasion of the Israeli planes crossing into the Sinai peninsula. Immediately they transmitted the emergency alert to the Egyptians. But something extraordinary happened: the Egyptian officials were not able to decode the alert message that came repeatedly from Jordan; and they were so frustrated that they disconnected the communication with the Jordanian intelligence service for a few critical minutes.

What happened? Why could the Egyptians not decode the urgent Jordanian message?

MIRACLES IN CODE

This emergency message announcing the Israeli attack was transmitted with a secret code, which was changed frequently. The experienced radar operator in Aman, Jordan, who detected the Israeli aircraft, sent the emergency code: “anab” (in Arabic means “grapes”). But the previous night the secret code had been changed, and the Jordanian agent “made a mistake”, and used the code of the previous day, which could not be identified as authentic by the Egyptian officers. When the Egyptian agents realized the possibility of a human error, it was already too late: Israel had already destroyed the enemy airports and the Migs on the ground.

THE SECOND ATTACK
But the Egyptian air force still had other planes at the military air bases in Cairo ready for combat.
At 9.34am Israeli planes left again, now towards Cairo. This time the Egyptians were ready, so the surprise factor was already lost. It was also no longer possible to avoid Egyptian radars and their anti-area artillery fire. The Egyptians, who were on high alert, activated all their defenses against the Israeli planes, but all the Israeli planes hit their targets and miraculously, ONLY ONE Israeli AIRCRAFT was shot down! In this second attack the Israeli air force destroyed 107 Egyptian aircraft and rendered ALL Egyptian airports, military or civilian, useless so that Egypt could no longer use any of its aircraft to attack Israel or to defend its troops on the ground.
 

In 3 hours, from 7.45 am to 10.45 am, Israel destroyed 391 aircraft of the enemy Egyptian forces (2/3 of the aircraft of the United Arab Forces) and disabled 26 military air bases and runaways, neutralizing all Egyptian military and civilian airports.

That morning the war had been decided in favor of Israel: with no Egyptian planes Israel had now full hegemony in the air.

THE EXPLANATION OF KING DAVID
Some 3000 years ago, King David wrote in Sefer Tehillim- his book of Psalms- on Psalm 124, about HaShem’s Divine Intervention when Israel is attacked by its many enemies:

שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת לְדָוִד לוּלֵי ה ‘שֶׁהָיָה לָנוּ יֹאמַר-נָא יִשְׂרָאֵל:לוּלֵי ה ‘שֶׁהָיָה לָנוּ בְּקוּם עָלֵינוּ אָדָם

“If God had not been with us, if God had not been on our side, when men rose up against us … [our enemies] would have swallowed us alive, because of their hatred for us, [they would have passed] like a torrent of impetuous water over our heads, dragging us [towards certain death] …Blessed be HaShem, who has not delivered us like prey into their teeth … [thanks to His intervention] we have escaped alive, like a bird that escapes from the trap of the hunters …. the trap was destroyed and we survived. Our help comes from God, the Creator of heavens and earth.”

To be continued

In his book Megilat haMered vehaChurban (“The Tale of the Rebellion and the Destruction”), Dr. Chagi Ben Artzi, professor of history at Bar Ilan University, tells the story of the destruction of the Second Bet haMiqdash and mentions a lesser-known (at least to me) opinion regarding why Lag laOmer (also known as Lag baOmer) is considered a festive day.
First, according to an important rabbinical opinion (Chatam Sofer), on the 18th day of Iyar, we Jews began to receive the man (manna), a food provided by God daily in the desert of Sinai for 40 years. According to this opinion, on the 33rd day of the Omer, we celebrate the miracle of the man.
Second, the Sages say that between Pesach and Shabuot, 24,000 students of Ribbi Aqiba died in an epidemic, and on the 33rd day of the Omer, this epidemic ended. According to Rabbi Sherirah Gaon (906–1006), Rabbi Aqiba’s students actually died fighting the Roman Empire, and it is possible that the Gemara speaks of “an epidemic” as a euphemism.
Third, and as we explained earlier, on this day we celebrate the life and achievements of Ribbi Shimon bar Yochai (see here).
Finally, Professor Ben Artzi reminds us of another major event that took place on the same day—the 33rd of the Omer—around the year 130 of the common era.

THE SHEMAD
After the destruction of the Second Temple, Jerusalem was in ruins, and the Jews were not allowed to enter the city. Things got even worse when the Roman Emperor Hadrian came to power in the year 117. Hadrian had an obsessive hatred toward the Jewish people, and like so many antisemites before and after him, he was seeking a “final solution to the Jewish problem.” Hadrian banned Berit Mila (circumcision) and the study of the Tora, and punished these “crimes” with death.
These times were so traumatic that the Hachamim rarely spoke of them, and referred to this era with a generic term: Shemad—“destruction”—in a way similar to how we use the term Shoah (“Holocaust”) to encompass the tragedies our people experienced during the Second World War.

NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN
To ensure the name “Israel” was erased, Hadrian changed the name “Yehuda” (Judea) to “Palestine,” falsely attributing Israel’s identity to the Philistines. Ironically, Philistines in Hebrew, pelishtiim, means “foreign invaders” and refers to the savage peoples who came from the sea, plundered the locals, and took by force everything they could. Incidentally, the Philistines had already disappeared by Hadrian’s time—but he didn’t care. The main thing was to “cancel” the connection between Israel and the Jewish people.
Incredibly, we see similar tendencies in our days: a few years ago, UNESCO launched a campaign to declare the Jews as invaders in their own land, referring to Israel as “occupied Palestinian territory.” Officially, UNESCO also changed the name of Jerusalem—especially the Temple Mount—to “al-Haram al-Sharif” in all of its documents. See more details here: .

A PAGAN TEMPLE IN THE MOST SACRED PLACE
Hadrian, like UNESCO, also tried to erase the name of Jerusalem. He had the city plowed and rebuilt under a new name: Aelia Capitolina. Why Aelia? Because before becoming emperor, Hadrian’s family name was Aelius, and he wanted to commemorate himself. Why Capitolina? Because Hadrian intended to rededicate Jerusalem to the Roman god Jupiter Capitolino. A massive pagan temple would be built on the very site where the Bet haMiqdash had stood—guaranteeing, God forbid, that the Jewish Temple would never be rebuilt.
The Jews learned of Hadrian’s plan. Although they had tolerated his ongoing provocations, this crossed a line. They could no longer remain passive. Thus began the Bar Kochba Rebellion, supported by many Sages, including Ribbi Aqiba.

A GREAT VICTORY AFTER ALL
The brave Bar Kochba rebellion ultimately failed. However, despite the terrible price paid—more than half a million Jewish lives—there was a significant victory. The first goal of the rebellion had been achieved: to prevent Hadrian from erecting a pagan temple on the ruins of the Bet haMiqdash. Bar Kochba and his fighters, facing the world’s most powerful army, defeated the mighty 10th Legion of Rome and recaptured Yerushalayim.
When was Jerusalem recovered from the Romans? On a day like today: Iyar 18, the 33rd day of the Omer. Although the war was eventually lost, this victory forced the Romans to suspend the construction of the pagan temple on the site of our Sanctuary.
A few years later, Hadrian died (138 CE), and his plan—Barukh HaShem—was never carried out.
—
Rabbi Yosef Bitton

THE PRIESTS

In this Parasha, HaShem transmits to Moshe the laws that apply to his brother Aharon, his sons, and all his male descendants, the Cohanim, the priests of the Jewish People. They must keep themselves pure and holy and, in opposition to the pagan priests, who were primarily responsible for the cult of the dead, the Cohanim must not have contact with a dead body. The Cohanim also have additional restrictions regarding the woman they can marry. There are also rules regarding the daughters of the Cohanim and the standards of morality that they must observe.

THE HEAD PRIEST

The Head Priest, or Cohen Gadol, must comply with additional rules. He must not let his hair grow too long, he cannot observe regular mourning by tearing his clothes or having contact with a corpse. He must not leave the Sanctuary, he must only marry an unmarried woman. And if he contracts any impurity, he cannot perform the service of the Temple. Likewise, the priest with some physical blemish should remain outside the Divine Service in the Temple. The Temple Service must be immaculate. Priestly offerings could not be made in a state of impurity.  And animal sacrifices cannot be made with sick or blemished animals. The Divine Name cannot be profaned but consecrated and sanctified.

HOLIDAY NUMBER ONE

The Tora mentions the Jewish Holidays.  First, the Shabbat, the Seventh-day,  is the most important holiday in the Hebrew calendar. For six days, you will work, and on Shabbat, you shall declare your work finished and dedicate the day to HaShem, your God.

PESACH

In the first month of the year (Nisan), on the fourteenth day of the month, the festival of Pesach shall be celebrated, offering that day the Pesach sacrifice. The fifteenth day of Pesach is the Festival of Matzot, for seven days you will eat only unleavened bread. The first day you will declare it sacred and you will not do any work or work. The seventh day of Pesach shall also be sanctified as a Holy day.

OMER AND SHABUOT

When you enter the promised land that I give you and you harvest your grain, you shall bring an ‘omer, a portion of barley from your first harvest. The priest shall offer it to God. After seven full weeks, counting from the time of this offering, the fiftieth day (Shabuot), you shall bring a new offering to God: leavened bread, unleavened bread, and animal offerings without blemish, as an expression of obedience to God.  When you harvest your field, you will leave the ears belonging to the poor and the foreigner (for example, the corners of the fields, etc.).

ROSH HASHANA, YOM KIPPUR, AND SUCCOT

In the seventh month of the year (Tishri) on the first day of the month, the Shofar will be heard (on Rosh HaShana). And on the tenth day of the month, you will celebrate a Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). You will deprive yourself of eating and doing any worldly work or activity on that day. If a person does not deprive himself of these necessities on that day, he will be cut off (karet) from his community. This Day of Atonement will be established for posterity and in all your dwellings.

The Festival  of the Huts will be celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. For seven days you will be dedicated to God. No work is to be performed on the first day and the eighth day. You should take the fruit of a beautiful tree (citrus, or in Hebrew etrog), leaves of palm branches (lulab), myrtle branches (hadas), and willows (araba), and rejoice before God. You will live in these huts for seven days, so that future generations will know and remember that I, HaShem, made had them living in huts when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.

LAST LAWS

Returning to the Temple service, Aharon will set up a lamp that will burn constantly, day and night, in the Sanctuary. If someone does not respect the Name of God and offends it, he will be removed from the community and executed. If a man murders another man, he will be put to death. Whoever attempts against the life of an animal must pay compensation for that animal. If someone causes any damage to another person, he must pay compensation: for fractures or accidental mutilations. This compensation will be required in favor of the victim, maintaining the same rule for both the citizen and the foreigner (“ger”: legal resident or nationalized). I am HaShem, your Go

Finally, HaShem instructs Moshe to learn the laws that apply to his brother Aharon, his sons, and all his male descendants, the Cohanim, who are the priests of the Jewish People. They must keep themselves pure and holy, and in opposition to the pagan priests who were primarily responsible for the cult of the dead, the Cohanim must not have contact with a dead body. The Cohanim also have additional restrictions regarding the women they can marry. There are also rules regarding the daughters of the Cohanim and the standards of morality they must observe.

Some men are more angels than men. That was the case with Ribbi Saadia Benzaquen z”l, my first teacher. He led the beautiful synagogue on Piedras Street, which only filled up on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, because his beloved Moroccan-Argentine community—of which my father and grandfather were part—did not have many regular attendees for daily or even weekly Tefilot. Rabbi Benzaquen was a great leader, a visionary with ambitious goals for the Jewish people. He believed that the community in Argentina urgently needed young, well-trained rabbis who could face the challenges of the present day—rabbis fluent in a sufficiently sophisticated vocabulary to speak to young professionals who were increasingly assimilated and no longer understood the older rabbis. He wanted to develop rabbinic leaders who were eloquent and capable of expressing the timeless ideas of the Torah in modern language.

This was the mid-1970s. I believe that Ribbi Saadia, like many other geniuses, was ahead of his time. He did not have institutional support to create an orthodox rabbinic training program, but that did not stop him from pursuing his dream. Far from giving up, he personally set out to train his own students, motivating them to study Torah with the goal of receiving rabbinic ordination.
I was one of those privileged students. In 1980, Ribbi Saadia learned that Rabbi Yaakob Eljarrar z”l, originally from Spanish Morocco, was starting a Kolel for Dayanim—a school of advanced rabbinic studies—and he asked him to organize a special rabbinic program for three of his students. At age 19, I had the privilege of being one of them. I left my studies at Yeshiva University halfway through and went to Israel, to the Kolel on 4 HaTurim Street, next to the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. The Kolel, I believe, was called Zekhor LeDavid and housed the library of the famous Ribbi Itzchak Bengualid, the luminary of the Jewish community in Tetuan—the city where my grandparents and Ribbi Saadia were born.

At Ribbi Saadia’s request, Rabbi Elcharrar found us the best possible teacher: the now-famous rabbi of Baqaa, Jerusalem, and current candidate for Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Eliyahu Abergel Shelita. Under the direction of Rabbi Abergel and Rabbi Elcharrar, and with the constant supervision of Ribbi Saadia, his son Rabbi Abraham Benzaquen, Rabbi Mijael Acrich and I studied intensively for several years. We passed four exams at the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and received rabbinic ordination, thus fulfilling one of Ribbi Saadia’s dreams.

But this was only one part of what he did for us. He also gave us solid training in one key area for any community rabbi: public speaking. This began a bit earlier, when I was 15 years old. My childhood had taken place in Castelar, in the province of Buenos Aires. After my Bar Mitsva, which was celebrated at the Piedras synagogue—Ribbi’s sanctuary—my parents decided to move to the capital. They were concerned that my sisters and I be in a Jewish environment. They bought a small apartment on Chacabuco Street, in the San Telmo neighborhood, choosing that location exclusively for its proximity to the Piedras synagogue.

The meetings where he trained us in public speaking took place on Shabbat afternoons. It is hard to describe what it was like to spend a Shabbat with Ribbi Saadia. After lunch with my family, I would rush to his house on Sargento Garay Street. Entering the building was an adventure, because the doorman was never available. I can see myself shouting at the top of my lungs from the ground floor to the second: “Alberto! Albertooo! Albertooooooo!” I kept yelling until Abraham would hear my screams and come down to open the door.

Once inside, we studied Gemara and Mishna Berura until it was time for seuda shelishit, which, due to circumstances, we had to eat before Minha. Ribbi Saadia would sit at the head of the table, for many years alongside his father Abraham and his dear wife Raquel, who spent more time standing than sitting, attending to her honored guests: Ribbi Saadia’s handful of students. Doña Raquel would serve us delicious sweet pastries, syrup-soaked and fluffy, and an intoxicatingly fragrant herbal tea with lemon verbena (Yerba Luisa) . On special occasions, we also enjoyed fiyuleas, crispy rolled pastries also drenched in syrup.

After the majestic seuda shelishit, we would all walk together to the synagogue on Piedras. Normally, it should have taken us ten minutes to get there, but we never took less than half an hour. Why? Because Ribbi Saadia would stop to greet every single neighbor he met on the way. Everyone: the newspaper vendor, the pharmacist, the greengrocer, the women washing the sidewalks, and the men sitting outside a bar playing cards. He knew them all by name. And his greeting was never a formal “good afternoon,” but a whole conversation centered on them: the neighbors, their parents, their children, their relatives. Ribbi Saadia would ask about everyone with genuine interest. The neighbors, as you can imagine, showed great respect and admiration for this very special man who took an interest in all of them. It was a half-hour of pure Kiddush Hashem.

When we finally arrived at the synagogue, Ribbi Saadia would have us sit upstairs, in the seats reserved for the “future rabbis” and for Samuel Chocrón, his secretary, assistant cantor, and practically his adopted son. We would pray Minha, and then came the moment we had all been waiting for: public speaking. There were three or four of us delivering a derasha (rabbinic sermon), which had to last around five to ten minutes. We prepared as best as we could, following Ribbi Saadia’s guidelines: that what we said should be clear and relevant, and that our speech should have a message applicable to the complex realities of modern life.

They say public speaking is the number one human fear—stronger even than the fear of death or snakes. Forcing us to do it was the best (or only) way to help us overcome that fear. We had two strategic advantages. First, the synagogue was not particularly full. In fact, besides us, there were maybe seven or eight elderly men, most of whom could easily fall asleep. In that ideal oratory laboratory, we could take risks without fear of embarrassment, because even if our speech was a disaster—which was not uncommon—“nothing happened.” I remember one time while delivering my derasha, I had a mental block. My brain froze, completely paralyzed—I didn’t know how to continue. Since it was Shabbat, we were required to memorize our speeches and couldn’t read from notes. I stood silently for what felt like an eternity—probably a full minute. It was a little embarrassing, but soon forgotten. The intensity of the mishap was as low as the number of listeners.

The second strategic element was Señor Gozal. A very special person. A partner—or perhaps accomplice—of Ribbi Saadia in our oratory training. Sr Gozal (I am not sure I ever knew his first name) was an older man, but with tremendous presence. Tall, thin, energetic, impeccably dressed, wearing a stylish brown hat. The closest thing I can recall to an English gentleman. Sr Gozal had a penetrating gaze and paid full attention to everything we said. But not passively—his eyes never left the speaker and sometimes widened dramatically, raising his thick eyebrows in a gesture of approval. Naturally, I—and I think all of us—couldn’t help but speak directly to Sr Gozal. He was the audience. We aimed for the highest prize: his approving smile, which felt like a standing ovation emanating from his face.

His constant encouragement was incredibly motivating for us, the aspiring speakers. To our delight, when we had all finished our speeches, the experts—Ribbi Saadia and Señorr Gozal—would gather to review them aloud, analyze them, and inevitably praise the high quality of the content, the brilliance of the ideas, and the excellence of the speakers. It was a flood of compliments, which we naively believed, and which helped inflate our confidence, reduce our fear of public speaking, and inspired us to try harder the next Shabbat.

This is how Ribbi Saadia Benzaquen trained us to speak in public—and to be better rabbis for a world moving at an ever-faster pace.

By Rab Yosef Bitton