?The L-rd will not cast off His people, nor forsake His inheritance.?
The psalm we recite for the Sabbath day teaches, ?All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered [yitpardu, based on the root hafradah].? (Psalm 92:10). Hafradah and havdalah, although both connoting ?separation,? are really opposites. With havdalah, we distinguish between different levels that exist within one larger set. As we recite in Havdalah on Saturday night: ?Blessed are You? who has made a distinction [hamavdil] between the sacred and the profane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the other nations, between the seventh day and the six working days.?
It is true that there are differences between the sacred and the profane, light and darkness, Israel and the nations, the seventh day and the six working days. Yet, despite those differences, they are still connected to each other, as it says, ?There was evening and there was morning - one day? (Genesis 1:5). Evening and morning are one day.
By contrast, hafradah is the opposite. There is no connection between two items. Rather, they are cut off from each other. This can occur when a husband and wife get divorced, or when two individuals worry only about themselves, and it occurs, as well, with the wicked son from the Pesach Haggadah, who removes himself from the group.
Today, some of the political parties are smitten with divisiveness, and they declare in their platforms and their election propaganda their intention of setting themselves apart from Jewish religion and faith, and of ?separating themselves from the Arabs,? while their real intent is to separate themselves from parts of Eretz Yisrael, or from the State of Israel. Those who harbor these divisive thoughts think that through such separation all of today?s problems will be solved.
In this regard it was already said:?Many are the plans in a man?s heart, but it is the L-rd?s purpose that shall stand. The L-rd?s purpose stands forever; His plans are through all generations.... Surely the L-rd has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. Surely the L-rd has chosen Jacob to be His, and Israel as His prized possession. Surely, the L-rd will not abandon His people, nor forsake His heritage.? (from Yehi Kavod)
Let us be strong and courageous for our people, for our Torah, for our land and for our state.
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Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.
The psalm we recite for the Sabbath day teaches, ?All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered [yitpardu, based on the root hafradah].? (Psalm 92:10). Hafradah and havdalah, although both connoting ?separation,? are really opposites. With havdalah, we distinguish between different levels that exist within one larger set. As we recite in Havdalah on Saturday night: ?Blessed are You? who has made a distinction [hamavdil] between the sacred and the profane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the other nations, between the seventh day and the six working days.?
It is true that there are differences between the sacred and the profane, light and darkness, Israel and the nations, the seventh day and the six working days. Yet, despite those differences, they are still connected to each other, as it says, ?There was evening and there was morning - one day? (Genesis 1:5). Evening and morning are one day.
By contrast, hafradah is the opposite. There is no connection between two items. Rather, they are cut off from each other. This can occur when a husband and wife get divorced, or when two individuals worry only about themselves, and it occurs, as well, with the wicked son from the Pesach Haggadah, who removes himself from the group.
Today, some of the political parties are smitten with divisiveness, and they declare in their platforms and their election propaganda their intention of setting themselves apart from Jewish religion and faith, and of ?separating themselves from the Arabs,? while their real intent is to separate themselves from parts of Eretz Yisrael, or from the State of Israel. Those who harbor these divisive thoughts think that through such separation all of today?s problems will be solved.
In this regard it was already said:?Many are the plans in a man?s heart, but it is the L-rd?s purpose that shall stand. The L-rd?s purpose stands forever; His plans are through all generations.... Surely the L-rd has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. Surely the L-rd has chosen Jacob to be His, and Israel as His prized possession. Surely, the L-rd will not abandon His people, nor forsake His heritage.? (from Yehi Kavod)
Let us be strong and courageous for our people, for our Torah, for our land and for our state.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.