Eretz Yisrael cannot abide division in the nation. The destruction of the Second Bet Mikdash and the long exile that followed in its wake were caused by the baseless hatred [sin'at chinam] of the period. The unique qualities of the land connect the sections of the nation into a single, complete unit.
Avraham was commanded, "Go for yourself from your land... to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation...." (Breisheet 12:1,2) When you go to Eretz Yisrael you will become a nation, because it cannot be otherwise; and if we do not become a nation there, then we will not stay in the land. Yet, the very conquest of the land and its settlement can cause a severance between the various segments of the nation, as well as internal dismemberment.
As long as we were in the wilderness, we all encamped in one place around the Mishkan, and we naturally all accepted Moshe Rabbeinu's leadership. When we became scattered all over the land, each tribe built up its own private inheritance and thus, the communal feeling gradually diminished. The sickness of the community increased until it reached its climax at the end of the Book of Shoftim (Judges) with the episode of the concubine in Giv'ah, where tens of thousands were killed in a civil war: "And the men of Israel swore in Mitzpah saying, 'No man of us shall give his daughter to [the tribe of] Binyamin for a wife.'" (Shoftim 21:1) This terrible situation shocked Israel deeply: "And the people came to Bet El and they sat there until evening before G-d, and they raised their voices and cried a great weeping." (ibid., 2)
They looked for ways to provide wives for the Benjamites until finally they commanded them, "[G]o and hide in the vineyards, and you shall watch, and behold, if the daughters of Shilo come out to dance their dance, you shall come out of the vineyard and you shall grab for yourselves each man his wife from the daughters of Shilo." (ibid., 22)
This division leads to a deep sense of the lack of a single leadership for the nation, as the conclusion of the Book of Shoftim indicates: "Those days there was no king in Israel, each man did as was right in his own eyes." (ibid. 25) From this low point, the kingship of Israel slowly grew, first in the form of Shaul's temporary reign, followed by the Davidic reign, out of which Mashiach ben David will sprout, G-d willing.
We find ourselves at the height of a struggle between various factions of the nation. There are those who have despaired of unity, as the other side cynically utilizes our Ahavat Yisrael and allows itself to act in an extreme manner, knowing that we would never go over the limit. Such claims are due to shortsightedness and despair. Eretz Yisrael demands unity of us, and only through the strength of the entire nation will we succeed, G-d willing, to settle the land in its entirety. The internal nature of the nation will demand the unity and love of all its sections, and will reject any system or leader that will try to place brothers in opposition to one another. We do not know how long the process will take, but we are sure that we will merit the sprouting of the son of David, may he speedily arrive.
In our parsha, we find a number of subjects that teach us about the obligation to have the nation internally unified. "And it will be when HaShem your G-d will bring you to the land, that you are going there to inherit, and you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Eival." (Devarim 11:29) Upon their entry into the land, before they scattered, each man to his inheritance, Am Yisrael are commanded to hold a special ceremony at which they express their faith in HaKadosh Baruch Hu and His Torah. This most impressive ceremony implants in the souls of those standing there and in the souls of their descendants that we are HaShem's people, and that blessings and curses depend on our following the path of HaShem. The individual, when he leaves to claim his private inheritance, is unable to shake off the general, divine guidance of the entire nation.
The verse we quoted earlier ("And it will be when HaShem your G-d will bring you") deploys the singular, and it can be explained in two ways. First, HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not bring individuals into the land, but rather the entire nation as a single body; therefore, it is considered as an individual. No private person inherits the land, but rather the nation as a whole. Second, the Torah addresses the private individual who enters the land and prepares to claim his private inheritance. The Torah obligates that person to connect to the wonderful ceremony of the blessings and the curses on Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eival. Through this, he will never stray from the path of the entire nation.
Later in the parsha, the Torah states, "You shall not do so to HaShem your G-d. But rather to the place that HaShem your G-d will choose from all your tribes to place His name there.... you shall bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices and your tithes, and the terumah of your hands." (ibid. 12:4,6) The Torah obligates us to offer sacrifices in a single central location, not in any place that we choose. Thus, Rashi explains: "'You shall not do so' ? to offer up to Heaven in any place, but rather in the place that He shall choose." The Torah emphasizes on additional occasions the obligation to bring the sacrifices to the Mikdash: "Guard yourself, lest you offer your burnt offerings in any place that you see, but rather in the place that HaShem will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings...." (ibid. 13-14) Again: "You may not eat in your gates the tithe of your produce, your wine or oil, or the firstlings of your cattle or flock... but rather, you shall eat it before HaShem your G-d in the place that HaShem your G-d shall choose."
The true service of HaShem is the one that comes from the strength of the communal, and we can therefore only rise up to true and pure spiritual heights in the Mikdash. When private ideologies and theories are raised, they lower our lives. The Gemara in Shabbat (83b) states, "We have learnt: 'And they placed for themselves Ba'al Brit for a god.' [Shoftim 8:33) ? this is Zevuv [a fly], idol of Ekron. This teaches that each and every one of them made an image of their god and placed it in their pocket; when he recalled it, he would take it out of his pocket and caress and kiss it." Private and personal thought is likened to a special pocket for each individual. The initial feeling is a wonderful one as, at each moment, he remembers his "god"; he can hug and kiss it and find spiritual satisfaction. The feeling is a spiritual one, as the god is a fly that can fly off and rise up, but the truth is that it is all a lie, like that small and despised fly. Although satisfaction arrives quickly, as it is degenerate, it leads to an emptiness that causes great spiritual crises. Then it becomes clear that there is no other way but the great and pure service of HaShem at the summit of the mountain of HaShem in Jerusalem.
In chapter 14 (1) the Torah states: "You are children to HaShem your G-d; you shall not cut [titgodedu] yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead." The plain meaning of the verse is (Rashi), "You shall not make a cut or scratch in your flesh for the dead as the Emorites do." Yet, the Gemara in Yevamot (13b) learns from here that "you should not separate into different groups [agudot]," and Rashi explains that it makes it appear as if we observe two Torahs. The Torah obligates us to preserve the unity of the nation, which is the unity of the Torah.
Many have queried the relevance of the prohibition against separating into different groups to the plain explanation of the verse, "You are children... you shall not cut." When a person reflects from the external, minor viewpoint of life, he sees separate bodies, each one of which stands by itself, and each one of which possesses personal and private desires, which often stand against the desires of the other. Such an outlook causes one to think that when a person dies, all is over, and this leads him to express his opinion by scratching his own body. We are HaShem's children, however, and the essence of a person is his divine soul. Death, therefore, is a passage from one life to another. This inner understanding serves to remove the body's external barriers and provides insight on the divine foundation, and we thus see the communal point that forms the true foundation of each and every individual. From this, the prohibition against forming separate groups in the nation follows naturally, as they divide up the people due to this superficial and external outlook.
At the conclusion of the parsha, we have the mitzvah of Aliyah La'regel [pilgrimage to the Mikdash]: "Three times a year, all your males shall appear before HaShem your G-d in the place that He shall choose...." (17:17) We already learnt above about the obligation to bring vows and tithes to Jerusalem, to the one place that connects us all into one nation. But one who does not vow and has no tithes, how does he connect to the general service? The Torah comes and obligates every man of Israel to make a thrice-yearly pilgrimage to the Mikdash of HaShem. Undoubtedly, in order for a person to ascend to Jerusalem with joy, despite his leaving his home, appropriate preparation must be made. This preparation is a deep and internal spiritual one, so that when he will be in Jerusalem, he will be able to merit to absorb the holiness of Jerusalem and the Mikdash.
After a person has truly prepared himself and merited sanctification, he must save this wonderful impression in his soul; even when he returns to his home, he will take this holiness with him to his place of residence. And this is what the Torah means by the words: "And you shall turn in the morning and go to your tents...." (17:7) ? "All the turns that you turn from the Mikdash when you come to it shall only be in the morning." (Rambam, Hilkhot Bikkurim, 14:3) After you have visited the House of Hashem do not go immediately to your home, but instead, stay another night in Jerusalem. Absorb the holiness of the Mikdash internally, and then return to your home and live a holy and pure life in all times and places.
We have explained that the private person who makes a pilgrimage must prepare himself so he can absorb the holiness of the Mikdash. Certainly, it is the case that in order that we may merit the building of the third Mikdash we must raise ourselves up to a life of holiness and purity. Yet, the Mikdash can only be built from the strength of all of Klal Yisrael; therefore, we are obligated to raise ourselves up together with all sections of the nation, out of love, brotherhood, peace and friendship.
Avraham was commanded, "Go for yourself from your land... to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation...." (Breisheet 12:1,2) When you go to Eretz Yisrael you will become a nation, because it cannot be otherwise; and if we do not become a nation there, then we will not stay in the land. Yet, the very conquest of the land and its settlement can cause a severance between the various segments of the nation, as well as internal dismemberment.
As long as we were in the wilderness, we all encamped in one place around the Mishkan, and we naturally all accepted Moshe Rabbeinu's leadership. When we became scattered all over the land, each tribe built up its own private inheritance and thus, the communal feeling gradually diminished. The sickness of the community increased until it reached its climax at the end of the Book of Shoftim (Judges) with the episode of the concubine in Giv'ah, where tens of thousands were killed in a civil war: "And the men of Israel swore in Mitzpah saying, 'No man of us shall give his daughter to [the tribe of] Binyamin for a wife.'" (Shoftim 21:1) This terrible situation shocked Israel deeply: "And the people came to Bet El and they sat there until evening before G-d, and they raised their voices and cried a great weeping." (ibid., 2)
They looked for ways to provide wives for the Benjamites until finally they commanded them, "[G]o and hide in the vineyards, and you shall watch, and behold, if the daughters of Shilo come out to dance their dance, you shall come out of the vineyard and you shall grab for yourselves each man his wife from the daughters of Shilo." (ibid., 22)
This division leads to a deep sense of the lack of a single leadership for the nation, as the conclusion of the Book of Shoftim indicates: "Those days there was no king in Israel, each man did as was right in his own eyes." (ibid. 25) From this low point, the kingship of Israel slowly grew, first in the form of Shaul's temporary reign, followed by the Davidic reign, out of which Mashiach ben David will sprout, G-d willing.
We find ourselves at the height of a struggle between various factions of the nation. There are those who have despaired of unity, as the other side cynically utilizes our Ahavat Yisrael and allows itself to act in an extreme manner, knowing that we would never go over the limit. Such claims are due to shortsightedness and despair. Eretz Yisrael demands unity of us, and only through the strength of the entire nation will we succeed, G-d willing, to settle the land in its entirety. The internal nature of the nation will demand the unity and love of all its sections, and will reject any system or leader that will try to place brothers in opposition to one another. We do not know how long the process will take, but we are sure that we will merit the sprouting of the son of David, may he speedily arrive.
In our parsha, we find a number of subjects that teach us about the obligation to have the nation internally unified. "And it will be when HaShem your G-d will bring you to the land, that you are going there to inherit, and you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Eival." (Devarim 11:29) Upon their entry into the land, before they scattered, each man to his inheritance, Am Yisrael are commanded to hold a special ceremony at which they express their faith in HaKadosh Baruch Hu and His Torah. This most impressive ceremony implants in the souls of those standing there and in the souls of their descendants that we are HaShem's people, and that blessings and curses depend on our following the path of HaShem. The individual, when he leaves to claim his private inheritance, is unable to shake off the general, divine guidance of the entire nation.
The verse we quoted earlier ("And it will be when HaShem your G-d will bring you") deploys the singular, and it can be explained in two ways. First, HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not bring individuals into the land, but rather the entire nation as a single body; therefore, it is considered as an individual. No private person inherits the land, but rather the nation as a whole. Second, the Torah addresses the private individual who enters the land and prepares to claim his private inheritance. The Torah obligates that person to connect to the wonderful ceremony of the blessings and the curses on Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Eival. Through this, he will never stray from the path of the entire nation.
Later in the parsha, the Torah states, "You shall not do so to HaShem your G-d. But rather to the place that HaShem your G-d will choose from all your tribes to place His name there.... you shall bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices and your tithes, and the terumah of your hands." (ibid. 12:4,6) The Torah obligates us to offer sacrifices in a single central location, not in any place that we choose. Thus, Rashi explains: "'You shall not do so' ? to offer up to Heaven in any place, but rather in the place that He shall choose." The Torah emphasizes on additional occasions the obligation to bring the sacrifices to the Mikdash: "Guard yourself, lest you offer your burnt offerings in any place that you see, but rather in the place that HaShem will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings...." (ibid. 13-14) Again: "You may not eat in your gates the tithe of your produce, your wine or oil, or the firstlings of your cattle or flock... but rather, you shall eat it before HaShem your G-d in the place that HaShem your G-d shall choose."
The true service of HaShem is the one that comes from the strength of the communal, and we can therefore only rise up to true and pure spiritual heights in the Mikdash. When private ideologies and theories are raised, they lower our lives. The Gemara in Shabbat (83b) states, "We have learnt: 'And they placed for themselves Ba'al Brit for a god.' [Shoftim 8:33) ? this is Zevuv [a fly], idol of Ekron. This teaches that each and every one of them made an image of their god and placed it in their pocket; when he recalled it, he would take it out of his pocket and caress and kiss it." Private and personal thought is likened to a special pocket for each individual. The initial feeling is a wonderful one as, at each moment, he remembers his "god"; he can hug and kiss it and find spiritual satisfaction. The feeling is a spiritual one, as the god is a fly that can fly off and rise up, but the truth is that it is all a lie, like that small and despised fly. Although satisfaction arrives quickly, as it is degenerate, it leads to an emptiness that causes great spiritual crises. Then it becomes clear that there is no other way but the great and pure service of HaShem at the summit of the mountain of HaShem in Jerusalem.
In chapter 14 (1) the Torah states: "You are children to HaShem your G-d; you shall not cut [titgodedu] yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead." The plain meaning of the verse is (Rashi), "You shall not make a cut or scratch in your flesh for the dead as the Emorites do." Yet, the Gemara in Yevamot (13b) learns from here that "you should not separate into different groups [agudot]," and Rashi explains that it makes it appear as if we observe two Torahs. The Torah obligates us to preserve the unity of the nation, which is the unity of the Torah.
Many have queried the relevance of the prohibition against separating into different groups to the plain explanation of the verse, "You are children... you shall not cut." When a person reflects from the external, minor viewpoint of life, he sees separate bodies, each one of which stands by itself, and each one of which possesses personal and private desires, which often stand against the desires of the other. Such an outlook causes one to think that when a person dies, all is over, and this leads him to express his opinion by scratching his own body. We are HaShem's children, however, and the essence of a person is his divine soul. Death, therefore, is a passage from one life to another. This inner understanding serves to remove the body's external barriers and provides insight on the divine foundation, and we thus see the communal point that forms the true foundation of each and every individual. From this, the prohibition against forming separate groups in the nation follows naturally, as they divide up the people due to this superficial and external outlook.
At the conclusion of the parsha, we have the mitzvah of Aliyah La'regel [pilgrimage to the Mikdash]: "Three times a year, all your males shall appear before HaShem your G-d in the place that He shall choose...." (17:17) We already learnt above about the obligation to bring vows and tithes to Jerusalem, to the one place that connects us all into one nation. But one who does not vow and has no tithes, how does he connect to the general service? The Torah comes and obligates every man of Israel to make a thrice-yearly pilgrimage to the Mikdash of HaShem. Undoubtedly, in order for a person to ascend to Jerusalem with joy, despite his leaving his home, appropriate preparation must be made. This preparation is a deep and internal spiritual one, so that when he will be in Jerusalem, he will be able to merit to absorb the holiness of Jerusalem and the Mikdash.
After a person has truly prepared himself and merited sanctification, he must save this wonderful impression in his soul; even when he returns to his home, he will take this holiness with him to his place of residence. And this is what the Torah means by the words: "And you shall turn in the morning and go to your tents...." (17:7) ? "All the turns that you turn from the Mikdash when you come to it shall only be in the morning." (Rambam, Hilkhot Bikkurim, 14:3) After you have visited the House of Hashem do not go immediately to your home, but instead, stay another night in Jerusalem. Absorb the holiness of the Mikdash internally, and then return to your home and live a holy and pure life in all times and places.
We have explained that the private person who makes a pilgrimage must prepare himself so he can absorb the holiness of the Mikdash. Certainly, it is the case that in order that we may merit the building of the third Mikdash we must raise ourselves up to a life of holiness and purity. Yet, the Mikdash can only be built from the strength of all of Klal Yisrael; therefore, we are obligated to raise ourselves up together with all sections of the nation, out of love, brotherhood, peace and friendship.