From an email that has been ciruculating....
Shaaaloommmm swwweeetteessstt friends!!!:-):-)
This dvar Torah is dedicated to my beloved friend for almost two decades, Reb Aryeh Brickner, a true ben Torah and lover of Zion who made a wonderful life here for himself and his family כן ירבו and left behind the palaces of chutz la-aretz and never looked back. He doesn't miss it because he knows and feels that he is HOME. A yid with neshoma who knows what is important in life. He quietly serves Hashem faithfully and consistently. One of those special people you don't normally hear about but are glad when you did.
This weeks is my aufruff [sounds like the noise dogs make. I actually had my aufruff in a city that probably has more dogs than any other in Israel] parsha. So mazel tov to my kallah on her wedding. 21 years later we are looking for our daughter to become a kallah. How time flies when you are having FUN and the last 21 years have been fun. [And a HUUUUUUGE thanks to my parents and in-laws for paying for the wedding. Couldn't have done it without you. That was before my foray into the world of high finance, the three hedge funds I head, and the two banks I bought in Switzerland. Leaner days....].
Firstly and most importantly - I have had the indescribable zchus to have spent every single day of all of these years learning and spreading Torah. That makes me the richest man on earth - pleasure and fulfillment in this world with lots of delicious fruits awaiting me when they dance around my grave after [I hope] a long stay on this beautiful planet. So I can only say from my own experience - learn learn and learn. As they used to say on the Michelob beer commercials "It doesn't gayt any better thanyn thiyis". Every day brings new diamonds and pearls of insight and enlightenment.
In addition - I have had the tremendous good fortune to live in the HOLY LAND. When I was a kid, Israel was a vacation resort. I figured, hey, make life a permanent vacation. And so it was!!:-) I live in a beautiful mountainous town in the Judean hills with a pastoral view with all the amenities [indoor plumbing, running water, Israeli cats who eat our shabbos leftovers from the garbage bins on the sidewalk, Arab villages surrounding us to remind us that we are not yet living in Moshaich's times etc. etc.] and it is like a DREAM! Indeed, בשוב השם שיבת ציון היינו כחולמים. When Hashem returned to Zion we were like dreamers.
In fact, in this weeks parsha we read the praises of Eretz Yisrael. Among the many psukim we read ארץ אשר לא במסכנות תאכל בה לחם לא תחסר כל בה - The land in which we don't eat bread in poverty, it lacks NOTHING. The gemara [Brachos 36] derives from here that אין ארץ ישראל חסרה כלום. Israel lacks NOTHING. A person should think that by living in Israel he is "sacrificing" something. Sacrificing is for bunting. Living is Israel is so unbelievably geshamk that we lack nothing. Not only spiritually but materially as well. Israel today is on the cutting edge of technology. We have more start ups per capita that any other country. Food galore. WHATEVER a person needs or wants he can find in Israel. When Rav Aharon K'dosh Hashem of Belz [d. 21 av 1957] came to Eretz Yisrael he was so happy. He said that here, even the goyim [people who live and act like goyim] are yidden. He didn't mean it derogatorily. He saw Jews everywhere and was thrilled about it.
Outside of the land - physicality is often a contradiction to spirituality but here in Israel they complement each other. All of the physicality IS spiritual because it is the Land Of Hashem. In Parshas Breishis the earth was cursed ארורה האדמה בעבורך. Eretz Yisrael is the blessed land that changes the curse into a blessing.
That is why in bentching we say ברוך אתה השם על הארץ ועל המזון - We thank Hashem for the land and food. The food that comes from this land is BLESSED FOOD. In al hamichya we say ונאכל מפריה ונשבע מטובה ונברכך עליה בקדושה ובטהרה - We will eat the fruits of the land and bless Hashem with holiness and purity. Meaning, the consumption of the fruits of the land makes us holier [Rav Yoel Sirkes in his commentary on Shulchan Aruch - "Bach"].
However, in order for one to fully absorb all of the sanctity one must appreciate what the Land means to us. That is why we must talk about it and learn about it all the time. We want the holiness of the land to have the maximal effect on us.
Even those who are not fortunate enough to live here yet can connect through their daily tefillos and brachos when Eretz Yisrael is mentioned again and again.
[Based on the teachings of the Tzadikim]
May we all be zocheh to come home and live in an Eretz Yisrael where the ruling "party" is מלכות ש-די with the coming of Moshiach במהרה בימינו!!:-)
A beautiful shabbos beloved friends!!
Love and blessings,
Me
