Mikveh in the Shomron

This week, I attended an inspiring and eye-opening event in the Shomron, the beautiful northern hill country of Israel.  The event was a mikveh dedication near the settlement of Yitzhar.  With this mikveh, a young family of six with a small yeshiva on the premises could say that they have now established a permanent settlement in Israel.  The Talmud tells us that one should not live in a city without a mikveh, so the building of this mikveh turned this settlement into a permanent establishment.  This part of the country is where the Jews entered the land of Israel on three different occasions (with Abraham, with Yaakov and with Joshua).  In our weekly Torah portion (Vayechi), this part of the land is called the “shoulders” of Israel.  It is the source of Jewish pride and strength, just as the shoulders of an ox are the strongest part of its body.  Joseph, who is buried in this area, was described as an “ox” in the Torah, because of his ability to implement big changes in the world, as he did in Egypt.  For some photos of the dedication, go to our Facebook page (Jerusalem Connection).  Every part of the land of Israel corresponds to part of the Jewish soul, and we are not whole until all Jews are settled in all of our land, learning the entire Torah.  For more on the weekly Torah portion, go to our weekly words of Torah, at www.jerusalemconnection.org/weekly.  To know what’s going on with Chabad in Jerusalem, go to www.chabadjerusalem.org, and if you would like some instruction in Jewish spirituality, go to www.jewishsprititualbooks.com