“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Terumah 5786
3 Adar 5786/February 20, 2026
VAST AND PRICELESS
I love wearing my tallis on Shabbos mornings to and from shul. It gives me a regal feeling. It may therefore be surprising that I almost never wear my tallis to shul.
Rav Yaakov Kamentesky zt”l was opposed to the practice of wearing a tallis in the street in America, or anywhere in the diaspora, because it is not our home country. Although we are blessed to have freedom of religion in America, Rav Yaakov felt that it is improper for us to flaunt our religious symbols in the streets, where we are guests. (Mechitzas Rabbeinu, page 82).
Unfortunately, that message and that attitude is often lost on many in our communities. We have much reason to be thankful in the United States, especially for the comfort and religious freedom we enjoy. The uncomfortable truth, however, is that recent events have jolted us to remember that this is not our final destination.
The only time I wear my tallis to shul in America is during the summer when my family has the good fortune to spend a couple of months at Camp Dora Golding. The campus is closed off from the outside world on Shabbos, so in that spiritual enclave I wear my tallis from my bungalow to shul on Shabbos morning.
Whenever I have the great fortune to be in Eretz Yisroel for Shabbos, however, I make a point of wearing my tallis to and from shul. A few weeks ago, when I was there staying in the home of my brother and sister-in-law, I davened at an early minyan (which in Eretz Yisroel isn’t considered early…) When I arrived back at my brother’s home, he had not yet returned home from shul. I made kiddush and then put my tallis back on and walked until I found a bench on the side of the road where I learned under the Yerushalayim sunlight with my tallis on.
Eretz Yisroel is our home, and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to flaunt that, if only for myself.
My rebbe, Rabbi Berel Wein zt”l, often related that during the years when he was a young Rabbi in Miami Beach, he had the opportunity to meet and become acquainted with many great, notable Torah personalities. They would come down to Miami during the winter and, being that he was the rabbi in the local shul, he had the opportunity to interact with them. Rabbi Wein shared many fond memories from those encounters.
One winter, Rav Meir Grunwald, the Teitcher Rav from Toronto, spent a winter in Miami Beach while he was recuperating from heart surgery. Rabbi Wein took advantage of the opportunity to learn b’chavrusa with the Rav for a few hours each morning. One day they were learning in Rabbi Wein’s yard under the grapefruit tree. The sun was shining pleasantly and a gentle ocean breeze wafted across the yard. The Rav looked up from his sefer and quipped, “For galus, this isn’t bad!”
The key words are “for galus”. After over two decades in Monsey, Rabbi Wein decided to leave Monsey where he was a successful Rav and Rosh Yeshiva. At the time, both his shul and yeshiva were thriving. He did not leave it all behind to go back to the idyllic Miami life he nostalgically recalled. His motivation to leave Monsey was with only one goal in mind – to make aliyah to Eretz Yisroel.
In bentching we thank Hashem, not only for the food He allowed us to enjoy, but also for the Holy Land from which all blessing emanates: “We thank You Hashem, our G-d, because You have given to our forefathers as a heritage, a land which is desirable, good, and wide.”
That the land is desirable and good is clear. But how can it be said that it is a spacious land? The country of Israel is 8,522 square miles while the state of New Jersey is 8,729 square miles. Even if the Biblical parameters of Trans-Jordan are included, the land is dwarfed by any one of the surrounding Arab countries.
Rav Moshe Wolfson zt”l explained with a parable: Someone meets his neighbor and excitedly tells him that he purchased real estate. When the neighbor asked him how much land he bought the man replies that he got a bargain and bought on an inch by an inch of land. The neighbor starts laughing. What can you do with an inch of land? Grow a carrot?
However, if a man tells his neighbor that he purchased a diamond that’s an inch by an inch, the neighbor will be thoroughly impressed. One inch of diamond is worth exponentially more than one inch of land.
The Torah describes Eretz Yisroel as, “a land that Hashem, your G-d, seeks out; the eyes of Hashem, your G-d, are always upon it…” (Devorim 11:12). Every inch of Eretz Yisroel is invaluable. Because it is “a land which is desirable and good”, it wide and spacious. Although in comparison to other countries, it is physically small, since every inch is so precious, it is a vast land.
For those of us living on the east coast it’s been a brutal winter. Extremely cold weather swept through in early December and hardly relented. After a massive snowstorm at the end of January the temperatures dropped precipitously and remained well below freezing for weeks.
A friend of mine spent a few days in Florida a few weeks ago, a particular pleasure this year.
My friend noted that while he was davening during his vacation in Florida, he had a poignant thought while reciting the beracha of retzei, davening for the return of the Beis Hamikdash. He thought to himself that despite how beautiful the weather was in Florida and how pleasant it was to be there, he would still give it all up to live in Eretz Yisroel, and to witness the return of the Beis Hamikdash.
May we all merit to witness it soon!
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani Staum
STRIVINGHIGHER.COM