04 Mar AVINOAM’S LEGACY

Mishehnichnas Adar, marbim b’simcha.
When the month of Adar arrives, we increase
our simcha.
Does the onset of Adar being instantaneous
happiness? Magical joy? Does Adar wash
away all our pain and sorrow, promising to
dissolve all our troubles and concerns?
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l teaches
that the arrival of Adar is a most propitious
time for each of us to work on removing the
worries and sadness we may be harboring in
our hearts. It’s not what Adar does for us, but
what we do with Adar. Adar is a time to take
hold of our emotions and put our trust in
HaShem. To say – HaShem, I did mine, and
now, I am in Your hands.
Just saying these words lifts the burden off
our shoulders. As we read in the Megillah, it
was in the month of Adar, the month in which
we experienced the miracle of Purim, that
our days turned “mi’yagon, from sorrow,
l’simcha, to joy, m’aveilah, from mourning,
l’yom tov, to festivity.” (Esther 9:22)
Try a small exercise. Visualize pulling out all
the dark, negative thoughts, and tossing them

away. Fill that space with emunah and
bitachon, faith and trust in HaShem.
The word Adar – aleph, dalet, reish – can be
understood as meaning aleph – one – the one
and only HaShem, and dalet, reish – spelling
dor, meaning to reside. HaShem lives
amongst us and within us. As the Kotzker
Rebbe would famously say, HaShem can be
found all over. He is only waiting for us to let
Him in.
During the month of Adar we read the
parshiyos of Terumah and Tetzaveh, learning
about the Mishkan, HaShem’s dwelling
place. In Terumah, we learn about the
construction of the Mishkan and the making
of its vessels. Tetzaveh teaches us about the
bigdei kehunah, the special garments worn
by the kohanim.
In Parshas Terumah HaShem commands us,
“V’asu li mikdash, and you shall make for
Me a sanctuary, v’shochanti b’socham, so
that I will dwell amongst them” (Shemos
25:8)
Dwell amongst them….. Would it not have
been correct to say dwell in it, as in the
Mishkan? Why dwell amongst them?
Every word in the Torah is there for a reason.

There are no mistakes, each
word teaches us a lesson.
B’socham, amongst them.
HaShem descends from His
Heavenly sanctuary to dwell
amongst each and every one of
us. To be here with us. For us. A
message – we are not alone.
The Chumash also uses the word
“mikdash”, even though the
parsha tells of the building of the
“Mishkan – the Tabernacle”, the
resting place of HaShem that
traveled with the nation on their
journey through the desert. The
Talmud (Eruvin 2a) teaches that these two
words are interchangeable. ”We find that the
Mishkan is sometimes called the mikdash,
and the mikdash is sometimes called the
Mishkan”. Both the portable Mishkan and
the Beis HaMikdash built in Yerushalayim
are resting places of the Shechina.
Today, we have neither a Mishkan nor a Beis
HaMikdash. But we do have batei k’nessiyot
and batei midrashot. Sanctuaries we elevate
in kedusha through tefillah and Torah. We
can even transform our home to be a mikdash
me’at, a sanctuary in miniature, through the
tefillos recited, the mitzvos done, and the
acts of chesed we perform. V’shochanti
b’socham, and I will dwell amongst them. A
gift of love from HaShem to us.
B’socham – amongst them. Within each and
every one of us, HaShem gifted a beautiful
neshama, a soul that has the power to be a
beacon of light to the nations of the world.
Year after year, we study the weekly parsha,
and all the details regarding the Mishkan
and its vessels. Treasures that were also
present in the Beis HaMikdash. Yet, never
once have we said that it isn’t relevant…
we’ll skip the parsha, put it on the back
burner, until once again we have a Beis
HaMikdash.
This is the power of our people. Our faith.
Achakeh lo b’chol yom sheh’yavo, we wait
every day for the coming of Moshiach. We
are a nation that longs for the rebuilding of
the Beis HaMikdash, as we say in the daily
Amida, V‘le’Yerushalayim ircha
b’rachamim toshuv, And to Yerushalayim,
Your city, may You return with
compassion… u’vnei osah b’karov
b’yomeinu, may You rebuild it soon in our
days”. Each day we say these words as we
face east, towards Yerushalayim.
On my recent trip to Eretz Yisroel, our
group met with families of fallen soldiers.
We heard the story of Avinoam, who was
stationed in Gaza. He would enter the
homes, sometimes abandoned, sometimes
booby-trapped, to make sure all was safe.
He noticed a common fixture in virtually

every home. A picture of the Al-Aqsa
Mosque. Not just one per house, but one in
each and every single room. He internalized
this sight as a message. Why don’t we hang
pictures of the Beis HaMikdash in our
homes?
When Avinoam was on leave, he made sure
to purchase a picture of the Beis HaMikdash
which he hung in his home. It was of a
modern-day Yerushalayim, complete with
the light-rail and the Knesset… and then,
above it all, was superimposed a photo of the
Beis HaMikdash. After a short break,
Avinoam was called back to Gaza. BDE.
Avinoam never returned home to enjoy his
Beis HaMikdash picture.
At the shloshim, Avinoam’s family
distributed pictures of the Beis HaMikdash
for all who were there to hang in their homes.
L’zecher nishmas Avinoam. To bring the Beis
HaMikdash into our home. To be a constant
reminder of its loss. To daven for it to be
rebuilt.
The soldiers in Avinoam’s army unit were so
moved by his wish to have the Beis
HaMikdash embedded in everyone’s mind,
that they made patches with a picture of the
Beis HaMikdash. Patches that were sewn
onto the shoulders of their uniforms.
Avinoam died as a kadosh, sacrificing his life
for Am Yisroel. His last mission was to bring
the Beis HaMikdash to the hearts and homes
of his people. Contrast that to Achashveirosh,
who defiled and brazenly displayed the holy
vessels and had the audacity to wear the
garments of the koheim gadol at his grand
party. His intent was to make the Jewish
people feel abandoned by HaShem, to give
up on the hope of rebuilding the Beis
HaMikdash. But we are forever a nation that
clings to its beliefs, and they did not allow
Achashveirosh’s mockery to break their
spirit and their hope.
Just as the Jewish nation experienced a
v’nehafoch hu, a turnaround in Shushan over
two thousand years ago, may HaShem make
a turnover for us today, taking us from
darkness to light, from war to peace, with the
coming of Moshiach.