In the book "Talking About Eretz Yisrael" (pages 50-52) Rabbi Pinchas Winston touches upon the kabbilistic reasons someone from Chutz L'Aretz must keep a second day of Yom Tov. No doubt Rav Yosef Karo was fully aware of this when he wrote his psak halachah.
Here is the quote (bold mine.):
Jewish souls are most directly aligned with their Soul-Roots in Eretz Yisroel. (29) When a Jew leaves the borders of Eretz Yisroel, it is as if he is stretching his spiritual umbilical cord further, lengthening the distance between himself and his Soul-Root. This obviously slows down the rate of tikun and lessens its impact, not to mention reduce one’s spiritual sensitivity altogether:
A person who ascends from Chutz L’Aretz to Eretz Yisroel with the intention of returning experiences the following spiritual change: upon reaching the outer side of “The Ladder”(30) he is divested of all his klipos. He only enters with his Nefesh of Asiyah and cannot receive a Nefesh from Yetzirah.(31) This is why he must observe all the holidays as they are kept abroad.(32) Rav Chaim Vital wrote that he who is born in Eretz Yisroel has his NR”N — Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshamah — from [the angel] Metatron.(33) Yet when they leave Eretz Yisroel they are enclothed by a garment of [the angel] Sandalfon. The [spiritual] shell that surrounds him is like that of an almond, the green soft layer representing Rahav(34) and the inner harder shell symbolizing Sama’el.(35) The wood-like substance inside the shell represents the shell of the Temuros.(36) The thin shell — the bran that is attached to the food — is pure; it is from Sandalfon. This is the garment that he is enclothed with upon leaving for Chutz L’Aretz . . . Only the thin bran is not removed upon his return. He who is born outside of Eretz Yisroel is given his NR”N from the realm of Sandalfon. If he subsequently comes to live in Eretz Yisroel then he is given a NR”N from the aspect of Metatron, though the NR”N from Sandalfon doesn’t leave him and remains a garment for his NR”N of Metatron. On the very evening of his arrival in Eretz Yisroel as he lays down to sleep, they (the angels) remove the NR”N that he brought with him and immerse it in the Dinor River.(37) When they return his Neshamah, he is given the new NR”N from Metatron that is enclothed in the NR”N of Sandalfon . . . Someone born abroad who ascends to live in Eretz Yisroel permanently and reaches the “The Ladder,” the previously mentioned Klipos are removed from him. He enters Eretz Yisroel with only his Nefesh from the world of Yetzirah. That Nefesh is enclothed with his newly cleansed Nefesh of Asiyah like a sword fitted into its sheath. If for some reason that person decides to leave Eretz Yisroel permanently he leaves behind his new soul from Yetzirah in Eretz Yisroel, taking with him only his old Nefesh of Asiyah, which becomes enclothed by the Klipos in the same manner mentioned above. (Tuv HaAretz, p. 80-82)
--- FOOTNOTES ---
29. The essence of Torah Sh’b’al Peh — Oral Law — is within Eretz Yisroel (Pri Tzaddik, Massey 4), and the goal of inheriting a portion of Eretz Yisroel is to help each Jew find his own portion within Torah Sh’b’al Peh. (Zohar Chadash 2:137b)
30. This refers to the air that surrounds Eretz Yisroel to prevent the Klipos from entering the land (Tuv HaAretz, p. 82).
31. There are five levels of spiritual consciousness (bottom to top): Asiyah, Yetzirah, Beriyah, Atzilus, and Adam Kadmon. In general, these correspond to the five parts of the human
soul: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chiyah, and Yechidah. However, individual souls are subsets of this general system and therefore they can be completely rooted in one particular level, which accounts for a person’s higher or lower level of spiritual potential. Even still, adjustments can be made depending upon where a Jew lives, in Eretz Yisroel or Chutz L’Aretz, either increasing or decreasing a person’s spiritual potential.
32. Two days of yomei tovim as opposed to one day only. The fact that he plans to return to Chutz L’Aretz makes it impossible for him to have a transformation to that of a Jew living in Eretz Yisroel on a permanent basis.
33. This is the name of the angel that oversees the level of Yetzirah. According to the Midrash, Chanoch mentioned in the Torah (Bereishis 5:21) ascended on a fiery horse and became the angel Metatron, the Sar HaPanim — Chief of the Interior. Sandalfon has the same position on the lower level of Asiyah.
34. A level of Klipos that refers to the ministering angel of the people of Yishmael — a shedemon.
35. The name of the Sitra Achra, the angel of Eisav.
36. Literally, “replacement,” but it refers to another level of the Klipos.
37. The river of Dinor, a river of fire, comes down from the sweat of the angels upon the heads of the wicked in Gihennom. (Chagigah 13b). As two of its letters — Dalet-Nun — suggest, it is a source of Divine judgment.
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2 comments:
Eliyahu, why don't you discuss the Halakha in the Mishna, The Gemara, the Tur, The Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch that says CLEARLY that when you leave a location permanently, you no longer are bound by the customs of that place?
Why don't you accept that Halakha?
It is unanimously accepted in all Halakhic sources.
You keep skirting the issue.
"When you leave a location permanently, you no longer are bound by the customs of that place?"
So if a Jew moved to Antarctica he would no longer have to keep any of his father's minhagim? What a foolish thought that has no basis whatsoever! Certainly if you move to a community that has “community minhagim” surely you are obligated to adapt them. Those communities were known as Kehillas. And they are not very common in our day and age. All we are left with today are our parents’ minhagim and praiseworthy is the Jew that values what he parents taught him!
Let's take Yerushalayim. What exactly is minhag Yerushalayim. There are none. (If anything the only argument you could make for minhag Yerushalayim is that it follows the minhagim of the GRA whose talmidim settled here. And he did not eat Kitniyos.) Since there are none you follow the minhagim of one’s parents, grandparents and great grandparents.
That said you miss the entire point of this site. There is a VERY strong basis for those Jews that keep this minhag. Why then should G-d fearing Jews that are keeping the minhagim of their parents be accused of causing sinas chinam? If your parents traditions mean little to you and you want to follow this sole opinion that it your decision. But why don't you show any respect at all to those that follow the majority opinion? The notion that all Jews need a uniform dress and uniform customs to achieve harmony is a myth with no basis and is even harmful. Achdus will only be realized through tolerance and mutual respect for differences (ala Beis Hillel and Beis Shammi) which is why the very concept of a KLF is seriously misguided.
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