The second tithe, מעשר שני — which we designate after first separating Terumah, which is given to a Kohen, as well as the first tithe מעשר ראשון, which is apportioned to a Levi — must either be consumed within the walls of sanctified Jerusalem or redeemed on coins that will used to purchase food to be eaten in Jerusalem.
The Torah in prohibiting it from being consumed outside of the sanctified city, uses a term that is not usually employed when stating a prohibition.
לא תוכל — You 'cannot' eat the tithes… in all your settlements… only before G-d your Lord, in the place that G-d your Lord shall choose [Jerusalem].
Cannot?! Although we shouldn't but as free-willed beings certainly we can!
Rashi quotes Rebbi Yehoshua Ben Korchah who famously taught יכול אתה— you can, but אינך רשאי — you are not permitted.
The Sifrei adds that this intimation is found in the Book of Yehoshua where it describes how, 'the Yevusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Yehuda, לא יכלו — could not drive them out'.
Evidently, as elucidated in Pirkei D'Rebbe Eliezer, Avraham when seeking to purchase Me'arat HaMachpela, he told the Yevusi — who were really Hittites, but were identified with the Yevusites, as the Hittites inhabited the city of Yevus [Jerusalem] at that time — of his intention and they refused to sell it to him unless Avraham would make a pact with them never to drive them out of Jerusalem. Avraham agreed. It was only several hundreds of years later when King David acquired it from Aravnah the Yevusi, that it was fully repossessed into Jewish hands.
So, although in the days of Yehoshua they 'could have' physically conquered it, nevertheless they were not permitted to. Thus, evidence for this term's usage as indicating lacking permission rather than inability.
But why the need to utilize it if it doesn't mean what it says?
Simply say they 'should not' rather than they 'cannot'.
On the day the Torah was given, Moshe was summoned by G-d to the top of the mountain instructing him to, 'descend, warn the people, lest they break through to G-d to see, and a multitude will fall.'
Moshe responds, לא יוכל — "The people 'cannot' ascend Mount Sinai, for you have warned us [three days prior] saying, 'bound the mountain and sanctify it'."
Once again, we are presented with the same dilemma, they 'shouldn't ascend' — as they were formerly forewarned not to — but certainly if they choose to, they 'could.'
Perhaps the intimation here is that there are moments of powerful revelation of G-d's presence — such as on that day when they already heard the shofar, experiencing the thunder and lightning, viewing the heavy cloud, fire and smoke —that it simply precluded even the possibility of violating His will.
Moshe was rightfully stating 'they couldn't'!
Even when the Temple stood, although the sense of G-d's presence was not as mightily on display as by Mount Sinai, the reality of His immanenceH to those who are mindful would inspire a sense of duty to His will that would make one unable to defy His word.
When the Torah summons one to Jerusalem to pay tribute to G-d's beneficence, in the form of one's second tithe from his crops, with G-d's intention to inspire joyous service that inevitably results from spending time in the holy city of Jerusalem in proximity of enthused Kohanim and Levites — paradigms of ecstatic devotion to G-d, one simply 'cannot' even entertain eating outside of Jerusalem's all-embracing walls. (תוס' בב"ב כא.)is His
Avraham Avinu surprisingly acquiesced to the demands of the Hittites in promising them that in exchange for agreeing to sell him the Me'arat HaMachpela his descendants would not boot them out of Jerusalem without their consent.
When demanding that price, the Pirkei D'Rebbe Eliezer quotes them as having said to Avraham, "We know that the Holy One, blessed be He, will eventually give you and your descendants all of these lands. Swear to us that Israel will not take possession of the city of Yevus without the consent of the Yevusi."
Clearly, Avraham understood that Jerusalem can't simply be had. One must earn the rights to its acquisition. It would take hundreds of years before the nation in their quest to discover and appreciate its exalted quality, purifying themselves in that process so they may be worthy of being appreciated by the nations of the world, as the true heirs of this valuable piece of real estate, that it would be relinquished, as portrayed by Aravnah the Yevusi finally agreeing to transfer and sell it to King David.
Perhaps, Rashi by choosing to elaborate into the details of the pact between Avraham and the Hittites, in drawing us to the verse that says we 'couldn't' conquer Jerusalem in the days of Yehoshua, was seeking to educate us in how to view our hopes for regaining it once again.
In our pining for the return of the Divine Presence in our midst — so that we may experience the glory of that relationship with G-d — we must realize unless we purify ourselves, we simply 'cannot' merit Jerusalem in its fullest expression.
We are transitioning from the days and weeks of mourning we experienced in the months of Tammuz and Av, with the last imagery at the end of Kinnos, that depicts us as 'a בתולה — maiden girded in sackcloth [lamenting] for the husband of her youth'.
בתולה — maiden is one of the seventy names of Jerusalem.
The astrological sign for the month of Elul is a בתולה — a maiden.
A young maiden is suffused with purity and longing for genuine connection.
That is Jerusalem. That is Elul.
G-d is nearby. We can access Jerusalem and all its inspiration even while we reside in Baltimore, during this special month.
But it takes effort and mindfulness.
The Great Master of Mussar, Reb Yeruchem of Mir, was wont to point out that just like the summer is vacation time for 'camp for the body', so too is Elul a 'summer camp for the soul.'
He related, how he once overheard two vacationers who had just arrived at one of the famous European spas, comment to one another, even before placing their bags in their rooms, “Let us jump into the baths, every moment is precious here!”
Elul is an opportunity to take advantage of re-discovering our relationship with G-d.
He is available. Endless opportunities await us each moment.
We can’t afford to be distracted or waste even a minute. (אבני שלמה שיחות אלול)
If we inculcate this message in transforming the will of G-d to become an inherent part of us to the extent that we simply 'can't' act otherwise, how much more so if we put into place His belief in us that we 'can' succeed, no doubt we will!
חודש טוב ומוצלח!
באהבה,
צבי יהודה טייכמאן
