Rav Berger on Kever David and Geula - Part 1 of 6

From Rav Berger's latest:

Introduction
The author writes:  Despite the fact that the heart of every Jew should fear and tremble, to plead and cry out when he hears the terrible news - that over the holy gravesite of the annointed King David and the kings of the House of David, it will turn to a house of idol worship R"L, which did not occur [in recent history] until today.  There is still a laxity and indifference in the community and not a true outcry!  And it doesn't matter now if this place will indeed be given over to them as a legal acquisition or only as "usage rights" or some other alternative procedure.  "This is a prohibition of real idol worship and terrible disgrace!"  Such was expressed by Sar Hatorah Haga'on Rav Chaim Kanievsky Shlit"a when he painfully heard about this matter.

When I contemplated the matter why this is so -  if everyone would respond in a harsh way if Has Veshalom they would be informed that over their grandfather's grave, they are going to erect a church and place for idol worship, then all the more so for the grave of "David, King of Israel, who is alive and well"!

I came to the conclusion that there is a lot of ignorance regarding the truth of the tradition that was received from generation to generation about the holy gravesite, which was accepted and transmitted to us from earlier generations by Gedolim and Tzaddikim, as we will bring down later.  And this place is so exalted and holy that from it, the Redemption of Israel will sprout.

In addition, not everyone succeeds to contemplate and to see that together with the struggle against erecting a place of spiritual impurity over this holy place, there is an additional campaign that is an inner campaign (this is what I heard from a number of Gedolim and Tzaddikim) of "The War of the End of Days" - the great war of the side of holiness against the side of impurity, which is learned from the prophecy that the prophet Ovadia prophesied (1:21) וְעָלוּ מוֹשִׁעִים בְּהַר צִיּוֹן, לִשְׁפֹּט אֶת-הַר עֵשָׂו; וְהָיְתָה לַיהוָה, הַמְּלוּכָה. [And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.]  The prophecy that brings in joy and great hope to everyone during this strengthening of the terrible exile that we are in is: "Light is seen at the end of the tunnel of exile and Mashiah is already standing Mamash at the doorstep," as was heard from several Gedolei Yisrael recently.  However, on the other hand, it obligates us to relate to it in accordance with how we relate to a spiritual war, as will be brought down later.

Therefore, I said: come, let's bring satisfaction to the annointed King David, and let's bring the facts one at a time so that all will understand the greatness of the campaign and the hour, and in so doing, the prophecy of the prophet Hoshe'a (3:5) אַחַר, יָשֻׁבוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּבִקְשׁוּ אֶת-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם, וְאֵת דָּוִיד מַלְכָּם; וּפָחֲדוּ אֶל-יְהוָה וְאֶל-טוּבוֹ, בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים. [afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall come trembling unto the LORD and to His goodness in the end of days], and as Haza"l expounded (Yalkut Shimoni Shemuel Alef, Remez 106), only by way of seeking, expecting, and wanting the kingdom of Hashem, the rising of the kingdom of the House of David, and the building of the Beit Hamikdash will we be redeemed as an everlasting redemption, Amen Ve'Amen!

A great amount of thanks is given to Harav Haga'on R' Yaakov Sivilia Shlit"a of Yerushalayim, author of the deep and all-encompassing book "The Secrets of Kever David", for the material and great knowledge which I drew from his book and brought in part in this newsletter.  This book gives a true outlook and picture of the tradition that is accepted from generation to generation about the holiness and greatness of Mt. Zion and the place of burial of King David and the rest of the kings of the House of David, and it is recommended for everyone to bring this book to his home.

David, King of Israel, is Alive and Well

King David A"H was born on Shabbat Kodesh, the 6th of Sivan, 2854 from Creation, and he went to the next world on Shabbat Kodesh, the 6th of Sivan - the time of the giving of the Torah - in 2924, when he was 70 years old.

When he was 30 years old, in 2884, he went up to reign over Israel.

Originally, he reigned 7 years in Hevron, and at the age of 37, he went up to capture Yerushalayim, which was already captured by Yehoshua at the beginning of the conquering of the Land, but the tribes of Yehuda and Binyamin refrained from expelling the Jebusites from it.  In Yerushalayim, David reigned for 33 years until the day of his death.

David lived all his days in the army fortress that he captured, and there was his home since David swore to Hashem that he will not build a home for himself as long as there is no home for Hashem.  As it is written in Psalm 132: שִׁיר, הַמַּעֲלוֹת: זְכוֹר-יְהוָה לְדָוִד-- אֵת, כָּל-עֻנּוֹתוֹ. אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע, לַיהוָה; נָדַר, לַאֲבִיר יַעֲקֹב. אִם-אָבֹא, בְּאֹהֶל בֵּיתִי; אִם-אֶעֱלֶה, עַל-עֶרֶשׂ יְצוּעָי. אִם אֶתֵּן שְׁנַת לְעֵינָי; לְעַפְעַפַּי תְּנוּמָה. עַד-אֶמְצָא מָקוֹם, לַיהוָה; מִשְׁכָּנוֹת, לַאֲבִיר יַעֲקֹב. [A Song of Ascents. LORD, remember unto David all his affliction;How he swore unto the LORD, and vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob:'Surely I will not come into the tent of my house, nor go up into the bed that is spread for me;I will not give sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to mine eyelids;Until I find out a place for the LORD, a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob.']

Despite his strong desire to build the Beit Hamikdash and despite the preparations that he prepared - including gold, silver, and copper from all the spoils of wars he won - David was informed by Natan the prophet immediately after bringing up The Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines that the Mikdash will be built by Shelomo, his son, who will reign after after.  And this implies, therefore, that he did not build a palace for himself - his home was in the fortress until the day he died.

Mt. Zion, the City of the Great King, is the Place of Burial of the Kings of the House of David

The city of Zion is the City of David, the city of the kingdom "the city of the great king" that is at the peak of Mt. Zion (like the opinion of the great Rishonim and Aharonim and the simple meaning of the verses - and not like many who mistakenly follow the opinion of the "researchers").

King David A"H built his home and dwelling in the fortress on Mt. Zion, which he also called by the name "City of David".  And there was hewn the cave for the burial of the kings of the House of David.  This is implied from the words of Haza"l in the Tosefta in the beginning of Bava Batra.  This cave opened up to Nahal Kidron and therefore, the graves of the kings of the House of David do not transfer spiritual impurity.

There is the place of burial for our masters the holy kings:

• The annointed one of Hashem, King David A"H, who is alive and well
• And his son, the beloved of Hashem, who ruled over the upper worlds and lower worlds, who is the smartest of all men, King Solomon A"H
• And other kings of the House of David who were Tzaddikim, who did what was upright in Hashem's eyes:
• King Asa
• King Yehoshaphat
• King Yotam, son of King Uzziah, who would tip the scale together with Ribbi Shimon Bar Yohai for the whole world [for all time] toward merit (Sukkah 45b)
• King Hizkiya, whom HKB"H wanted to make Mashiah (Sanhedrin 94a) and they put a Sefer Torah on his grave, and the wise men said about him "This [man] fulfilled what it says in this [Sefer Torah]" (Bava Kama 17a)
• King Yoshiyahu, the likes of which there were not who returned to HKB"H with all his heart and soul (Melachim Bet 23:25)
• Yehoyada the Kohen Gadol, who was one of the transmitters of Torah from generation to generation (as is brought down in the introduction of the Yad HaHazaka)

that all of them (and more) were buried in their holy resting place in the cave of King David A"H that is on Mt. Zion, as is brought down in Nach.

[To be continued]