Whose Land Is It?

Every nation is entitled to have a land for itself. Only one nation has an inseparable and qualitative bond with its land: The Land of Israel for the People of Israel.

Why Open Torah with Story of Creation?

Rashi, the greatest Bible commentator, begins his classic commentary on the Torah with a question as to why the Torah opens with the narrative of creation and not with the commandments that first appear in the Book of Exodus.

Rashi, the Rebbe explains (Likkutei Sichos Volume 5) is troubled by the Torah’s choice for its opening verse, as well as the entire Book of Genesis. Torah is a book of directives to us, not a history book. Why then does it devote an entire book of Genesis to the history of the world?

Furthermore, Torah is G-d’s communication to Israel. Accordingly, it should have begun with the first commandment that was addressed specifically to the Jewish people. This commandment concerning the establishment of the New Moon does not appear until the Book of Exodus. Why was it then necessary for the Torah to preface this commandment with the account of creation and subsequent events?

P.R. to the Nations

Rashi’s answer is that, indeed, the Book of Genesis, especially its opening statement, was intended to give us practical guidance as to how we should defend our claim to the Land of Israel. The entire Book of Genesis was recorded in anticipation of the charge that would be made by the Nations of the World with respect to the Jewish People’s claim on Israel. In Rashi’s own words:

“[I]f the nations of the world will say to Israel, ‘you are bandits, for you conquered the lands of the Seven Nations, we say to them: ‘All of the earth belongs to the Holy One, Blessed is He. He created it and gave to whomever He preferred. Of His own volition He gave it to them, and then of His own volition He took it from them and gave it to us.’”

Hypocricy?

At first blush, the charge of the nations is both ludicrous and hypocritical. Firstly, why are they so concerned about the Canaanite tribes’ displacement from Israel?

Secondly, haven’t all the nations conquered other nations? Was Israel the first and last people to conquer land? Almost every inch of inhabited earth was once inhabited by another group that was displaced by a conquering nation. Why should Israel be the only one to be charged with theft?

Thirdly, Israel was indeed originally in the hands of the Semites and was subsequently conquered by the Canaanites (See Genesis ). Wasn’t this charge sheer hypocrisy? Why bother responding to it?

The Complaint of the Nations

In truth, the Rebbe explains (ibid.) the complaint of the nations is not about the propriety of the actual conquest, but as to the character of the conquest.

When every other nation conquered another country, it did not fundamentally change the nature of the land it conquered. Moreover, even after the conquest occurred, it left room for it to be reversed by some other nation.

By contrast, once the Jewish people conquered the Land of Israel, it became an irreversible possession of the Jewish people. It became a land that possesses a soul and a special character that distinguishes it from any other place on earth.

In addition, once conquered, the Land of Israel is forever the Land for Israel. It can never revert to another nation. And even if it were conquered—which occurred several times in its history—it remains the eternal possession of the Jewish people.

It is this that all the nations of the world find most disconcerting. They protest: “You’ve conquered the land, in the most absolute sense of the word, unlike any other nation’s conquest.”

The nations of the world, not just the descendants of the ancient Canaanites, are troubled by the nature of the Jewish People’s claim to Israel. It is an absolute, permanent and exclusive claim, unlike any other nation’s claim to their land.

The Secret of the Jewish People’s Connection to Israel

Why is Israel’s (the people) relationship with Israel (the Land), qualitatively different from all other nation’s relationships to their lands?

The answer, the Rebbe explains, lies in the key word “all,” in Rashi’s phrase: “All of the earth belongs to the Holy One, Blessed is He.” In Hebrew the word kol means all, but it also could be translated as “the totality.” Not only does the entire world, geographically speaking, belong to G-d, but the quality and nature of the world is also His.

When G-d created the world, He decided the character of the world as well. And He decided that the character of Israel would be qualitatively different from every other country. It was not that G-d allowed Israel’s status to be altered, but at the very beginning, G-d created Israel the Land to be best suited for Israel the People.

In other words, the Land of Israel is a Land like no other, because it possesses a spiritual dimension that makes it compatible with only the People of Israel.

The Master Plan

To explain: When G-d created the world He did so with a purpose and a plan. The objective was for the entire world to become a receptive and hospitable place for G-d; a natural world that expresses its Creator’s presence and serves His interests.

Thus, when we look at any piece of “real estate” it has two dimensions: The way it is and the way it must be transformed.

There is one land, however, that was created in a way that, from the very outset, one could see evidence of the finished product. When we view the Land of Israel, its history and geography, we see through the physicality and are immediately convinced of its holiness.

To be sure, we have free choice and we can choose to deny Israel’s true G-dly nature, but that would be short-lived. The Land of Israel demands of its inhabitants to appreciate its lofty status. When, as a people, we failed in that regard, the Land “spit us out.” While in the rest of the world it is natural to be materialistic, the nature of Israel is to be spiritual.

And while it takes an unnatural force of resistance to tame the world outside of Israel, it takes an unnatural force to negate the spiritual state of the Land of Israel.

Moreover, Israel’s unique status is what energizes us to transform the entire world into a place that naturally reflects its Divine essence.

The challenge we have in exile is to instill the natural holiness of the Land of Israel into every nook and cranny of the world. This we accomplish, of course, by performing the physical Mitzvos-commandments that instill holiness even into the mundane.

The end result of these efforts is a world that is entirely Israel. This, indeed, will occur in the Messianic Age, at which time Israel will be the source of inspiration for the rest of the world, enabling it to grow to even greater heights.

Rashi and the Crusaders; Modern Day Israel and Moshiach

Rashi lived during the period of the Crusades when the issue of the sovereignty of Israel obsessed the world. Christians and Moslems were fighting over the Holy Land. At that time, Rashi made it clear that the land is G- d’s and was given irrevocably to the Jewish people.

In the present day and age, as we get closer to the coming of Moshiach, when our sovereignty over Israel will be fully vindicated, the challenge of the Nations of the World to the Jewish People’s claim to Israel becomes more pronounced; their voices more shrill in their condemnation of Israel.

This is consistent with the understanding that the closer we get to the Messianic Age, when the forces of evil will be removed, these forces mount their last stand, as it were. It is their “going out of business sale.” Similarly, the forces that want to prevent the cementing of our relationship with Israel, are mustering all their resources in this effort.

It is now as important as ever to respond to these challenges with our proud restatement of Rashi’s words. Instead of apologizing for our claim to Israel, the Jewish People have the responsibility and the privilege to assert their G-d given obligation to the Land of Israel. Not only will we be doing our part in preparing ourselves for the coming of Moshiach, this message will ultimately penetrate and the Nations of the World will all concede that the Land of Israel is the eternal inheritance of the People of Israel.

As we start the new book of Genesis, let us hope and pray that this year will be one in which peace will prevail, with the imminent arrival of Moshiach and the commencement of the Final Redemption!

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Breishis by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.