This week’s Parashah describes our duty to go and conquer the Land of Israel. It tells us not to be afraid since the great beauty and holiness of the Land of Israel has been assigned to the Jewish people. But we must recognize the privileges we have been given; each time we eat a meal, we must thank God for the food and the good land that he has given us. Rav Hirsch explains, paradoxically the more bounty we receive from God, the easier it is to fall into the trap of thinking we have achieved everything for ourselves, to forget our Creator and the moral standards he demands of us.
These dangers are not merely theoretical. Moshe lists the sins of the Jewish people from the Golden Calf which they built at Mount Sinai onwards. So we should not think that it is because of our righteousness that we are given the land, that is not so. The Jewish people did not always excel in the desert; rather it was the wickedness of the existing population that caused God to hand the land over to us.
The Ramban explains that a major reason that we are entitled to Eretz Yisrael is historical. God promised it to our forefathers and even the mistakes that we made and the occasional wicked deeds that we did were not enough to override the promises made to our ancestors.
But even the promise made to Abraham took a long time to come to fruition. A famous Midrash states that while the Canaanites were still living in the land, Abraham’s nephew Lot wanted to cash in the Divine promise and claim it all for himself and his descendants. He even began to graze his cattle on the land, but Abraham was insistent that he could not take anything until the time was right and God was ready to hand it over to them. A stunning Midrash says that Abraham muzzled his cattle so that they could not eat grass of the Land of Israel until it belonged to him.
Abraham’s approach to the Land of Israel modeled the Rambam’s idea that although in most personality traits we should always aim for the middle way, avoiding any extremes, we should follow the Mishna’s advice in trying to be as modest as possible (Rambam Hichot Deot 3:3 and Mishna Avot 4:4).
Perhaps the greatest test of our modesty is the way that we treat the vulnerable in our society and the Parashah then tells us the importance of caring for the orphan, the widow and the stranger and making sure that they are well fed and clothed. Rav Hirsch teaches us that equality before the law and our treatment of the stranger and the vulnerable around us will be the hallmark of the Jewish people following the ways of God — a person is entitled to care and respect simply by virtue of their humanity.
So whilst our Parashah told us of the great privilege of living in the land, it also warns us that the land comes with enormous moral responsibility and this is reflected in its geography. Whereas other countries (especially Egypt) come with a ready water supply, in Israel there is little natural water, we are dependent on the annual rainfall — the climate of Israel teaches us that we must constantly pray to God and fulfill his laws. Our ability to dwell here is dependent on that. The Torah tells us that God’s eyes are on the land from the beginning of the year till its end, which Rav Hirsch explains means that we cannot carry over our agricultural successes over from one year to the next. Each year we will be judged anew and our ability to grow crops and produce food will be dependent on our moral behaviour.
The Parashah ends with the second paragraph of the Shemah which warns that whilst God will reward us for good behaviour, our claim to the Land of Israel is not automatic. We will perish from our land if we do not keep Torah and behave as caring, moral human beings.
Zionism should be a great source of pride for us and we should support our country in every way we can. At times, we are disappointed by the very slow progress of the peace process and at times we feel disillusioned with the search for peace. But the Torah warns that whilst our security must not be compromised, we must not lose our moral compass and the need to keep our own behaviour in check.
As the Gemara says (Sotah 5), when God finds an arrogant person, he says, “There is no room for this person and myself to live together in the world.”
Shabbat Shalom and have a great week
Rabbi Gideon Sylvester served as Rabbi for the United Synagogue in Britain, worked as an Adviser to the Minister for Diaspora Affairs at the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel, and taught at a number of Yeshivot. He is currently a senior Jewish Educator at Merchavim – the Institute for Shared Citizenship in Israel, works at Ohr Torah Stone Institutions, and writes regularly for the Jewish Chronicle, all while continuing his work with the United Synagogue as their Rabbi in Israel.
This Dvar Torah expands on themes that Gideon Sylvester published in Makom about his Area C trip. See that article for more.
