Parshas Lech Lecha

Bordering on the Holy Land

FRIDAY NIGHT:

G-d said to Avram, "Go from your land, your birthplace, and your father's house, to the land which I will show you . . ." (Bereishis 12:1)

Rabbi Winston has to be in London, Nov. 22-29, b"H. Anyone interested in arranging a speaking event of any size, or arranging a private appointment, should write to pwinston@thirtysix.org over the next week.

I have declared this the year of the land, the land being Eretz Yisroel. Our history seems to have begun with it, and it seems that our history will come to an end over it.

I do not think that the Knesset will do anything positively about it, and my fellow Torah Jews will probably consider me totally off-the-wall, if they don't already. However, so much is going on with respect to Eretz Yisroel these days, and I suspect it is only just the beginning.

Indeed, not only did we surrender Gush Katif to the Arabs, but we are watching them to what they do so well: destroy and look a gift horse in his mouth. How silly was the world to think that the invading Arabs would say to themselves, "Hey, this is a big test and the whole world is watching us. Let's go in there and really make it work. Let's show them and those Israelis that we can make the land bloom just as they did, and just as beautiful as they made it."

Instead, they didn't care what the world would think about their approach to land development, and instead they ravaged it. However, George Bush and Condoleeza Rice (along with their supporters) are clearly of the opinion, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." And so they do, at Jewish expense, with ongoing plans to surrender more of Eretz Yisroel into the hands of those who know not what to do with her.

What is going on today with respect to Eretz Yisroel is nothing short of historical, perhaps even hysterical, and I will quote, once again, from Yechezkel to make my point.

The prophet said:

"It shall come to pass on that day, on the day that Gog shall come against the Land of - Admas Israel," says the L-rd, G-d, "My fury shall rise up..." (Yechezkel 38:18)

What is interesting to note is the language of the posuk. Normally, when Eretz Yisroel is mentioned in Tanach, it is called "Eretz Yisroel." Yet, for some reason the prophet referred to Eretz Yisroel as Admas Yisroel - the actual physical land of Israel. Why?

Furthermore, it seems from the posuk, that G-d's anger only begins against Gog once he actually comes against the physical land of Eretz Yisroel, as if that is the wake up call for Heaven in the struggle against the nations of the world. How can that be?

On the other hand, if you look back over the last 2,000 years of Jewish history, it does appear as if the gentiles have had their way with the Jewish people, and gotten away with it. As it says in the Talmud:

Our Rabbis taught: When Rebi Yosi ben Kisma became ill, Rabbi Chanina ben Teradion went to visit him. He said to him, "Chanina, my brother, do you not know that this nation has been placed in power by G-d Himself, for she has destroyed His house, burned His Temple, killed His pious ones, and caused His good ones to perish, and she still continues to rule!" (Avodah Zarah 18a)

Not to mention the countless other atrocities against the Jewish people since that time, and most recently, the extermination of six million Jews, which pushed many Jews to ask the question, "Where is G-d? If we are His people, why doesn't He protect us?" The gentiles, who have reviled and inflicted so much suffering on the Jewish people for so many centuries have stopped asking that question long ago.

SHABBOS DAY:

In the beginning, G-d made Heaven and Earth. (Bereishis 1:1)

There is no question that the hand of G-d can be seen throughout the last 2,000 years, including the Holocaust. Stories abound of small and large miracles that occurred in order to save individuals, and sometimes even entire communities. However, for the most part they are hidden, meaning that they are only apparent to the select few who experienced them or who were sensitive enough to notice them. And, they certainly did not appear as direct retribution against the perpetrators of evil against the Jewish people.

However, more recently events have occurred against those directly responsible for coming against the physical land of Israel, apparent to all though many wish to deny the connection. If it turns out to be true, that the recent hurricanes and earthquakes are indeed directly connected to the pressure put on Israel to surrender sections of Eretz Yisroel, or rather, Admas Yisroel, then not only will we understand clearly Yechezkel's choice of words, but something even more crucial: who Gog is going to be.

For, the concept of Eretz Yisroel can go beyond the physical reality of the land itself, but Admas Yisroel is specifically a geographical location in the world. Thus, Yechezkel is saying: though a lot of nations will attack Yisroel over the years, angering Me and forcing Me to save My people from behind the scenes, Gog will be the nation that actually goes against Admas Yisroel, at which time I will be angered in such a way as to actually take action in a more overt way.

For those who undervalue the Land of Israel, this is difficult to accept. For those who see no connection between the rejection of Admas Yisroel by the Spies thousands of years ago and our present exile, it will also be difficult to see how the current situation over Eretz Yisroel could be the official wake-up call for Hashgochah Pratis to act out against the nations responsible for taking land away from the Jews.

They'll just have to wait it out in order to learn that this is true, and why it is so. However, if this is so, they may not have too long to wait.

Indeed, the very first Rashi on Chumash is very enlightening in this respect. Amazingly, as Rashi points out, the Torah forsakes its primary purpose of teaching about Torah and mitzvos to focus on the future issue of the right of the Jewish people to Eretz Yisroel. The world had yet to be fully created, Adam HaRishon had yet to exist, and the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is almost six whole days away in the Creation story.

What's the first issue of the guidebook of Creation: the Divinely-ordained Jewish right to the land of not only Eretz Yisroel, but Admas Yisroel. Amazing, is it not, how the first issue of the Torah is the last issue of Jewish history? Or, how G-d's first communication with Avraham Avinu, who had already put his life on the line for his beliefs, was to command him to make aliyah?

The fundamental difference between Eretz Yisroel and Admas Yisroel is that, theoretically, the former can be just about anywhere in the world, even Uganda. For, Eretz Yisroel is the land of Yisroel, that is, of the descendants of Ya'akov Avinu, and that can be anywhere they choose to settle down for good. Even a Jew living in the Diaspora who yearns with his entire being to live in Eretz Yisroel, but is prevented from making aliyah because of a more pressing mitzvah, can still have the status of a B'nei Eretz Yisroel.

However, Admas Yisroel is one place and one place only in the world, the land which was given to and walked throughout by Avraham Avinu. Its intrinsic value and kedushah stem from its history and centrality in the Creation process and the history that has been played out there ever since, primarily because it is the Sha'arei Shamayim (the gateway to Heaven) a reality that cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the world.

More importantly and to the point, unlike the concepts of other nations, like Mitzrayim, for example, which alludes to an idea that can apply to a people that does not live in Egypt, the underlying concept of B'nei Yisroel is intrinsically tied to the land itself. And that's why it was Ya'akov, and not Avraham or Yitzchak who had the dream of the ladder just prior to leaving for Chutz L'Aretz.

SEUDOS SHLISHIS:

And His land shall atone for His nation. (Devarim 32:43)

As always when it comes to Torah and especially Midrashim, there is the Pshat, and then there is Sod, and it is the former that is the most misleading. For, Pshat seems allegorical at best and does little to connect the Jew to his land.Whereas, Sod tells us the fact of the matter and how it applies to each and every Jew.

. . . Know that the "Ladder" is not physical, rather it is atmospheric. It encompasses all of Eretz Yisroel, protecting it and preventing the expansion of the Klipos into the Land. The width of this Ladder is four cubits (about six feet) and its height is five hundred years. This Ladder has many levels ascending from the earth up to the sky. Some of these levels are internal while others are external. Anyone departing Eretz Yisroel, as long as he hasn't gone farther than four cubits past the border is considered as if he hasn't left at all. For, while he is within those four cubits he is considered to be in the midst of the Ladder. Similarly, anyone who is entering Eretz Yisroel, and hasn't entered more than four cubits, it is as if he has not yet entered Eretz Yisroel. This is the secret of the verse, "And His land ( admaso) shall atone for His nation" (Devarim 32:43). The word admaso is made up of the letters (Alpeh- Dalet-Mem-Tav-Vav) which can spell: dalet amos (four cubits). They are what brings atonement for one's sins. (Tuv HaAretz, p. __ )

Now, we can appreciate the usage of the word Admas Yisroel by the prophet when referring to the final attack of Gog and Magog against Eretz Yisroel, and why that would be the cause of more overt Hashgochah Pratis. It is one thing to hurl insults and even projectiles into the Land of Israel, but it is something altogether different to tamper with her borders, and to reduce them, for then Gog has launched an attack against the very gateway that leads to Shamayim.

Which king does not become personally involved in order to preserve his borders?

There is more:

Even though the Ladder has linear dimensions, Eretz Yisroel's boundaries are neither linear nor spherical, rather they are in the form of a man lying face-up on the ground with his head towards the East. His two arms are stretched out, one to the north and the other to the south. His two legs are open. The one big toe is facing towards Hor HaHar in the northwest area. The other is facing the river of Egypt, which is the southwest area. The Mediterranean Sea lies between his two legs, forming the western border. In this fashion we find that the dimensions of Eretz Yisroel are an array of large and small strips, and surrounding all of these strips is the Ladder. The internal level of the Ladder is the side touching Eretz Yisroel, whereas the external level is the side facing Chutz L'Aretz. (Tuv HaAretz, p. __)

No doubt that when Ya'akov lied down on the Temple Mount that fateful night to sleep, just before entering the Diaspora for 36 years, his position mirrored the very borders of Eretz Yisroel. And, though he left the borders for Chutz L'Aretz, he returned to them once again as Yisroel, again revealing the unique and intrinsic connection between a Jew and the borders of his land.

MELAVE MALKAH:

I was recently asked to write something to mechazek Jews already living in Eretz Yisroel at this time. "Everything you write, it seems, is for the Jews living in the Diaspora," the person correctly noted. "Write something for us too."

The truth is that my newest book, "Talking About Eretz Yisroel: The Profound and Essential Meaning of Making Aliyah" (due out, ironically, this week, Parshas Lech-Lecha) is precisely directed to the Jews of Chutz L'Aretz to show them the good things about making aliyah, and the bad things about overstaying our welcome in the Diaspora. The contents are, by definition, chizuk about already being here in Eretz HaKodesh.

Recently, when I saw the memo (i.e., the first one) in Rav Kaduri's name (regardless of its authenticity) about all Jews coming to Israel for the year to avoid being part of the natural disasters around the world, I sat back in my chair, put both my hands behind my head, looked Heavenward, and said,

"Right . . ."

I tried to imagine millions of Jews around the world who weren't even planning to make temporary aliyah,while transferring their families at a moment's notice to a foreign land thousands of miles away for which they have no desire to live upon, leaving behind good jobs and good incomes, wonderful homes, and successful schooling, for a land constantly in turmoil with an uncertain future. We didn't even do that when the enemy was breathing right down our necks; how were people going to do this on the word of one, very old, Kabbalist?

Like I said, "Right."

It had been right after Hurricane Katrina that the memo circulated, maybe even after Rita. The earthquake in Pakistan was still a week or so away, but I began to wonder, "What if the memo is correct and there is something to it?" I mean, its now 5766, a year I have been anticipating for some time now. In "Diary of a Perspective" I explained why I see this period as being potentially tumultuous to begin with, so the Mekubel's words fit smoothly into that framework.

Nevertheless, the sun still shines on America, at least where most of the Jews live today. It may shine less so in places like England and South Africa, but they're used to it by now. Even for the minority of Jews who do dream of making aliyah one day in the future, the planning and uncertainty is more than they want to deal with at this time, and therefore even they won't leave unless Moshiach comes to take them by the hand, or the gentile nations once again give us the boot.

When I think back to what I had to go through with my own family to plan and carry out our plans for aliyah, I get a shiver up and down my spine. I cannot believe all the things we had to do and put up with in the process of moving from Canada to Israel, and with a bunch of toddlers, bli ayin hara, to boot. I wonder how I ever managed to stay calm and sane in the process, and I dread having to ever go through the same process all over again, G-d forbid.

Thank G-d, BIG TIME, that I am already here. There's not a day that goes by that I I'm not grateful for this, especially as history seems to be winding down.

I am already where all Jews will have to get to at some point in time. I did it at a time when traveling overseas was a relatively simple and straightforward process, took care of all my paperwork when it was not a big deal to do so. G-d will not have to go and fetch me by the hand from Chutz L'Aretz. Instead, I am on the receiving line of those now in the process of doing the same.

I wake up, work all day, pray, and go to bed in the Holy Land. I am constantly surrounded by kedushah, and go to the Kosel (Western Wall) once a week. My biggest decision in this respect is which day to go, and whether or not I should drive, take a bus or taxi to get there. I grow vegetables and fruits right from the soil, hand-pick them, and then take terumos and ma'aseros from them with joy and a brochah.

And Shabbos, ahhhh, Shabbos: I celebrate it, and the chagim in Eretz Yisroel! There is nothing like Succos in Eretz Yisroel. When we go on family trips, we travel to different parts of Eretz Yisroel, and I stand there looking at the hills, or the valleys, or the rivers, and pinch myself as I recall that Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya'akov once stood where I am standing now. It is so invigorating to think this, and it makes me feel timeless.

Everyone who does not understand the beauty of living in Eretz Yisroel, or is simply overly attached to Chutz L'Aretz, already knows about the drawbacks of making aliyah. They can cite by rote the halachic and practical reasons for why living outside the land still has much value, but they can rarely do the same about the virtues of living in Eretz Yisroel and being here already.

This reminds me of the following gemora:

Rebi Yochanan asked: "Why did that evil man (Sancheriv) merit the title of the great and noble Asnapper? Because he did not speak slightingly of the Land of Israel, as it says, 'Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land' (II Melachim 28:32)" . . . But Israel spoke with contempt about Israel, for when they came to Shush, they said, "This is as good as our land"; to 'Almin, they said, "This is like the House of Eternities"; on arriving at Shush Tere, they said, "This is twice as good [as our land]." (Sanhedrin 94a)

I can think of no greater chizuk for the Jews of Eretz Yisroel than to say, "We are here. We have arrived. We no longer have to come and settle here, for we have done it." And, as each day comes and goes, and the Final Redemption comes ever nearer, the importance of these words will become overwhelmingly apparent.

Have a great Shabbos. Have a great Lech-Lecha,
PW,
Telzstone, Israel

Text Copyright © 2005 by Rabbi Pinchas Winston and Torah.org.