The natural sleepy pace of summer may cause a normal slowdown in business or local politics but it cannot weaken the vibrant pulse of life of the Jewish calendar. The wheels of Jewish life continue turning and with it, the national responsibility of the Jew of faith.
We are now in the midst of the period of mourning that is called the Three Weeks, beginning with the 17th day of the month of Tammuz and reaching its peak on the 9th day of Av. The practical customs of mourning which affect our everyday lives serve as an expression of the vitality and eternal power of Jewish life. Year after year, generation after generation, the Jew never allows his soul to forget any event in Jewish history. Commemorating the tragic destruction of our holy Temples more than 2,000 years ago exemplifies this authentic Jewish character. The Baal Shem Tov taught us that “remembering is the secret of redemption.”
Another feature of the repeating Jewish calendar that we live by is parashat hashavua, the weekly Torah portion which alerts us to the current realities of our Jewish lives and has special significance during this period of mourning.
The portion we just read, Parashat Mas-ay, has in it the mitzvah of settling the land of Israel. “You shall inherit the land and settle it, for I have given the land to you to take possession of it? (Numbers 33:53). The Ramban in his commentary explains that this is one of the 613 commandments of the Torah. The Ramban defines the commandment as binding us “not to allow the land to be under foreign rule or to become desolate.” This stems from the positive commandment of “You shall inherit the land and settle within it.” These two parts of the mitzvah (no foreign rule and not to become desolate) are interdependent, meaning that if the land will be ruled by another nation, then it will remain desolate.
This understanding can be derived from what the Torah says at the end of the Book of Leviticus in Parashat Bechukotay. The Torah speaks about a curse befalling the Jewish people when they do not heed the divine commandments. When the Jews stray from the way of G-d, they will be driven out of their land into exile.
Then there is another curse that is mentioned: “And I will make the land desolate and your enemies who settle there will be desolate as well? (Leviticus 26:32). Our sages teach us that this is truly a blessing for the Jewish people, for when the Jews will not be in the land of Israel, the land will not bear its fruit for anyone else. It will remain desolate. This is exactly what happened during the 2,000 years the Jews were in exile. The land of Israel remained desolate. Only when Jews began coming back home in growing numbers did the land came back to life, bearing its fruit for its people. This truly is an astonishing divine reality. Only the unique combination of the people of Israel in the land of Israel can produce vibrant life rewarded by bountiful yields.
Lo and behold – after a hundred years of Zionism and 55 years of Jewish independence in Israel, the barren land has turned into a flourishing Garden of Eden while the children of Israel are in the process of returning to a thriving life of Jewish faith and tradition.
The time has come that we open our eyes to these unique ties between our people and our land. Only Jewish settlement can bring life to the land. We must have the courage and responsibility to face the facts – any foreign entity can only bring terror and destruction to the land of Israel. Our struggle for our rights to our homeland draws its strength and devotion from this faith and responsibility. Our destiny is one of vibrant life and creative activities; building, planting, and spiritual growth. These are the goals of Jewish redemption. Therefore we will do everything we can to prevent the powers of evil and destruction from intervening in this divine process. We believe that the redemption of Israel will bring a blessing to all the peoples of the world. This was the biblical promise given to our father Abraham upon receiving the Almighty’s blessing that he would become a great nation. “Go on…to the land I will show you…I will make you into a great nation and you will be blessed…and all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you? (Genesis 12:1).
During the past hundred years of Zionist activity, Jews began to awaken to their accountability to their land and people. Jewish hearts were drawn to the land of Israel, towards the renewal of the life of a people and its land. Setting foot on the barren soil of Eretz Yisrael aroused the special spark within the Jewish soul, kindling the spiritual link between the Jewish people and their land.
Over the years this spark has turned into a flaming torch, igniting powers of devotion, faith and sacrifice, without which Jewish independence in Israel could not have been achieved. Eventually, after the Six Day War and the liberation of Judea and Samaria, thousands of second- and third-generation pioneers brought this torch of faith to the ancient hills of Yesha, turning these barren areas into flourishing towns and cities of Jewish life. While our enemies are igniting fires of hatred, terror and destruction, our eternal flame is illuminating the path of a people returning to its roots and destined to be a light unto the nations.
I call upon our leaders to follow the faithful path of our pioneers. I call upon our leaders to have the courage to open their eyes to the reality of the Jewish identity of Eretz Yisrael. I call upon our leaders to take responsibility for the continuous flourishing life of our country. I call upon our leaders to stand up against those who are bent on hatred and destruction and can only bring desolation to our land.
Finally, I call upon our leaders to draw their faith from the depths of the Jewish soul and convey a clear message to friend and foe: The flowing stream of Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael cannot be frozen, the Jewish flame will not be extinguished. The divine process of a people and its land coming back to life is a reality which should be encouraged and strengthened by all nations who recognize the potential blessing for themselves, as enunciated in the biblical promise.
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