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TORAT MIZRACHI

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between Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael as it at every wedding, praying about Remo Conference “the Magna Carta of
a marriage between husband and wife. 4 returning to it three times a day and the Jewish people,” in terms of the legal
facing towards it in every prayer from recognition of their rights to the Land.
Indeed, marriage is the one human rela-
tionship which most closely resembles all corners of the globe. This recognition would be enshrined
a covenant. It is the hope and prayer of in international law and subsequently
bride and groom that their union will The Moral Claim reinforced by the League of Nations and
not be dependent on conditions and Jewish suffering and persecution again by the United Nations in Novem-
circumstances, it will last forever and throughout history gives birth to a ber 1947.
that it will be built on a mutual vision strong moral claim to the Land. They
and values, in which the me and you have even produced new words in the The Tu BiShvat Connection
become us and we. The core of this English Language – ghetto, pogrom,
relationship is a commitment to the inquisition, Holocaust. During the Tu BiShvat is a time of appreciation for
vision of a greater good and a better Second World War, immigration the remarkable relationship between a
future together. So too the connection restrictions remained in place in Brit- people and its Land.
between the Jewish people and its Land. ish-ruled Palestine and in many other Tu BiShvat is a time to savor the fruits
This covenantal relationship between western countries. Borders were locked of the Land, which – according to our
G-d and Am Yisrael has created an and ships carrying Jewish refugees were Sages – are the ultimate sign of this
extraordinary bond unlike the peo- mercilessly sent back to Nazi Germany. unshakable covenantal bond.
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ple-land connection of any other nation. Israel, the one country and the one
That is why the Jewish claim to Israel Land Jews have always called their And Tu BiShvat is a wonderful oppor-
is first and foremost a religious one, own, is the one place they are safe tunity to reflect on and commit to our
rooted in our primal spiritual mission from discrimination and persecution. Covenant with Elokei Yisrael.
and based on an unshakable eternal It is here and only here, under Jewish Tu BiShvat Sameach!
covenant between us and G-d. sovereignty, that there have never been
restrictions on Jewish immigration. All
The Historical Claim Jews are welcomed with open arms, 1 Bereishit 15:18.

Secondly, from a historical point of granted immediate citizenship and 2 See Bereishit 17:1–14. The root word תי ִ ר ְּ ב
view, it is clear the Jewish People and absorbed into the country, no matter appears 10 times in these 14 verses. The Cov-
enant of Circumcision has, of course, been
Judaism have been tied to the Land their age, circumstances and utility to accepted throughout the generations and
since the very dawn of Jewish history. society. There is a strong and just moral across the Jewish spectrum, regardless of levels
The very first time G-d spoke to the first imperative for creating a safe haven for of observance.
Jew, Avraham, it was for him to journey arguably the world’s most persecuted 3 The Dignity of Difference, p. 202.
with his family to the Land that G-d people. 4 For example, in the sheva berachot recited
would show him, Canaan, which would under the chuppah, the blessing of ׂשיׂ ִ ש ָּ ת ׂשֹוׂש
become Eretz Yisrael. This began a now The Legal Claim juxtaposes the unique connection between the
more than 4,000-year connection to the 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of Jewish people and the Land and that between
Land unrivalled by any other nation on the pivotal San Remo Conference in bride and groom. Just as they are unified in a
earth. The only other living people with Italy. In April 1920, the world’s major covenant of marriage, so too on a collective
level is there such a relationship between the
such a lengthy historical connection to powers agreed to designate Eretz Yisrael Jewish people and the Land.
a land are the Chinese. However, the as the place where Jews from around
Chinese have never been exiled from the world could settle. All of Arabia, 5 See for example Sanhedrin 98a, where Rabbi
Abba sees this in the verse in Yechezkel 36:8.
their country. Syria and Mesopotamia were granted
Despite the long, dark exile and per- to the Arab nations with Palestine/Eretz
secution over millennia, Jews never Yisrael granted to the Jews. So signifi-
forgot their connection to their Land, cant was this decision that the English Rabbi Doron Perez is Executive Chairman
dreaming to return to it and mentioning diplomat Lord Curzon called the San of the Mizrachi World Movement.

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