Page 4 - HaMizrachiChayei Sarah AUS 2020

TORAT MIZRACHI

Continued from page 3
of Abraham, founder of the Jewish to them. It is perhaps the first pas- Judaism will always remain inherently
religion and ancestor of the Jewish sage in the Bible which records an connected to the inseparable foun-
race. Paired with his tomb is that of actual event, witnessed and described dational principles of Jewish people-
his wife Sarah. Within the building through a long chain of oral recitation hood and nationhood – the Land and
are the twin tombs of his son Isaac and so preserving authentic details.” 12 people at the heart of Bereishit. It is a
and his wife Rebecca. Across the privilege to be part of a breathtaking
inner courtyard is another pair of Thus the Jewish people’s connection drama unfolding today; a phenome-
tombs, of Abraham’s grandson Jacob to Chevron is a microcosm of our non unrivaled in all of human history:
and his wife Leah... This is where the people’s unparalleled relationship to the remarkable return of a people to
4,000-year history of the Jews, in so the Land. The mainstay of Bereishit is its Land as designated by G-d at the
far as it can be anchored in time and the concurrent singling out of a par- very dawn of Creation.
place, began.” 11 ticular people and a particular Land
for a unique spiritual mission and
He also pointed out what the city the ineradicable connection between 1 Bereishit 12:7.
teaches about the nature of Jewish them. 2 Ibid 13:14–17.
spiritual history: “Chevron is thus 3 The Covenants of the Pieces in Chapter 15 and
an example of Jewish obstinacy over Today we are privileged to be partic- of Circumcision in Chapter 17.
4,000 years. It also illustrates the curi- ipating in and witnessing the mirac- 4 Ibid 26:2–4.
ous ambivalence of the Jews towards ulous return of our people to our 5 Ibid 29:13 and 31:13.
the possession and occupation of Land. This remarkable reunion is a 6 Ibid 35:12.
land. No race has maintained over so fulfillment of the promises made to 7 Ibid 47:29–31.
long a period so emotional an attach- our forebears in the book of Bereishit 8 Avraham settles – ב ׁ ֶ שֵּי ַ ו – in Chevron, con-
ment to a particular corner of the and is bringing us closer to fulfilling noting a permanent settlement as opposed
earth’s surface… Chevron is the site our historic destiny. At the same time, to a previous place where he only pitched his
tent (Bereishit 13:18). See Rashi’s commen-
of their first recorded acquisition of there are anti-Israel forces from with- tary (21:34), where he quotes Seder Olam
land. Chapter 23 of the Book of Gen- out and within who wish to sever this regarding Avraham’s sojourning in the Land
esis describes how Abraham, after the link, with disastrous consequences. and shows how Chevron is his and Sarah’s pri-
death of his wife Sarah, decided to Without integrating the foundational mary dwelling place. Although Yitzchak spent
many years in Eretz Pelishtim he also settled in
purchase the Cave of Machpelah and principles of Jewish particularism as a Chevron (35:27). Upon returning to the Land
the lands which surrounded it, as a people intertwined with the Land, any from Lavan’s house, Ya’akov moves from place
burying-place for her and ultimately attempt to create either a religious or to place eventually settling in Chevron as well
(37:14).
for himself. The passage is among the a humanistic Jewish identity betrays 9 Bereishit 49:31. Rachel was buried along the
most important in the entire Bible, the essence of the Jewish mission. 13 way to Efrat, Beit Lechem (35:19).
embodying one of the most ancient 10 Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews, published
and tenaciously held Jewish tradi- It is my hope and prayer that the by George Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 1987, p.
tions, evidently very dear and critical great religious and universal values of 19. It is fascinating that Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
has mentioned that this work is arguably the
most important work of Jewish history and
should be in every Jewish home.
11 Ibid, page 3.
12 Ibid, pages 3–4.
13 It is also true that fixation on the people/Land
without being tempered with religious, ethical
and universalist values does the same and has
the potential to create a coarse and destructive
brand of nationalism. The Torah ideal, explains
Rav Kook (Orot HaTechiya 18), is a blend of
religious, universal and nationalist ideals that
form a wholesome Jewish identity.

Rabbi Doron Perez is Executive Chairman
of the Mizrachi World Movement.

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