Page 4 - HaMizrachi #26 Tu Bishvat USA 2021
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TORAT MIZRACHI










       Continued from page 3
       between Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael as   to return to it and mentioning it at every   diplomat Lord Curzon called the San
       a marriage between husband and wife. 4  wedding, praying about returning to it   Remo Conference “the Magna Carta of
       Indeed, marriage is the one human rela-  three times a day and facing towards it   the Jewish people,” in terms of the legal
       tionship which most closely resembles   in every prayer from all corners of the   recognition of their rights to the Land.
       a covenant. It is the hope and prayer of   globe.                          This recognition would be enshrined
       bride and groom that their union will                                      in international law and subsequently
       not be dependent on conditions and    The Moral Claim                      reinforced by the League of Nations and
       circumstances, it will last forever and   Jewish  suffering  and  persecution   again by the United Nations in Novem-
       that it will be built on a mutual vision   throughout history gives birth to a strong   ber 1947.
       and values, in which the me and you   moral claim to the Land. They have even
       become us and we. The core of this rela-  produced new words in the English Lan-  The Tu BiShvat Connection
       tionship is a commitment to the vision   guage – ghetto, pogrom, inquisition,   Tu BiShvat is a time of appreciation for
       of a greater good and a better future   Holocaust. During the Second World   the remarkable relationship between a
       together. So too the connection between   War, immigration restrictions remained   people and its Land.
       the Jewish people and its Land.       in place in British-ruled Palestine and in   Tu BiShvat is a time to savor the fruits
       This covenantal relationship between   many other western countries. Borders   of the Land, which – according to our
       G-d and  Am Yisrael  has created an   were locked and ships carrying Jewish   Sages – are the ultimate sign of this
       extraordinary bond unlike the peo-    refugees were mercilessly sent back to   unshakable covenantal bond.
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       ple-land connection of any other nation.   Nazi Germany.
       That is why the Jewish claim to Israel   Israel, the one country and the one Land   And Tu BiShvat is a wonderful oppor-
       is first and foremost a religious one,   Jews have always called their own, is the   tunity to reflect on and commit to our
       rooted in our primal spiritual mission   one place they are safe from discrimi-  Covenant with Elokei Yisrael.
       and based on an unshakable eternal    nation and persecution. It is here and   Tu BiShvat Sameach!
       covenant between us and G-d.          only here, under Jewish sovereignty, that

                                             there have never been restrictions on
       The Historical Claim                  Jewish immigration. All Jews are wel-  1   Bereishit 15:18.
       Secondly, from a historical point of view,   comed with open arms, granted imme-  2   See Bereishit 17:1–14. The root word תי ִ ר ְּ ב
       it is clear the Jewish People and Juda-  diate citizenship and absorbed into the   appears 10 times in these 14 verses. The Cov-
                                                                                      enant of Circumcision has, of course, been
       ism have been tied to the Land since   country, no matter their age, circum-   accepted throughout the generations and across
       the very dawn of Jewish history. The   stances and utility to society. There is   the Jewish spectrum, regardless of levels of
       very first time G-d spoke to the first   a strong and just moral imperative for   observance.
       Jew, Avraham, it was for him to jour-  creating a safe haven for arguably the   3   The Dignity of Difference, p. 202.
       ney with his family to the Land that G-d   world’s most persecuted people.  4   For example, in the sheva berachot recited
       would show him, Canaan, which would                                            under the chuppah, the blessing of  ׂשיׂ ִ ש ָּ ת ׂש ֹוׂש
       become Eretz Yisrael. This began a now   The Legal Claim                       juxtaposes the unique connection between the
                                                                                      Jewish people and the Land and that between
       more than 4,000-year connection to the   2020 marked the 100th anniversary of   bride and groom. Just as they are unified in a
       Land unrivalled by any other nation on   the pivotal San Remo Conference in    covenant of marriage, so too on a collective level
       earth. The only other living people with   Italy. In April 1920, the world’s major   is there such a relationship between the Jewish
       such a lengthy historical connection to   powers agreed to designate Eretz Yisrael   people and the Land.
       a land are the Chinese. However, the   as the place where Jews from around   5   See for example Sanhedrin 98a, where Rabbi
       Chinese have never been exiled from   the world could settle. All of Arabia,   Abba sees this in the verse in Yechezkel 36:8.
       their country.
                                             Syria and Mesopotamia were granted
       Despite the long, dark exile and perse-  to the Arab nations with Palestine/Eretz
       cution over millennia, Jews never forgot   Yisrael granted to the Jews. So signifi-  Rabbi Doron Perez is Executive Chairman
       their connection to their Land, dreaming   cant was this decision that the English   of the Mizrachi World Movement.




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