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TORAT MIZRACHI

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

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