Shabbos Parashas Maasei - 5774

Shabbos Parashas Maasei - 5774

Rabbi Hal Miller

You shall take possession of the land and you shall settle in it, for to

you I have given the land to possess it. [Bamidbar 33:53]

For thousands of years the Jewish people have been vilified for many reasons.

One which is still a problem to this present day is our ownership, or more

correctly stewardship, of the land of Israel. Is our right and title to it

legitimate? Are we usurpers? Do we even have a choice?

On our verse, the Ramban says, "this constitutes a positive commandment

commanding that they should settle in the land and take possession of it, for

He gave it to them and they should not spurn the heritage of G-d." In contrast

Rambam does not count this as one of the 613 mitzvos, but he still considers

it a transfer of title. If you believe in the divinity of the Torah, our

verse answers our questions. But most of the world apparenly does not accept

the Torah as G-d's word. What do we say to them?

The land had inhabitants. The Jews came along and conquered them, drove them

out, destroyed their settlement, took possession and settled it. At the time,

it appeared to everyone in the vicinity (see the actions of Moav and Midian

for example) that the Jews would conquer everything and everyone. But the

Torah limits us to only that which G-d has "given the land to possess it."

Ramban adds, "And if it should enter their minds to go and conquer the land

of Shinar or Assyria or some other and settle there, they would be in

violation of a commandment of G-d." Even though we might have been able to

do so, G-d did not permit it, nor would He have assisted. The inhabitants of

other lands had not violated G-d's rules about the holiness of this

particular piece of land, and had not lost the right to the land where they

lived.

Nechama Leibowitz says, "He allotted Israel its place in the world just as He

did for the other peoples. What then is the difference between Israel's

relationship to its homeland and that of other nations to theirs? Israel is

aware that this land was granted to it by G-d." The Torah accepts that the

other nations have their places, and prohibits the Jews from taking over

those. It gives the history of G-d's grant to Avraham and the miracles He

performed in supporting the Jews in taking this land from those who usurped

that claim.

Rav Hirsch shows the reason that the people of Canaan were to be driven out.

"You must first make the land fit to be your inheritance by the removal of all

traces of polytheism, only then can you settle down in it." The verse prior to

ours says, "you shall destroy all their prostration stones, all their molten

images you shall destroy." Clearly, idol worship was the issue.

But the world says, "you were driven out too. Why do you claim it now?" On

this, we say "that proves our claim." If G-d drove us out for violating His

laws with regard to the holiness of the land, is that not proof that He drove

out our predecessors for the same reason? Is that not proof that G-d owns it,

and can assign it however He desires? There is something special about

this particular piece of real estate. Rambam says that the special holiness

of this patch of land is not dependent upon our following the commandments,

but is inherent in the land itself. The land drives out those who fail to

realize this.

What is the difference between the others being driven out permanently, and

the Jews being driven out? Leibowitz writes on our verse, "if the Israelites

do not dispossess the inhabitants first, they will never succeed in

maintaining themselves in the country safely." This is not just a physical

driving out--we were commanded to do away with all vestiges of the wrong

lifestyle of our predecessors. She continues, "Just as a Jew is not morally

free to do what he likes with his own life but has a duty to preserve it, so

he cannot live where he likes, only in the place which is prescribed for him.

This is not just a matter of history but involves a moral obligation, the

responsibility to observe a particular way of life in that land."

This means that we are not yet done. We must dedicate ourselves eternally to

the keeping of G-d's commandments, both in order to maintain ourselves in His

holy land, and to be allowed to return to that land. Other nations can stay in

their places whether they follow the commandments or not. This land will only

tolerate the Jews, and only when we step up. It's about time.