Halachic law states that ‘there can be no claim of overcharge on a land sale since even a small land-plot can be of great value. The same ruling stands true regarding an estate in the land of Israel.
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| Ancient Jewish Hebron |
The Torah recounts that when Jacob our Patriarch lay down [the vision of the Ladder] on the ground of Israel, G-d gathered together the entire Land beneath him [Rashi] telling him “the land upon which you are lying I will bequeath to you and to your children”. Therefore, does the land of Israel belong to each and every Jew.
The message we have from the portion of the Torah we read this week is as follows: It is not sufficient to come out with grandiose proclamations. Rather the Jewish people need take down to earth action to inhabit the Land! It is not sufficient to view and move around in the Land of Israel; rather should he need to lie down to sleep, to relax and rest, he should be able to do so anywhere in the Land of Israel. He needs to know that he does not fulfil his obligation by being able to move around and dwell only on an area where there are no contestants; rather, when a Jew wishes to rest he needs to know that he can do so [as G-d told our Patriarch Yaakov “lie down upon it”] anywhere he so wishes in the land since G-d “folded the entire land under him [Yaakov]”.
The Midrash enumerates three locations [which were purchased] against which nations cannot make any claim against the Jewish People by saying these came in your hands by means of theft: The Cave of Machpelah [Hebron], the Temple Mount, and Shechem, the burial place of Joseph. Now it is specifically at these three locations that vicious Jews stubbornly refuse to allow a Jewish presence, and should a Jew dare to enter these places they are forcefully evicted!
The message for our times is as follows: Jewish People must stand with absolute fortitude over their rights to dwell throughout the Land of Israel. We must dwell here fearlessly so that G-d will grant His blessing “And I will give peace in the Land”.
At this time there are Jews who pursue gentiles begging them to make peace. The time will yet come [Isaiah 49.23] when “Kings will serve you as your craftsmen, and their princesses will be your child-minders”. Those very same gentiles who humiliated and subjugated the Jewish people, they will yet beg us ‘sign, let there be peace already, the quicker the better!’
To see the fulfillment of this prophecy it is imperative that we conduct ourselves as descendants of our Patriarch Yaakov “inhabit the Land”. There is no-one to pursue or to whom we be subjugated; there is nothing to fear. Rather, there is the assurance by G-d regarding the entire Land “it will be easy for his children to conquer”.
Only by inhabiting the [entire] Land will it be ‘easily conquered by his children’, and thereby will there be peace. On this basis how does it make sense the argument that by surrendering land will we ensure peace for our children and grand-children; how, by surrendering land G-d forbid, can this be the path whereby we achieve the fulfillment of the verse ‘the land will be easily conquerable by his children’??
We have already seen the outcome of previous surrenders and concessions [of the Sinai desert, Gush Katif and more] and the wars which followed when G-d gifted territories of Israel to the Jewish People. Yet regardless there come along primitive Jews who unjustifiably immediately began begging and running after the Arabs to take back the territories! This brought upon Israel mounting and increasing pressure to relinquish more and more land! In reality however, G-d performed a miracle: the Arabs refused the offer! In addition, ‘a Divine spirit befell the Jews’ to refuse further give-aways, but with the proviso that, what has been agreed they will not retract upon.
The truth needs to be heard: whatever was agreed [even by a show of hands] is null and void! In the first instance, never did they have any legal right of surrender, since the land of Israel is not their personal property! The Land of Israel belongs to every single Jew each of whom hold legal ownership over the Land. It is sufficient for just one single Jew to state his objection to put a stop to giving away the Land! Only then will there descend and be revealed the eternal Word of G-d ‘that the Land will be easily conquerable by his descendants’.
This legal tenet stands true also in international law: should just one inheritor object to the handling by others of his inheritance, all agreements reached by others become retroactively voided and all agreements must be re-examined afresh.
The same stands true in our situation. A [Jewish] inheritor [of the Land of Israel] is not merely stating his personal objection, rather his right of ownership is empowered by the written Torah, Oral Torah, and Code of Jewish Law.
Public talk Motzoi Shabbos Vayetze 1979
