Every Shabbat during the Musaf prayer we say, "Lord, may it be Thy Will, that You bring us [on aliyah] happily to our Land, and plant us in our borders, and there may we make for You our obligatory sacrifices." The prayer goes on to list sacrifices of two sheep, and a mincha offering of flour and oil. It appears that our happiness and very presence in the Land of Israel is integrally related to the issue of sacrifices. The question is: what is the connection between sacrifice and the Jewish people being firmly planted in the Land of Israel?
This week's parsha begins with the mitzvah of Shabbos and proceeds to describe the construction of the Mishkan, whose main services were those related to bringing sacrifices, accompanied by their corresponding prayers. In the system of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, these sacrifices are all symbolic ones.
If we merit it , we will be securely rooted in our Land on the basis of the symbolic sacrifices that we bring in a Temple. But, Heaven forbid, if we do not merit it, then our sacrifices will be all too real. The sacrifices will be of the type we Israelis have been making for the last 130 years in our war with the Arabs; Jewish blood, rather than symbolic animal blood.
Actually, the bond of aliyah to the Land of Israel and sacrifice, goes back in history to the first aliyah, that of Avraham Avinu. That aliyah was considered a trial, Avraham's first, as it involved sacrifice of homeland, birthplace and family, as well as the overcoming of great dangers.
Rabbi Avigdor Nevenzahl, Chief Rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem, writes that all of mankind was originally to have gone to the Land of Israel. This represented a return to the source of Man's soul and body. There, in Israel, united with its source, all of mankind would have benefited from the blessings mentioned in the opening of parshat Lech Lecha: "I will make you a great nation, bless you, and you will be a blessing." However, mankind's journey was blocked by history's first "rebel", Nimrod, and his Tower of Babel. But one man overcame all fears and obstacles (including Nimrod tossing him into the fires at Ur Kasdim) and sacrificed of himself to complete the journey, returning to the source. That man, Avraham, thereby became Avinu, the father of the Jewish people, and the recipient of the above blessings.
The story in Genesis continues with Avraham's second trial, the Brit Bein Hab'tarim, the Covenant of the Pieces. Avraham asked, "Bameh eidah...." - How will I know that my children will view this Land as an inheritance, as opposed to just some easy-come, easy-go gift? An inheritance, as a cherished family heirloom, is not traded away cheaply (as for Oslo or Road Map "promises"). No one would imagine America, threatened by an enemy, easily parting with Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, or a state or two.
Answering Avraham, the Almighty said, in effect: If you need proof that your children will love this Land as much as you do, I'll have to prove it to you by kicking them out, and showing you that they will want to come back. And so began the Egyptian exile. But the Covenant is made over animal sacrifices, because G-d now says that the willingness to sacrifice will prove that the children of Avraham will indeed want the Land.
Finally , 62 years later, Avraham faces his tenth and final trial. The lesson of this trial is a key one for all of Avraham's children who want to live in the Promised Land. And it's a lesson this nation has failed to grasp.
In the Akeidat (Binding of ) Yitzchak, Avraham is seemingly told to sacrifice his only son, on that very mountain of the first Lech Lecha, Mt. Moriah, the Source, the Temple Mount. The midrash details all the doubts and considerations that Avraham had to overcome in order to sacrifice Yitzchak. At the last second, of course, G-d prevented the actual sacrifice. And so, the Almighty told Avraham not to sacrifice Yitzchak, because one Jew is not to sacrifice another. In order to live at the height of Moriah, no Jew is allowed to turn his fellow Jew into his scapegoat, into his fall guy. God was telling Avraham that living in the Holy Land requires sacrifice; however, one is to sacrifice oneself or his symbolic animal representation of self, but not his fellow Jew.
In the framework of today's Israel, God told Avraham that it is evil for one Jew to say to another: I don't want the world and the Arabs to call me a conqueror or an occupier; therefore, for the sake of my peace, I'm going to sacrifice your home and disengage you from Gush Katif.." This evil is cut from the same cloth as the evil ones of World War II's ghettos who turned to the German murderers and said: Don't take me or my family or my friends; rather, take him, his family, his friends." This critical teaching about sacrifice has got to be learned by the nation of Israel, so that we can finally be, as the Shabbat Musaf service reads, "happily... and firmly planted" in our Land.
This week's parsha begins with the mitzvah of Shabbos and proceeds to describe the construction of the Mishkan, whose main services were those related to bringing sacrifices, accompanied by their corresponding prayers. In the system of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, these sacrifices are all symbolic ones.
If we merit it , we will be securely rooted in our Land on the basis of the symbolic sacrifices that we bring in a Temple. But, Heaven forbid, if we do not merit it, then our sacrifices will be all too real. The sacrifices will be of the type we Israelis have been making for the last 130 years in our war with the Arabs; Jewish blood, rather than symbolic animal blood.
Actually, the bond of aliyah to the Land of Israel and sacrifice, goes back in history to the first aliyah, that of Avraham Avinu. That aliyah was considered a trial, Avraham's first, as it involved sacrifice of homeland, birthplace and family, as well as the overcoming of great dangers.
Rabbi Avigdor Nevenzahl, Chief Rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem, writes that all of mankind was originally to have gone to the Land of Israel. This represented a return to the source of Man's soul and body. There, in Israel, united with its source, all of mankind would have benefited from the blessings mentioned in the opening of parshat Lech Lecha: "I will make you a great nation, bless you, and you will be a blessing." However, mankind's journey was blocked by history's first "rebel", Nimrod, and his Tower of Babel. But one man overcame all fears and obstacles (including Nimrod tossing him into the fires at Ur Kasdim) and sacrificed of himself to complete the journey, returning to the source. That man, Avraham, thereby became Avinu, the father of the Jewish people, and the recipient of the above blessings.
The story in Genesis continues with Avraham's second trial, the Brit Bein Hab'tarim, the Covenant of the Pieces. Avraham asked, "Bameh eidah...." - How will I know that my children will view this Land as an inheritance, as opposed to just some easy-come, easy-go gift? An inheritance, as a cherished family heirloom, is not traded away cheaply (as for Oslo or Road Map "promises"). No one would imagine America, threatened by an enemy, easily parting with Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, or a state or two.
Answering Avraham, the Almighty said, in effect: If you need proof that your children will love this Land as much as you do, I'll have to prove it to you by kicking them out, and showing you that they will want to come back. And so began the Egyptian exile. But the Covenant is made over animal sacrifices, because G-d now says that the willingness to sacrifice will prove that the children of Avraham will indeed want the Land.
Finally , 62 years later, Avraham faces his tenth and final trial. The lesson of this trial is a key one for all of Avraham's children who want to live in the Promised Land. And it's a lesson this nation has failed to grasp.
In the Akeidat (Binding of ) Yitzchak, Avraham is seemingly told to sacrifice his only son, on that very mountain of the first Lech Lecha, Mt. Moriah, the Source, the Temple Mount. The midrash details all the doubts and considerations that Avraham had to overcome in order to sacrifice Yitzchak. At the last second, of course, G-d prevented the actual sacrifice. And so, the Almighty told Avraham not to sacrifice Yitzchak, because one Jew is not to sacrifice another. In order to live at the height of Moriah, no Jew is allowed to turn his fellow Jew into his scapegoat, into his fall guy. God was telling Avraham that living in the Holy Land requires sacrifice; however, one is to sacrifice oneself or his symbolic animal representation of self, but not his fellow Jew.
In the framework of today's Israel, God told Avraham that it is evil for one Jew to say to another: I don't want the world and the Arabs to call me a conqueror or an occupier; therefore, for the sake of my peace, I'm going to sacrifice your home and disengage you from Gush Katif.." This evil is cut from the same cloth as the evil ones of World War II's ghettos who turned to the German murderers and said: Don't take me or my family or my friends; rather, take him, his family, his friends." This critical teaching about sacrifice has got to be learned by the nation of Israel, so that we can finally be, as the Shabbat Musaf service reads, "happily... and firmly planted" in our Land.