The Second Commandment

The first commandment that G-d gave to Avraham was to live in the Land of Israel. What was the second commandment? To guard the holiness of his sexual life, as it says:

“This is My Brit that you shall safeguard, between Me and you, and your seed after you, every male among you shall be circumcised” (Bereshit, 17:8-10).

The meaning of safeguarding the Brit, as the Zohar explains, is not merely the obligation to circumcise our male children, but to guard our sexual holiness as well.

These two commandments were to be the foundation of the Jewish Nation, in the great Divine plan of establishing G-d’s Kingdom on earth, whereby all mankind would come to know and serve its Creator.

This Divine goal is to be achieved through the holy life of the Jewish Nation in the Land of Israel. Thus, G-d first brought Avraham to the Holy Land. Then, to build Avraham’s offspring into a Holy Nation, G-d gave Avraham the Covenant of the Brit.

The third phase of this Divine process transpired generations later, with the giving of the Torah, the holy constitution of the newborn Jewish Nation, so that the Jewish People could conduct both their private and national lives in the holy fashion that the Holy Land demands.

This NATIONAL sanctification of G-d, by the holy Jewish Nation, in the holy Land of Israel, is what brings G-d’s Presence into this world, bringing the nations to declare that the G-d of Israel is King over all the earth.

Thus we see what an important role the laws of modesty and proper marital relations play in building the holy Jewish Nation and establishing G-d’s Kingdom on earth! How important it is to review these laws again and again so that we all can do our share in furthering this great holy enterprise, and not, G-d forbid, hamper its actualization in our time. For, as the Zohar repeatedly teaches, no transgression does more damage in removing G-d’s Presence from the world than transgressions to the Brit of sexual holiness.

Therefore, adult readers are encouraged to review the detailed Laws of Marital Relations as explained by Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu; and the articles, the "Holiness of Marital Relations" by the Ramban, and “Keys to a Holy Union,”  by the Kabbalist, Rabbi Eliahu Leon Levi, posted on the jewishsexuality.com website.    

Why Not Save Yourselves the Pain?

Like I have written, I am only pointing out what any eight year old knows. Give the Torah portion of “Lech Lecha” to any eight-year old to read, and then ask him where Hashem wants Abraham and his descendants to live. Ten out of ten kids will answer, “In the Land of Israel.”   

After all, Hashem could have arranged things so that Avraham was born in Israel, and not in the Diaspora. But by having Avraham born outside of the Land, and then  telling Avraham to leave his birthplace for the Land of Israel, G-d is setting forth an example for The Jewish People for all generations to come, making it clear that even if a Jew is born in the Diaspora, he is supposed to immigrate to Israel, just like his forefather Avraham.

Did I say eight-year old? I think that even a six-year old can understand that.

Besides, the Land of Israel is such a wonderful place. I shouldn’t have to convince people, or sell its attractions. For someone who really wants to live a Jewish life, this is the address. How can you compare a few Jewish bakeries and falafel shops in a dirty neighborhood in Brooklyn with an entire Jewish Land? You can’t.

And if the positive attractions of being in G-d’s chosen Land are not enough for you, then please realize what’s in store for you if you settle down (and sink) permanently in the Diaspora. If you hope to be a part of the resurrection of the dead, then your bones are going to have to roll through a painful underground tunnel, thousands of excruciating miles to get to the Land of Israel, because the resurrection of the dead is only going to happen here.

Don't wait till the last minute!

As the Zohar teaches: “For when the days comes on which the Holy One Blessed Be He raises the dead to life, He will physically recreate all of those dead who have been buried in strange lands. But G-d will not restore their souls to them save in the Land of Israel,  as is written, ‘Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people, and I will bring you into the Land of Israel,’ (to which they will roll through subterranean passages, and then) ‘I will put My spirit in you, and you shall live’ (Ezekiel, 37:12-14; Zohar, Bereshit 69A).

The description of that painful underground journey is too gory to quote in this blog.

So why come here the hard way when you can fly here now in air-conditioned comfort and avoid all of the ugly bruises and broken bones?

The Lords of Flatbush

What were Hashem’s first words to Avraham? “Get thee forth OUT OF THY COUNTRY, and FROM THY BIRTHPLACE, and FROM THY FATHER’S HOUSE to the Land that I will show thee.”

G-d didn’t tell Avraham to put on tefillin. He didn’t tell Avraham to keep Shabbos. G-d didn’t explain to him the laws of kashrut. G-d told him to go to Israel. If you want to serve Me, if you want to come closer to Me, if you want to be a holy Jew, go to Israel.

This was G-d’s very first teaching to Avraham, the father of the Jewish People. G-d wants His People to be in the Land of Israel. G-d doesn’t want the Jewish People to be gentile lands. G-d told Avraham, and all of his descendants who were to come after him, if a Jew really wants to serve Hashem, he has to be in the Land of Israel. If a Jew really wants to get closer to Hashem, he has to be in the Land of Israel. The Land of Israel is step Number One. The Jewish People can only be the “great NATION” that we are supposed to be in the Land of Israel.

That’s right. G-d’s plan for Avraham is to make a great NATION out of his descendants, not a bunch of gefilta-fish eaters scattered all over the globe, as G-d told Avraham, “and I will make of thee a great NATION.”

Remember classes in Citizenship? A nation needs a land. Its own land. You cannot be a great nation if you are unwanted steppinfetchits in someone else’s land. And a special HOLY NATION needs a special HOLY LAND.

"We ain't goin nowhere!"

Lucky for us that G-d first spoke to Avraham, and not to the lords of Flatbush. Imagine what the conversation would have been like, if G-d had first spoken to some of our talkbackers.

“And the L-rd said to the talkbacker, Get thee forth to the Land that I will show you.”    

“No way, G-d. I’m an American.”

“And the L-rd said to the talkbacker, Get thee forth to the Land that I will show you.”    

“No way, G-d, I’m a Canadian.”

“And the L-rd said to the talkbacker, Get thee forth to the Land that I will show you.”    

“No way, G-d. I can’t leave my parents.”

“And the L-rd said to the talkbacker, Get thee forth to the Land that I will show you.”    

“No way, G-d, I don’t want to have to fight in the army.”

“And the L-rd said to the talkbacker, Get thee forth to the Land that I will show you.”

“No way, G-d, I don’t like the government there.”

“And the L-rd said to the talkbacker, Get thee forth to the Land that I will show you.”    

“No way, G-d, I don’t want to give up my 60-inch screen TV.”

Lucky for us that G-d first spoke to Avraham, who immediately packed up his belongings and followed G-d’s command without whining and pounding his fists in a tantrum. Avraham believed in G-d. He believed that G-d would take care of him, as G-d promised: “and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great,” meaning that G-d would provide for his livelihood as well.

Lucky for us that G-d first spoke to Avraham, and not to the lords of Flatbush. If He had, we’d still be in Ur Chasdim today.