[Tu BiShevat this year falls on Monday, January 28, 2002]
On Tu BiShevat, the New Year for trees, we have a tradition to eat of those fruits with which the Land of Israel is blessed and to praise and thank God for the Land, for the goodly Land, and its fruits, which He has given us. In this way we are declaring that the connection between the People of Israel and the Land of Israel is an absolute and eternal connection, a Heavenly connection, and that no one can separate the People of Israel from its Land.
From the dawn of time, there has been conflict over the Land of Israel. It has always been an ideological conflict: who is on the right path, who is truly the successor, who is the heir of the Divine? Our sages say (Bereishit Rabbah 22, 7) that the conflict and jealousy that existed between Abel and Cain was over the Land of Israel. It came about when they desired to find out who of the two of them would be the main inheritor of Adam, which was the central issue. They wanted to know who will be the elect and the core and, therefore, who will inherit the Land and be associated with the Divine. That man?s brother could be likened to the outer peel of a fruit in relation to him. Then, what happened, happened: Abel was killed and the sovereign was left heirless, as it is said, ?And Cain went forth from before God (Genesis 4:16).? That is, from that Land, as Cain said (Genesis 4:14), ?Verily have You expelled me this day from upon the land and I shall hide myself from You.? That is to say, Cain did not inherit the Divine and was not worthy of the Land, rather he was expelled from it. Seth, who was worthy of being Adam?s successor as an elect one, was the first to inherit the Land. The Land eventually became the source of conflict between Isaac and Ishmael, with Ishmael ultimately being rejected and Isaac inheriting the Land. It was also over this Land that jealousy erupted between Jacob and Esau, until ultimately Esau, with all of his might, was rejected in favor of Jacob, with all of his weakness. Thus explains Rabbi Judah Halevi in his work, The Kuzari (1:95; 2:14).
That is how it has always been, all of the wars over the Land of Israel occur for one reason: the war over the inheritance of the Divine election, over who is the successor in the Divine. That was the cause of the Crusades and that was the reason for the Moslem Arab conquest of the Land of Israel. However, as is said, the deeds of the fathers are signs for the sons: Isaac was worthy and Ishmael was rejected; Jacob was worthy of the Land and Esau was rejected. Now, in our time, the Land is returning to its true inheritors, to the People of Israel. None of the efforts of the Children of Ishmael and the Children of Esau will succeed in preventing the redemption of Israel. Even the internal weaknesses of Israel ? the impatience, the fatigue, the faltering due to the lengthy and difficult exile ? will not prevent the redemption of Israel, for the time of the redemption is at hand.
There is no more revealed end than when the Land of Israel produces its fruits in abundance, generously and with a happy countenance for the People of Israel as they return to it from all the lands of the Diaspora(Sanhedrin 98A and Rashi). The abundance is so great that there is even surplus. The Land is providing produce for even more Jews. It is waiting for all of its children and providing its fruits in abundance. The abundance is not a surplus of fruit, but rather a shortage of Jews. Yet they will come and they are coming, all the time. All of the discussion of withdrawals and concessions are for naught, for this Land has always belonged and will always belong to the People of Israel. As God said (Genesis 15:18), ?To your offspring have I given this Land? and the word of the our Lord will be established forever.
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Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed is the Rabbi of the town of Beit El and the Head of the Beit El Yeshiva.
On Tu BiShevat, the New Year for trees, we have a tradition to eat of those fruits with which the Land of Israel is blessed and to praise and thank God for the Land, for the goodly Land, and its fruits, which He has given us. In this way we are declaring that the connection between the People of Israel and the Land of Israel is an absolute and eternal connection, a Heavenly connection, and that no one can separate the People of Israel from its Land.
From the dawn of time, there has been conflict over the Land of Israel. It has always been an ideological conflict: who is on the right path, who is truly the successor, who is the heir of the Divine? Our sages say (Bereishit Rabbah 22, 7) that the conflict and jealousy that existed between Abel and Cain was over the Land of Israel. It came about when they desired to find out who of the two of them would be the main inheritor of Adam, which was the central issue. They wanted to know who will be the elect and the core and, therefore, who will inherit the Land and be associated with the Divine. That man?s brother could be likened to the outer peel of a fruit in relation to him. Then, what happened, happened: Abel was killed and the sovereign was left heirless, as it is said, ?And Cain went forth from before God (Genesis 4:16).? That is, from that Land, as Cain said (Genesis 4:14), ?Verily have You expelled me this day from upon the land and I shall hide myself from You.? That is to say, Cain did not inherit the Divine and was not worthy of the Land, rather he was expelled from it. Seth, who was worthy of being Adam?s successor as an elect one, was the first to inherit the Land. The Land eventually became the source of conflict between Isaac and Ishmael, with Ishmael ultimately being rejected and Isaac inheriting the Land. It was also over this Land that jealousy erupted between Jacob and Esau, until ultimately Esau, with all of his might, was rejected in favor of Jacob, with all of his weakness. Thus explains Rabbi Judah Halevi in his work, The Kuzari (1:95; 2:14).
That is how it has always been, all of the wars over the Land of Israel occur for one reason: the war over the inheritance of the Divine election, over who is the successor in the Divine. That was the cause of the Crusades and that was the reason for the Moslem Arab conquest of the Land of Israel. However, as is said, the deeds of the fathers are signs for the sons: Isaac was worthy and Ishmael was rejected; Jacob was worthy of the Land and Esau was rejected. Now, in our time, the Land is returning to its true inheritors, to the People of Israel. None of the efforts of the Children of Ishmael and the Children of Esau will succeed in preventing the redemption of Israel. Even the internal weaknesses of Israel ? the impatience, the fatigue, the faltering due to the lengthy and difficult exile ? will not prevent the redemption of Israel, for the time of the redemption is at hand.
There is no more revealed end than when the Land of Israel produces its fruits in abundance, generously and with a happy countenance for the People of Israel as they return to it from all the lands of the Diaspora(Sanhedrin 98A and Rashi). The abundance is so great that there is even surplus. The Land is providing produce for even more Jews. It is waiting for all of its children and providing its fruits in abundance. The abundance is not a surplus of fruit, but rather a shortage of Jews. Yet they will come and they are coming, all the time. All of the discussion of withdrawals and concessions are for naught, for this Land has always belonged and will always belong to the People of Israel. As God said (Genesis 15:18), ?To your offspring have I given this Land? and the word of the our Lord will be established forever.
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Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed is the Rabbi of the town of Beit El and the Head of the Beit El Yeshiva.