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Shlomo Ezagui

Israel, Gods Promise to the Jewish People.

Bruno Aguirre

The Bible begins with, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Rabbi Yitzchak says, “As a book of rules, it would have been more fitting for the Torah to start with the first commandment. Why, then, did it start with creation? The Torah, God’s book and message to the world, wants to convey an unambiguous message: a message of who created the world and who granted the Land of Israel to the Jewish people.”

Rabbi Yochanan says, “Whoever walks four cubits (eight feet) in the land of Israel is guaranteed a place in the world to come.”

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai says that God measured all the lands and did not find a more appropriate place for the Jewish people than the land of Israel. In all lands, one has what the other doesn’t, while the land of Israel lacks nothing. As it says, “Nothing is lacking there.”

On what merit and basis do the Jewish people claim this tiny strip of land on the Mediterranean? It is certainly not a United Nations resolution since the Jewish people had been in Israel for thousands of years before the UN was formed. It is not by the good grace of any countries we know of today since the Jewish people had been living in the Land of Israel long before any of these countries were populated or discovered.

The Bible tells us God made a covenant with Abraham and promised, “To you and your children, I have given this land.” Abraham’s children were promised the land of Canaan. God says it will still take time before it can be transferred to Abraham’s children because “The sins of the Amorites have not yet reached a saturation point.” The message seems pretty straightforward. Living on this land is uniquely a matter of spirituality and deserving to be there.

As a side note, after the flood of Noah, the entire world was divided between Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Yafes. The portion of Shem, the ancestor of Abraham and father of the Jewish people, included the land of Israel. There is no question whatsoever as to who the land of Israel belongs to, as far as God is concerned, as far as inheritance is concerned, and as far as historically speaking. 

Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson often told people visiting Israel, “Israel is God’s special chamber, God’s house. The visa necessary to enter this land is to increase and come to the land with more observance of God’s commandments.”

God tells the Jewish people before they enter the land, “Do not contaminate yourself with abominable behaviors because it is for that reason the land spewed its inhabitants before you.”

In Psalm 105, King David says, “He gave them the land of the nations… so that they might preserve His statutes and treasure His laws.” In another Psalm, King David says, “These (come) with chariots and horses, and we (come) in the name of God whom we proclaim.”

King David knew this from personal experience. As a young lad, David and Goliath confronted each other. Goliath with his armor and shield, David with his staff and sling “The Philistines cursed David by his gods.” But David replies, “This day God will deliver you into my hand…. all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that God saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is God’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

The land of Israel has no deep reservoirs of oil or significant bodies of water to rely on. The holy land of Israel has the unique power to connect a person with God directly; it is the most excellent source of everything. Israel is a land that God Himself watches, like the apple of His eye. More than anywhere else in the world, the Land of Israel experiences miraculous and Godly occurrences all the time.

The book of the Zohar says, “God apportioned the nations and lands of the world to appointed emissaries and officers. Over the Land of Israel, no Angel or appointed one has any power but God Himself.” Therefore, God took a people whom no one had any power over into a land where no one else (but God) had any power or authority.

Our strength is in our devotion and connection with God Almighty.

Chapter 119 www.aspiritualsoulbook.com

About the Author
Rabbi Shlomo Ezagui is an author and lecturer. www.rabbishlomoezagui.com "A Spiritual Soul Book" (www.aspiritualsoulbook.com) & "Maimonides Advice for the 21st Century" (www.maimonidesadvice.com) In 1987, Rabbi Ezagui opened the first Chabad Center in Palm Beach County, Florida, and the first Orthodox Synagogue on the island of Palm Beach, Florida.
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