Our strength in the Land of Israel

In Parshat Ekev, there is a fear that once B’nai Yisrael enter the Land of Israel and prosper, they will forget God, as we see in Dvarim 8:14-17:

Your heart will become haughty and you will forget HaShem, your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt…You may say in your heart “My strength and the power of my hand have acquired this wealth for me.”

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains:

Once you have experienced independence and abundance, you are prone to forget that you got to where you are with the help of God.

We learn in Drashot HaRan 10:

At the start, God warned B’nai Yisrael about two things:

1. You shouldn’t assume that your success is due to your strength and power.
2.  You shouldn’t assume that the conquest of the land is due to your merit.

The Ran continues:

A wealthy person can say “My strength and the power of my hand have acquired this wealth for me.” However, you must not forget where this power came from.

The Abarbanel explains:

I do not want to deny their strength…obviously we can’t contradict that they worked the land and tried their best… However, we must remember where the power ultimately came from.

Rav David Avraham Spector teaches that in Israel we have a mitzvah to say “My strength and the power of my hand have acquired this wealth for me” while we also observe what it says in the following verse (8:18) “Remember HaShem, your God; That it was He who gave you strength to acquire wealth, in order to establish His covenant that He swore to your forefathers this day.”

We are lucky to have a beautiful, prosperous modern State of Israel and a strong army. However, we must not forget that God is behind us and if we work together we can live safe, prosperous lives.