When (not if) You Enter the Land of Israel

The portion of the Torah that will be read this shabbat by Jews worldwide is called Ki Tavo which is the Hebrew for “When you enter (the land).”  It is part of the overall direction of the book of Deuteronomy which basically consists of the exhortations of Moses to the congregation of Israel (i.e. those who were born during the 40-year period of wandering after the exodus from Egypt) and who are about to enter the Land of Israel.

It is critical to note that the verse begins with the words “When you” and not
“If you” or “Should you.”  It is, quite clearly, a “given” that those listening to the words of Moses conveying God’s intent will, indeed, enter the land as the good Lord commanded.

I was reminded of all of this yesterday as I watched the video of Israel’s President Yitzchak Herzog as he submitted to voluntary flogging at the hands of Director Bronwen Maddox, a “farbissiner” moderator, during his one-hour appearance at Chatham House, the London based International Affairs Think Tank.  I chose to use the Yiddish term, “farbissiner” which describes an embittered, sullen, mean sourpuss of a person because the English definitions simply don’t fully convey the attitude of this moderator from the get-go.

You can watch the full 60-minute video here and judge for yourself…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ormWvCR6Qq0

However, in the face of an accusatory introduction and a combative negative moderator throughout, our President was composed and conducted himself with grace and compassion for the many people in the audience who were clearly there to criticize Israel and the way we have conducted this war.  We can be rightly proud of how he handled that difficult situation.

It is worth taking the time to watch.

What reminded me of the portion we read tomorrow, is that in England where this event took place as well as in other European countries and more recently in North America as well, we seem to be fast approaching the point where the safety of those diaspora communities will become less and less secure. At some point those communities may well give serious thought to the introductory words of this week’s Torah portion which assumes the we all will enter the land of Israel.

It would be a sad state of affairs if the situation in the diaspora came to the point where Jews would need to leave for their own safety. I am in the category of people who believes that a strong diaspora community is a huge benefit to the growth of Israel. Thus, it would be sad to see those disintegrate. Nevertheless, the Torah is clear, God’s words (for those who believe the Torah is God’s word) are unequivocal…..they say “when” not “if.”

While we here in Israel continue to be engaged in an existential battle for our survival, and will probably be in that state constantly regardless of how the current hostilities end, the fact remains that we are living where God wants us to live, in the land that heaven above provided for us and which benefits from God’s grace and protection.

The world will continue to blame all of its ills on the 0.20% of the world’s population represented by the Jewish people while simultaneously benefiting from the creativity of 22% of Jewish Nobel prize winners. It is a hate that makes no sense and against whom counter intuitive accusations abound. But for those of us living here, we are privileged to follow the full text of that introductory sentence…. “When you enter the land that God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance, you must take possession of it and settle in it” And so we have…..and we will leave a light on for all those yet to follow.