It's the Land of Israel, Stupid

By Moshe Feiglin

"And why did you bring us up from Egypt to this bad place?" (Numbers, 20:5)

The above complaint, voiced by the Israelites in the desert in this week's Torah portion, Chukat, highlights a simple fact. For the Jews, everything begins and ends with the Land of Israel. When the spies could not detach themselves from life in the desert and the top positions that they had acquired there, they direct their poison arrows at the Land of Israel. When Korach challenges the leadership of Moses for his own leadership aspirations, he points to the Land of Israel. And when there is a lack of water in the desert - it's all because of the Land of Israel. The Torah portions of these three weeks seem to delineate the fundamental issues that distance the Jewish People from their land: Economics, power and refusal to connect to the Jewish destiny that the Land of Israel represents.

People often wonder how the debate between Right and Left continues, when it is plain to see that the Right was right. After all, everything that the Right predicted has happened - so where are all the converts to the Right? The answer is that neither the Left nor the Right has ever told the truth about the Land of Israel. The Left says 'peace' and really means ridding ourselves of the land. The Right says 'security' and really means settlement. Neither side admits that the Land of Israel is a vital tool that the Jewish people need to fulfill their destiny.

If there is relative calm in Israel and Arafat is rotting in Tunis, the Left insists on destroying settlements and giving him the Land of Israel, calling it a 'window of opportunity.' And if there is war, then obviously the conclusion is that Israel must destroy the settlements and flee the Land of Israel. It makes no difference what the current crisis is. The bottom line will always be the Land of Israel. That is because the Land of Israel is the place on earth from which Israel heralds its universal message. Those people who desire to escape their nation, Jewish identity or destiny will always fight against the Land of Israel. Even if they are religious.