By Moshe Feiglin
And you shall inherit the Land, and dwell in it; for to you have I given the Land to possess it. And you shall inherit the land by lot according to your families, to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance; wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. (From this week's Torah portion, Mas'ei, Numbers 33:53-54)When a modern Jew in Israel reads the words, "And you shall inherit the Land" he understands that this is a directive to put the Land of Israel under the sovereignty of the State of Israel. The way we are used to looking at it, actualization of national sovereignty is the responsibility of the nation state. From the verses in this week's Torah portion, however, it looks like that assumption is incorrect. It is the State's responsibility to conquer the Land and to drive out the enemy. But actualization of the bond between the Land and the Nation is not complete until the Land becomes the personal inheritance of every Jew. The Land of Israel belongs to the Nation of Israel; not only on the national level but also on the personal level. "And you shall inherit the Land - by lot, according to your families."
The bond between a Jew and his Land is holy, similar to the bond of marriage. The Torah commands the relative of a person who loses his property to be the first to buy his lot so that his inheritance will remain inside the family. Further, he is directed to re-sell the lot to its original owner at the first opportunity.
Israel's current situation, in which 93% of the Nation's land is in the hands of the State, opposes this Torah directive and the Return to Zion message of world liberty. This is the real reason for the housing crisis and the pervasive feeling of servitude experienced by the Israeli public.
Shabbat Shalom
2 comments:
I have had increasing problems with Moshe's hashkafa and this piece by him is perfectly representative of my issues.
"It is the State's responsibility to conquer the Land and to drive out the enemy."
No. It is every Jew's personal responsibility to do this. The state (why oh why is it capitalized?!) is supposed to be our agent in this obligation.
Moshe says he wants to make the state more Jewish, but I assert, rightly I think, that "more Jewish" means a LOT smaller. It means not insinuating the state into every aspect of our lives, or into every dispute involving two Jews (as he seems to insist, with his recent spate of articles on car accidents).
It is "every Jew's responsibility" to conquer the Land and drive out the enemy? REALLY? How do you expect that to happen? Are you suggesting that every Jew take an M-16 and start his own personal war?
Our proposal is quite different. We see the State of Israel - YES, with a capital "S" - as the holy representative of the Jewish Nation. This State is different from all other states as its leadership must be based exclusively on authentic Jewish values and concepts. This is the goal of Manhigut Yehudit.
A Jewish State such as this will be strong, proud and very LARGE... big enough for every Jew in the world to come home!
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