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(1) The First Jewish Settler
After receiving G-d's command, Abram and Sarai, his wife, pack their
belongings and head off to the Holy Land. Abram goes to Elon Moreh, near
Shechem (Nablus), thereby becoming the first Jewish settler in history
(fortunately, the United Nations did not yet exist at the time). G-d appears
to him there and promises that "To your offspring will I give this land
(Chap. 12, verse 7; George W. Bush - please take note!)." Abram travels
further south until he reaches Beit-El, where he pitches his tent and
builds an altar to G-d.
The Question:
Why does G-d appear to Abram at Elon Moreh to tell him that the Land will
be given to his offspring?
The Answer:
Rashi says that when Abram arrived at Elon Moreh, the Canaanites were
in the process of seizing control over the Land of Israel from the descendants
of Shem, Noah's son. Thus, G-d wanted to reassure Abram that despite the
political turmoil around him, and the Canaanites' victories, the Land
would one day belong to his descendants, the Jewish people (who, through
Abram, can trace their lineage back to Shem as well). Thus, He appeared
to Abram at Elon Moreh and told him that the Land would belong to his
offspring.
The Lesson:
Over the past decade, the Palestinians have gained a significant foothold
in the Land of Israel. Thanks to the failed Oslo accords, large tracts
of land were turned over to the control of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian
Authority (PA), resulting in the current campaign of terror and violence
directed against the Jewish state. Even after a year in which some 200
innocent Israelis were murdered by Palestinian terrorists based in PA-controlled
areas, Israel's government seems to lack either the will or the ability
to go back in and clean out the hornets' nest of terror. Hizbullah terrorists
in southern Lebanon are again carrying out cross-border attacks against
Israeli soldiers in northern Israel, raising the possibility of the outbreak
of a regional war. Just like our patriarch Abraham, we look at the events
around us in Israel, and we start to wonder: what about the promise of
return? Have the Jewish people survived 2000 years of exile and persecution,
Holocaust and pogroms, only to return to their Land and then lose it to
a gang of terrorist thugs? Were all the Jewish tears and Jewish blood
that were spilled over the past five decades in vain?
In Abraham's time, it was the Canaanites who seemed unstoppable, in our
day it is the Palestinians. Yet that is precisely why G-d's appearance
to Abram at Elon Moreh is so pertinent. Even though the Canaanites were
riding to victory, G-d was quick to reassure Abram that their ascendance
was only temporary, telling him that, "To your offspring will I give
this Land." That reassurance, that encouragement, still speaks to
us today, because it is we who are Abraham's offspring and it is we to
whom the promise has been made. The Palestinians may very well have succeeded,
for now, in grabbing some land and winning some diplomatic battles, but
ultimately, it is G-d's promise that will prevail.
(2) Standing Up to a Superpower
Later in the Parsha, Abram and his nephew Lot part ways after a feud
between their herdsmen. Abram moved to Hebron, where he lived in the plains
of Mamre, while Lot moved to Sodom. Then, in the first 12 verses of Chapter
14, the Torah describes the outbreak of the War of the Kings, in which
4 powerful kings fought against 5 vassal kings in what was no doubt the
ancient equivalent of a world war. The 4 kings were victorious and they
captured Sodom and took all its wealth. They also captured Lot and took
him hostage. When Abram heard that Lot had been captured, he raised a
small army of 318 men who were his disciples and then attacked the 5 kings,
despite their having a force far greater in size than his. Abram prevailed
in the battle and freed Lot. The Torah tells us, "And he [Abram]
and his servants deployed against them at night and struck them; he pursued
them as far as Hobah, which is to the north of Damascus. And he brought
back all the possessions; he also brought back his kinsman, Lot, with
his possessions, as well as the women and the people (Chap. 14, verses
15-16)."
The Question:
Why does the Torah devote a dozen verses to the account of the War of
the Kings?
The Answer:
The Sforno (Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno of Italy, 1470-1550) says that the Torah
"is telling us how great these five kings were and how powerful were the
four kings who defeated them. Now we can know (judge) the great might
of Abram and his military skill, as well as the great kindness shown to
his relative (Lot), by his willingness to sacrifice himself to overcome
them (the four kings) so as to save his nephew and his possessions from
them, wresting the prey from their jaws and achieving even more than he
had hoped for, thanks to the mercy of G-d (translation courtesy of the
Artscroll Sforno, by Rabbi Raphael Pelcovitz)." Thus, according to the
Sforno, the Torah wanted to give us a better appreciation for Abram's
courage and heroism in coming to the assistance of his nephew Lot, hence
it provided us with the details of the War of the Kings.
The Lesson:
Over the course of the past year, Israeli forces made limited incursions
into Palestinian-controlled territory throughout Judea and Samaria to
hit back at Palestinian terrorists and thwart future attacks. Defense
Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said that intelligence warnings about impending
attacks were at an all-time high, so it was necessary to send in the army
to prevent future loss of life. Despite Israel's purely justified actions
against terrorism, the United States government came down hard on Israel,
with the State Department issuing a sharply worded demand that Israeli
forces withdraw immediately and not return. So, Israel's leaders appear
to face a dilemma - to protect Israel's citizens by leaving the troops
in place or to risk angering the United States by refusing to do so. In
reality, however, there is no dilemma. Protecting the lives of innocent
Jews is far more important than making the State Department happy. As
we saw above, Abram was willing to stand up to the superpower of his day
to save his nephew Lot from a dire fate. He was neither intimidated into
passivity nor fearful of the consequences. When it came to protecting
his family, all other considerations fell by the wayside. Let us hope
and pray that the Israeli government will show a similar level of concern
for the welfare of its citizens and not hesitate to do what is necessary
in Judea and Samaria and Gaza to finally put an end to the threat posed
by Palestinian terror.
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Michael Freund served as Deputy Director of Communications and Policy
Planning in the Prime Minister’s Office from 1996 to 1999. He is currently
an editorial writer and syndicated columnist for the Jerusalem Post. Comments/Feedback/Subscribe:
parsha_sheet@hotmail.com
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