Did Abraham Err in Buying The Land in Hebron? Is it Like Celebrating November 29, 1947?
Many times I've blogged that I consider the Israeli celebration of the "29th of November," the anniversary of the day when the infant United Nations member states approved the establishment of the State of Israel to be a terrible mistake. We, Jewish Zionists, should never have asked the world permission to establish our state. It has made us dependent on international approval and seriously undermines our sovereignty.
I admit that some people may find what I'm now going to say rather "sacrilegious," but I feel it must be said.
In this week's Parshat Shavua, Weekly Torah Portion, Chayei Sarah, we read of the Matriarch Sarah's death and that Abraham, her husband goes to great lengths to buy a specific piece of Land in Hebron with a burial cave, now known as Ma'arat HaMachpela.
If the purchase had been the correct thing to do, then those locations would be recognized as Jewish owned over the millennium to this very day. The fact that no other religion or people take those purchases seriously, including the Christians who "swear on the Bible" makes me wonder about the wisdom of paying people for our Land.
Davka, it was Abraham who had followed G-d's instructions in Lech Lecha to go the Land G-d would show him, which G-d would give to him and all his descendants. G-d is the true owner of all of the Land and all of the earth. By making such a point to buy the piece of land to bury Sarah there, and getting permission from a human being for this denies G-d's ultimate ownership.
We're still making the same mistakes. Our Israeli courts are making it more difficult for Jews to prove Land ownership than for Arabs. That is what's behind the Givat Asaf and Migron problems and various other plots of land and buildings in Jerusalem, Hebron and other locations.
We still haven't fully accepted G-d's Lech Lecha challenge. G-d has given the Land to us, and we do not need the approval or purchase receipt from humans.
Israel is a very tiny country with impressive immigration statistics. At sixty-five years, compared to most United Nations member countries, it's not all that new. In terms of actual history, culture and more it's definitely one of the most ancient countries on earth. The State of Israel descends from the Ancient Jewish People with a long continuous, well-documented history. I live in Shiloh, the original Capital of the Jewish Land/Nation. Jews have returned here from all over the world, and we're building lives and homes.
Unfortunately, Israel is still dominated by Jews who are insecure in our success as a legitimate country and continuously pander to those who want to destroy us.
Instead of just going on with full confidence and sovereignty in all of the Land of Israel we have under control, they keep on begging the world to recognize our rights and offering valuable gifts of Land to the Arab terrorists who want to destroy us. That's why Israel gets so much international flack and criticism for building homes for Jews in Land we won in a terribly aggressive war to destroy us. The world still hasn't forgiven our victory. Most countries would have happily built and supported memorials for the Holocaust and the destroyed State of Israel. They prefer celebrating Jewish deaths rather than supporting vibrant Jewish Life.
The State of Israel keeps trying the same failed technique to get a "Peaceagreement" with the Arabs. Such a thing will never be for two simple reasons. The Arabs will never agree to a treaty promising the State of Israel a true peace, and whatever "interim" agreement is signed will be violated by the Arabs. This is what always happens, like a Law of Physics. We have to constantly be on the alert and not project our good peaceful nature and customs onto Arabs. Stories like the Arab Egged bus driver spy should be a lesson. Naivete is a dangerous enemy.
The only way for us to have peace is to build all over the Land of Israel. I was recently in the town of Adam, just north of Jerusalem.
It has land prepared for building in the direction of Ma'ale Adumim.
One of the major issues of the recent economic protests in Israel has been housing prices. The best areas to build in are davka in locations like Shiloh, Adam, Ariel, Gush Etzion etc which are close enough to Israel's major cities for easy commuting and already have successful and viable social, educational, economic and industrial infrastructures.
Building freezes won't bring Israel security, but building will.
ISRA-ii-SR7-92 Acacia Tree, Tiny Leaves
ISRA-ii-SSR1-75 Tomb of the Patriarchs
Hebron
Genesis 23:17-20; 25:8-10; 35:28-29; 49:31,
This massive building is built over a site of burial caves of Abraham and his family, including Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Rebecca, & Leah.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-79 Abraham's Well
Tel Beersheva
Genesis 21:22-34, Abraham gave Abimelch seven lambs and made a covenant with him saying,
"Take these seven ewe lambs from my hand in order that it may be a witness to me, that I dug this well."
ISRA-ii-SSR1-80 Bricks made of mud and straw
Exodus 1:14 and 5:7-23 - This is not an ancient brick wall, but it does show how the same techniques for making brick are used today
as they did when the Israelites were making bricks for Pharoh.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-77 Brook Besor
I Samuel 30:9, 10, 21 - Where David let 200 of his exhausted men stay behind with their baggage
while he and 400 of his men chased after the Amalekites who had burned Ziglag and taken their women and children.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-78 Camels roaming in the Negev
ISRA-ii-SSR1-86 Wilderness of Zin - 1
This is the wilderness where the Israelites wandered for 40 years!
ISRA-ii-SSR1-87 Mount Hor, Wilderness of Zin - 2
Numbers 20:22-29; 33:38-39, and Deut. 32:50 - Mount Hor in the haze in distance, Wilderness of Zin, where Aaron died at age 123 and was buried.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-88 Wadi Zin - 1
The ribbon of green is Wadi Zin. There is no water in most of it, but the gully allows enough moisture to collect so that some desert plants can grow in the wadi.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-89 Wadi Zin - 2
In the gorge at the far end of Wadi Zin, there was a trickle of water, turned green by the minerals and algae.
ISRA-ii-SSR2-120 Solomon's Pillars
Timnah Valley
ISRA-ii-SSR1-91 Mountains near Eilat - 1
The Gulf of Aqaba is not the "finger" of the Red Sea where the Israelites miraculously crossed. However, looking at the rugged terrain here certainly gives you a better idea of the predicament they were in when they had mountains on both sides, the Red Sea in front of them, and the Egyptian army closing in behind them. If the mountains in the biblical text were anything like these, then climbing over the mountains to escape the army was obviously not an option!
ISRA-ii-SSR1-92 Mountains near Eilat - 2
In the haze behind the mountain ridge at the right is the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-93 Gulf of Aqaba
Aqaba is a city on the Jordanian side; it is also called Gulf of Eilat, after the city on the Israel side.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-82 Israel-Egypt border fence - 1
ISRA-ii-SSR1-81 View toward Kadesh-barnea
Numbers 34:4 - Kadesh-barnea was the southern border of the Land, but today, the actual site is within Egypt's borders.
Numbers 20:2-13 - At Kadesh-barnea, Moses sinned by striking the rock for water instead of speaking to the rock as God commanded.
Joshua 14:6-7 - The 12 spies had been sent out from Kadesh-barnea.
I admit that some people may find what I'm now going to say rather "sacrilegious," but I feel it must be said.In this week's Parshat Shavua, Weekly Torah Portion, Chayei Sarah, we read of the Matriarch Sarah's death and that Abraham, her husband goes to great lengths to buy a specific piece of Land in Hebron with a burial cave, now known as Ma'arat HaMachpela.
Genesis Chapter 23 בְּרֵאשִׁיתNow please think about it. There are three places in the Land of Israel that were bought by Jewish Leaders in Biblical times. It's all in the Bible. They are that piece of land in Hebron, Har Habayit (the Temple Mount,) and Shechem. I remember going to a shiur, class, a few years ago that brought up the subject that davka those three places which were legally, according to the laws of man, were repurchased by Jews. But davka, those three places are most contested.
If the purchase had been the correct thing to do, then those locations would be recognized as Jewish owned over the millennium to this very day. The fact that no other religion or people take those purchases seriously, including the Christians who "swear on the Bible" makes me wonder about the wisdom of paying people for our Land.
Davka, it was Abraham who had followed G-d's instructions in Lech Lecha to go the Land G-d would show him, which G-d would give to him and all his descendants. G-d is the true owner of all of the Land and all of the earth. By making such a point to buy the piece of land to bury Sarah there, and getting permission from a human being for this denies G-d's ultimate ownership.
We're still making the same mistakes. Our Israeli courts are making it more difficult for Jews to prove Land ownership than for Arabs. That is what's behind the Givat Asaf and Migron problems and various other plots of land and buildings in Jerusalem, Hebron and other locations.
We still haven't fully accepted G-d's Lech Lecha challenge. G-d has given the Land to us, and we do not need the approval or purchase receipt from humans.
Shavua Tov
Have a Wonderful Week
Israel Should Build Much, Much More in Judea, Samaria, Jordan Valley aka "West Bank"
Israel is a very tiny country with impressive immigration statistics. At sixty-five years, compared to most United Nations member countries, it's not all that new. In terms of actual history, culture and more it's definitely one of the most ancient countries on earth. The State of Israel descends from the Ancient Jewish People with a long continuous, well-documented history. I live in Shiloh, the original Capital of the Jewish Land/Nation. Jews have returned here from all over the world, and we're building lives and homes.Unfortunately, Israel is still dominated by Jews who are insecure in our success as a legitimate country and continuously pander to those who want to destroy us.
Instead of just going on with full confidence and sovereignty in all of the Land of Israel we have under control, they keep on begging the world to recognize our rights and offering valuable gifts of Land to the Arab terrorists who want to destroy us. That's why Israel gets so much international flack and criticism for building homes for Jews in Land we won in a terribly aggressive war to destroy us. The world still hasn't forgiven our victory. Most countries would have happily built and supported memorials for the Holocaust and the destroyed State of Israel. They prefer celebrating Jewish deaths rather than supporting vibrant Jewish Life.
The State of Israel keeps trying the same failed technique to get a "Peaceagreement" with the Arabs. Such a thing will never be for two simple reasons. The Arabs will never agree to a treaty promising the State of Israel a true peace, and whatever "interim" agreement is signed will be violated by the Arabs. This is what always happens, like a Law of Physics. We have to constantly be on the alert and not project our good peaceful nature and customs onto Arabs. Stories like the Arab Egged bus driver spy should be a lesson. Naivete is a dangerous enemy.
The only way for us to have peace is to build all over the Land of Israel. I was recently in the town of Adam, just north of Jerusalem.
It has land prepared for building in the direction of Ma'ale Adumim.
One of the major issues of the recent economic protests in Israel has been housing prices. The best areas to build in are davka in locations like Shiloh, Adam, Ariel, Gush Etzion etc which are close enough to Israel's major cities for easy commuting and already have successful and viable social, educational, economic and industrial infrastructures.
Building freezes won't bring Israel security, but building will.
Negev:
Arad, Acacia tree, Beersheva, Abraham's well, Cactus, Solomon's Pillars, Timnah Valley, Eilat, Hebron, Abraham's Tomb, Tomb of the Patriarchs, Ziglag, Brook Besor, Avdat, Ben Gurion's tomb, vineyards, camels, Egyptian border
 |  |
ISRA-ii-SR7-91 Acacia Tree
|
ISRA-ii-SR7-91 Acacia Tree (person removed)
|
ISRA-ii-SR7-92 Acacia Tree, Tiny Leaves
ISRA-ii-SSR1-75 Tomb of the Patriarchs
Hebron
Genesis 23:17-20; 25:8-10; 35:28-29; 49:31,
This massive building is built over a site of burial caves of Abraham and his family, including Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Rebecca, & Leah.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-79 Abraham's Well
Tel Beersheva
Genesis 21:22-34, Abraham gave Abimelch seven lambs and made a covenant with him saying,
"Take these seven ewe lambs from my hand in order that it may be a witness to me, that I dug this well."
ISRA-ii-SSR1-80 Bricks made of mud and straw
Exodus 1:14 and 5:7-23 - This is not an ancient brick wall, but it does show how the same techniques for making brick are used today
as they did when the Israelites were making bricks for Pharoh.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-77 Brook Besor
I Samuel 30:9, 10, 21 - Where David let 200 of his exhausted men stay behind with their baggage
while he and 400 of his men chased after the Amalekites who had burned Ziglag and taken their women and children.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-78 Camels roaming in the Negev
ISRA-ii-SSR1-86 Wilderness of Zin - 1
This is the wilderness where the Israelites wandered for 40 years!
ISRA-ii-SSR1-87 Mount Hor, Wilderness of Zin - 2
Numbers 20:22-29; 33:38-39, and Deut. 32:50 - Mount Hor in the haze in distance, Wilderness of Zin, where Aaron died at age 123 and was buried.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-88 Wadi Zin - 1
The ribbon of green is Wadi Zin. There is no water in most of it, but the gully allows enough moisture to collect so that some desert plants can grow in the wadi.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-89 Wadi Zin - 2
In the gorge at the far end of Wadi Zin, there was a trickle of water, turned green by the minerals and algae.
ISRA-ii-SSR2-120 Solomon's Pillars
Timnah Valley
ISRA-ii-SSR1-91 Mountains near Eilat - 1
The Gulf of Aqaba is not the "finger" of the Red Sea where the Israelites miraculously crossed. However, looking at the rugged terrain here certainly gives you a better idea of the predicament they were in when they had mountains on both sides, the Red Sea in front of them, and the Egyptian army closing in behind them. If the mountains in the biblical text were anything like these, then climbing over the mountains to escape the army was obviously not an option!
ISRA-ii-SSR1-92 Mountains near Eilat - 2
In the haze behind the mountain ridge at the right is the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-93 Gulf of Aqaba
Aqaba is a city on the Jordanian side; it is also called Gulf of Eilat, after the city on the Israel side.
ISRA-ii-SSR1-82 Israel-Egypt border fence - 1
ISRA-ii-SSR1-81 View toward Kadesh-barnea
Numbers 34:4 - Kadesh-barnea was the southern border of the Land, but today, the actual site is within Egypt's borders.
Numbers 20:2-13 - At Kadesh-barnea, Moses sinned by striking the rock for water instead of speaking to the rock as God commanded.
Joshua 14:6-7 - The 12 spies had been sent out from Kadesh-barnea.
Back to Israel Index Page
No comments:
Post a Comment