{"id":30,"date":"2019-02-26T17:33:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-26T17:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/?p=30"},"modified":"2023-09-11T18:57:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T18:57:16","slug":"rashi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/rashi\/","title":{"rendered":"Torah and World Opposition to the \u201cIsraeli Occupation\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every day we encounter world opposition to the \u201cIsraeli Occupation\u201d, that is, Jewish settlement in Judea and\u00a0Samaria.\u00a0\u00a0I would like to offer an explanation for this phenomenon from a Jewish perspective. With this in mind, I will start from Genesis, where the first verse in the Torah says: \u201cIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rashi\u00a0explains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRabbi Yitzchak said: It was not necessary to begin the Torah from anywhere but \u201cThis month is to you,\u201d (Exod. 12:2) which is the first commandment that the Israelites were given.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So why did He commence with \u201cIn the beginning?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Because of [the verse] \u201cThe strength of His works He related to His people, to give them the inheritance of the nations\u201d (Psalms 111:6).\u00a0\u00a0For if the nations of the world should say to Israel, \u201cYou are robbers, for you conquered by force the lands of the seven nations [of Canaan],\u201d they will reply, \u201cThe entire earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it (this we learn from the story of the Creation) and gave it to whomever He deemed proper;\u00a0\u00a0according to His will, He gave it to them, and according to His will, He took it away from them and gave it to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Difficulties in Understanding\u00a0Rashi\u2019s\u00a0Commentary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rashi\u00a0seems to be saying that the Torah begins with the story of the creation of the world in order to give Jews another argument for the basis of Jewish rights to the\u00a0Land\u00a0of\u00a0Israel. Yet if we look further, it seems that\u00a0Rashi\u2019s\u00a0commentary is not problem free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israelite\u2019s don\u2019t turn to the other nations in the Bible using Rabbi Yitzchak\u2019s language.\u00a0\u00a0In the books of Joshua, Judges and Kings, the Israelites did not turn to those nations living in the land of Israel nor did they use Rabbi Isaac\u2019s words: the whole earth belongs to the Holy One Blessed be He and He gave us the Land of Israel, so you must move to another place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the story of creation is told twice in the first chapter of Genesis, once in the story of the first day and the second time in the story of the third day.\u00a0\u00a0Ramban\u00a0(Genesis 1:10) explains that on the first day the foundations were created, that is, on the first day, the heavens and the earth were created as the essentials, as the spiritual world and the material world.\u00a0\u00a0But on the third day, the earth, the land, was created.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If so, then Rabbi Yitzchak\u2019s language should have been used to interpret the third day, when the land-earth was created, and God gave part of it to\u00a0Israel.\u00a0\u00a0Rashi, however, uses these words for his commentary on the first day and\u00a0Ramban\u00a0cites Rabbi Yitzchak and\u00a0Rashi\u00a0in his commentary on the first day of creation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And more questions arise.\u00a0\u00a0According to a simple understanding of\u00a0Rashi\u2019s\u00a0commentary, the Torah begins with the creation of the world so this fact can be used as an argument against the Gentiles.\u00a0\u00a0Gentiles, however, never accepted the Torah. They do not know what it contains, where it begins. They are unaware that it talks about the creation of the world and the\u00a0land\u00a0of\u00a0Israelas a legacy to the Jews.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ostensibly, in order for us to bring\u00a0Rashi\u2019s\u00a0and Rabbi Yitzchak\u2019s commentaries to the Gentiles, we must first teach them Torah, translate it into different languages\u200b, in particular Arabic, and then distribute the Pentateuch among the Gentiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know, however, that this is not correct.\u00a0\u00a0The day on which the Torah was translated into Greek is mentioned in the last chapter (13) of the Scrolls of Fasts, which lists the fast days.\u00a0\u00a0It reads: \u201cThe Torah was written on the eighth of Tevet \u2026 in the Greek language, and there was darkness in the world for three days\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Three days: the 8^{th<\/sup>\u00a0of Tevet , the 9^{th<\/sup>\u00a0of Tevet and the 10^{th<\/sup>\u00a0of Tevet.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Namely, the negative impact of the translation of the Torah into Greek lasted three days and eventually led to the events of the 10^{th<\/sup>\u00a0day of Tevet, the day on which the siege of\u00a0Jerusalem\u00a0commenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n}}}}

The fact, however, that the Torah has already been translated is irrelevant.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is written: \u201cSpeak His words to Jacob, His statutes and judgments to\u00a0Israel.\u00a0\u00a0He did not do thus to all nations, and they did not know the judgments. Hallelujah!\u00a0(Psalms, 147: 19 \u2013 20).\u00a0\u00a0And it is further written: \u201cA Gentile who engages in Torah deserves death\u201d (Sanhedrin 49A;\u00a0\u00a0Rambam, Laws of Kings 10:9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel<\/strong>\u2018s Role in the World<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is\u00a0Rashi\u00a0saying in his commentary? He is saying something incredible!\u00a0Rashi\u00a0holds that the Torah is written in this way\u00a0\u00a0so that we will know how to communicate with Gentiles.\u00a0\u00a0And this is already in the first verse of the Torah! But why and when do we need to communicate with Gentiles?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn those days, it shall come to pass, that ten men out of all the languages of the nations shall take hold, and will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, \u201cLet us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0(Zacharia\u00a08:23)\u00a0\u00a0Then we will be \u201ca kingdom of priests and a holy nation\u201d (Exodus 19:6). \u201cA Kingdom of priests\u201d means that Jews will be to other nations as the Jewish priests are to the rest of the Jewish nation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In other words,\u00a0Israel\u00a0will bring the other nations closer to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s common knowledge that the haftarah (weekly reading from the book of Prophets) is always linked to the weekly Torah portion and offers commentary on the reading.\u00a0\u00a0In the haftarah for the Torah portion in Genesis, the creation of the world is mentioned in the context of recognition of the\u00a0kingdom\u00a0of\u00a0God\u00a0by the nations; the\u00a0land\u00a0of\u00a0Israel\u00a0is not mentioned.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThus says God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that\u00a0sprad\u00a0forth the earth and that which comes out of it\u2026. I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand and will watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, for a light to the nations.\u00a0\u00a0To open blind eyes\u2026And you are the witnesses to God\u2019s words. (Isaiah 42: 5-8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why must Jews bear witness before the Gentiles? After all, they also know that there is a God above and even, perhaps, that there is a sacred heaven.\u00a0\u00a0But Gentiles look at the world and see it simply as it is, materialistic and lowly. There is no holiness. From their perspective, the world is split in two:\u00a0\u00a0the heavens, in which there is holiness and divinity and the earth in which there is man and materialism.\u00a0\u00a0Gentiles, then, have two approaches.\u00a0\u00a0The first is a complete disregard for holiness and a devotion to materialism.\u00a0\u00a0The second approach is one of abstinence and a disregard for the material world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, the children of\u00a0Israel\u00a0were meant to teach the world that not only the mind but the body as well are sacred.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the words of Jeremiah (23:24): \u201cDo I not fill the heavens and the earth, says the Lord.\u201d Gentiles view the body as lowly and unclean.\u00a0\u00a0In contrast, Jews believe that the body is necessary and can be made holy.\u00a0\u00a0It is no coincidence that the sign of the covenant is made on the organ that is most prone to bodily desires.\u00a0\u00a0But it too can be made holy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gentiles acknowledge that God runs the world, but believe that His power does not extend to the small details.\u00a0\u00a0As a result, they see the observance of mitzvoth or commandments as unnecessary and small-minded. It is interesting to note, however, that these same people strictly observe ceremonial rules in the presence of the Queen. Why is observance of the commandments superfluous to them?\u00a0\u00a0Because they are unaware of the presence of the King of Kings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmalek was the first of the nations\u201d (Numbers 24:20).\u00a0\u00a0Amalek expresses Gentile approach that God belongs to the heavens and has no place on earth, which belongs to man.\u00a0\u00a0This makes the sacredness of the Jews difficult for Amalek. Midrash\u00a0Tanhuma\u00a0(Ki\u00a0Tetze, Chapter 10) says that Amalek would throw\u00a0Israel\u2019s words upwards and says \u201cyou chose it, oh what have you chosen.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In this way, Amalek argued that holiness was in heaven only.\u00a0\u00a0God has no place on earth.\u00a0\u00a0Amalek also prevents exposing the sacred on earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also written \u201cThe Lord has sworn by\u00a0thisthrone\u00a0that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation\u201d (Exodus\u00a017:16\u00a0). Rabbi Haim Cohen explains that among the four letters \u2013\u00a0yud, heh,\u00a0vav, heh \u2013\u00a0\u00a0in God\u2019s name, the last two letters,\u00a0vav\u00a0and heh express the sanctity of this world and they are used as a throne for the first two letters of God\u2019s name,\u00a0yud\u00a0and heh, which express the sanctity of the higher worlds.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Amalek prevents holiness from penetrating this world.\u00a0\u00a0Amalek reaches out and conceals the letters\u00a0vav\u00a0and heh (the throne for the letters\u00a0yudand heh \u2013 \u201ca hand on the throne of God\u201d),\u00a0\u00a0thus preventing unification of the Holy Name and\u00a0\u00a0the presence of the sacred in the material world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore it\u2019s written in\u00a0Pesikta\u00a0Rabbati\u00a0(Chapter 12,\u00a0Zachor): \u201cAs long as Amalek\u2019s offspring are on earth, God\u2019s name is not complete, neither is His throne complete\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The name Amalek prevents the unification of the Name, the unification of the letters\u00a0yud\u00a0heh with\u00a0vav\u00a0heh.\u00a0\u00a0And in the future, Amalek will disappear and with it the separation between that part of the name that reflects the sanctity of this world and that part of the name that expresses the sanctity of the upper worlds.\u00a0\u00a0The Name will be complete \u2013 one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then \u201cGod will be king over all the earth: on that day God will be One and His name one\u201d (Zechariah 14:9).\u00a0\u00a0In Proverbs (3:6) it\u2019s written: \u201cIn all your ways acknowledge Him.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This verse can also be read: \u201cIn all your ways, acknowledge heh\u00a0vav\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0These last two letters, heh and\u00a0vav, are the last two letters of God\u2019s name and express the sanctity of this world.\u00a0\u00a0Thus, in everything you do, know that God is revealed in this world.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Jews can Influence the Nations of the World<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Jew\u2019s essence is in the observance of Torah and the commandments. Observance of the commandments is always directed toward the material and brings about change in the material world.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As a result, the material world is sanctified with God\u2019s holiness. But typically, observant Jews don\u2019t interact with Gentiles. So how can we influence the Gentiles, how can we enlighten them and how can we bear witness to them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This question can be further clarified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Book of\u00a0Kuzari\u00a0(1:25) the friend explains: \u201cGod commenced His speech to the assembled people of Israel: \u2018I am the God whom you worship, who has led you out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 20:2),\u2019 and He did not say: \u2018I am the Creator of the world and your Creator.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0This is because we were not present at the creation of the world, but we witnessed the exodus from Egypt and this was then passed on from generation to generation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But non-Jews were not present at the Exodus, so how can they recognize God, Blessed be His name?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rashi\u2019s\u00a0answer to this question: by carrying out the commandment of\u00a0\u00a0Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. The commandment to settle the land is related to the material essence, and these laws pertain to everyone.\u00a0\u00a0The same word, \u201cland\u201d, is used to describe both the actual material substance and the country, because the land is, as the\u00a0Ramban\u00a0explains, the heart of the material. Division of the land affects all nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For God\u2019s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.\u201d (Deuteronomy 32:8-9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rashi, in his commentary, and Rabbi Yitzchak, refer to the time after the people of Israel return to the land of Israel.\u00a0\u00a0The other nations will say to Israel: \u201cYou are robbers, all of the land is God\u2019s\u201d, meaning, \u201cthe whole material world belongs to God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The Jews\u2019 then have an even stronger claim: If God created the material world, He also administers this world and gives the land, the essence of the material world, to those He deems worthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the land of Israel and its deliverance to the people of Israel plays a central role in bringing the nations of the world closer to God.\u00a0\u00a0That is, the role of the people of Israel as priests.\u00a0\u00a0For this reason, the promise of land was part of the covenant God made with the forefathers.\u00a0\u00a0And the exodus from Egypt was an exodus into Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Lord said: I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their suffering.\u00a0\u00a0And I came down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the\u00a0Perizzite\u00a0and the\u00a0Hivite\u00a0and the\u00a0Jebusite\u201d (Exodus 3:7-8).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commandments to settle the land of Israel are not only autonomous commandments but also a tool for outreach to non-Jews. Subconsciously, the nations of the world understand this, and thus their resolute opposition to the right of the people of Israel to the Land of Israel.\u00a0\u00a0In point of fact, all nations reside on lands they conquered through force.\u00a0\u00a0Only Israel received the land through God\u2019s orders.\u00a0\u00a0Only the people of Israel have authorization from God.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And they are the only one whose right to their land is questioned.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Their right is questioned because it stems from God\u2019s authority. In fact, what is actually being questioned is the principle that the land, the material substance, is controlled by God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the bulk of the United Nations resolutions deal with \u201cthe Israeli occupation\u201d. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees sees its goal as settling refugees in new locations so that they may cease to be refugees. This Commission deals with all refugees, except Arab refugees from the land of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These refugees are assisted by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which sees its goal as maintaining the status quo and increasing the number of refugees.\u00a0\u00a0UNRWA gave directives that were not applied to any other refugee group.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Descendants of Arab refugees who were born outside of Israel are also considered refugees as are Arabs who have citizenship from another country. UNRWA\u2019s budget comprises half of the UN budget!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non-Jewish opposition to recognizing the rights of Jews to the land of Israel stems from their refusal to accept the kingdom of God in this world, in the world of doing, in the material world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Role of the Gentiles in Sanctifying the Land of Israel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a direct relationship between non-Jews recognizing that God rules on earth and the sanctity of the Land of Israel. As we know, the sanctity of the land is dependent on its settlement by the people of Israel.\u00a0\u00a0The land of Israel was sanctified twice.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The first time it was sanctified when Joshua the son of Nun and those who left Egypt captured the land of Israel.\u00a0\u00a0This sanctification was nullified with the destruction of the Temple and the beginning of the Babylonian exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The land was sanctified a second time by Ezra and the Babylonian exiles. This sanctification remained even after the destruction of the second Temple and the resulting exile. Why?\u00a0\u00a0What was the difference between these two eras? The first time, the country was conquered by brute force alone, so holiness was eliminated when the Temple was destroyed.\u00a0\u00a0The second time, however, Jewish settlement was a result of Koresh\u2019s decree, that is, through non-Jewish recognition of the Jewish right to the land of Israel.\u00a0\u00a0As a result, the region in which the Babylonian exiles settled remained sanctified.\u00a0\u00a0This region remains sanctified until today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ostensibly then, the fact that the State of Israel was established by a U.N. resolution, that is, through U.N. recognition, has some religious legal significance.\u00a0\u00a0And when, in the future, the nations of the world recognize Israel\u2019s right to the entire Land of Israel, the land will be sanctified throughout the world and then God will be the eternal king of the entire country, and on that day He will be one and His name one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ze\u2019ev Farber<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the talk given on Shabbat\u00a0Bereishit, 5774, in the \u201cHomat\u00a0Shmuel\u201d synagogue, in memory of my mother\u00a0z\u201dl.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction Every day we encounter world opposition to the \u201cIsraeli Occupation\u201d, that is, Jewish settlement in Judea and\u00a0Samaria.\u00a0\u00a0I would like to offer an explanation for this phenomenon from a Jewish perspective. With this in mind, I will start from Genesis, where the first verse in the Torah says: \u201cIn the beginning God created the heavens […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/israel-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32,"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/32"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pl-host.com\/farber-en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}