Choni Davidowitz, Johannesburg
The Midrash quotes in the first Rashi (one of the greatest Biblical commentators): “The Torah should have begun with the first mitzvah – this month shall be… Why then did it start with Bereishit (in the beginning)?
“The answer lies in the verse: ‘The strength of His deeds He has declared to His people, to give them the heritage of the nations. (Psalms 111:6).’ If the nations of the world say to the Jews: ‘You are robbers for you conquered the lands of the seven nations’, the Jews can respond: ‘The entire world belongs to the Holy One Blessed be He. He created it and gave it to whom He saw fit’.”
Here too, the question arises: Until this day the Ishmaelites, backed up by the nations, claim that we “stole” their land. So, how has it helped if we have “proof” from the Torah that it is ours? Do the nations care one iota what is says in the Torah , or the first Rashi?
The answer is obvious if we examine the quote from Psalm 111 more closely. It does NOT say “the strength of His deeds He declared to the nations”; rather “He has declared to His people”.
This “proof” that all of Eretz Yisrael belongs to us, is not intended for the nations. No matter what we tell them, they will not be convinced. We can present scriptural, historical, and logical proofs that all the Land is ours, they will still call us “robbers”.
The nations of the world will always oppose us. That is their “purpose”. Today the latest UN resolution clearly shows that the whole world has taken the side of the Arabs, even though it defies all logic.
It seems that G-d does not expect us to ever convince the goyim (nations) of our rights to our Land. He wants us to convince ourselves. He wants us to feel totally at ease with our conquest of Israel, and to realise that we have full rights to the Land, so that when the nations call us thieves and robbers, we can confidently respond: “We don’t really expect you to understand this, but this is OUR land and no one else’s. Either live here peacefully under our conditions or leave.”
I would submit that any UN resolution, such as the present one, will Divinely inspire Israeli leaders to be strong and courageous and apply immediate full Israeli sovereignty over the entire Land of Israel. Let our leaders be like the Maccabees and give a “silver lining” to this resolution in light of the question marks within Israel over our G-d-given right to our Land.
