To Whom Does Israel Belong? - Chayei Sarah
וַיָּקָם שְׂדֵה עֶפְרוֹן אֲשֶׁר בַּמַּכְפֵּלָה אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי מַמְרֵא הַשָּׂדֶה וְהַמְּעָרָה אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ וְכָל הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר בְּכָל גְּבֻלוֹ סָבִיב. לְאַבְרָהָם לְמִקְנָה לְעֵינֵי בְנֵי חֵת בְּכֹל בָּאֵי שַׁעַר עִירוֹ. (בראשית כג, יז-יח)
The Midrash (Breishit Rabba 79,7) says – "R' Yudan ben Simon says there are three parcels of land over which the nations of the world cannot dispute ownership. They belong to Am Yisrael -
Me'arat HaMachpeila, as it says - וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָהָם אֶל עֶפְרוֹן וַיִּשְׁקֹל אַבְרָהָם לְעֶפְרֹן אֶת הַכֶּסֶף אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר בְּאָזְנֵי בְנֵי חֵת אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שֶׁקֶל כֶּסֶף עֹבֵר לַסֹּחֵר (בראשית כג, טז).
Kever Yosef, as it says - וַיִּקֶן אֶת חֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר נָטָה שָׁם אָהֳלוֹ מִיַּד בְּנֵי חֲמוֹר אֲבִי שְׁכֶם בְּמֵאָה קְשִׂיטָה (בראשית לג, יו).
The Beit Hamikdash, as it says – וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִיד לְאָרְנָן לֹא כִּי קָנֹה אֶקְנֶה בְּכֶסֶף מָלֵא כִּי לֹא אֶשָּׂא אֲשֶׁר לְךָ לַה' וְהַעֲלוֹת עוֹלָה חִנָּם. וַיִּתֵּן דָּוִיד לְאָרְנָן בַּמָּקוֹם שִׁקְלֵי זָהָב מִשְׁקָל שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת (דברי הימים א, כא, כד-כה).
To prove ownership over a parcel of land, one is required to show the deed of sale. The "deeds of sale" for the above three tracts of land are clearly documented for all eternity in the Tanach and were paid for in full. All these three locations were in fact offered to the purchaser as a free gift, however, in all cases the purchasers (Avraham, Yaakov and David) insisted on paying for them in full. Not only were they paid for in full, but their purchase price was inflated way beyond the norm for similar land at the time.
The field of Efron had a bad reputation, it was said to be haunted. Anyone happening to wander into the field reported encountering a demon wielding a sword. As viable real estate it was worthless.
According to one opinion in the Midrash the purchase of Me'arat HaMachpeila did not take place after Sarah died, but long before. In last week's parsha Vayeira, we read that Avraham prepared three dishes of calf tongue in mustard sauce for the visiting angels. One of the calves ran away and Avraham chased after it into a cave, which he discovered was the burial place of Adam and Chava. How did he know that it was Adam who was buried there? Because the person was 100 amot long (50m)! After Adam sinned, HKB"H diminished his stature to "only" 100 amot (Sanhedrin 38b). According to the Midrash (Breishit Rabba 58, 8), R' Abahu says that HKB"H "folded" Adam in half and buried him there and that is why it is called Me'arat HaMachpeila from the root of the word כפל.
When Avraham told Sarah of his discovery, she requested that he purchase the land as a burial place for the two of them. As it says in the Midrash (Tanchuma, Chayei Sarah, 3), Avraham's eulogy for Sarah were the words of Eshet Chayil, as they appear in sefer Mishlei. The verse זָמְמָה שָׂדֶה וַתִּקָּחֵהוּ (משלי לא, טז) refers to this request.
The Gemara (Sota 47a) says that there are three types of חֵן. Firstly, what is חֵן? When we say in Birkat Hamazon הַזָּן אֶת הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ בְּטוּבוֹ בְּחֵן בְּחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים, what do we mean by חֵן? The Gemara says that חֵן is something that is inexplicable, it is a feeling of "worth" only to the person who experiences it. The first example the Gemara brings is חֵן מָקוֹם עַל יוֹשְׁבָיו. Why does one person love to live in a bustling city, while another loves the peace and quiet of the country? It is something that is very individual. The second example of the Gemara is חֵן אִשָּׁה עַל בַּעְלָהּ. Beauty is "in the eye of the beholder" – one man finds a woman beautiful while another doesn't. The third example in the Gemara is חֵן מֶקַח עַל מֶקּחוֹ. Why will someone pay a million dollars for a painting of a "potplant"? Because to them it is inexplicably beautiful and has great worth.
Despite that Efron knew his field was "worthless" real estate, he had a keen eye for an enthusiastic customer. Straight off he understood that Avraham had to have this cave at any cost, so he proposed a "symbolic" figure of 400 silver shekels. A bargain price. The Gemara (Bechorot 50a) says that Efron asked for 400 "large shekels", קִנְטְרִין. The weight of a קנטר (according to ספר מידות ושעורי תורה, תמו) is 42.5kg of silver. 400 X 42.5 = 17,000kg = 600,000oz. The market price of one ounce of silver (8 Nov 2023, 10:45am GMT+2) is USD 22.50. How much did Avraham pay for this property? Only 13.5 million dollars. A pittance! And he paid it willingly.
The Mefarshim give different reasons why davka 400 shekels. Efron proposed a "symbolic" figure. To Avraham that figure had a different "symbolism". בְּמִעוּט שְׁקִידָתִי I have not found a source for this perush anywhere so take it בְּעֵרָבוֹן מֻגְבָּל. There are 50 levels of purity that a human can ascend to. Very few ascended to this great height. Moshe, at Har Sinai achieved that level, but he was lowered after the sin with the egel. After Moshe died, he reattained the 50th level, hinted at in his place of burial הַר נְבוֹ, the mountain שֶׁ-"נ" בּוֹ. Eight other people also attained this level, they are buried in Me'arat HaMachpeila – Adam/Chava, Avraham/Sarah, Yitzchak/Rivkah, Yaakov/Leah. 8 X 50 = 400. Eretz Yisrael and the holy places in it are not simple "real estate", they have deep spiritual symbolism and meaning that does not exist in any other location on the planet.
The main subject of this week's shiur is the umbilical connection of Am Yisrael to Eretz Yisrael.
Periodically, over the generations, the nations of the world dispute our claim to Eretz Yisrael. We are currently living through such a period.
One need only flip through the foreign (and even local) news channels to be "flooded" (Al Aqsa Flood) by a narrative that has become so ingrained in peoples' consciousness the world over and unfortunately, to a large extent, also within Am Yisrael (in Israel and abroad). A narrative that has been contrived, engineered with intricate, devious precision and propagated ad nauseum by the global media channels with vested interests (economic and political), until it has become an "accepted truth". One only need visit many of the university campuses in "enlightened" Western countries to discover that this narrative has also become part and parcel of academia. A narrative with no basis in truth.
So, to whom does Israel belong? Simple, it belongs to HKB"H.
The Torah begins with the word Breishit. Chazal say that this teaches us that the purpose HKB"H created the world is for "Reishit" - Am Yisrael who are called Reishit (Yirmiyahu 2, 3) and the Torah which is called Reishit (Mishlei 8, 22).
Rashi asks a "strange" question on the first passuk in the Torah. If the Torah is meant to be a book of laws (which it is), then why does the Torah not begin with the first law given to Am Yisrael as a nation when they left Egypt הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים (שמות יב, ב)? And Rashi answers – שֶׁאִם יֹאמְרוּ אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל לִסְטִים אַתֶּם, שֶׁכְּבַשְׁתֶּם אַרְצוֹת שִׁבְעָה גוֹיִם! הֵם אוֹמְרִים לָהֶם, כָּל הָאָרֶץ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא הִיא, הוּא בְּרָאָהּ וּנְתָנָהּ לַאֲשֶׁר יָשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו. בִּרְצוֹנוֹ נְתָנָהּ לָהֶם, וּבִרְצוֹנוֹ נְטָלָהּ מֵהֶם וּנְתָנָהּ לָנוּ.
The Torah begins with a solitary purpose – to establish that the Land of Israel belongs to G-d and to Him alone. HKB"H, when He wrote the Torah, foresaw that there would be an eternal territorial dispute over the Land of Israel and nipped it in the bud straight from the outset.
Why davka over Eretz Yisrael and not Sweden or Venezuela, for example?
The answer is that Israel is the center of the world. Not the "geographical" center (a spherical globe has no "central point" on its circumference), but the spiritual center. Chazal (Yoma 54b) teach us that that when HKB"H created the world, the propagation process emanated from a single point אֶבֶן הַשְּׁתִיָּה, which expanded until the entire planet was formed. This point of אֶבֶן הַשְּׁתִיָּה is the "gateway" between Heaven and earth (Breishit 28, 17). The Midrash (Tanchuma, parshat Kdoshim, 10) says that the entire world converges on this point – Israel is the center of the world, Jerusalem is the center of Israel, The Beit Hamikdash is the center of Jerusalem, the Heichal is the center of the Beit Hamikdash and the Aron Habrit (on top of the אֶבֶן הַשְּׁתִיָּה) is the center of the Heichal. According to the Midrash, Shlomo understood that emanating out from this central point, were roots projecting out to the rest of the world.
When HKB"H created Gan Eden, the central point in Gan Eden was the אֶבֶן הַשְּׁתִיָּה. This was where Adam first sacrificed to HKB"H, where Avraham performed the Akeida, where Yaakov had the dream of the ladder, where David purchased the land for the Beit Hamikdash from Aravna the Jebusite and where Shlomo built the first Beit Hamikdash. It is the central point, the "gateway" between Heaven and earth, where all the physical elements are raised in spiritual level to the most elevated, 50th level. That is why the person bringing the Korbanot on the mizbeach is called a כֹּהֵ-ן, because he elevates all the elements, חַי (בְּהֵמוֹת), צוֹמֵחַ (מְנָחוֹת/יַיִן/עֵצִים/לְבוֹנָה), דּוֹמֵם (מַיִם/מֶלַח), from the middle, 25th, level כה to the highest, 50th, level ן.
It is the place on earth with the closest "proximity" to G-d! Is it any wonder that this land has been the most fought over in history? Who does not want to be as close to G-d as possible? Even to this very day, it is the center of all the monotheistic religions (which believe in One G-d).
Since Eretz Yisrael has such elevated spiritual stature, it cannot tolerate (it has a zero tolerance for) impurity. As a mashal, when I sit outside in the garden and there are flies buzzing around, they are a nuisance and I "shush" them away, only for them to return seconds later. They are a part and parcel of the great outdoors and I "tolerate" them as such. However, when there is a fly flying around inside my bakery, in the sterile environment, I have zero tolerance for it, it has to be physically removed/killed before I can continue working. As a baker, one learns a lot about combatting flies and the musar haskel from that (the yetzer harah is called זְבוּב), but that is the subject of another shiur.
Eretz Yisrael only tolerates those who are spiritually worthy of living in it. If someone is not spiritually worthy, Eretz Yisrael "spits them out". As Rashi says, Eretz Yisrael belongs to HKB"H - He allows only those who are worthy to live in Eretz Yisrael and if and when they become unworthy, He removes them and replaces them with those who are worthy.
HKB"H in בְּרִית בֵּין הַבְּתָרִים promises Eretz Yisrael to Avraham and his descendants for all eternity - כִּי אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה רֹאֶה לְךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה וּלְזַרְעֲךָ עַד עוֹלָם (בראשית יג, טו).
Hang on though, you may ask – Avraham's descendants include Yishmael as well? Perhaps Yishmael also as a claim to the land?
Along comes our parsha, Chayei Sarah and tells us no! וַיִּתֵּן אַבְרָהָם אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ לְיִצְחָק. וְלִבְנֵי הַפִּילַגְשִׁים אֲשֶׁר לְאַבְרָהָם נָתַן אַבְרָהָם מַתָּנֹת וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם מֵעַל יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ בְּעוֹדֶנּוּ חַי קֵדְמָה אֶל אֶרֶץ קֶדֶם. (בראשית כה, ו).
The Yalkut Shimoni there says that in the time of Alexander the Great, the descendants of Yishmael came to contest ownership of Eretz Yisrael, claiming that Yishmael was the firstborn son of Avraham and that Eretz Yisrael is Yishmael's birthright! Along with the Yishmaelites came two "evil families", Egypt and Canaan. The Chachamim were debating who to send to contest this false claim. One simple man, Gevia ben Kosem said "Let me answer them! If I win, all well and good. If I lose, you can say – he is a simpleton and does not represent us".
Alexander the Great asked "Who is suing who?" The Yishmaelites said "We are suing Am Yisrael and we have a proof from their own Torah. In the Torah it says (Devarim 21, 17) that if you have a man with two wives and the firstborn is born to the 'hated' wife, even so, the birthright still belongs to this firstborn son. Yishmael is the firstborn son of the 'hated' wife Hagar, so he is entitled to the birthright!" Gevia ben Kosem responded "My lord king, may a father not choose what he wants to give to his sons?" Alexander replied "He may!" Gevia ben Kosem continued "The passuk clearly states וַיִּתֵּן אַבְרָהָם אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ לְיִצְחָק". Alexander asked "What about the sons of Hagar?" Gevia replied "The following passuk continues to say וְלִבְנֵי הַפִּילַגְשִׁים אֲשֶׁר לְאַבְרָהָם נָתַן אַבְרָהָם מַתָּנֹת וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם מֵעַל יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ בְּעוֹדֶנּוּ חַי קֵדְמָה אֶל אֶרֶץ קֶדֶם. Yishmael received generous gifts as well, but not Eretz Yisrael!" The Yishmaelites had no leg to stand on and departed in shame.
The Canaanites then said to Alexander "We also have a claim on the land and can bring proof from their own Torah. Throughout the Torah, long before Am Yisrael came along, the land is referred to as the Land of Canaan! It is ours". Gevia ben Kosem responded to them "My lord king, may a master not decide what to do with his slave?" Alexander replied "He may!" Gevia ben Kosem continued "The passuk clearly states וַיֹּאמֶר אָרוּר כְּנָעַן עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים יִהְיֶה לְאֶחָיו (בראשית ט, כה). The Land of Israel is ours and the Canaanites are slaves to you, Alexander the Great!" The Canaanites had no leg to stand on and departed in shame.
The Egyptians then said to Alexander "We too have a claim and can bring proof from their own Torah. It says in the Torah that 600,000 of them left Egypt and וַיַּשְׁאִלוּם וַיְנַצְּלוּ אֶת מִצְרָיִם (שמות יב, לו), they left laden with our gold and silver and all our possessions. We want it back!" Gevia ben Kosem responded "My lord king, 600,000 of Am Yisrael worked 210 years for their Egyptian masters. What is the rate for a day's work? One Dinar?" Alexander's wise men did a calculation of how much the Egyptians owed Am Yisrael and before they even reached 100 years money owed, the Egyptians saw that the sum would bankrupt them, so they fled in shame!
A similar story is related in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 91a), however, the name given there is Gevia ben Pesisa, not Gevia ben Kosem.
HKB"H promised Eretz Yisrael to Avraham and his rightful descendants. Avraham's spiritual and material descendant was Yitzchak (see above). Yitzchak's spiritual and material descendant was Yaakov (who purchased the birthright from Eisav). The only nation with a legitimate claim to Eretz Yisrael is Am Yisrael, the descendants of Yaakov/Yisrael.
However, as we said above, Eretz Yisrael has zero tolerance for "impurity". It spits out those who are impure. When Am Yisrael sinned with the three cardinal sins שְׁפִיכוּת דָּמִים, גִּלּוּי עֲרָיוֹת וַעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, HKB"H removed us temporarily from the land. We repented and HKB"H restored us to Eretz Yisrael. We sinned again with שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם and again HKB"H removed us temporarily from the land, this time for 1878 long years.
In this lengthy period of 1878 years of exile, not one single nation can lay any extended claim to Eretz Yisrael. It has been a repetitious pattern of one nation conquering it from another. Each time another conqueror seizes control over the land, the previous owners are disowned and the land is redistributed to the conqueror's allies, family, friends.
1272 BCE- Joshua conquers Canaan
832 BCE – Solomon builds 1st Temple
422 BCE – Babylon conquest, destruction of first Temple
352 BCE - Ezra rebuilds 2nd Temple
70 CE – Romans destroy 2nd Temple, rename country Palestine
351 CE – Romans adopt Christianity. Byzantine rule
614 CE – Persian conquest
628 CE – Byzantine conquest
633 CE – Arab conquest
750 CE – Abbasid conquest
878 CE – Turkish conquest
904 CE – Abbasid conquest
934 CE – Egyptian conquest
970 CE – Byzantine conquest
1070 CE – Turkish conquest
1099 CE – Crusader conquest
1187 CE – Saladin/Kurdish conquest
1244 CE – Kharezmian conquest
1260 CE – Egyptian conquest
1299 CE – Mongol conquest
1516 CE – Ottoman conquest
1799 CE – Napoleonic conquest
1831 CE – Egyptian conquest
1840 CE – Turkish conquest
1917 CE – Allied conquest and British mandate
1948 CE – Establishment of the State of Israel
(Print this table and keep – דַּע מָה לְהָשִׁיב לָאַפִּיקוֹרֶס)
This list is like a game of "musical nations". Perhaps HKB"H orchestrated it in this way, allowing all these nations a shot at Eretz Yisrael and failing – to prove that the only nation that is truly worthy of it is Am Yisrael.
The "Palestinian" claim that Eretz Yisrael belongs to them and their "Palestinian Nation" is quite clearly false and ignores well documented, undisputed history - straight from the history books. There has never been a sovereign "State of Palestine" ever in history. The Israelites/Jews had sovereignty over the Land of Israel for 1342 years (interrupted only by one 70-year period during the Babylonian exile) preceding the founding of the Islamic faith, which then enjoyed a total of 900 years of rule in this land, interrupted frequently by the Byzantines, the Abbasids, the Crusaders, the Mongols, Napoleon and the British. 900 years of highly interrupted Islamic sovereignty compared to a preceding 1300 years of consecutive Israeli sovereignty hardly gives the Islamic faith a historic claim over the Land of Israel.
Similarly, the "Palestinian" claim that they are descended from the Philistines does not give them right over Eretz Yisrael. Even if it were true (which it is not), the Philistines originated in the Aegean. Similarly, any claims that they were descended from the original pagan worshipping Canaanites is similarly false and even if it were true, the Canaanite claim to the land was thrown out of court by Alexander the Great (see above).
If the myth of the "Palestinian Nation" with their own distinct land, culture and heritage was true, ask any "Palestinian" to name their 1st president, their 2nd, 3rd etc. like Americans can name theirs. They cannot, because there has never been a "Palestinian president" over a sovereign "Palestinian State". Any "presidents" they can name are not "Palestinian" but rather (Saudi) Arabian, Turkish, Kurdish, Egyptian etc. What have the "Palestinian Nation" that has "always existed" contributed to world culture? What world famous music, art, poetry? (except that of hate and terrorism). How many members of the "Palestinian Nation" have won Nobel prizes in history? A total of one! Yasser Arafat in 1994. How many Israelis have won Nobel prizes? Since 1966 there have been thirteen (so far).
Just because a lie is repeated ad nauseum, funded by mega-"oil bucks", over global media networks, does not make it true. Wanting to believe a lie also does not make it true.
Am Yisrael again repented and after 1878 years of horrendous exile HKB"H had mercy on us, took the land (that belongs to Him), spat out those who were not worthy of it and gave it back to us, His chosen people, to whom He promised the Promised Land – for all eternity (בראשית יג, טו).
The other more "modern" monotheistic religions, Christianity and Islam, derived from the Torah, are based on the premise that HKB"H had discarded Am Yisrael and that we are no longer His Chosen People. The restoration of the Nation of Israel to their land of Eretz Yisrael and its rebirth, in our time, has proven this premise to be false. These two major religions do not know how to reconcile this and it has cast them into disarray. The only way they can deal with this turn of events is to feign ignorance, "reinvent history", ignoring well documented history in the Bible and perpetuating lies and antisemitic hate - hoping that G-d's renewed love for His Chosen People will be a transient blip on the pages of history and even actively working to make that happen, by trying to wipe us out physically (Islam) or spiritually (Christianity).
HKB"H has restored Am Yisrael to our land, but this is not unconditional, it depends on us being worthy of being here. To be worthy we have to follow the word of G-d, in the Torah. Part of the nations' battle to eradicate the reborn Am Yisrael is to widen the gap between us and HKB"H by tempting us with their materialism and Western culture.
They will fail. If they actually read the Bible (upon which their religions are based) - that they themselves believe in, they cannot escape the truth.
What we are seeing in front of our very eyes today is the emergence of that truth and a dissolution of the lies. The Torah tells us לַשֶּׁקֶר אֵין רַגְלַיִם, lies cannot last forever, they will eventually be exposed for what they are.
We, Am Yisrael have a lot of work to do internally, to strengthen our bond with HKB"H and prove that we are worthy to be here. Israel is not a "safe haven" from pogroms (as we clearly saw on October 7). Israel is our destiny, our responsibility to G-d, to ourselves and the rest of the world. The longer we try to escape that destiny, the longer we prolong our suffering. HKB"H will carry us to our destiny regardless. We get to decide how we want to arrive – kicking and screaming, or willingly and with joy.
We need to turn our eyes upward and inward for salvation, not westward. Our salvation will not come from this president or that, from this European prime minister or that, but rather from trusting our fate to the hands of the only One who can solve all our problems and at the same time making our own concerted, sincere hishtadlut.
Am Yisrael, take heart! We are mamash approaching the Geulah as we speak. מִלְחֶמֶת גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג is now taking place, in real time.
The gematria of גּוֹג (in milui format – גימל ואו גימל) is גִּ'יהַאד הָאִיסְלָמִי
The gematria of גּוֹג (in אתב"ש format – רפר) is אֵיזֶהוּ יִשְׁמָעֵאל
The gematria of מָגוֹג (in milui format – מם גימל ואו גימל) is ארה"ב אֶדוֹם
The gematria of מָגוֹג (in אתב"ש format – ירפר) is זֶה הָעוֹלָם הַמַּעֲרָבִי
We need to urgently work harder on uniting with one another, on loving our fellow Jew, despite his/her faults, on respecting the Kedusha of Eretz Yisrael, on leaving the galut and returning home to Eretz Yisrael and mostly, on strengthening the bond with our Creator and doing tshuva.
This now is everyone's צו 8.
If we do, we will merit Divine intervention and witness miracles that surpass even those of יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם. בבי"א
