YOU SHALL OBSERVE MY LAWS AND FAITHFULLY KEEP MY RULES, THAT YOU MAY LIVE UPON THE LAND IN SECURITY; THE LAND SHALL YIELD ITS FRUITS AND YOU SHALL EAT YOUR FILL, AND YOU SHALL LIVE UPON IT IN SECURITY.

(Vayikra 25:18-19)

 

You may live upon the land in security - this refers to external political security.

You shall live upon it in security - this refers to secure internal physical prosperity.

You shall live... in security - lavetah - it does not say betah, but rather lavetah. Our very dwelling, the manner in which we dwell in the land will be our security - it shall grant us security. It will cause us not to require defense from enemies or measures against famine. Similarly, you shall eat your fill :our manner of eating will bring us the blessing of satiation, That is, if we regulate our dwelling and our eating in accordance with the laws and rules.

Upon the land - Upon it - the land shall "carry" us - as opposed to the land shall vomit out its inhabitants (18:24).

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch, ad loc)

 

You shall observe My laws... that you may live upon the land in security - for there are two ways in which nations are hated: one stems from hatred of religion, which divides peoples from each other. The second is hatred born of jealousy of wealth and status. That is why it says You shall observe My laws. When you observe the Torah in its entirety providence will rest upon you so that you shall not experience hate for religious reasons.

And you shall eat your fill - for then you will not have hate stemming from jealousy, for you shall be full of all good things but no one will covet your land.

That is what Ezekiel said: I shall be sanctified by them in the eyes of the nations and they shall dwell upon their land (28:25). You shall live upon it in security, i.e., you shall not fear religious hatred. And you shall build houses and plant vineyards, and you shall be wealthy and full of all good things, and you shall live in security, that you shall not fear hatred stemming from jealousy and wealth.

(R. Meir Simkha MiDvinsk's Meshekh Hokhma, ad loc.)

 

 

"And You Shall Dwell Securely In Your Land"

Pinchas Leiser

About two weeks ago, we celebrated Israel's 58^th Independence Day. In a few days hence, we will observe "Jerusalem Day", which marks a central signpost in the history of the State - The Six Day War.

We cannot deny the fact that the existence of the State of Israel and the accessibility of historically significant sites instilled in every Jew a sense of pride and security. Similarly, the announcement thirty-nine years ago that "The Temple Mount is in our hands!" generated an atmosphere of exaltation in Israel and in the Diaspora.

It seems to me that it is still too early, historically speaking, to evaluate the import of these events for future generations. It seems to me that it is not within our power to decipher the plans of the Holy One regarding 'Geulat Yisrael" - the Redemption of Israel - and the Messianic Era. This is in contrast to those theological approaches that try to read certain signs as predictive of the End of Days and to extreme Ultra-Orthodox doctrine that considers the establishment of the State of Israel to be a rebellion against the Holy One, Blessed Be He.

From this point of view, the issue of security vis a vis our living in the land is certainly relevant. Does there really exist an unconditional promise that "we shall dwell securely in our land", a kind of 'divine insurance policy'?

The two parashot read this Shabbat relate to the subject of the "security" of living in this land, but the word root "b.t.ch." appears for the first time in the story of the massacre of the inhabitants of Shechem at the hands of Shimon and Levi:

"And it was upon the third day, when they were still hurting, that the two sons of Yaakov, Shimon and Levi, brothers of Dinah, took each his sword and came upon the town (feeling) secure ("betach"), and slaughtered every male." (Bereishit. 34:25).

On the other hand, in parashot "Behar" and "U'behukotai", the promise is that we shall dwell "la-vetach" (securely) in your land.

You are to observe my laws, my regulations you are to keep, and observe them, that you may be settled on the land securely (la-vetach)… That the land may give forth its fruit and that you may eat to fullness, and you will dwell securely (la-betach) on it. (Lev. 25:18, 19)

And your threshing will overtake the vintage, and the vintage will overtake the sowing, and you will eat your bread to the full, and you will dwell securely (la-vetach) in your land. (Ibid, 26:5).

In contrast to our parasha, in Parashat Re-eh the security promised Israel is denoted by the word "betach", without the prefix 'la.

And you shall cross the Jordan and dwell in the land that the Lord your God is about to grant you in estate and He will give you abiding haven from all your enemies around, and you shall dwell securely ('betach'). (Deut. 12:10).

Is there significance in the difference between "betach" and "la-betach"? Yet more, can scrutiny of the difference assist us in understanding the divine promise of security for our land?

Our commentators differ in their understanding of the word "betach" in the Shechem massacre narrative:

Rashi attributes the sense of security to the sons of Yaakov:

"Betach - for they were hurting. The Midrash Agaddah says: They relied upon the strength of the old man."

According to first explanation, the brothers' sense of security was a result of their advantage over the recently circumcised people of Shechem. According the Midrashic explication, their sense of security flowed from the power of Father Avraham's prayer.

On the other hand, many plain-reading explicators (Onkelos, Rashbam, Shadal, and Reggio) ascribe the sense of security to the people of Shechem. In the words of Shadal:

"And they came upon the city in security (betach)": It (the town) was dwelling securely, and similarly every appearance of 'betach' in Scripture refers to the inhabitants (Rashbam), and so translated Onkelos 'that they dwelled in security'. And similarly the Jerusalem Targum, "who were living in security", but Rashi and the Midrash (Bereishit Rabba 80, 9) applied betach to Shimon and Levi".

The inhabitants of Shechem felt secure; Was the sense of security a product of excessive complacency, typical of people dwelling in their city, on their land? Or can it be explained by the trust they had developed towards Yaakov and his family who had promised them "to be a single people' provided they circumcise every male? In any case, in retrospect it was clear that their trust was unfounded.

With regard to the wording in Parashat Re'eh, the Netziv, in "Haamek Davar", explains:

"And you shall dwell securely (betach) -- you shall not be terrified by the demons and evil spirits which are found in the desert, and therefore, "…the place..."

According to this explanation, the text is talking about the sense of security felt by a people living in its land, who do not fear the uncertainty that typifies life in the desert.

Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra also seems to take this approach:

In truth, the meaning is tranquility (menucha) - and he shall leave them (alone), and the portion (nachala) - and you will dwell in security.

It is therefore possible that a people dwelling in its land, having defeated its enemies, feels a basic sense of security. This feeling derives from the very act of dwelling on the land that provides the inhabitants with a sense of rootedness. This natural feeling is not unique to any specific nation; it is the lot of every people that lives upon - and has roots in - its land. "And you shall dwell in security" can be understood as considering the tie to the land as something natural and self-understood.

As already noted, in contrast to "And you shall dwell securely (betach) which appears in both the Shechem narrative and in the Book of Devarim, in Parashat Behar and Bechukotai we find "And you shall dwell securely (la-vetach)".

If we follow in the footsteps of Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch (quoted on the first page of this issue) we can read verses 17-19 as a single unit:

Verse 17 prohibits deceit - which the Rabbis explain as referring to verbal deceit in particular.

Verse 18 is to be read as a single unit; the dwelling securely (la-vetach) is defined by the manner of our dwelling in the land, i.e., by our behavior on it and towards it. From these verses, and from all the verses of these parashot, it is clear that we are dealing here not with an unconditional promise, but with a covenant.

It is possible that the natural, worldly, sense of "dwelling securely" is necessary as a first stage of connection to a land. In this sense we are no different from any nation dwelling on its land that needs minimal stability in order to feel secure. There were long periods in Jewish history when this natural feeling was denied us, and, in general, the existence of the State of Israel transformed significantly the sense of security of Jews throughout the world. Unfortunately Jews abroad are occasionally harmed because of their identification with the State of Israel, but this does not contradict the different existential feeling.

Together with this, "to dwell securely (la-vetach)" is not something to be taken for granted, something that happens automatically. The promise "And you shall dwell on your land securely (la-vetach)" is contingent upon compliance with the covenant and is in large part dependent upon the manner in which we conduct our life in the land. Are we not enslaved by the land or to any other property? Do we forget that they are not in our complete ownership ("For the land is mine, for you are strangers and sojourners with me")? Do we remember not to cheat our fellows and the stranger? Are we careful not to lend usuriously? Are we conscious of the rights of workers, or are we perhaps tempted to maintain a class of slaves?

Does there exist proper balance between the efforts invested in creation of a sense of dwelling "betach", and the facing up to the challenge of dwelling "la'vetach" in our land?

Pinchas Leiser, editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist.

 

 

The Patriarchs' Merit and the Patriarchs' Covenant

Following the description of the destruction and the redemption, it is said: and I shall remember My covenant with Jacob, and even My covenant with Isaac, and even My covenant with Abraham I shall remember, and I shall remember the land... Yet, even then when they are in their enemies' land, I will not reject them or spurn them so as to destroy them, annulling My covenant with them: or I am the Lord their God. I will remember in their favor the covenant with the ancients, whom I took out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God, I am the Lord.

Let us consider those verses: They say that God remembers the covenant, but say nothing at all about what happened. The covenant is remembered in God's mind, God who "remembers the covenant." These verses are understood by popular religious thought to refer to the merit of the patriarchs: and even My covenant with Abraham I shall remember, and I shall remember the land - we benefit from the merit of the patriarchs.

All those who make such a connection ignore our Sages' discussion of the question, "when did the merit of the patriarchs end?" (Shabbat 55a)... According to the greatest Amoraim, the merit of the patriarchs has already ended. We gained this land by the merit of our patriarchs, and due to our sins, we lost it... The Ba'alei Ha'Tosafot accept this as a plain fact: there is no more merit of the patriarchs. Rabbeinu Tam points out that while the merit of the patriarchs has ceased, their covenant has not ben annulled - Scripture testifies that it is still enduring and valid. The notion of covenant can be understood in two ways. In parashat Noah we read that following the Flood God made a covenant that the flood would not reoccur, and that the rainbow was the sign of the covenant, the sign that the order of nature shall not change. In this case, it is clear the covenant is a divine promise. Nature bears no obligations and is incapable of taking obligations upon itself.

However, there is also a covenant which is reciprocal... we see that Rabbeinu Tam understood the term covenant in this second sense. The covenant between Israel and its God - or should we say, between the God of Israel and His people - remains enduring and valid because one side remembers it. Yet, if the covenant is to be fulfilled, that depends also on the other party to it.

(Prof. Yishayahu Leibowitz, z"l, Herarot Le'Parshiyot Ha'Shavu'a)

 

The Laws of the Torah Were Intended to Mold a More Ethical Person, Lest He Be Draw by His Evil Inclination

...It appears to me that with "the thing vowed and its substitute shall both be holy", as with "and if he who has consecrated his house wishes to redeem it, he must add one-fifth to the sum at which it was assessed, and it shall be his" - the Torah understood man's deepest thoughts and some of his evil inclination, for man's nature tends to increase of his possessions and safeguarding of his property, and even though he made a vow and consecrated he is liable to retract and redeem for less than real value.

The Torah ruled that if one redeems for himself, he is to add a fifth, and he consecrated the body of an animal, he is liable to regret and since cannot redeem such an animal, he might replace it with a less valuable animal, and if you permit him to exchange bad for better, he may exchange good for worse, saying "It's good". Therefore the Torah forbade exchange, and if he should so exchange he is to be fined as is written, ""the thing vowed and its substitute shall both be holy". All these are in order that one rule over his inclination and correct his ideas, and most of the Torah's regulations are but counsel from afar, from the Master of Counsel, for perfection of ideas and the straightening of acts. And so it is written "Indeed, I wrote down for you a threefold lore, Wise counsel, To let you know truly reliable words, That you may give a faithful reply to him who sent you."

(Mishneh Torah, Rambam, Laws of Substitution 4:13)

 

Is Redemption Automatic or Conditional?

Rabbi Eliezer says: If Israel repents, they will be redeemed, and if not, they will not be redeemed.

Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: If they do not repent, they will not be redeemed!? Rather, God places a king over them whose decrees are harsher than those of Haman - then Israel will repent and return to its better self.

 (Sanhedrin 97b)

 

When the Torah tells us of the great promise and I shall remember the covenant (Vayikra 26:42), and that God will not forget the covenant even when we are in the lands of our enemies - it does not promise us redemption, because we have no right to it. In order for the covenant, which exists only potentially, to become actual, it is necessary for the other party to the covenant to act. We are that other party.

This must be stated against the idolatrous belief that we have been promised unconditional redemption - a notion which is common even among the public which views itself as faithful to God and His Torah. The midrash states explicitly: "Three things were given conditionally- the Land of Israel, the Temple, and the Kingdom of David." The Torah, (and the priesthood of Aaron's family) were given unconditionally.

(Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz: He'arot le'Parashiyot Ha'Shavua pp. 84-5)

 

 

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