Sixty-two years ago, a tormented Yid sat with his hands
enveloping his face, weeping uncontrollably in his
dilapidated bunk. There in Auschwitz, he had experienced
inhumane conditions beyond imagination. He did not know if he
would witness the next sunrise. He had reached the brink of
total despair.
That night, his Rebbe appeared to him in a dream and stated
the following words from Krias Shema. "Vechoro af Hashem
bochem — Hashem will arouse His wrath against you."
In a firm, reassuring voice, his Rebbe instructed him to
pause between the words vechoro af and Hashem
bochem, transforming the meaning to, "Even when His wrath
is aroused . . . Hashem is with you!" Buoyed by this
encouraging dream, this Yid did not succumb, but survived one
of the most horrifying epochs of world history.
From where did this Yid draw his strength? What is the secret
of Am Yisroel's resiliency throughout the most
oppressive periods in history?
This week's parsha speaks of a bris, a
covenant. A covenant is an irrevocable agreement. This
bris was offered by Hashem to Avrohom Ovinu and his
descendants. The pesukim state, "I will establish my
bris between you (Avrohom) and your descendants after
you, throughout their generations, for an everlasting
covenant, to be a G-d unto you and to your offspring. And I
will give you and your descendants the land of your
sojourning — the entire land of Canaan — as an
everlasting possession; and I shall be G- d to them"
(Bereishis 17:7-8).
These pesukim delineate the bris that ensures
our survival as a people, graces us with the gift of Eretz
Yisroel, and promises that the Almighty will always be
with us. We, in turn, are obligated to follow the mitzvos of
our Creator as embodied in His Torah.
Regarding this bris, Rashi states in Parshas
Nitzovim: "He has sworn to your forefathers that He will
never exchange their descendants for another people. He
cannot separate Himself from you." We are eternally bound to
Hashem and, as it were, He is bound to us.
Against the dehumanizing onslaughts of the mightiest nations
and empires, despite the Temple destructions, the Crusades,
and the Siberias and Auschwitzes of history, defying all
natural laws, Am Yisroel has survived. In recent
history, Klal Yisroel rose like a phoenix out of the
ashes of the Holocaust to rebuild itself and establish Torah
centers in many parts of the world. Land and people were once
again reunited. Many years of desolation surrendered to
spiritual and agricultural development.
I once asked the mashgiach of one of Yerushalayim's
prominent yeshivos: "We can understand these tzoros on
a collective level because Am Yisroel, collectively,
has survived. However, what about the millions of
individual korbonos who perished through the barbaric
acts of our enemies?"
The mashgiach replied with the following story. When
the Mir Yeshiva sojourned in Shanghai during World War II, a
talmid overheard Rav Yechezkel Levenstein murmuring
something inside of his study. Rav Levenstein was describing
the fate of his cheder classmates during the war. In
Yiddish, he exclaimed, "Und Chaim iz geven a korbon, un
Berel iz geven a korbon" (Chaim has become a sacrifice
and Berel has become a sacrifice). Then he groaned, "Aber
Ich hob geven a posule korbon" (However, I remain an
unfit sacrifice).
The mashgiach explained to me that all of the Yidden
who surrendered their lives because they were Jews played an
identical role in this promise of eternity. Since they
perished al kiddush Hashem, their neshomos live
eternally . . . just as Am Yisroel does as a whole.
The posuk continues (17:8): "I will give you and your
offspring after you the land of your sojourning, the entire
land of Canaan as an eternal possession; and I will be a G-d
to them (your descendants)."
Inextricably tied together with the eternal bris
between Hashem and Am Yisroel is the promise of
Eretz Yisroel. Rashi comments on the latter part of
the posuk, "There [in Eretz Yisroel] I will be
a G-d to them, but one who dwells outside of the Land is like
one who has no G-d." Rashi's words are enigmatic. Do we not
all have a G-d? Is He not everywhere?
The Maharal (Gur Aryeh) here and on Vayikra
25:38 explains that the Almighty imbued Eretz Yisroel
with a special G-dliness, an elevated holiness. There is
a unique dimension to Am Yisroel's relationship with
Hashem when they live in Eretz Yisroel.
The Ramban (Vayikra 25:38) elaborates that when Hashem
created the universe, He assigned certain celestial
representatives called "sarim" to guide and navigate
the daily functions of the nations of the world. However, one
part of creation, one land, is uniquely His. No sar or
any other force holds sway over Eretz Yisroel except
for the Master of the universe Himself.
The previous posuk (17:7) already stated that the
people of Israel are His people. No earthly or heavenly force
can affect their destiny, save the Almighty Himself. These
two unique entities, Land and People, merge as one: Am
Yisroel is the People of Hashem, as Eretz Yisroel
is the Land of Hashem!
Rashi means "there" — in Eretz Yisroel —
"I will be a G-d to them." I will imbue the Land with a
special G- dliness and unique holiness guided by My
direct intervention.
Outside of Eretz Yisroel, there will be a different
dimension of Divine assistance and Presence of Shechina.
Sarim and Heavenly emissaries will direct the interplay
of society. It will be "like" one has no G-d.
The Ramban illustrates further to what extent Eretz
Yisroel is saturated with holiness. In Vayikra
18:25, the Torah exhorts Am Yisroel not to stoop
to the immoral practices of its Canaanite predecessors. The
posuk states, "The Land became contaminated and I
recalled its iniquity upon it; and the Land spewed out its
inhabitants [the Canaanites]."
The Jewish people are warned against immorality not because
it defies their holy nature or mission as the Chosen People,
but because the Land cannot abide immoral inhabitants and
will expel wrongdoers, just as the throat expels unwanted
food.
The Ramban drives home the point. Kedushas Eretz
Yisroel is unfathomable. Therefore, we follow the
footsteps of our Ovos only in Eretz Yisroel
because only here could they have reached the lofty
heights of the Ovos. The hills and valleys echo the
words of the prophets only where prophecy could become a
reality. The Beis Hamikdosh only materialized on the
holy soil where Shomayim and Eretz merge as
one.
The Kosel becomes uniquely suited as the porthole through
which all tefillos and expressions of yearning gather
and ascend to Heaven. The Shechina still remains on
Har Habayis, despite its present desolation and
desecration, waiting for all Bnei Yisroel to
return.
Quoting the Sifrei, the Ramban states that the primary
obligation to perform mitzvos is in Eretz Yisroel. One
is certainly obligated in mitzvos in chutz la'aretz.
However, one cannot achieve the same level of spiritual
elevation in golus as in the Palace of the King.
Hashem gave us Eretz Yisroel because the bris
in its highest and purest form can only be actualized in the
Holy Land.
Today, how vibrant is the bris of Hashem, Land and
People! Hashem continues to fulfill His part of the
bris: we exist, and He is a G-d to us. As far as our
part of the agreement, the number of those who adhere to
Torah and mitzvos is growing all over the world. Kiruv
efforts are intensifying. Kollelim, yeshivos and
kehillos are springing up everywhere thanks to
benevolent benefactors. In Eretz Yisroel the yeshiva
population has grown from a handful of talmidim and
avreichim during the time of the Chazon Ish to over
117,000 today.
The nisyonos for us to keep our part of the
bris, however, are great. The Ramchal in Mesillas
Yeshorim exhorts that one should be on constant guard
against the onslaught of the yetzer hora, which
attempts to draw us away from the service of Hashem. One must
acknowledge that the sole reason he performs a mitzva is to
fulfill His will and increase kovod Shomayim.
Subsequent to embarking on a mission or making a decision,
one should ask himself, Is this what Hashem wants of
me?
*
How do we strengthen our connection with the Land of Hashem?
One avenue is through tefilloh. The Tanna Dvei
Eliyahu exhorts one to grieve for the glory of Hashem and
the glory of Israel throughout his life, longing for and
suffering over the glory of Yerushalayim, the Beis
Hamikdosh and the swift occurrence of the
Geulah.
We can also embrace the aspirations of our Gedolim. I
was zocheh to meet HaRav Mordechai Gifter for the
first time on the campus of Telz Yeshiva fifteen years ago.
My friend introduced him to me in one of the dormitory rooms.
The Rosh Yeshiva, sensing my surprise, stated, "I have a
beautiful large home nearby. However, from the day I was
summoned from Telz Stone [to take over the helm of the
yeshiva in Wickliffe], I have taken up residence in the
dormitory."
His trembling voice rising to a crescendo, he exclaimed, "I
will remain in this temporary dwelling, for my real
home is Eretz Yisroel!"
I also recall the passionate remarks of HaRav Nachman Bulman,
exhorting us to rise above the insatiable thirst for material
gains and pleasures that plague the modern world and aspire
to the highest pursuit of spirituality by making Hashem's
nachalah our own. In the community that he founded in
Migdal Haemek, Kiryat Nachliel, his pride and joy were the
elementary-school children of Western olim, who
embraced Torah values in their purest form.
The Novi states that the day will come when Rochel Imeinu's
tears for the return of her children from golus will
cease. When HaRav Chaim Shmuelevitz would visit Kever
Rochel, he would groan, "But I, Chaim, plead with you,
Mamma Rochel: Do not hold back your voice from sobbing! Let
your tears continue to flow until all your children return
home!"
May the ultimate fulfillment of the bris to Avrohom
Ovinu in this week's parshoh be fulfilled speedily in
our days!
