I wish to thank Joe Glyn for helping facilitate the inspiring presentation this week by Sigal Kanatopsky, the NE Regional Director of the Jewish Agency. We are grateful for Sigal’s valuable guidance about how we can counter anti-Semitic distortions and stay on message about Israel’s right to exist.
It is particularly fitting that this week’s parsha, Lech Lecha, sheds light on this fundamental message. In Lech Lecha, God directs Avraham to go to Israel and promises the land to him and his descendants via the Brit Bein Habetarim [the Covenant of the Halves]. As I point out in my Pesach book, Bringing Order to the Seder: A Modern Guide to the Traditional Passover Haggadah, I think the Haggadah makes a salient allusion to this narrative. In one of the Haggadah’s most famous passages, we recite,
וְהִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ. שֶׁלֹּא אֶחָד בִּלְבָד עָמַד עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ. שֶׁבְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר עוֹמְדִים עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ. וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַצִּילֵנוּ מִיָּדָם
And this has stood for our forefathers and us. For not just one nation has risen against us to destroy us; in every generation, they rise up to destroy us, but God saves us from their hand.
These verses are painfully relevant to the attacks on Israel and have been quoted frequently of late. But many commentators have asked what the very first word in the passage, v’hi - And this, refers to. Since the Haggadah offers no explanation, most commentators answer that it refers to a completely different topic. The Malbim and others, for example, explain that each letter in וְהִיא refers to something that helps us overcome our enemies: Vav refers to the six Orders of the Mishna, Hei to the Five Books of the Chumash, Yud to the 10 commandments, and aleph – God, who is one.
However, I think the profound meaning of the previous passage in the Haggadah can provide the key to understanding the true meaning of v’hi sheamda and illuminate our current situation as well. Because to make grammatical sense, the words “and this” must refer to its antecedent, the preceding passage in the Haggadah, which alludes to the Brit Bein Habetarim/Covenant of the Halves found in our parsha.
When God promises Avraham in that discussion that he will have numerous offspring, we read ve’he’emin bashem, that Avraham believed God. But when God goes on to promise that Israel will be an inheritance for future generations, Avraham’s response is different. He immediately asks, Bameh eida ki lrashena? How will I know that Israel will be my inheritance?
Why would Avraham change from confidence to doubt about God’s commitment one verse later? I think we can find the answer if we examine the specific nature of God’s promises.
In the first verse, Avraham believed that God would make his offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky. But in the second verse, as the Midrash explains, he feels uncertain about the inheritance of his grandchildren, since he has no control over whether they will keep Torah and continue to merit to maintain a Yerusha, an inheritance to the land.
God responds to Avraham’s question with the words, Yadoa Teida/You will surely know that your children will be strangers in a strange land, and their host nation (Egypt) will enslave and oppress them…
That response doesn’t seem to answer the question, but upon reflection, we can see that it declares a fundamental truth.
God was conveying to Avraham that he was mistaken in his belief that the inheritance of the land of Israel depended upon the merits of his descendants. Instead, God was emphasizing that our inheritance of Israel is unconditional; it does not rely on merit. Jewish history provides a vivid illustration of this concept. Avraham's descendants became estranged from God when they were enslaved in Egypt, yet they eventually inherited the land of Israel, nonetheless. The modern state of Israel serves as a concrete manifestation of this promise since God, Torah, and God’s vow to Abraham were not at the forefront for the Jews who played a pivotal role in the recent Jewish return to Israel. This underscores the unassailable fact that the land of Israel was bequeathed to us, the descendants of Abraham, without any conditions.
In his very first commentary on the Torah, Rashi cites Rabbi Yitzchak, who, in the Midrash, foresaw that nations of the world would accuse us of robbing the land of Israel from those who previously resided there. Rabbi Yitzchak suggests that our response should be a declaration that God is the Creator of the universe, so He has the authority to grant the land to whomever He chooses, and He chose to bestow it upon the Jewish people.
This underscores a truth even more fundamental than our religious belief that we can prove our right to Israel simply because God declared it so. Such arguments can falter, since other religions may refer to their own holy books for counterclaims. Rather, Rabbi Yitzchak is encouraging us to have inner confidence. We should understand that our connection to Israel is intrinsic to the act of creation itself, and history will gradually reveal our unbreakable bond with Israel, making it evident to all, without any need for external validation.
And this encapsulates the essence of the words “and this” within the Haggadah. In every generation, individuals and forces emerge seeking our annihilation, yet God intervenes to safeguard us. He does so because He must ensure our survival to uphold His covenant with Avraham, affirming that Israel is unquestionably ours. Our inheritance is not contingent on any specific conditions – not on our connection to God, Torah, or the covenant with Avraham. Instead, it is intrinsically tied to the very essence of life itself. The land of Israel is our destiny.
I believe this is a meaningful perspective to consider in our current situation. The Covenant between God and Avraham underscores that Israel is our birthright. Despite the relentless efforts of our enemies to eradicate us, God's commitment to His covenant with Avraham ensures our preservation and our destiny.
Our struggle in this ongoing conflict is fundamentally about our Jewish identity, rooted in our lineage as descendants of Avraham. As Sigal poignantly reminded us on Tuesday, there exists no valid distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. It's no mere coincidence that those who seek to destroy Israel openly express their intent to annihilate the Jewish people, for the bond between the Jewish people and the land of Israel is inseparable. To hate Israel is to hate the Jews.
Moreover, Israel serves as our sole sanctuary to escape the clutches of anti-Semitism. To oppose Israel’s right to exist is to essentially condemn the Jewish community in the diaspora to a state of vulnerability with no safe haven. Beyond this, it's vital to recognize that the destruction of Israel would have catastrophic consequences for the global Jewish population. In essence, those advocating for Israel's destruction are attacking the very core of Jewish identity.
As King David articulated in Tehilim: אם אשכחך ירושלים תשכח ימיני "If I forget you, Jerusalem, let me forget my right hand." Israel and Jerusalem are integral to our being, not merely due to nationalism, but because the covenant in our parsha has made them an indisputable element of our existence. We must come to terms with the complexities and challenges that this reality presents, for better or for worse.
In recent events, the stark difference between Hamas and Israel has become clear. Hamas, along with its supporters in Gaza and around the world, is primarily driven by hatred and an intense desire to annihilate the Jewish people. They represent one of many forces attempting to bring harm upon us in this generation. In contrast, Israel earnestly yearns for peace and its. objective in this conflict is not to eradicate anyone, particularly innocent civilians, but rather to safeguard ourselves from the imminent threat of destruction. As we confront these challenges, we should recall the words of our Haggadah, which expresses that God will rescue us from those who seek our demise. It is imperative to understand that our situation is intricately linked to our deep-rooted connection to Israel, bearing witness to the undeniable truths of our Torah, and resoundingly bringing our cherished ancient texts to life. May this serve as an inspiration, fostering achdut—unity among the Jewish people, and shalom—peace not only to Israel but also to the entire world.
Shabbat shalom.
Eliezer Hirsch