Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE BEREISHIT STORIES These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. "These are the Generations
of Yitschak" [3] Bearing in mind the importance of water, a scarce commodity in Eretz Yisrael, it is difficult to understand why they destroyed these wells instead of taking them for their own use. "They feared that thereby he would acquire rights in the Land (Chizkuni); [alternatively] they feared that Yitschak would be even greater than Avraham was and would simply take the wells instead of merely using them. They said neither he nor we will have them" [Radak]. The wells were not the only subject of contention, rather the text tells of Yitschak's increased wealth and how despite the famine in the Land, he had harvested an abundant crop; all as a result of G-d's blessing. The resultant envy and malice brought in their wake the expulsion by Avimelech of Yitschak and his camp from their midst, from Gerar and its surroundings. This jealousy of the Philistines is a reflection of the eternal hate and malice towards the alien in all societies. In contrast, our Torah warns us against such attitudes in its repeated injunctions: "You shall love the stranger; you shall not oppress the stranger". The price of galut that we ourselves have suffered as strangers throughout the ages and in many different societies has been this causeless malice and jealousy, and that notwithstanding our great contributions to all of them. "Brit Yitschak, the bond of the second Patriach, with Hashem teaches how He protects us from the avarice and unjustified oppression that is inherent in geirut. In the final stage of galut we will win the respect and recognition of the nations of the world and they themselves will plant us again in our old heritage" (S. R. Hirsch). Harav I. Y. HaKohen Kook taught that the recognition of the nations to our right to return home was made by the granting of the Balfour declaration and ratified by the League of Nations; subsequently repeated in the decision of the U.N. Thus, the oath whereby Israel undertook not to revolt against the yoke of the nations has been voided, thereby removing the halakhic objection to organized mass Aliya and statehood. With Yitschak began geirut, the first stage of the 400 years shown to Avraham and yet he is Ish HaAretz more than any of the other Patriarchs. This is not only because he alone never left Eretz Yisrael, but in addition, because the Divine Covenant with him demonstrates the separate and intrinsic Kedusha that the Land possess. When Yitzhak went to the land of the Philistines because of the famine, there are echoes of Avraham's going to Egypt under similar conditions, however G-d commanded him to remain in the Land. "Rabbi Hoshia said, just as the Olah sacrifice becomes defective if it goes out of the curtains of the Mishkan, so will Yitshakif he goes to Chutz AaAretz [owing to the tum’a that exists everywhere out of Eretz Yisrael] (Sanhedrin, 11a). "Actually, there are two distinct types of kedusha; one kedusha of Torah and mitzvoth and the other the independent intrinsic kedusha of Eretz Yisrael. The latter continues to exist even after Israel has been expelled from the Land as punishment for their loss, through their non-observance of the kedusha of Torah and mitzvot"(Chatam Sofer). The real and ultimate purpose of the mitzvot, and therefore their real kedusha, is their observance in Eretz Yisrael, as is repeatedly expressed in the Torah. That this applies not only to mitzvot hateluyot ba'aretz may be seen in the following commentary by Rashi: "Why does the Torah mention longevity in the Land as a the reward for observance of mezuza, since it is not a mitzva hateluya ba'aretz? We are to keep them in Chutz LaAretz so that when we return they will not be strange or foreign to us" (D’varim 11:20-21). Furthermore, the very promise of the Land to Avraham's descendants (B’reishit 12:13) is not associated with any Torah mitzva as it preceded the covenant of Brit Mila whereby Hashem became their G-d (B’reishit 17:7), thereby demonstrating the Land's independent kedusha. This kedusha is realized by acts of settlement and all that is connected with them. "A person who dwells in Eretz Yisrael but does not earn a livelihood there or lives from gifts from Chutz LaAretz, does not fulfill Mitzvat Yishuv HaAretz" (Avnei Nezer, Yoreh Deah, 454). [Ed. note: an opinion; not everyone agrees.] "Dwell [this is the language of command] in the Land [make shepherds dwellings (Radak)]; sojourn in this land [thus he would demonstrate love for the Land (Netziv);he acquired it with a better kinyan than did Avraham, since he ploughed, sowed, reaped etc. in it (Or HaChayim) and I shall be with you [even though there is a famine, so you will not lack pastures (Soforno] and bless you [with wealth, without leaving the Land (Soforno)]" (B’reishit 26:2). "It is forbidden to dwell in Chutz LaAretz unless there is a famine [or perhaps other material causes that make dwelling in Eretz Yisrael impossible], and even though then it is permitted, to do so is not an act of righteousness, Midat Chassidut, as we learn from Machlon and Chilyon who went to live in Moav during a famine (Ruth, 1:1-5). Even though one who dies in the tum’a of Chutz LaAretz has atonement for sins if buried in Admat HaKodesh, nevertheless such kedusha is not the same as that received when one is alive there. One should always live in Eretz Yisrael, even in a city that has a majority of gentiles [usually considered to be a place of less kedusha] rather than in a city in Chutz LaAretz even if there is a majority of Jews living there" (Rambam, Hilkhot Melachim, 5: 9-12). All who dwell in Chutz LaAretz, it is as though they worship idols" (Ketubot 110b). This is installment #122 in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
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