LECH LECHA 1991

In the Torah portion Lech Lecha we have recorded G-d's promise to Abraham that He would give him the land of Canaan.  In fact, this promise is recorded four times in this Torah portion, twice as a promise and once as a covenant, the covenant between the pieces.  The fourth time again it is mentioned that the land of Canaan will be the Jewish people's possession forever and ever and this is mentioned in conjunction with the giving of the commandment of the circumcision.  There is an interesting story that is told about the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Herzog,  ho was  a Chief Rabbi in the 1940's.  In 1942 he happened to be here in the United States in the middle of the Second World War.  His job in the United States was over and since he had completed his mission he wanted to return to Israel.  There was, of course, a war going on in the world at that time and there was especially a hard fought battle that was shaping up before the gates of Alexandria. The battle of El Alamein had not been fought yet.  All of his advisors and friends told Rabbi Herzog that he should not go back to Israel because it was a very dangerous thing to do, but Rabbi Herzog had confidence.  He said that based upon his reading of the Torah portion Lech Lecha G-d has said that there will only be two exiles, but not three, and when the Jewish people go back to their homeland the third time they will have no problems, that the third return will be forever. He did make arrangements to take a flight and did fly back to Israel.  As we all know, Rommel's forces were defeated at El Alamein.  The reason why the Jews of Israel were spared the gas chambers in Auschwitz was not because of the Haganah, it was not because they were valiant pioneers.  The reason they were spared the gas chambers at Auschwitz was because Rommel's forces were defeated at El Alamein.  If he would have won the battle he would have swept into Israel, and he would have loaded the Jews of Palestine onto the trains and sent them to Auschwitz, too, as he sent the Jews of Greece and the Jews who inhabited the island just opposite of Turkey.  They are only a few miles from the coast of Israel.  Most of the Jews of North Africa were also spared the furnaces of Auschwitz because Rommel was thrown back so quickly.  The train schedules could not be prepared and the Jews could not be transported quickly enough, so the Jews of North Africa were also spared, for the most part, from the Holocaust.
G-d promised the land of Israel to Abraham three distinct times.  The third time He made it a covenant.  The first time He promised the land of Israel to Abraham was right after Abraham was told to leave his land and his birthplace and the house of his father and to "go to a land which I will show you".  When Abraham came to the land of Canaan it says that G-d appeared to Abraham and said, "To your seed I will give this land" and Abraham built there an altar to G-d Who appeared to him.
The second time that G-d appears to Abraham and gives him the land was when Lot separated from him.  Abraham had taken Lot with him to the land of Israel and Lot physically looked like Abraham, and outwardly Lot appeared to be pious like Abraham, but Lot was a moral nincompoop.  He was a man who would do anything for a dollar.  He even had his shepherds graze on other people's lands, the excuse being that Abraham was going to inherit the land of Canaan anyway, and I am his heir so we might as well use the property now.  He was not ashamed to engage in sharp business practices.  He was a man who would do anything for the dollar. In fact, when Abraham could not abide his dishonesty anymore and said, "You go to the right and I will go to the left, or you go to the left and I will go to the right," what did Lot do?  Lot chose to live in the city of Sodom, a city that was known for its cruelty.  It was known for its miserliness.  It was a country of moral decrepitude, but it was a place where Lot thought he could make a lot of money so, therefore, he went there.  G-d appeared to Abraham the second time after Lot had left him and He also said, "Because all the land which you see I will give you to you and your children forever."
The third time He appeared to Abraham and put the promise in the form of a covenant was after Abraham had chased after the army that had captured the people of Sodom and taken them prisoner.  Among the prisoners was his nephew Lot, and Abraham chased after Claudomer and he defeated him in a battle and he rescued Lot.  Then G-d appeared to Abraham and He told him that He would now give him the land as a covenant, that not only was the land to be his as a promise but it would be his as a covenant.  There was actually a covenantal relationship that was established through the way that kings in those days made treaties between themselves and their vassels and between themselves and other kings.  Abraham took a heifer of three years old and a she goat of three years old and a ram of three years old and he divided them in half.  In those days the parties to a covenant would walk between the halves of the pieces and then afterwards they would eat the animals they had just slaughtered.  This cemented the pact.  A bris was much stronger than a promise.  Why is it, though, that G-d had to promise Abraham the land three times?  Why was it that it was only put into a bris, into a covenant, the third time?
The answer, the rabbis tell us, is because in order for a bris to take effect, a covenant to take effect there has to be three prerequisites.  One is in order to live a life that is filled with values, in order to live a life of dedication, and, after all, why did the Jewish people want the land of Israel anyway?  They were to be given the land of Israel do they could be a blessing to humanity. The Jew was not given the land just so he could enjoy it for himself.  He was given the land of Israel so he could be rooted in some place so his influence could be felt strongly so, therefore, this influence could spill out over the rest of the world as a blessing.  If the Jewish people through their accomplishments in the arts and sciences and in religion it benefits the world immensely.  And, of course, this is what happened and what is still happening.  The Jewish people have been a great blessing to the world.  Look at all the Nobel prize winners we have produced for the world.  Look at all the great artists and musicians and writers.  The Jewish people are a blessing to the world.  Therefore, we needed the land not just for ourselves but to be a blessing to the world.  How is it that you can be a blessing to the world?
First of all, you have to have a goal.  The Jewish people could not get the land until they had a goal.  Unfortunately, there are many people in the world who say nothing can change and it is not worth doing anything.  Spring, summer, fall, winter.  The world is hopeless.  Nothing is ever going to change.  We cannot do anything better.  Unfortunately, you find this hopelessness and helplessness in many parts of the United States, too, but we all know that in order for us to amount to anything in the world we have to have goals, goals that we can achieve, moral goals to improve the world, to make the world a better place. There is also another prerequisite and that is that we have to act morally. You can have the finest goals in the world but if you use immoral means to achieve your goals you are going to destroy your goals.  This is, of course, what the communists did and what other people who feel they have wonderful goals for  humanity do.  I remember when I was in college where someone came up to me and wanted me to sign a document, a petition, for a particular group which espoused pacifism.
I did not want to do it and the guy says, "If you don't sign, I'm going to beat you up."  This, of course, was foolish.  How could a pacifist feel he could win my support by beating me up?  This, unfortunately, is the way many times people attack problems.  They feel their cause is so right that they are able to indulge in deviousness and trickery in order to achieve their goal.
The third prerequisite is a willingness to suffer for your ideals.  When you work for your goals you will have ups and downs.  You will never be able to make it directly.  In fact, even the first thing that happened to Abraham when he came to the land of Canaan was he had to leave because there was a famine.  He had to go down to Egypt.  He endured all sorts of setbacks, but this is what you have to do if you are going to achieve your goal.  Not only are you going to have all sorts of setbacks but you are also going to be persecuted and hounded for your beliefs, and that, of course, is what Abraham learned later when he had to rescue Lot.  It sometimes takes a great deal of courage to stand up for your beliefs. Sometimes you are going to be hounded and persecuted.  That, of course, was the symbolism behind the covenant that Abraham received of G-d when it was sealed that he would get the land of Israel.  In fact, at this covenant it was predicted that the Jewish people would be-strangers .in the land and that they would be afflicted for 400 years and, that, of course, refers to the first exile of going down to Egypt even before we received the Torah.  When this covenant was sealed notice that they had a three -year old heifer, a three year old she goat, and a three year old ram.  The number three predominates because it stands for the exile into Egypt even before the Jewish people became a nation.  Then we have the exile to Babylonia and then we have the current exile.  Rav Herzog said there will be no more after this, and that is why in the middle of the Second World War he went back to the land of Israel.  Maybe it is because of this merit that his son is the president of Israel and has been for quite a few years, Chaim Herzog.
How was this covenant sealed?  It was sealed, they say, by when the sun set a great darkness occurred and, "Behold, Abraham saw a smoky furnace and a flaming torch passed between these pieces".  The rabbis explain that this was way before the Holocaust was known, that G-d sealed this covenant through a smoky furnace and a flaming torch.  The Jewish people, in order to cement this covenant, would endure serious suffering, that this suffering is what cemented their bond to the land because they were willing to stand up for their beliefs even though it cost us greatly.  That is what caused us to be able to inherit the land. That goes with anything that we want to achieve.  Not only do we have to have the desire to achieve it, to work for the goal, and to overcome temporary setbacks, and not only do we have to be moral in our quest for our goals, but we also must be willing to endure persecution and hounding.  Unless we are willing to endur4e these things then we will not be able to make our goal permanent, to make our goal part of us.  That, of course, is the lesson we learn from this Torah portion, that the Jewish people will never lose the promise of the land of Israel.  We hope and pray that as peace negotiations are starting up that the right to the land of Israel will be reaffirmed.  We may have to make certain compromises here and there but that nobody should say that the Jewish people should be thrown into the sea, that Israel has no place in the Middle East.
We also learn in this Torah portion about the fourth time that the covenant is mentioned at Joshua's circumcision and, of course, that teaches us something else, that the Jewish people can now never lose their right to the land of Israel by others.  Nobody else can take this right away from us.  Only we can lose our right to the land of Israel by not wanting it.  If we give up our customs and our ceremonies, if we decide that being a Jew is not worth it, then, of course, we will forfeit out claim.  G-d has said He will never forfeit our claim, and the nations of the world can never forfeit out claim.  Only we can forfeit out claim.  it is important to recognize this.  It is important to recognize the fact that we Jewish people have an eternal flame in the land of Israel, and that it can never be broken because it was founded upon the three principles that are enumerated in this Torah portion:  that we want the land to be a blessing to the people.  That, of course, is what Zionism has always said, that if we get out own land we will be able to benefit the world by discovering great things in science, by producing great music and art, by furthering the religious and moral dimensions of existence.  Yes, we have a great goal, and we know we also have to accomplish it morally, and we know also that many times we may be called upon to sacrifice for this goal.  If we do it and if we want to continue to be a blessing to humanity G-d has assured us that we will be able to do so.  
I am reminded of the story they tell about a theater company that had converted an old barn right by the side of a road right where the road turns into a playhouse. One day a teenager was driving a little too fast and he did not make the turn. He plowed right through the stage of this playhouse onto the floor of the playhouse. Thank goodness, nobody was hurt, and the director, in order to make light of the incident, turned to the young man and said, "Is this the way you are trying to break into show business?"  The young man said, "No, it's just a stage I’m going through." We all hope and pray that the current peace process is only a stage that we are going through which will cement and make permanent the ties of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.  Let us all hope that this is the case and that soon peace will blossom in the Middle East and the Mashiach will come quickly in our day.  Amen.