The Spiritual Draw of the Land of Israel
Adapted from Rabbi Braun’s Sermon in 5767
Abraham – the first person to make aliyah! He is our role model, our hero. God called him and told him “go to the land that I would show you.”
But is that really true? Was Abraham really the first?
If you paid attention to the last few verses of last week’s Torah reading you would have seen that it was not Avraham but Terach who makes the first journey to the land of Canaan.
בראשית פרק יא
(לא) וַיִּקַּח תֶּרַח אֶת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וְאֶת לוֹט בֶּן הָרָן בֶּן בְּנוֹ וְאֵת שָׂרַי כַּלָּתוֹ אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וַיֵּצְאוּ אִתָּם מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד חָרָן וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם:
(לב) וַיִּהְיוּ יְמֵי תֶרַח חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וּמָאתַיִם שָׁנָה וַיָּמָת תֶּרַח בְּחָרָן: ס
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Yet immediately afterwards we read the opening verse of our parsha giving the command to Avraham
(א) וַיֹּאמֶר יְקֹוָק אֶל אַבְרָם לֶךְ לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ:
So which is it? Did Avraham go first or did Terach? And what do you do with the apparent contradiction in the text?
What ensues is a fascinating discussion of the rules of chronology in biblical text and an attempt to pinpoint the birthplace of Avraham but with regards to our specific issue there are 2 major approaches?
• Eben Ezra applies the famous rule that the Torah may be written at times out of chronological order and that this is one example of that phenomenon. Even though the text first details the Terach’s journey the historical record is actually different. What really happened? First Avraham got the command from God to leave. They stopped in Charan and Terach decided to stay there and Avraham continues to Canaan.
The advantage of this approach is that it keeps Avraham as the first Jew to make aliyah. He is still our hero.
The disadvantage is that it is textually difficult to read the text that way. Actually is exceedingly difficult!
• The Ramban argues and maintains that the story occurred as the text records it. Terach begins the journey with his family but can’t complete it and then Avraham continues to Charan.
Advantage- the text reads better.
Disadvantage- Avraham was not the first. Terach was.
That is really not a terrible deal because Terach does not make it while Avraham does and it is Avraham who receives the command; that does not change.
But that approach does raise a fantastic question- “why was Terach going? What drew him to Charan?” What would cause him to uproot his family and take them along for this ride?
Just as importantly, we should ask ourselves, “Why does the torah choose to include this episode? And what lesson is there in it for us?
Rabbi Mordechai Breuer, A descendant of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and one of the top orthodox bible scholars in Israel today suggests the following:
What drew Terach to Eretz Yisrael?
The very same thing that has been drawing people of all religions to Israel for the last 3500 years – Israel is universally recognized as a land of great spirituality. It is a place where it is easy to find God. It is indeed a holy land. Terach knew that and therefore he attempted the journey. It is recorded in the Torah to teach that people of all religions, even idolaters will be drawn to the land for it spiritual qualities.
That is why today that tiny country with no natural resources to speak of is the center of world controversy.
I chose to share this idea with you because it has been playing on my mind alot recently. Every morning I visit the Israeli news websites to see what is going on and they read like the news websites of every other country. The entertainment news is like that of any other country. Reality TV has infiltrated Israeli television and society. There is very little that is holy about the news and that is terribly depressing.
Let us at least for one moment stop and recognize that the uniqueness of the land is measured in spiritual terms and that should be in our focus and on our agendas as we think about, visit and act on behalf of the state of Israel.
