When I first visited Israel more than forty years ago as a non-religious tourist in search of G-d and my true inner self, Rabbi Meir Schuster, of blessed memory, approached me at the Kotel and asked if I wanted to attend a few interesting classes on Judaism at a yeshiva. I politely answered no, explaining that I was searching for G-d. At that point in my T’shuva journey I didn’t yet know that a yeshiva was a great place to begin. After a few similar encounters with Rabbi Schuster at the Kotel, in order to make him happy I let him accompany be to a nearby yeshiva. After all, back in LA, I had attended a lecture by a swami from India back in order to learn about yoga and Hinduism. Why not learn something about my own religion as well? Since it was the week of the Torah portion of “Yitro” the Rabbi who gave the lecture asked why the Torah had been given on Mount Sinai in the wilderness, and not in the Land of Israel? He replied that it came to teach that the Torah was not geographically restricted to any specific place, but meant to be kept everywhere. A year later, when I began to read the Torah portion every week and to learn at Yeshivat Machon Meir, I discovered a very different answer – the Torah was given in the wilderness to teach that it wasn’t meant to be kept there! How do I know? Because after the Jewish People received the Torah at Sinai, Hashem commanded them, saying, “You have tarried long enough around this mountain… go up and possess the Land of Israel! (Devarim, 1:6-8). It is as if Hashem was telling them – “You think that it is OK to keep the Torah here in the wilderness – well you are wrong – take up your journey. The Torah is meant to be kept in Eretz Yisrael.” I also learned that for wanting to keep the Torah in the wilderness, and for refusing to journey onward to the Promised Land, Hashem called the Spies rebels and punished the entire generation with death in the wilderness, not permitting them to enter the Land, (BaMidbar, Ch. 14; Devarim, Ch. 1).
In the Ten Commandments themselves there is an often overlooked proof that the commandments were given to be kept in the Land of Israel and not in Boca, Brooklyn, or Beverly Hills. At the end of the injunction to honor one’s parents the Torah states: “that thy days may be long in the Land which the L-rd they G-d gives thee (Yitro, 20:12). Which Land did Hashem give to the Jewish People? The Land of Israel, of course. Any eight year old in Talmud Torah will tell you that.
And for those who have studied “The Kuzari,” it’s author, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, state that Mount Sinai is indeed located in Eretz Yisrael (HaKuzari, 2:14).
So why do millions of Jews still live in foreign, Gentile lands and not in Israel now that we are free to return there in answer to our daily prayers for the past 2000 years? Well, to put it most simply – when your parents tell you that America is your home, and the Rabbi of your tells you that America is your home, and when your yeshiva teacher tells you that America is home, you come to believe that America is your home. Israel becomes a nice place to visit, but it’s the responsibility of the Israelis to live there and defend it. Everyone deludes himself into thinking that Hashem has altered His plan for the Jewish People and is now pleased that His children have discovered new Promised Lands in Austria, Australia, and America. But Hashem doesn’t change His mind like people do. And the Torah’s words are forever. “The Eternal One of Israel will neither lie nor change His mind…” )Shmuel 15:29). And let us say, Amen!
