This week we read Parshas Hachodesh, the portion of the Torah that discusses the very first mitzvah that Hashem commanded the nation of Yisrael; namely to calculate and sanctify the new month.
The very first Rashi in Chumash asks why the Torah does not begin with this commandment. Why does the Torah delineate all of creation and that which happened to our forefathers and their descendants through leaving Metzrayim, instead of simply stating our first commandment?
Rashi answers in the name of Rabi Yitzchak that the Torah began from Bereishis so that in the event that the nations of the world should ever claim that we stole Eretz Yisrael, we can answer them that Hashem created the world and chose to give Eretz Yisrael to the nations of the world and now He has chosen to give it to us. That is why the Torah wrote the entire Sefer Bereishis and beginning of Sefer Shemos.
I would like to ask, when has this ever occurred? When in the history of the world did all of the nations of the world ever get together and claim that the Jews stole (or illegally occupied) Eretz Yisrael?
The answer is now! The UN and the Palestinians state that we stole Eretz Yisrael. The UN condemns Israel on a constant basis for crimes it has not committed, and continually attempts to recognize the Palestinian claim to the land (with the exception to the Trump administration as we will shortly discuss). The UN is an organization that gives a unified voice to all the nations of the world, and their position on Israel could not be clearer: Israel does not belong to the Jews! The theoretical situation that Rashi described on the fist pasuk of Chumash has come to fruition! Through the UN all the nations of the world have unanimously declared the Jews stole Israel! Now we must follow through with the conclusion and appropriate response.
The only resolution to the claims of the Palestinians and the UN is, as Rashi says, that we must tell them that Hashem created the world and chose to give Eretz Yisrael to us. But in order to make that claim, we must realize how true it is. Can anyone think that any of the wars that Israel has fought were won based on military expertise? In every single war the Yad Hashem was openly visible to anyone who was looking for it. It was Hashem who gave us the land and has kept us there.
On its way out of office the Obama administration veered from previous US policy and joined the nations of the world in condemning Israel. With resolution 2334 we saw the speculative circumstance Rashi depicted materialize. Until now. The Trump administration through Ambassador Haley has turned a new page, possibly a new book, and has withdrawn all support for condemning Israel and is actively assisting the Jewish state’s rightful existence.
It is evident that with the inauguration of President Trump we have entered a new era leading us closer to our geula. We must acknowledge that the only way for us to stay in Eretz Yisrael is if Hashem who created the world gives it to us. And we must deserve it. We must recognize who has given Eretz Yisrael to us thus far and who will continue to allow us to remain there. While Ambassador Haley speaks on our behalf in the UN, we must be speaking to ourselves conveying the message of the very first Rashi in Chumash: Hashem created the world and chose to give Eretz Yisrael to the nations of the world and now He has chosen to give it to us. May we see the coming of our ultimate representative, Mashiach, in our days, amen.