BS"D
YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kroizer SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva
PARSHAT BEREISHIT
29 Tishrei 5767/20-21 October 2006
FROM BEGINNING TO END
In his famous commentary, Rashi opens up the book of Genesis by telling us why the Torah starts off with the book of Genesis, and not just the list of commandments, which is really what is seemingly important for the Jewish people to know. He writes that from the book of Genesis we are told that Hashem created the world, and being the Master of the world, He can take the seven nations that lived in the Holy Land prior to the Jewish people’s entrance and throw them out, and in their place, bring in the Jews. And should the nations of the world say: "You are bandits, for you conquered the Land of the seven nations", Israel will say to them: "The whole world belongs to Hashem. He created it and He gave it to the one who is proper in His eyes. By His wish He gave it to them, and by His wish He took it from them and gave it to us."
And if you ask, what has this to do with the nations of the world? If the seven nations, who lived in the Land before the Jewish people, came and called us thieves - that I can understand, for they were the ones dwelling in the Land before the Jews came. But Rashi states that it is the nations of the world who complained against us - not the seven nations. How and when did this become an international problem, that the nations (read: the U.N.) had to come and bring their complaint against us?
The answer lies in the fact that the nations of the world will stop at nothing to make sure that the Jewish people do not fulfill their mission in this world - that is, to be a light unto the nations and bring the Name of the one G-d to all. This, though, should not come as a surprise to any of us, for this has been their agenda since Day One. As we find by Nimrod, the might hunter who ruled the world at the time of the tower of Bavel, their futile attempt to climb the tower and destroy the Holy One, Blessed be He. And throughout the ages, in every generation, they rise up with their attempts to kill off the Jewish people as a way of attacking Hashem Himself.
The same holds true today. As the curtains begin to fall on this stage of human history, once again the nations are gathering as one voice to confront the Jewish people and bring forth their claims on the Holy Land. Our Rabbis teach us that just as the first redemption from Egypt was, so, too will be the Final Redemption. In Egypt, Pharaoh at first gave permission for the Jewish people to leave, and it was only afterwards that he regretted his decision and then gave chase to the Jewish people. So, too, today -almost 59 years ago the nations of the world gave their approval to have the Jewish people return to their Homeland. But like Pharaoh of old, they, too, have now started the reversal process, and we hear more and more voices proclaiming that the State of Israel was conceived in sin and must be eliminated. Do not think, dear friend, that this is far fetched by any means, for the day is coming when we will see the U.N. reverse its decision on the formation of the State of Israel.
In the book of Ezekiel (38:14) we find: “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, thus says the L-rd G-d . . . And thou shall come from a place out of the far sides of the North, they and many people with you all riding horses, a great company, and a mighty army. And they shall come up against my people of Israel, like a cloud to cover the land. . ."
In light of this prophesy, we can begin to see how today the nations, under the hand of the U.N., are gathering to the North of the Land of Israel - Lebanon. And it should come as no surprise, then, that we hear from the commander of the French contingent of the United Nations forces in Lebanon, that they have threatened to open fire on Israel Air Force warplanes if they continue to fly over Lebanon. On the other hand, France and the United Nations have made it explicitly clear that they will not use force to disarm Hizbullah, or to prevent weapons from being smuggled in from Syria.
We have come full circle, from beginning to end. It is time for the Jewish people to proclaim, without embarrassment and with our heads held high: The Land is ours, for He, Hashem, has taken it from them and given it to us.
With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen
