Timeless Torah

I’m going to go out on a limb here. Pofessor Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903-1994) is without a doubt my superior in both knowledge and education. For many years he held the posts of professor of organic chemistry, biology and neuro-psychology in the medical school of Hebrew University. He also served as a professor of Jewish studies at Haifa University, and professor of philosophy at Hebrew University. Author of many books (some of them in my personal library) and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Hebraica, he certainly does not need my approbation. Notwithstanding all of the above, I must take issue with the learned professor who points out the similarity between a verse in this week’s Biblical reading (Massei) and its accompanying Haftorah (from Jeremiah). In the Torah there is a stringent warning, “Do not defile the land (with bloodshed)...wherein I dwell.” Some 800 years later, the prophet makes a comparable declaration, “You defiled My land, and made my heritage an abomination.”
The lesson (according to Prof. Leibowitz) is that the Land of Israel itself is not inherently holy. If it was, he asks, how could we defile it? Rather it is our behavior upon the Land that imparts to it either holiness, or if we misbehave, defilement. Or as he himself writes, “The Land of Israel is not holier than other lands, but it is holier than the other lands in that mitzvot are observed in it that can only be observed in the land of Israel, such as...the omer, first fruits, etc.” As I mentioned at the very outset, I’m out on a limb. My credentials are quite unimpressive when stacked against those of the acclaimed academic. Therefore, I have no choice but to drag out some reinforcements, including my wife’s great-great...grandfather. On Tu B’Shvat, the New Year for trees, there is a custom to eat fruits that are native to the land of Israel. A distinguishing factor of the “native to Israel” fruits; grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates, is the unique Al ha’etz blessing one recites after having consumed them. This is quite different than the standard Borei Nefashos blessing one says after any other fruit. In this lengthier blessing, we thank G-d for the fruit, for the land whence it came, to have mercy on the nation of Israel, and to allow the rebuilding of Jerusalem. We further request that after the exile has ended, we be brought into the land, be able to partake of its fruit, and bless G-d for these things in holiness and purity.
Asking for the privilege of eating the fruit is actually a point of disagreement in Jewish law. In Tur (Orech Chayim 218) it states that not all agree that this phrase be recited. The Sefer HaMitzvos feels that our desire to return to our homeland should be so that we can observe those commandments that are exclusive to Israel. Therefore, we should ask G-d for the other items mentioned in the blessing, but not to, “partake of its fruit.” The Bach (my wife’s ancestor who has joined me on the tree) however explains that we in fact do request to partake of Israel’s fruits because there is an intrinsic holiness to the land of Israel. Furthermore this holiness is not restrained to the spiritual realm, but manifests itself in the physical fruits that not only extract water and nutrients from the land, but also extract the holiness of the land.
This is but one reference from hundreds that speak of the innate holiness found in Eretz Hakodesh, the Holy Land. But seeing as there is only little space left in this article (and also on the branch) I will use just one more quote, Rashi. Every child in a Jewish day school knows that name. But how many know that today, the 29th of Tammuz marks the 900th yarhzeit of his passing? His brief explanations on the Torah and Talmud are universally accepted as the most basic tool for the understanding of these texts. In his famed “Rashi talks”, the Lubavitcher Rebbe repeatedly demonstrated how Rashi’s deceptively simple style enfolds many layers of meaning. Nonetheless, as Rashi himself writes, “I came only to explain the simple meaning of the text.” Thus three and a half thousand years ago, G-d clearly outlined the borders of the Holy Land. Indeed, those boundaries form an integral part of this week’s Torah section. But even prior to that, on the very first verse in the entire Bible, Rashi notes that the simple meaning of the text (understood even by a five year old child!) is, “To teach the world the principle ... that if the nations of the world say to Israel, ‘You are thieves, for you took possession of the land of seven nations by force,’ they will be able to answer, ‘All the world belongs to G-d. He created it, and gave it to whomever He wished. It was His will that it first be allocated to those nations, and it was by His will that it be taken from them and given to us (the Jews).” Perhaps the good professor can explain, why is this piece of real estate is the one that will be the one fought over between the nations and us? Perhaps he can also clarify why G-d chose this land to give to us? After all, there were no Jews or even gentiles at this point in history, that could render this property holy or unholy?
So who are you going to trust? The professor with the Ph.D. or my grandfather along with Rashi whose words are still studied every day 900 years after his passing? Personally, it looks like the limb is not in danger of cracking soon. It seems that I, like my fellow Jews, will be hanging around a very long time to come.