Bentching for the Land of Israel

In the wake of that painful decision - three years ago, this week - to evacuate Jews from Gaza, the debate concerning the destiny of Zionism was renewed. Here are the views of two ‘modern’ thinkers. “The Jewish settlers…dream…to create a ‘Greater Israel’ with Jewish settlements wall-to-wall…In such a state, democracy will have to bow to the rabbis. The Knesset, the government, the Supreme Court, will be allowed to continue to exist, provided that the rabbis approve of their decisions…If we, secular Israelis, erase our own existence, the settlers will shower us with brotherly love. But if we insist that we have a different vision for Israel, we immediately become traitors, Arab-lovers or even Nazis.” (Amos Oz, Israeli novelist and founder of Peace Now) “Religion is the major impediment confronting the Jewish nation on the road to culture, science and freedom.” (Nachman Syrkin, a preeminent theorist of Zionist socialism)

As one might well imagine, G-d has a different perspective. In this week’s reading, the Bible instructs us to bless G-d after eating a meal. “You will eat…be satisfied and…bless your G-d for the wonderful land that He gave you.” (Deut.7:10.2)  This ritual of bentching (Yiddish for blessing), or Grace after Meals consists of four blessings. The first of these expresses our gratitude for the resources G-d created that nourish us all. The second bracha is a thank you for the beautiful land He gave our people. (The 3rd and 4th blessings are not relevant to this discussion.) It seems quite clear: these first two blessings are meant to echo the Bible’s, “You will eat…and…bless…the wonderful land.” We are grateful for the land that produced the meal.

The Talmud (B’rachos 48b) rules that the second blessing must include a few words about the Covenant G-d made with Abraham, where He promised the land of Israel as an everlasting Jewish inheritance. What is more, in this blessing we must also mention the Torah, the divine constitution which pledges - scores of times - this land to the Jews.

Simply put, not only must we thank G-d for the beautiful land itself, we must also articulate the source for our rights to this land. Hence, the bentching reads: “We offer thanks to You…for having given us…a precious, good and spacious land…for your Covenant…and for Your Torah…” The Talmud is so emphatic about the inclusion of these two concepts that, “Whoever did not mention the Covenant and the Torah in the second blessing for the land did not fulfill his obligation.” This person must therefore repeat the Grace.

But what’s wrong with a simple thank you for a national homeland? The Bible does not mention any Covenant. It merely states, “Bless…G-d for the wonderful land.” Indeed, the Israeli national anthem does just that. It speaks of, “The 2,000 year old Jewish hope to be a free people in its land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.” It makes no mention of G-d’s Covenant with Abraham or the Torah as the moral grounds for establishing the modern State of Israel.

This seems like a rational approach. Why mix religion with state? For a democracy to flourish, pluralism must be maintained. Yet the Talmud, 1700 years ago, apparently understood something about the Jewish psyche and Middle Eastern politics that eluded the founders of modern Israel. The contemporary political conversation has many convinced that if Israel would withdraw to its pre-1967 borders, there would be peace. Hence, the world’s praise for the Gaza evacuation: It is a step in the right direction, the first step toward reconciliation and co-existence.

Yet these fantasies totally insult the Arab world by making a mockery of their explicitly stated dreams, “All of Palestine belongs to us.” That is why there was no peace before 1967, when Gaza belonged to Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Jordan, and the Golan Heights to Syria. Yet the Arabs still invaded Israel because - in their eyes - the entire Zionist entity is illegal: All of Israel rests on occupied Arab land. That is why peace will not come about by giving away territory. It will arrive when Moslems do not view the Jew as the ‘devil’, and the world, instead of pressuring Israel, pressures Arabs to teach tolerance, respect, and civil morality.

So why is this apparently straightforward idea so complicated? If Muslims in Detroit would blow up busses or pizza shops and demand a Palestinian State in Michigan, no one would ask America to cede one inch of land. The reason: No one doubts that Detroit belongs to the United States. Israel however is treated differently because many Israelis themselves question Israel’s right to the land. Here lies the great failure of secular Zionism. If our people’s connection to Israel stems merely from Theodore Herzl’s dream, the Balfour Declaration, or the 1947 United Nations’ partition plan, then our claim to the land is tenuous.

For 3700 years Jews breathed and lived with the promise of Israel. Even in the most hellish moments of Jewish exile, we clung to that dream. The only reason Jews returned from Russia, Ethiopia and America to Israel was their belief that the Creator of heaven and earth chose to give his Holy Land to the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as stated hundreds of times in His Bible. Three billion people in the world believe and quote that Bible, but secular Zionism was, and is, afraid to breathe a word of it.

That is why, “Whoever did not mention the Covenant and the Torah…did not fulfill his obligation.” /If our gratitude to the land is based on the Covenant with Abraham and Torah, it will remain morally inspired and eternal. If not, one day we might feel unappreciative for the land flowing with milk and honey. In fact, we might feel compelled to evacuate its holy territory.

Our Sages, in a poetic mood, once taught, “Moses is the face of the sun; Joshua the face of the moon.” (Bava Basra 75b) Moonlight has inspired many an imagination and a heart. Yet the glow of the moon is merely a reflection of the sun. If the moon, however, were separated from its source of light - as in a lunar eclipse - it becomes a large chunk of dark and rocky matter.

We all know that Moses gave us the Torah, while Joshua gave us Israel. Perhaps, our Rabbis meant that the relationship between Torah (Moses) and Israel (Joshua) is that of the sun and moon. As long as Israel reflects Torah’s faith, dreams and passions, the land will inspire and illuminate our lives. But if Israel is judged only as our secular national homeland and a member of the United Nations, it loses its inner glow. Worse, it loses its very identity.

A country with no real past, probably has no real future.