Giving the Land Redemption
By Redeeming the Land, We Redeem Ourselves
From Hadesh Vol. 1, Issue No. 6 - Ecology
By: Hila Oz
In the discourse surrounding the Jewish people’s status in relation to Eretz Yisrael, there is often discussion of our ownership of the land. With the more recent mainstream adoption of the title of indigenous peoples, many hasbarists misuse the word to essentially make the argument, “I was here first so it is mine and I can do what I want with it.”
Rather than accept any criticism of the State (unless the criticism targets those who are more clearly aligned with Bnei Yisrael’s national missions in the land), they throw the word “indigenous” around like a geo-political get-out-of-jail-free card. In many of Israel’s more religiously observant neighborhoods, there is an embarrassing lack of care when it comes to cleanliness and the environmental viability of certain practices.
The holy streets of Yerushalayim are littered with garbage, and yet there seems to be more outrage about the thickness of a girl’s tights as she walks through those streets than the clear neglect of the kedusha of this land. While these are two separate issues with different cultural sources, they both showcase a lack of awareness of our ideal relationship with Eretz Yisrael.
In Sefer Bereishit, we see two pesukim regarding man’s relation to the land he resides on. First, Hashem commands man to “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it” (Bereishit 1:28). After, we are told that, “Hashem settled man in Gan Eden to work it and guard it” (2:15).
These two commands seem to be contradictory. If man is meant to master the land, should he not be allowed to do whatever he wants with it? Why must he also work and guard it?
We shall first tackle the issue of mastering the land. The Torah uses the word כבשה, which connotes conquest, force, and making subservient. We are told to essentially subdue the land right after it tells us that we were made in the image of God. On the surface it seems that the Torah is telling us we are to be complete masters, or gods even, of the land, forcing it to fulfill our every whim. We may believe that we, as beings created in a Divine image, have the power and ability to take what we want and do what we want with the land we were given to conquer.
This mode of thought, however, would lead one to falsely believe something quite sinister, G-d forbid, about Hashem. Hashem did not create a universe to be Master of in order to go on a power trip and feed His ego. The Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Luzzatto) tells us in Derech Hashem that He created the universe because He is good and therefore wanted to give good. His mastery over the universe is a vehicle for his love of it.
Liberal Zionism, in its adoption of western values, has unfortunately misconstrued what it means to be a master of this land. The goal of כיבוש הארץ, conquering the land, is so holy, but if that conquest is for the sake of exploitation or ego, the holiness of the mission is lost. Not only that, but it is an extremely colonial mindset, which is often seen by our critics as a negation of our indigenous status. According to our prophets and sages, mastery and kingship are never meant to be tyrannical. Malkhut is the lowest of all the sefirot because true kingship is being a public servant.
Hashem expresses His Kingship over the universe by providing every being with its every need to fulfill its purpose and receive the best possible reward from their existence. It stands to reason, then, that if Hashem’s dominion over us is really Him taking responsibility and caring for us, that when we, in the Divine image, are told to have dominion over the land, it is a call for us to care for and take responsibility over it.
There is a similar concept when it comes to Jewish marriage. The Mishna in Kiddushin begins by telling us that, “a woman is acquired (נקנית) in three ways” (1:1). Rabbi David Fohrman explains that while it seems backwards and misogynistic to acquire or buy a woman through marriage, the real understanding of the passage is entirely different. He relates the acquisition of a wife to the acquisition of Torah mentioned in Pirkei Avot 6:6. “We think acquisition is about owning things, about controlling them–and to some extent, when acquisition is about things, maybe it is… But how would you translate ‘acquired’ in this context?
Do I, the one who learns Torah, control it? If anything, it controls me! The Torah demands a certain lifestyle of me–and yet I ‘acquire’ it! This kind of acquisition has very little to do with control. It seems, instead, to be about responsibility. I don’t ‘control’ the Torah–that would be an act of defilement. The Torah that I learn is mine, perhaps, in the sense that it ‘completes’ me, and my responsibility is to treasure it, to appreciate it for what it is, and to keep it safe.”1
The Land of Israel is our soulmate and we have been charged with her wellbeing. In the same way a man does not own or control his wife or the Torah he learns, our acquisition of the land is marked by our responsibility to it, not force or conquest of it. Therein lies the obligation to work it and to guard it.
On the other side of the spectrum, with communities who do not recognize our political sovereignty over the land (imperfect as it may be), we face a different issue. Rav Cherki, in his article on Judaism and Nature,2 brings down different mishnayot which show an obligation to clean and beautify the land. He quotes the Ran who says that this obligation to beautify only applies within Eretz Yisrael and Rabbi Yosef Karo who adds that it also does not apply if Eretz Yisrael is under foreign occupation.
Unfortunately, there is no consensus among the Jewish people as to what constitutes foreign occupation. From my earlier argument, we see the danger in believing that we are masters of this land if we do not recognize the responsibilities that come with it. If one does not recognize the state as legitimate Jewish governance, though, they may falsely believe that it is okay to trash the land since they still believe it to be in exile (whether they are correct or not).
So, how can we reconcile these two worldviews and fix the mistakes on either side? I believe that the answer lies in Sefer Vaykira. “But the land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me. Throughout the land that you hold, you must provide for the redemption of the land.” (25:23-24)
Here, Hashem is telling us something absolutely crucial. We do not, nor have we ever, nor will we ever own the Land of Israel. The Land of Israel owns us. Even when we create governments and have kings, there is no true sovereign over the Land of Israel but Hashem. Our ability to freely live in our land comes from our dedication to treating it according to the standards set by Hashem.
If we act immorally, the Torah tells us we will be exiled. More than that, however, is that there is an obligation to redeem it. If the land is not being kept by its proper guard, something is deeply wrong. Hashem tells us, לארץ תתנו גאלה, give geula to the land. Rav Yosef Karo is not saying that we should neglect the land.
Rather, it seems to me that he is saying there is something wrong–the land is under foreign occupation–which prevents us from properly beautifying it. By becoming complicit in its foreign occupation by vandalizing the land with garbage and environmentally irresponsible practices, we refute our obligation to give the land geula.
May we all merit to beautify, guard, protect, and thereby master our land through the ultimate governance of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
Genesis: A Parsha Companion by Rabbi David Fohrman, p. 13-14
Rabbi Oury Amos Cherki, Judaism and Nature, https://21landing.zst.co.il/judaism/