(continued)
The Repeated Confirmations
Throughout Avraham’s life, Hashem repeatedly confirmed and elaborated upon the promise of the Land. After Lot separated from Avraham, Hashem said: “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your seed forever” (Bereishis 13:14-15). The word “forever”—le’olam—demands our attention. This is not a temporary grant or a conditional lease. It is an eternal inheritance that will never be revoked.
Hashem continued: “And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can count the dust of the earth, then your seed will also be counted. Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its breadth, for I will give it to you” (Bereishis 13:16-17). The command to “walk through the land” carried both symbolic and practical significance. By traversing every part of the territory, Avraham was taking possession of it—not through military conquest, not through political agreement, but through the act of a rightful heir surveying his inheritance. Each footstep marked another portion of the Land as belonging to him and his descendants.
The Ramban explains this command beautifully: Hashem wanted Avraham to develop an intimate connection with every part of the Land, to see its mountains and valleys, its rivers and plains, its cities and forests. This personal acquaintance would be passed down through the generations, creating an unbreakable bond between the Jewish people and every corner of their homeland. When Jews in exile would yearn for Eretz Yisrael, they would remember not just an abstract concept but specific places that their forefather had walked, specific vistas he had seen.
The Covenant of Circumcision
When Avraham reached ninety-nine years of age, Hashem appeared to him again to establish the covenant of circumcision—Brit Milah. At this momentous occasion, Hashem changed Avram’s name to Avraham, transforming him from “exalted father” to “father of many nations” (Bereishis 17:5). And once again, Hashem made a promise regarding the Land: “And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession, and I will be their God” (Bereishis 17:8).
This verse weaves together several crucial elements. First, “the land of your sojournings”—eretz megurekha. Even though Avraham dwelt there as a sojourner, not yet in full possession, not yet able to claim sovereignty, the Land was already designated as his and his descendants’ inheritance. The temporary state of being a stranger did not diminish the eternal promise.
Second, “all the land of Canaan”—kol eretz Kena’an. Not portions of it, not parts of it, not conditional sections, but the entire territory. Third, “as an everlasting possession”—le’achuzat olam. This phrase appears here and nowhere else in relation to any other nation’s land grant. It establishes the unique, eternal, unbreakable nature of Jewish ownership of Eretz Yisrael.
And finally, the verse concludes: “and I will be their God.” This is not coincidental. The connection between the People, the Land, and Hashem Himself forms an inseparable trinity. The Land is not merely real estate—it is the physical location where the relationship between Hashem and His people reaches its fullest expression. Removing any one of these three elements—the People, the Land, or the Divine Presence—destroys the complete structure that Hashem established at creation.
The covenant of circumcision serves as the eternal sign of this relationship. Every male descendant of Avraham who bears the mark of the covenant in his flesh testifies to the eternal bond between the Jewish people and Eretz Yisrael. The physical sign on the body corresponds to the physical inheritance of the Land. Both are permanent. Both are covenantal. Both are divine gifts that come with responsibilities. Just as a Jew can never remove his circumcision and remain fully Jewish, so too can the Jewish people never fully separate themselves from Eretz Yisrael and remain fully themselves.
The Ramban on this verse (Bereishis 17:8) elaborates: “This covenant has three components: numerous descendants, the Land of Canaan as an eternal inheritance, and ‘I will be their God’—meaning the special relationship of prophecy and providence. All three are interconnected and eternal. One cannot exist in its fullness without the others.”
RECEIVING THE TORAH AND INHERITING THE LAND
The Acceptance at Sinai
When Bnei Yisrael gathered at the foot of Har Sinai to receive the Torah, they were not simply receiving a legal code or religious instructions. They were accepting the mission and purpose for which they had been created—to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Shemot 19:6). But this mission could only be fulfilled completely in one place: Eretz Yisrael.
The Gemara in Mesechta Shabbat (88a) describes how Hashem held the mountain over them “like a barrel” and declared: “If you accept the Torah, good; if not, here will be your burial.” This was not coercion but a revelation of reality—the Jewish people without Torah cannot survive, and the Torah without the Jewish people dwelling in Eretz Yisrael cannot achieve its purpose. The two are inseparably bound.
When Moshe Rabbeinu ascended the mountain, he remained there forty days and forty nights, as the Torah states: “And Moshe went up to Hashem” (Shemot 19:3), and “at the end of forty days and forty nights” he descended (Devarim 9:11). During this time, he received not only the Aseret Hadibrot but detailed instructions about how Bnei Yisrael should live—and crucially, where they should live. Throughout the Torah’s commandments runs a constant thread: these laws achieve their fullest expression in the Land.
The Spies and the Rejection
The tragic episode of the Meraglim—the Spies—illustrates the catastrophic consequences of rejecting Eretz Yisrael. When twelve leaders were sent to scout the Land, ten returned with a demoralizing report: “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than us” (Bamidbar 13:31). Only Yehoshua and Calev stood firm, declaring: “The land that we passed through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land. If Hashem delights in us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey” (Bamidbar 14:7-8).
The people’s rejection of the Land—their statement “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!” (Bamidbar 14:2)—represented not merely cowardice but a fundamental betrayal of their mission. They were essentially saying: We do not want the inheritance Hashem promised to our forefathers. This rejection resulted in the decree that the entire generation would perish in the desert over forty years, never entering the Land they had spurned.
The punishment fit the crime with precise measure: one year of wandering for each day the spies spent in the Land—”According to the number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, a day for each year, you shall bear your iniquities forty years” (Bamidbar 14:34). The message was clear: If you do not want the Land, you will not receive it. But your children, who did not participate in this rejection, will inherit it.
Moshe’s Plea
Even Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest prophet who ever lived, yearned desperately to enter Eretz Yisrael. After leading the people for forty years through the wilderness, after enduring their complaints and rebellions, after teaching them the entire Torah—Moshe pleaded with Hashem: “Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good mountain and the Lebanon” (Devarim 3:25).
The intensity of Moshe’s desire to enter the Land emerges clearly from his language. He doesn’t just ask to enter; he specifically mentions “that good land,” “that good mountain” (referring to Yerushalayim and the site of the future Beit Hamikdash), and “the Lebanon” (according to some commentaries, this refers to the Beit Hamikdash itself, which “whitens” the sins of Yisrael). Moshe understood what no one else could fully grasp—that leading Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael, establishing them on their Land, seeing the fulfillment of Hashem’s promises—this would be the crown and completion of his life’s work.
But the decree had been sealed. “Hashem was angry with me for your sakes and would not hear me, and Hashem said to me: Enough! Speak no more to Me of this matter” (Devarim 3:26). Instead, Hashem commanded: “Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan” (Devarim 3:27).
The Midrash asks: If Moshe could not enter, why did Hashem show him the Land? To teach us that even seeing Eretz Yisrael from a distance holds tremendous value. Even the vision of the Land carries sanctity. When Moshe stood on Har Nevo and gazed upon the Land spread before him, he experienced profound spiritual elevation, even though he could not physically enter.
Yehoshua Takes the Mantle
Leadership passed to Yehoshua bin Nun, Moshe’s devoted student and servant. “And it came to pass after the death of Moshe the servant of Hashem, that Hashem spoke to Yehoshua the son of Nun, Moshe’s minister, saying: Moshe My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the Children of Yisrael” (Yehoshua 1:1-2).
Notice the language: “which I am giving”—present tense. The gift was happening at that very moment. The Land already belonged to them by divine decree; the crossing of the Jordan merely actualized the possession. Hashem continued with a promise identical to what He had told Avraham: “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, I have given to you, as I said to Moshe. From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River, all the land of the Chittites, and to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun, shall be your border” (Yehoshua 1:3-4).
The repetition of these exact boundaries reinforces a crucial point: the promise made to Avraham hundreds of years earlier remained in full effect. Nothing had changed. The covenant was eternal, and now the time had come for its physical realization. The boundaries stretched from the southern desert through the entire land northward to Lebanon, eastward to the Euphrates, and westward to the Mediterranean—a vast territory that would become the inheritance of the twelve tribes.
The Promise of Divine Support
But conquering such a vast territory populated by powerful nations with fortified cities seemed impossible by human standards. So Hashem reassured Yehoshua: “No man shall stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you; I will not fail you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them” (Yehoshua 1:5-6).
Three times in this chapter Hashem commands Yehoshua: “Be strong and of good courage” (Yehoshua 1:6), “Only be strong and very courageous” (Yehoshua 1:7), “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for Hashem your God is with you wherever you go” (Yehoshua 1:9). Why such repetition? Because courage in the face of overwhelming odds requires constant reinforcement. And Hashem was teaching not just Yehoshua but all future generations: When you act to claim your inheritance in Eretz Yisrael, I am with you. Do not fear the nations, their armies, their weapons. Your strength comes from Me.
The condition for this divine support emerges clearly: “Only be strong and very courageous to observe and do according to all the Torah that Moshe My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may have success wherever you go. This Book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success” (Yehoshua 1:7-8).
Here lies the key: Military victory and secure possession of the Land depend not primarily on military strategy or numerical superiority but on faithful adherence to Torah. When Yisrael observes the Torah, studies it constantly, and implements its teachings, then “you will have success wherever you go.” This principle would prove true throughout Jewish history—when we remained faithful to Torah, we flourished in the Land; when we abandoned it, we faced defeat and exile.
The Conquest Begins
The crossing of the Jordan River marked the beginning of Eretz Yisrael’s conquest. Hashem performed a miracle reminiscent of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds: “When the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant touched the edge of the Jordan’s waters, the waters coming down from above stood still and rose up in a heap” (Yehoshua 3:15-16). The people crossed on dry ground, and Hashem declared: “This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Yisrael, that they may know that as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you” (Yehoshua 3:7).
The fall of Yericho demonstrated that this conquest would defy natural military logic. A fortified city with massive walls fell not through siege warfare or battering rams but through the power of faith and obedience to divine command. The people marched around the city for seven days, and on the seventh day, “the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city” (Yehoshua 6:20).
Each victory reinforced the same lesson: “I have delivered them into your hand; there shall not a man of them stand before you” (Yehoshua 10:8). The sun stood still at Givon (Yehoshua 10:12-13), hailstones fell from heaven upon the fleeing Emorites (Yehoshua 10:11)—nature itself fought for Yisrael because they were reclaiming their divinely granted inheritance.
The Division of the Land
After the major conquests, the time came to divide the Land among the tribes. This division was not arbitrary or based on military contribution. It had been predetermined according to divine plan, with each tribe receiving its specific inheritance. “And Yehoshua cast lots for them in Shilo before Hashem, and there Yehoshua divided the land to the Children of Yisrael according to their divisions” (Yehoshua 18:10).
The tribe of Levi received no territorial inheritance, for as Hashem declared: “I am your portion and your inheritance among the Children of Yisrael” (Bamidbar 18:20). Instead, they received cities scattered throughout the other tribes’ territories—forty-eight Levitical cities, including six Cities of Refuge. This distribution ensured that Torah teachers and spiritual leaders would dwell among all the tribes, maintaining the religious and educational foundation necessary for secure possession of the Land.
The Incomplete Conquest
Yet the conquest remained incomplete. Various Canaanite peoples continued dwelling in certain areas. “The Children of Yehuda could not drive out the Yevusites who dwelt in Yerushalayim; so the Yevusites dwell with the Children of Yehuda in Yerushalayim to this day” (Yehoshua 15:63). Similarly, Menashe “could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, and the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land” (Yehoshua 17:12).
Why did this happen? The Gemara and various commentaries offer several explanations. Some attribute it to lack of complete faith—had they trusted Hashem fully, they would have conquered everything. Others suggest it was a test, as stated explicitly: “Now these are the nations which Hashem left to test Yisrael by them” (Shoftim 3:1). The Rambam suggests that complete conquest would occur gradually, generation by generation, based on the people’s spiritual merit.
But perhaps the deepest explanation appears in the Torah itself: “Hashem your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you may not consume them quickly, lest the beasts of the field increase against you” (Devarim 7:22). The Land needed to be settled gradually, with population growing to fill it properly. A premature conquest of the entire territory without sufficient population to inhabit it would have been counterproductive.
Regardless of the reasons, one point remains clear: the unfulfilled portions of the promise do not invalidate the promise itself. The boundaries declared to Avraham, confirmed to Yitzchak and Yaakov, restated to Moshe, and reiterated to Yehoshua remain the eternal borders of Eretz Yisrael, even if not every generation merits controlling them fully. As Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi taught: In the First Temple era, certain territories were controlled that were not held in the Second Temple era. But the fundamental promise—”from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River”—remains eternally valid, awaiting complete fulfillment in the era of Mashiach.
THE ETERNAL VALIDITY OF THE PROMISE
Through Exile and Return
The history of the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael follows a pattern revealed in the Torah itself—periods of faithful observance bringing prosperity and security, followed by spiritual decline leading to exile, yet always with the promise of eventual return. This cycle appears explicitly in the blessings and curses of Parashat Bechukotai and Ki Tavo.
When Bnei Yisrael observe the Torah, the blessings flow abundantly: “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them, then I will give you rain in its season, and the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit” (Vayikra 26:3-4). The promise extends to security: “And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid” (Vayikra 26:6). Even military threats evaporate: “Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword” (Vayikra 26:8).
But abandonment of the covenant brings catastrophic consequences: “And I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you, and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste” (Vayikra 26:33). This is not vindictive punishment but natural consequence—when the Jewish people separate from Torah, they separate from the very foundation of their connection to the Land.
The Promise Within the Curse
Yet even in the midst of describing exile and destruction, the Torah inserts a promise that has sustained the Jewish people through two thousand years of dispersion: “And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly and break My covenant with them, for I am Hashem their God” (Vayikra 26:44).
This verse deserves careful analysis. First, “when they are in the land of their enemies”—even in exile, even under foreign domination, even scattered across the world. Second, “I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them”—the relationship continues, the covenant endures. Third, “to destroy them utterly”—complete annihilation will never occur. Fourth, “and break My covenant with them”—the covenant is unbreakable. And finally, “for I am Hashem their God”—the fundamental relationship between Hashem and His people transcends all historical circumstances.
The next verse reinforces this promise: “But I will remember for them the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, to be their God; I am Hashem” (Vayikra 26:45). The covenant with the Patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, the giving of the Torah—these foundational events guarantee that the Jewish people will never be permanently severed from their Land or their God.
The Prophetic Vision
The prophets elaborated extensively on this promise of return. Yeshayahu prophesied: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that Hashem will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people… and He will assemble the dispersed of Yehuda from the four corners of the earth” (Yeshayahu 11:11-12). The phrase “the second time” indicates that just as there was a first return (from Babylonian exile), there will be a second, greater ingathering.
Yirmiyahu declared: “Behold, the days come, says Hashem, that I will bring back the captivity of My people Yisrael and Yehuda, says Hashem, and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it” (Yirmiyahu 30:3). Notice the language: “the land that I gave to their fathers”—emphasizing that the return is not to a new land but to the original inheritance, reaffirming the eternal nature of the grant.
Yechezkel received perhaps the most detailed prophecies of return and restoration. In the famous vision of the dry bones (Yechezkel 37), Hashem demonstrates His power to revive the Jewish people: “Thus says the Lord Hashem: Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people, and bring you into the land of Yisrael” (Yechezkel 37:12). The resurrection imagery conveys that even when the nation seems dead, buried among the nations, beyond any hope of revival—Hashem will bring them back to life in their Land.
Yechezkel continues: “And I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land… And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people, and I will be your God” (Yechezkel 36:24-28). Again, the emphasis falls on “the land that I gave to your fathers”—the same Land, the same promise, eternally valid.
The Second Temple Period
The return from Babylonian exile under Ezra and Nechemiah demonstrated the validity of these prophecies. After seventy years of exile, as prophesied by Yirmiyahu, Koresh (Cyrus) king of Persia issued a proclamation: “Thus says Koresh king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has Hashem, God of heaven, given me, and He has charged me to build Him a house in Yerushalayim which is in Yehuda. Whoever there is among you of all His people, Hashem his God be with him, let him go up” (Divrei Hayamim II 36:23).
Approximately 42,000 Jews returned in that first wave (as recorded in Ezra 2:64), a small fraction of those living in Babylonia and Persia. Most chose to remain in exile. Yet those who returned rebuilt the Beit Hamikdash and reestablished Jewish sovereignty in the Land. The Gemara in Mesechta Gittin explains that the second sanctification of the Land by those who returned from Babylonia “sanctified it for its time and for all time”—establishing that the sanctity would endure even after the Second Temple’s destruction.
The Second Temple period lasted over four hundred years, seeing periods of independence under the Chashmona’im and other times under foreign domination. Yet throughout, the Jewish people maintained their presence in the Land and their observance of the commandments dependent upon it.
The Great Destruction
The destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE and the subsequent exile after the Bar Kochva revolt marked the beginning of nearly two thousand years of dispersion. Yet even this catastrophic upheaval did not nullify the divine promise. Jewish communities remained in Eretz Yisrael throughout the exile—in Yerushalayim, Tzfat, Chevron, Tiberias, and other cities. The study of Torah continued, great yeshivot flourished, the Yerushalmi Talmud was compiled in the Land.
And throughout the long centuries of exile, Jews never ceased praying for return. Three times daily, in the Shemoneh Esrei, we pray: “Sound the great shofar for our freedom, and raise a banner to gather our exiles, and gather us together from the four corners of the earth.” In Birkat Hamazon, we beseech: “Have mercy, Hashem our God, on Yisrael Your people, on Yerushalayim Your city, on Zion the dwelling place of Your glory, on the monarchy of the house of Dovid Your anointed.” At every wedding, we break a glass and declare: “If I forget you, O Yerushalayim, let my right hand forget its skill” (Tehillim 137:5).
This constant yearning for return, maintained across two millennia and in every land of exile, testifies to the unbreakable bond between the Jewish people and Eretz Yisrael. No other nation exiled from its homeland has maintained its identity across such vast time and space. No other people has clung to such an ancient claim. This persistence itself constitutes evidence of the divine nature of the connection.
The Promise Fulfilled in Our Time
The modern return to Eretz Yisrael and the establishment of the State of Israel represent the beginning of the fulfillment of these ancient prophecies. While the redemption remains incomplete—the Beit Hamikdash has not yet been rebuilt, the Mashiach has not yet arrived, many Jews remain in exile—nonetheless, the ingathering of exiles has begun on a scale unprecedented since the Second Temple era.
Millions of Jews have returned to the Land from over one hundred countries. The Hebrew language has been revived. The Land, which lay desolate for centuries, now blooms with agriculture and industry. Cities destroyed two thousand years ago have been rebuilt. This extraordinary development fulfills the promise given through the prophets, particularly Yeshayahu’s vision: “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth at once? For as soon as Tzion was in labor, she brought forth her children” (Yeshayahu 66:7-8).
This return occurred not through the merit of those who returned—many were secular, some were even hostile to Torah—but through the power of Hashem’s promise to our forefathers. As He declared: “But I will remember for them the covenant of their ancestors” (Vayikra 26:45). The covenant with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov guarantees our return, regardless of our immediate worthiness. Yet with the gift comes responsibility—now that we have returned, we must fulfill the Torah’s commandments that can only be observed in the Land, and we must live according to the covenant that grants us possession.
The Contemporary Application
In our time, when political pressures and international opinions often call for territorial concessions or question Jewish rights to the Land, we must remember these fundamental truths:
First, our claim to Eretz Yisrael does not rest on United Nations resolutions, international law, or political agreements—though these have their place. Our claim flows from divine promise, recorded in the Torah, confirmed through prophecy, validated by history, and maintained through two thousand years of unwavering faith.
Second, the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael are not determined by current military control or political convenience. They were established by Hashem in His promise to Avraham: “From the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River” (Bereishis 15:18). While we may not control all these territories today, the promise remains eternally valid.
Third, security in the Land depends not primarily on military strength—though appropriate defensive measures are obligatory—but on faithfulness to Torah. As our Sages taught: “When Yisrael does the will of Hashem, no nation can rule over them.” The surest path to secure possession lies in observing Shabbat, maintaining kashrut, studying Torah, and fulfilling all the commandments, particularly those dependent upon the Land itself.
Fourth, every Jew has an obligation regarding Eretz Yisrael. Those with the ability should make aliyah, fulfilling the commandment to settle the Land. Those unable to move should support those living there, visit when possible, and maintain constant awareness that our ultimate home lies in Eretz Yisrael, not in the lands of exile.
The Eternal Covenant
Let us conclude where we began—with the covenant. Hashem made an unbreakable, eternal covenant with our forefathers regarding this Land. Unlike treaties between nations that can be abrogated, unlike agreements that expire, unlike promises that can be broken—this covenant endures forever. As Dovid Hamelech proclaimed: “He remembers His covenant forever, the word that He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant that He made with Avraham, and His oath to Yitzchak, and confirmed to Yaakov as a statute, to Yisrael as an everlasting covenant, saying: To you I will give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance” (Tehillim 105:8-11).
The word “forever”—le’olam—means exactly that. Not contingent on our behavior, though our behavior affects how fully we benefit from it. Not dependent on world opinion or political circumstances. Not subject to historical accidents or military defeats. Forever means forever.
When we stand on the soil of Eretz Yisrael, we stand on ground made holy by the footsteps of our patriarchs, sanctified by the presence of the Shechinah, watered by the blood of martyrs who died al kiddush Hashem rather than abandon it, and blessed by Hashem’s eternal promise that it will be ours forever. No power on earth can nullify this promise. No nation can override this decree. No political pressure can abrogate this covenant.
As we face the challenges of our time—whether political opposition, military threats, or even internal doubts—let us remember the words with which we began: “And I will remember My covenant with Yaakov, and also My covenant with Yitzchak, and also My covenant with Avraham will I remember, and the land I will remember” (Vayikra 26:42).
Hashem remembers. And so must we.
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