Translated by Rabbi Yair Hoffman [and part of a larger work in the process of completion]
Recently, one of my sons was explaining to a sister that her car desperately needed a re-alignment. In light of a certain book that has been circulating among some of our fine Torah institutions, the same term can be applied to some of our Yeshiva students. The best way to do this is to present things in the words of Rav Chatzel Abramsky zatzal – a talmid of Rav Chaim Brisker zatzal and a world reknowned Gadol HaDor.
INTRODUCTION
The Covenant of the Land
“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). The Sifra asks a profound question on this verse: From where do we know that a covenant was established for the land itself? The answer comes from the very words of the text—”and the land I will remember.” Just as Hashem made covenants with our forefathers, so too He made a covenant with the Land itself.
The Purpose of This Work
This book, Eretz Yisrael—The Inheritance of Am Yisrael, has one overarching purpose composed of three essential components. It seeks to clarify and establish beyond doubt the three foundational pillars upon which rests the eternal right of the Children of Israel to settle their ancestral homeland. These three foundations are not mere historical claims or political arguments—they are divine truths that have sustained our people through millennia of exile and will guide us through the final redemption.
The First Foundation: The Divine Grant
The Creator of heaven and earth, Master of all that exists, whose handiwork encompasses the entire universe and who alone rules over every corner of creation—He gave this land as an eternal inheritance to our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and to all their descendants after them, “as an everlasting possession.” This gift extends throughout all generations, “for all the days that the heavens are over the earth” (Devarim 11:21), as an unchangeable decree woven into the very fabric of creation. As Dovid Hamelech proclaims in Tehillim: “He established it for Yaakov as a statute, for Yisrael as an everlasting covenant, saying: To you I will give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance” (Tehillim 105:10-11).
Consider the significance of the words “everlasting possession”—achuzat olam. When Hashem promised the Land to Avraham Avinu, as recorded in Bereishis, He declared: “I will give to you and to your descendants 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 phrase appears nowhere else regarding any other nation or land. True, Hashem told Avraham, “Do not fear to go down to Egypt” (Bereishis 46:3), and regarding Edom He said, “I have given Mount Seir to Eisav as a possession” (Devarim 2:5), and concerning Moav and Ammon He stated, “to the children of Lot I have given Ar as a possession” (Devarim 2:9). But notice the critical difference: for these other nations, the Torah never uses the phrase “everlasting possession.” Their gifts were temporal; ours is eternal. When it came to the conquest of Sichon, however, Hashem commanded: “Begin to take possession, and engage him in battle” (Devarim 2:24).
The Second Foundation: Hashem Himself Brought Us In
The Holy One, blessed be He, did not merely promise the Land—He personally orchestrated our entrance into it. In His own glory, He brought our ancestors into the land He had sworn to give them, driving out the nations before them through miracles and wonders that defied all natural law. Listen to His own words, recorded in Sefer Yehoshua: “I took your father Avraham from beyond the river and led him throughout all the land of Canaan… and I brought you into the land of the Emorites who dwelt beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you, and I delivered them into your hands… and you crossed the Jordan and came to Yericho, and the citizens of Yericho fought against you—the Emorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Chittites, Girgashites, Chivites, and Yevusites—and I delivered them into your hands… not by your sword nor by your bow” (Yehoshua 24:3-12).
The message rings clear: this was no mere human conquest. The entry into Eretz Yisrael and the dispossession of its former inhabitants occurred through direct divine intervention. Hashem Himself fought for His people, toppling mighty nations and fortified cities so that His chosen people could inherit their promised homeland. This establishes that our claim to the Land rests not on military might but on divine decree and action.
The Third Foundation: The Inseparable Bond
The connection between the Jewish people and Eretz Yisrael transcends all ordinary relationships between a nation and its territory. This bond resembles the connection between a soul and its body, between a tree and the soil from which it draws life. Chazal understood this deeply when they taught that “the Shechinah never departed from the Western Wall” (Shemot Rabbah 2:2), and that “no place is better suited for prophecy than Eretz Yisrael” (Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim). They went so far as to declare: “One who walks four cubits in Eretz Yisrael is assured of life in the World to Come” (Ketubot 111a).
Why such extraordinary statements? Because Eretz Yisrael possesses a sanctity found nowhere else on earth. The Land was specifically designated for the Jewish people from the six days of Creation, and the Jewish people were fashioned to find their complete fulfillment only in this Land. Just as a plant can only produce its proper fruit when rooted in its native soil, so too can the Children of Yisrael only achieve their ultimate purpose—the full observance of Torah and the manifestation of divine presence in the world—when dwelling in their divinely appointed homeland.
The Rambam in his commentary on Mesechta Ketubot (12:3) elaborates on this, drawing on the Yerushalmi (Ketubot 12:3) and the teaching found in Sifrei. The designation “Eretz Yisrael” itself, used repeatedly throughout Tanach and Chazal, reflects not merely a geographical label but a profound metaphysical reality—this is Yisrael’s Land, inseparably bound to the nation.
The Nature of Ownership
Understanding the unique character of this divine gift requires us to distinguish it from all ordinary forms of land ownership. When one person gives a field or vineyard to another, the gift transfers absolute ownership from giver to receiver. The original owner relinquishes all claim. But the gift of Eretz Yisrael operates according to an entirely different principle.
The Land belongs eternally to Hashem, as He explicitly declares in Vayikra: “For the land is Mine, for you are strangers and sojourners with Me” (Vayikra 25:23). Just as a vineyard remains the property of its owner even when leased to tenant farmers, so too does Eretz Yisrael remain Hashem’s possession even while given to Yisrael. The crucial difference lies in the eternal lease: Hashem chose Yisrael as His special treasure and gave them this Land as their inheritance forever. From the moment He brought our forefathers into it through miracles and wonders, establishing them upon it as His chosen nation, every subsequent generation inherited this divine grant from their ancestors by heavenly decree.
This explains why the Torah repeatedly refers to “Eretz Yisrael” specifically—linking the Land inseparably with the nation. The designation appears throughout Torah literature, in Sifrei, in the Gemara, and in countless rabbinic sources, demonstrating that this represents not merely common usage but a fundamental theological principle.
The Commandments and the Land
Through this unique bond between Yisrael and its Land, we can understand why the Torah’s commandments achieve their fullest expression only within Eretz Yisrael’s borders. The Torah is not merely an abstract collection of wisdom and ethical teachings—it is a Torah of life, meant to be lived and practiced in the physical world. And that physical manifestation reaches its pinnacle only on the sacred soil of Eretz Yisrael.
Consider even those commandments that seem purely spiritual—mitzvot that dwell in the heart without requiring physical action, such as the fundamental commandment of emunah, belief in Hashem. Even these spiritual commandments achieve their highest level only in Eretz Yisrael, for faith in Hashem reaches its ultimate intensity through the holiness and purity of Torah study in the Land. If this holds true for commandments of the heart, how much more so for the practical mitzvot that require physical action!
The Torah designates an entire category called “mitzvot hateluyot ba’aretz”—commandments dependent upon the Land. These include terumot and ma’asrot (tithes and priestly gifts), shemittah (the sabbatical year), yovel (the jubilee year), pe’ah (leaving the corner of the field for the poor), leket and shikchah (gleanings and forgotten sheaves), and the laws of kilayim (forbidden mixtures in agriculture). These commandments cannot be fulfilled anywhere else on earth. They exist solely within Eretz Yisrael’s boundaries, intrinsically tied to its sacred soil.
Even beyond these agricultural laws, consider our festivals—Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. These celebrations correspond to the agricultural cycle of Eretz Yisrael specifically, marking “the time of our freedom,” “the time of the giving of our Torah,” and “the time of our joy” in direct connection to the harvest seasons of the Land. While we observe these holidays in exile, their full meaning and complete observance remain bound to life in Eretz Yisrael.
The Midrash Tanchuma on Parashat Vayikra teaches: “The entire Torah exists only by virtue of the Land, as it says: ‘These are the statutes and ordinances that you shall observe to do in the land’ (Devarim 12:1). As long as you are in the land, the statutes and ordinances exist; if you are not in the land, they do not exist. This teaches that the essence of the Torah is fulfilled in Eretz Yisrael.” The Midrash continues: “Another interpretation: The entire Torah was given only by virtue of Eretz Yisrael, and after Yisrael sinned and was exiled, it is as if the Torah was nullified except for the commandments that can be fulfilled outside the Land—these remain. But inside the Land, there are the twenty-four priestly gifts and the tithes and all the other commandments.”
Maintaining the Eternal Claim
From all this emerges a crucial principle: our possession and settlement of Eretz Yisrael does not depend primarily on military strength or political negotiations. It rests instead on our faithfulness to Torah and our special relationship with the Creator. Our Sages taught in Mesechta Sotah (9:15): “When Yisrael does the will of Hashem, no nation or kingdom can rule over them.” This truth appears encoded in the verse from Vayikra: “I will scatter you among the nations” (Vayikra 26:33)—but the context makes clear this occurs only if we abandon the covenant.
The Torah portions in Vayikra and Devarim elaborate extensively on this principle. They promise that adherence to Hashem’s commandments will bring blessing and security in the Land: “And the land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill and dwell safely therein” (Vayikra 25:19). Yet abandonment of the covenant will result in exile. But even these warnings of exile come paired with assurances of ultimate return. The covenant itself can never be broken. As Dovid Hamelech proclaims in Tehillim: “My covenant I will not break, nor alter what has gone out of My lips” (Tehillim 89:35).
This leads to a profound insight about exile and return. The expulsion from the Land never represented abandonment by Hashem, Heaven forbid, but rather a temporary concealment of His face—a punishment for sins, as our Sages explained. The essential covenant, however, remained intact even through the darkest periods of galut. Like a father who temporarily distances his son due to misbehavior but never severs the father-son relationship, so too did Hashem, even when sending us into exile, maintain the fundamental bond between Himself and His people, and between His people and their Land.
The Sanctity That Endures
Here we encounter another foundational principle: the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael never ceased, not even during our longest exiles. The Gemara in Mesechta Gittin (7a) establishes this clearly: “The first sanctification sanctified it for its time and sanctified it for all time.” The original kedushah (holiness) that Hashem placed upon the Land when He first gave it to our forefathers remains in effect forever, transcending all historical circumstances.
This explains why, even after the destruction of the First Temple and during the period of the Second Temple, when those who returned from Babylonia resettled the Land, the people remained obligated in all the agricultural commandments dependent upon the Land—terumot, ma’asrot, and all the rest. When that era too came to an end, when enemies destroyed Yerushalayim again and scattered Yisrael among the nations to all corners of the earth, the sanctity endured. As the verse in Vayikra promises: “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).
The prohibitions and obligations tied to the Land—the laws governing what is permitted and forbidden, the requirements of tzedakah (charity) and mishpat (justice)—all remain perpetually in force. The Torah commands us to pursue “tzedek tzedek tirdof”—”Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Devarim 16:20)—with particular emphasis on how we treat the poor. The Torah instructs us: “You shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother” (Devarim 15:7), and further states: “there shall be no poor among you” (Devarim 15:4)—teaching us that we must strive to eliminate poverty through proper social structures and generosity.
The Torah’s concern for the dignity of the poor emerges clearly in its commands. One who gives charity must do so graciously, never causing embarrassment, for as Dovid Hamelech teaches: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Tehillim 51:19). The Gemara in Bava Batra (9b) goes further: “Greater is one who causes others to give charity than one who gives himself.” And all this applies with special force regarding the poor of Eretz Yisrael, who possess unique sanctity by virtue of dwelling in the holy Land.
The Obligation to Settle the Land
One point emerges with crystal clarity: even though many commandments dependent on the Land cannot be fulfilled today during our exile—due to our many sins and the incomplete nature of our return—the fundamental obligation to settle the Land and never abandon it to foreigners remains eternally binding. Hashem commanded His people to dwell in the Land He swore to give them, and He bound them with this obligation across all generations.
Scripture testifies that when our ancestors failed to heed the commandment “to inherit the Land that I have given you,” they faced severe punishment. The Torah explicitly warns: “Because you did not serve Hashem your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies” (Devarim 28:47-48). This teaches that whoever has the ability to ascend to the Land and does not do so, and whoever has settled there and contemplates leaving—Scripture holds them accountable.
The obligation falls upon every Jew not to abandon the inheritance of our forefathers and not to turn away from the holiness of the Land to live among the nations. Just as it is forbidden to emigrate from Eretz Yisrael to settle elsewhere (as codified in halachah), so too one is obligated to make every effort to return when possible. Even now, scattered as we are among the nations, the Torah obligates us concerning the Land’s welfare and its building. Our Sages declared with utmost clarity in Sifrei: “The commandment of settling Eretz Yisrael is equivalent to all the commandments in the Torah combined.”
The Status Compared to Other Lands
No other land has ever been granted such sanctity and exalted status. Even among foreign lands, distinctions exist based on proximity to the Holy Land—those closer to Eretz Yisrael take precedence in certain halachic matters. The Torah itself hints at this hierarchy when describing Eliezer’s mission: “And he arose and went to Aram Naharaim, to the city of Nachor” (Bereishis 24:10)—choosing a location that, while outside the Land, maintained relative closeness to it.
Historical Precedent: Avraham’s Test
Consider the profound lesson embedded in Avraham Avinu’s experience during the famine. Scripture relates: “And there was a famine in the land, and Avram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land” (Bereishis 12:10). This episode represents one of Avraham’s ten trials mentioned in Pirkei Avot (5:3), and perhaps among the most challenging. When a righteous person faces a test involving his very physical survival—”for the famine was severe”—this constitutes the most difficult trial imaginable.
Yet notice the language carefully: Avraham “went down to Egypt to sojourn [lagur] there”—not to settle permanently, but as a temporary resident. Even when sustaining life in the Land became impossible, Avraham understood that leaving could only be temporary. The Torah emphasizes this distinction because the principle remains binding across all generations: one may leave Eretz Yisrael temporarily to preserve life, to learn Torah, or for other compelling reasons, but permanent emigration is forbidden.
The Gemara in Mesechta Ketubot (110b) teaches: “One may leave Eretz Yisrael to learn Torah, to marry, or to save oneself from danger.” But even these exceptions permit only temporary departure. One who settles outside the Land permanently, even for a seemingly good reason like marriage, acts improperly. The Rambam codifies this principle explicitly in Hilchot Melachim.
The Divine Presence in the Land
Why such strict rules about leaving? Because the Shechinah—Hashem’s Divine Presence—dwells in Eretz Yisrael in a unique way found nowhere else on earth. One who leaves the Land essentially separates himself from the Shechinah. The Gemara in Ketubot (110b) states boldly: “Whoever dwells outside the Land is like one who has no God”—not literally, Heaven forbid, but teaching that the connection between man and his Creator that flourishes in Eretz Yisrael cannot be replicated elsewhere with the same intensity.
Hashem chose this Land from all the lands to make His Name dwell there, as Scripture declares: “And I will dwell among the Children of Israel and be their God” (Shemot 29:45). Onkelos translates this: “And I will cause My Shechinah to dwell among the Children of Israel”—establishing that the divine Presence manifests more fully in the Land than anywhere else. This is not mere sentiment or poetry; it represents a metaphysical reality that shapes every aspect of Jewish life and observance.
AVRAHAM AVINU: THE FIRST HEBREW TO ENTER THE LAND BY DIVINE COMMAND
The Divine Call
When the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Avraham our father and selected him from all humanity to be His servant and the progenitor of a great nation destined to inherit the Land, the first command was revolutionary: “Go forth from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Bereishis 12:1). Notice that Hashem did not initially specify which land. He said merely “the land that I will show you”—making even the destination part of Avraham’s test. Avraham departed without knowing his final destination, trusting completely in Hashem’s word.
This command structured itself in ascending order of difficulty: “from your land”—leave your familiar country; “from your birthplace”—abandon the town where you were born and raised; “from your father’s house”—separate even from your immediate family. This was not merely a geographical relocation but a complete spiritual transformation, a total break from the idolatrous culture of Ur Kasdim. And the destination—”to the land that I will show you”—would be revealed gradually, teaching that the relationship between Avraham and the Land must be built on absolute faith and trust in divine providence.
The Midrash in Bereishis Rabbah (39:1) notes that this journey was for Avraham’s own benefit—to refine him, to elevate him, to prepare him for his role as the father of the Jewish nation. But it was also for the Land’s benefit, to begin sanctifying it through the footsteps of the righteous.
The First Promise
When Avraham arrived in Canaan, a momentous event occurred: “And Avram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh, and the Canaanites were then in the land” (Bereishis 12:6). At precisely that location, at that historic moment, “Hashem appeared to Avram and said: ‘To your seed I will give this land'” (Bereishis 12:7). This marked the first explicit promise of the Land to Avraham and his descendants—a promise that would be repeated, elaborated, and reinforced throughout Avraham’s lifetime.
Pay careful attention to the phrase “and the Canaanites were then in the land.” Why does the Torah include this detail? Rashi, based on the Gemara, explains that it means they were in the process of conquering the land from others. But the straightforward meaning teaches an even more fundamental lesson: despite the current inhabitants, despite the military might of the Canaanites and their established cities, Hashem declared that this Land was destined for Avraham’s children. The divine promise transcends all present political or demographic realities. Jewish ownership of Eretz Yisrael flows from divine decree, not from human circumstances.
Avraham’s Response
How did Avraham respond to this extraordinary promise? “And he built there an altar to Hashem who appeared to him” (Bereishis 12:7). No questions, no doubts, no hesitation. Avraham immediately established a place of worship, acknowledging Hashem’s sovereignty and accepting the divine promise. But this act of building an altar carried deeper significance—it constituted a physical claim to the Land, a public declaration that this place was now consecrated to the service of the One God.
Avraham continued traversing the Land: “And he moved from there to the mountain east of Beit El, and pitched his tent, having Beit El on the west and Ai on the east, and there he built an altar to Hashem and called upon the name of Hashem” (Bereishis 12:8). Throughout his journeys, Avraham repeatedly built altars, establishing sacred sites and demonstrating his active connection to every corner of the territory Hashem had promised him.
The Ramban on these verses explains that Avraham’s purpose in building altars throughout the Land was not merely personal worship but a public proclamation of monotheism, a sanctification of each location, and an implicit claim of ownership for future generations. Every place where Avraham prayed became forever marked with holiness, preparing the Land for its ultimate destiny as home to Hashem’s chosen people.
The Covenant Between the Parts
As the narrative unfolds in Bereishis chapter 15, we encounter one of the most pivotal moments in all of Jewish history—the Covenant Between the Parts, Brit Bein HaBetarim. Despite Hashem’s promises, Avraham still had no children. He expressed his concern: “O Lord Hashem, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” (Bereishis 15:2).
Hashem responded with a magnificent promise. He brought Avraham outside and commanded: “Look now toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He declared: “So shall your seed be” (Bereishis 15:5). The Torah testifies to Avraham’s reaction: “And he believed in Hashem, and He counted it to him for righteousness” (Bereishis 15:6)—establishing emunah, faith, as the foundation of Jewish identity.
But the promise extended beyond numerous descendants. Hashem continued: “I am Hashem who brought you out of Ur Kasdim to give you this land to inherit it” (Bereishis 15:7). When Avraham asked, “O Lord Hashem, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” (Bereishis 15:8), Hashem established a formal covenant through the dramatic ritual of cutting animals and passing between their parts—a ceremony that would bind Hashem Himself to His promise through the most solemn oath conceivable.
The Boundaries Revealed
During this covenant ceremony, Hashem revealed to Avraham the entire future: the exile in Egypt that his descendants would endure, their affliction for four hundred years, and ultimately their redemption and return to inherit the Land. Then came the explicit delineation of boundaries: “On that day Hashem made a covenant with Avram, saying: ‘To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River'” (Bereishis 15:18).
This verse demands our careful attention, for it defines not some modest territory but a vast expanse—from the River of Egypt (identified by some commentaries as the Nile, by others as Wadi El-Arish in the Sinai) all the way to the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. This encompasses far more territory than the Jewish people have ever fully controlled, even during the golden ages of Dovid Hamelech and Shlomo Hamelech.
The promise specifies ten nations whose lands would become the inheritance of Avraham’s descendants: “the Keni, the Kenizi, the Kadmoni, the Chitti, the Perizi, the Refaim, the Emori, the Canaani, the Girgashi, and the Yevusi” (Bereishis 15:19-21). Rashi notes that while the Torah usually mentions only seven Canaanite nations, here ten are listed—including three (Keni, Kenizi, Kadmoni) that were never actually conquered. This leads to a profound question addressed by our Sages: Why promise territories that would never be fully possessed?
Various answers emerge from different commentators. Some say the complete fulfillment awaits the Messianic era, when all the promises will be realized in their fullness. Others teach that the partial conquest in each generation resulted from the sins and spiritual failures of that generation—had they merited it, they would have inherited everything. The Ramban suggests that the promise includes lands that will be added in the future redemption. But all agree on one crucial point: the promise itself remains eternal and unconditional. The Land belongs to the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov by divine decree, regardless of whether they have physically occupied every portion of it in every generation. As Hashem told Avraham earlier: “For all the land which you see, to you I will give it and to your seed forever” (Bereishis 13:15).
The Purchase of Me’arat Hamachpelah
Years later, when Sarah Imeinu passed away, Avraham made his first actual purchase of land in Canaan. The narrative in Bereishis chapter 23 provides extraordinary detail, emphasizing the legal and formal nature of this transaction. Every step is documented with precision that seems unusual for a biblical narrative—until we understand its purpose.
Avraham approached the Chittites and requested: “Give me a possession of a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead” (Bereishis 23:4). Efron the Chitti offered generously: “The field I give you, and the cave that is in it I give you; in the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead” (Bereishis 23:11). But Avraham insisted on paying full price: “If you will, please hear me: I will give you money for the field; take it from me, and I will bury my dead there” (Bereishis 23:13).
The transaction proceeded with meticulous formality: “And Avraham listened to Efron, and Avraham weighed out to Efron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the children of Chet, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant” (Bereishis 23:16). The Torah then emphasizes the comprehensive nature of the purchase: “And the field of Efron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded to Avraham as a possession in the presence of the children of Chet, before all who went in at the gate of his city” (Bereishis 23:17-18).
Why such extensive documentation? The Midrash in Bereishis Rabbah (79:7) provides the answer: Three places exist that the nations of the world can never claim we stole—the Cave of Machpelah (purchased by Avraham), the Temple Mount (purchased by Dovid Hamelech from Aravnah the Yevusi), and the plot in Shechem (purchased by Yaakov from the sons of Chamor). All three were acquired through documented, witnessed, legal transactions according to the commercial laws recognized by all nations. Our claim to these sites rests not only on divine promise but also on legitimate purchase—a dual foundation that leaves no room for denial.
The insistence on payment rather than accepting a gift reflects profound wisdom. A gift can be disputed, questioned, or claimed to have conditions. But a purchase at full market value, witnessed publicly, documented in the presence of the city’s leaders—this creates an ironclad legal claim that transcends generations and cannot be challenged. Avraham understood that for the sake of his descendants, this first parcel of Eretz Yisrael must be acquired in a manner that would withstand any future scrutiny.
Avraham’s Ten Trials
The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot (5:3) teaches: “Avraham Avinu was tested with ten trials, and he withstood them all—to show how great was the love of Avraham Avinu.” Among the most challenging of these trials was the Akeidat Yitzchak, the Binding of Yitzchak, which occurred on Har Hamoriah—the very mountain that would later become the site of the Beit Hamikdash in Yerushalayim.
After Avraham demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice even his beloved son in obedience to Hashem’s command, the angel called to him from heaven with a dramatic prophecy: “By Myself I have sworn, says Hashem, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. And through your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Bereishis 22:16-18).
This oath, sworn by Hashem Himself—”By Myself I have sworn”—represents the highest level of divine commitment possible. It reinforces and intensifies all previous promises. Not only will Avraham’s descendants inherit the Land, but they will “possess the gate of their enemies”—meaning they will have dominion, security, and victory over those who oppose them. The dual metaphor of “stars of heaven” and “sand on the seashore” suggests both the spiritual heights the Jewish people will reach (like stars) and their earthly proliferation (like sand), with both aspects tied intrinsically to their inheritance of the Land.
(continued in Part II)
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