It's more than just history or geography. It’s woven into the very fabric of our spiritual DNA.
Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of Midrashic teachings on the Book of Numbers, offers a beautiful analogy that illuminates this connection. It begins with a seemingly simple phrase: "This will be the land that will fall to you [lakhem] as an inheritance." The text then asks, "What is lakhem?" meaning "to you" or "for you." The answer? "It is fitting for you [lakhem]."
But what does that really mean?
The Midrash answers with a parable. Imagine a king who owns slaves and maidservants. He could marry slaves from a different estate to his maidservants and vice versa, mixing things up, creating a diverse, albeit complicated, household. But the king pauses, reflects. He realizes: "The slaves are mine, and the maidservants are mine. It would be preferable for me to marry my slaves to my maidservants, mine to mine." There's a unity, a belonging that comes from keeping things within the family, so to speak.
Now, take that image and apply it to the relationship between God, the Land of Israel, and the Jewish people. As the text states, “The land is Mine, as it is stated: ‘The earth is the Lord’s’ (Psalms 24:1), ‘As the land is Mine’ (Leviticus 25:23), and Israel is Mine, as it is stated: ‘For the children of Israel are servants to Me’ (Leviticus 25:55)."
Think about the implications of those verses for a moment. God owns the earth. And the Children of Israel are God's servants. The connection is already there, intrinsic, unbreakable.
So, God, in essence, says: "It is preferable that I bequeath My land to My servants, Mine to Mine." And that, Bamidbar Rabbah tells us, is why it is stated: "This will be the land that will fall to you as an inheritance." It's a perfect fit. A divinely ordained match.
It's not just about possession; it's about belonging. The Land isn't just a piece of real estate; it’s a part of our very being. We are connected to it and it is connected to us in a way that transcends earthly ownership. The Land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael, is our inheritance because it is intrinsically linked to our identity as God's people.
This teaching from Bamidbar Rabbah invites us to consider the profound relationship between ourselves, the Land, and the Divine. It’s a relationship built on belonging, on shared ownership, and on the deep understanding that we are, in a very real sense, meant for each other. What does that belonging mean to you?