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In honour of Yom Yerushalayim, I want to bring notice to the statement of Ramban, Vayikra 26:16 who states that one of the promises of the Tochecha is that, while the Jewish nation will be exiled from the land of Israel by God, no other nation will be able to settle it and thus establish a vibrant entity therein. This is actually what happened. For 2000 years, while the land always had established remnants of a Jewish community within it, no other people really also settled there en masse. The reality of the Zionist return to Eretz Yisrael is not as often portrayed by various individuals of some foreigner Jews kicking out an large indigenous population. When Jews started to return to Israel, there was a small population on the land and it was only because of other Arabs wishing to also go to 'Palestine' because the Jewish settlers were building it up, that the Arab population also increased.
ReplyDeleteThis reflects the challenge presented by the Tochecha. If you want to see things as natural cause and effect, you get one conclusion. If you want to recognize the presence of God -- that for 2000 years also showed its connection specifically with the Jewish People, you get another
Rabbi Ben Hecht