Devar/5771/Chayei Sarah
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< Devar | 5771
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But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son, even for Isaac.' (Gen 24:4)
What possesses Abraham to call Haran, the place God commanded him to leave, "my country"? After all, he did indeed live outside it for many years: and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba (Gen 22:19)!
At that time, God commanded him get thee out of thy country (Gen 12:1). It is clear to all that it was then still considered "his country". But despite all the years he dwelt in the Land, he still did not think of it as his country. Perhaps there is a simple explanation: the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said: 'Unto thy seed will I give this land' (Gen 12:7) -- I will give it to your offspring, but not to you. All those years Abraham lived in the land of Canaan, he knew that he was no more than a stranger and a sojourner with you (Gen 23:4) -- he considered himself a resident alien and not a citizen of the land.
In our own time there is a similar phenomenon. There are those who make aliyah to the Land of Israel, but remain deep in the lifestyle and world-view of the place from which they came. As it was said, "it is easier to take the Jew out of the Exile than to take the Exile out of the Jew". So long as they yearn for the lifestyle of the Exile, and are still imprisoned in its perspectives, they haven't the opportunity to truly become citizens of the Land -- they rather remain resident aliens in it.
But we are the offspring of Abraham, to whom God may He be blessed promised this Land, which our father Abraham of blessed memory began to purchase with four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant (Gen 23:16). It is upon us to continue to inherit and settle the Land, and to abandon the lifestyles which we dragged here with us from the ends of the earth.
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