Priority--the Land of Israel

This morning I paid a Shiva call to a young widow who spoke of how upset her late husband had been about the Israeli government's policy concerning our Land. I really didn't know him, just his wife and young daughter. The Arutz 7 interview with Rabbi Nahum Eliezer Rabinovitch, Rosh Yeshiva of the Birkat Moshe Hesder Yeshiva in Maaleh Adumim gave me some inspiration. What follows is not the interview, just where it led my mind.

Many people forget that according to Judaism, our Land is a priority, like saving a life. Yes, those who mock us for devoting our lives and energies to settling our Land are wrong. There is even a halacha (Jewish Law) that it is permitted to buy parts of Eretz Yisrael on Shabbat. It is a transaction that supersedes Shabbat. We must do everything to redeem our Land.

In pre-State times, rabbis, yes, rabbis went out on Shabbat to buy Land when it was available. The psak (rabbinic decision) was clear. It is forbidden to wait until after Shabbat.

When we lived in Jerusalem, I had a friend who had been told by her father that he remembered going out with his father on Shabbat to pay for Land. A street in our Jerusalem neighborhood was named after her grandfather.

We are supposed to defend our Land, not give it away to our enemies. We must fight for it, because without it, we won't be safe. No other country in the world gives away their land. It is a sign of national sickness for us to give our Land to our enemies. Under no circumstances should we give anything away, not one inch!

L'Ilui Nishmato shel Mottel, killed last week in a car accident.