In the final Torah portion of the Book of Genesis, Jacob (aka Israel) delivers an ethical will to his children. Jacob’s first request was to be returned to his homeland, the Land of Israel when his descendants left Egypt. This isn’t the first nor the last instance of our people’s connection to the land that God promised Abraham. When we describe the Jewish connection to the modern-day State of Israel, we look back 3000 years to a story like Jacob’s. In life and death, our people turn toward Israel.
Over the last 80+ days, we have heard wave after wave of antisemitic rhetoric that tries to displace us or divorce us from our homeland, but our Torah portion this week reminds us of our eternal connection to the Land. Jacob’s insistence to return to his birthplace, even in death, reminds me of a classic Israeli song, “I Have No Other Land.” The great musician Ehud Manor wrote these words in June of 1982, and it became a hit in 1986. Since then, the song has become an anthem for Jews and Israelis who, while not always in love with the state, cannot imagine living anywhere else.
The song is only two repeating stanzas and goes,
I have no other land.
Even if my land is aflame.
Just a word of Hebrew pierces my arteries and my soul.
My body aches, my heart is hungry
Here is my home.
I will not be silent,
Even if my land changes her face, I will not give up on her.
I will remind her.
I will sing to her ears until she opens her eyes.
The last 80+ days have revealed the dark reality of antisemitism we face. We cannot be silent as our enemies assail us. We must remain steadfast by our people and our land and we must remind ourselves that there is still beauty to be found in what lies ahead.
If you’d like to hear these words sung, click on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz5Mh40-0ps for an incredible rendition by Cantor Dan Mutlu and Cantor Jenna Pearsall of Central Synagogue in Manhattan.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Max