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Parsha Inishts
By Rabbi Moshe Lichtman

This week's parashah contains a delineation of the borders of Eretz Yisrael, which begins with the following verse: Command the Children of Israel and say to them, "When you come into the Land Canaan; this is the Land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, the Land of Canaan according to its borders" (BeMidbar 34:2). The Midrash comments:

"What does "to you" mean? The Land befits you. This can be compared to a king who had servants and maidservants. He used to marry off his servants to maidservants of a different family, and his maidservants to servants of a different family. The king stopped and thought, "The servants are mine and the maidservants are mine. It is preferable for me to marry my servants to my maidservants; my own to my own." So too, the Holy One blessed be He said (as it were): "The Land is Mine, as it says, The Land is the Lord's (Tehillim 24:1) and, For the Land is Mine (VaYikra 25:23); and the people of Israel are Mine, as it says, For the Children of Israel are servants to Me (ibid. 25:55). It is preferable for Me to give My Land as an inheritance to My servants; My own to My own." Therefore, it says, This is the Land that shall fall to you as an inheritance. (BeMidbar Rabbah 23:11)"

R. Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal zt"l, saintly author of Eim HaBanim Semeichah, explains this Midrash beautifully:

"Why did Chazal need this parable? They simply should have said, "The word 'Mine' is written about both Eretz Yisrael and the people of Israel etc." Furthermore, why did the Midrash cite the verse For the Children of Israel are servants to Me? They should have cited the verse from the giving of the Torah, And you shall be to Me. (Shemot 19:6). Why did they mention the verse that refers to Israel as servants?"

It seems that the Midrash was bothered by a question. Why does the verse ascribe the act of inheriting to the Land, as it says, This is the Land that shall fall to you as an inheritance? This implies that the Land itself will "fall to you"! It should have said, "This is the Land that you shall inherit," for the act of inheriting comes from Israel, not the Land.

The Midrash brings its parable to answer this. For let us consider this matter. A king will certainly not entertain the thought of marrying off his children to servants or maidservants from the outside. Rather, he will marry them to people similar to them. However, he will not hesitate to marry off his servants and maidservants to servants and maidservants from the outside. Eventually, though, he realizes that it is preferable to marry even his servants and maidservants to his own. This is the meaning of the word "preferable." That is, even though this way is good, the other way is slightly better.

Now, we are familiar with Chazal's statement that when we do the will of the Omnipresent we are considered His children, and when we fail to do His will (God forbid) we are considered servants (Bava Batra 10a). This explains everything. When the people of Israel do the will of the Omnipresent and act properly, thereby becoming God's children, there is no doubt that they will receive the Land. For then, the match (shidduch) is like "grapes of the vine with grapes of the vine" (see Pesachim 49a). But when they fail to do His will, and are considered merely servants, one might think that perhaps the Holy One Blessed be He will "marry off" the Land to servants from the outside, meaning, the nations of the world. Therefore, the Midrash brings its parable to teach that even when the people of Israel are considered servants, HaShem says, "It is preferable to 'marry off' My Land to My servants."

Thus, the need for the parable is clear, for it alludes to the fact that even when the people of Israel fail to do the will of HaShem, He still wants the shidduch between them and Eretz Yisrael. This also explains why the Midrash specifically cites the verse For the Children of Israel are servants to Me. It hints to a time when the Jews are considered servants. The Midrash does not cite the verse from the giving of the Torah because that refers to a time when they listened to God, as it says, Now, therefore, if you will hearken to My voice (Shemot 19:5).

This also explains why the verse says, This is the Land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, and not "that you shall inherit." "That you shall inherit" would have implied that you, by your own virtues, deserve this. Then it makes sense to ascribe the act of inheriting to Israel. It would have referred specifically to a time when the people of Israel do the will of HaShem. Therefore, the Torah says, that shall fall to you. This implies that you will not receive the Land because you acted properly, but because the Land desires it. The Land says, "It is preferable for me to fall to you than to other servants." (Eim HaBanim Semeichah, pp. 283-85)

Rav Teichtal's interpretation sheds much light on events that have transpired in the Land of Israel over the past century or so. The time apparently came when Eretz Yisrael said to God, "I want my soul mate (Am Yisrael) back after all these years of exile, even though he is not as righteous as he used to be." And God acquiesced, initiating the ingathering of the exiles and setting in motion the process that will eventually lead to the ultimate redemption. The only thing still missing is the willingness on the part of the Jewish people to accept the Land's offer of marriage and return to her loving embrace. May we be zocheh to see this happen very soon and maybe then, this Tisha B'Av will be a joyous occasion, instead of a fast day, as the prophet promised.

Rabbi Lichtman's D'var Torah was excerpted from his book, Eretz Yisrael in the Parashah.