RSS
Why Having a Homeland Matters
In this week’s Torah portion, we read: “God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai and told him to tell the Children of Israel that when they come to the Land of Israel, they should give the land a rest (a Sabbatical) … every seventh year.”
Rashi quotes the Midrash that wonders why specifically the Torah mentions the seventh year release, the Shemitah, as coming from Mount Sinai. The Midrash replies that just as the law of Shmita with all its details and refinements was given on Sinai, so all the laws of the Torah were given in detail and with their ramifications on Mount Sinai.
That’s a nice idea, but it’s more concerned with a theological issue than the practical one. The seventh year release and the jubilee after 49 years were important laws relating to agriculture. But the Midrash is making two points. One is that any law needs to be explained, and any law needs to be amplified. Look what living lawyers make out of arguing about points of law. The issue is a universal one. That the letter of the law is never enough. To give a very simple example, the 10 commandments say “don’t murder.” But we need to know what the difference is between murder, manslaughter, warfare, justified self-defense, etc.
Still, the problem remains why specifically on the issue of Shmita does the Torah feel it necessary to emphasize its significance in relationship to Sinai? One possibility is that Sinai is a location, and these specific laws are tied to a specific location, the Land of Israel. So, Sinai was a territorial stop on the way to the Promised Land.
Another is that this is a way of saying that Torah law is predicated ideally on location. The importance of a land of one’s own is not just territorial but an idealistic dream. A place where one can live a life uninfluenced by alien or different cultures and religions. This is why Nachmanides Ramban, famously said that all the laws were meant to apply only in Israel, and we keep them in the Diaspora only in preparation for a return.
What is important is not just that there are laws relating to agriculture, but that these laws are specifically aimed at those living on Jewish land, and Sinai was a step along the long road to get there. Having a land of our own is not the same as having the land of our own.
We were landless for so long. We were less inclined to regard land as crucial given that most Jews, for most of their lives, could never hope to live in Israel. It had been a dream and an ideal. But the Torah also insists that the stranger, the guest, and the non-Jewish resident are also involved. Having a land of our own does not mean we have to exclude others or be intolerant of them becoming part of us.
Much of the non-Jewish world looks at things only through their own national and cultural lenses. That is why so many of them cannot make sense of this passion that we have for our land which is not just, as they think, nationalist — but is religious and spiritual. And necessary for our survival.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post Why Having a Homeland Matters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.