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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.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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