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Dvar Torah - Parashat Noach – Rav Erez Levi
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Many people talk nowadays about Aliyah. The key phrase of many of those who made
Aliyah is that they did not make Aliyah, rather Aliyah made them. When did this
Aliyah trend really start? Who was the first 'Oleh'? The accepted notion is that
Abraham was the first 'Oleh', as it statedלך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך..." "
'Go away from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father's house, to
the land that I will show you…" While Abraham is indeed the first successful 'Oleh'
he is not the one who started the Aliyah. At the end of Parashat Noach we read about
Abraham's father – Terach.
"וַיִּקַּח תֶּרַח אֶת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וְאֶת לוֹט בֶּן הָרָן בֶּן בְּנוֹ וְאֵת שָׂרַי
כַּלָּתוֹ אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וַיֵּצְאוּ אִתָּם מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה
כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד חָרָן וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם" (בראשית יא, לא) "Terach took his
son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram's
wife). With them, he left Ur Casdim, heading toward the land of Canaan. They came
as far as Charan and settled there." Some questions arise from this verse: Why did
Terach begin to walk to the land of Canaan? Why did he not finish his journey? What
is the significance of this story?
When we compare the experiences of Abraham and his father when immigrating we can
see a clearer picture. Terach probably left Ur for political reasons,
such as not
agreeing with the local government (Nimrod), and for business reasons, the land
of Canaan is an important junction between the continents of the world. All
these are secular reasons for emigrating from Ur.
Abraham immigrated to the land of Canaan for religious reasons: Hashem told him
to go there. This is the main difference between religious and secular Zionism.
The Torah tells us that only those who come out of a belief that it is G-d's command
will merit to settle in the land. Terach left Ur with the intention of moving to
Canaan, but he remained in Haran. Anyone looking for a comfortable life and a good place for business may start the move but not necessarily finish it. The reason
for making Aliyah does not flow from considerations of feasibility, rather from
complete faith that Aliyah is the will of the Creator.
One of the problems of the State of Israel today is that many of the early Zionistic
establishments began the Terach way: not because it is the vision of the Torah, rather for reasons on convenience, security, etc. These will be fixed only when
more and more people understand the significance of Abraham's Aliyah. Let us hope that we are privileged to follow his path.
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