s iritualit r >> torah portion ihe Land Of Israel: To Whom Does It Belong? Parshat Behar: Leviticus 25:1-26:2; Jeremiah 32:6-27. L ong before the Arab-Israeli conflict, God made it clear to the Jewish people that the Land of Israel belongs to neither the Jews nor any other people. Our Torah teaches that the land belongs to God alone. Parshat Behar says this in many different ways as it details the laws of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee Year, each of which describes practices which restrict our use of the land. For example, we are forbidden to farm the land during the Sabbatical Year. In addition, land that has been sold automatically returns to the original owner at the conclusion of the 50-year Jubilee cycle. In case it hasn't made it clear enough that ownership of property was ultimately temporary, Leviticus 25:23 says,"... for the land is mine [God's]; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me." In next week's parshah, God will tell the Children of Israel that if they choose to flout the law by working the land during the Sabbatical Year, they will be expelled from the land in punishment so that the land can make up for the Sabbatical Years that they didn't allow the land to rest! As we celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel Independence Day, this week, we might ask, what is the proper way for the Jewish people to live on the land (God's land) now that the State of Israel exists and Jews have political control of the land? While we can approach this ques- tion from several angles, one is surely to ask about the extent to which the land is ours, and what that means about non-Jews living in Israel. A recent event brought this theoretical issue into stark relief. A statement released by a sig- nificant group of municipal rabbis in Israel last December claimed that it is forbidden for Jews to sell apartments to non-Jews in Israel. Debate immedi- ately erupted both in Israel and within the Jewish community in the U.S. about the conflicting legal opinions and values found within Jewish tradi- tion. In the meantime, the question of the sociological reality is laid bare. Underlying the rabbis' statement is the claim that Jews are in charge of the land while others are strangers to the land. How jarring then to be confronted in this week's parshah with God's claim that we, too, are strangers in the land! God's statement to the Jewish people is not simply about property rights. It is an existential statement, a warning even, about the way we understand what it means to live on the land. It is a statement of the temporary nature of all life and of our respon- sibility towards God in terms of the way we choose to live on the land. If we are "strangers and sojourners" ourselves, surely we have a responsi- bility to heed the Torah's command that "when a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him." (Leviticus 19:33). The political reality of the State of Israel is complex, but complex- ity is no excuse for ignoring Jewish traditions of seeking peace, fairness, and the ever-present directive to remember that we too are "strangers and sojourners" on the land. How fortunate we are to live at a moment in Jewish history when the Jewish people can control their destiny on the Land of Israel. It would be a trag- ic moment to forget what it means to be a stranger. birmingham fine art fair Located in and around Shain Park in Downtown Birmingham With sped thanks t Saturday, May 14: Sunday, May 15: loam - sp Art Fair info: 734.662.3382 • www.ArtBirminglinn:org FRANKLIN TEA WEIGHT Loss PROGRAM New affordable Weight Loss Program led by a team of top personal trainers, nutritionist and a weight loss psychologist. We will provide the tools for your success! Steven Rubenstein is rabbi of Congregation Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield. Conversations 1.When you have most felt like a stranger? 2. How have you acted to welcome strangers into your community in the past and to ensure that they are treated fairly? 29350 Northwestern Highway I Southfield. Michigan 48034 1248.352.8000 WWW.FRANKLINCLUB. COM May 12 4, 2011 29