Who To Hold By?
Does Torah beat Neviim like rock beats scissors?
Isaiah 65:21-25:
And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit, they shall not plant, and another eat; for as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for terror; for they are the seed blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the LORD.
Genesis 26:17-32:
So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek [dispute], because they disputed with him. Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah [hatred]. He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth [room/space], saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
From there he went up to Beersheba. That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
They answered, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’-between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.”
Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
The problem is that Isaiah is speaking in the future, and Genesis is speaking in time past. Also, one could hardly claim the residents of Gaza were left “unmolested.” As per the prophecy, we’ll see how that theory holds up in a few days. Gotta love allegory.
For more Gazan Biblical mindbenders check out this piece from the JTA.
The Philistines EXPELLED Isaac – then when they saw that there prosperity came in his merit, they came back to make peace.
“Just as we did not molest you…” – this verse is the height of self-serving hypocrisy in the context. Make peace with us because, after all, we just exiled you, we didn’t kill you.
Gee, thanks guys.
Here’s another one to ponder:
The Binding of Isaac comes right after Abraham’s covenant with Avimelech – probably the father of the Avimelech in the story you quote. Nachmanides and other commentators quote a midrash connecting the two – the Binding of Isaac was a *punishment* to Abraham for making a treaty. Quoting the midrash from memory, it has a somewhat PO’d deity saying something like:
“Now that I promised you an inheritance, you go and make peace with pagan enemies and give away the land? Now you’re such a bigshot? Want to make nice with the pagans – so OK, offer up Isaac like the pagans do to THEIR children.”
The peace treaty with the Philistines is seen as a mistake and a sign of lack of faith.
Isaac – the first sabra – has a little more balls, and his powwow with Avimelech II end with him doing the mideast chieftan equivalent of “whatever, dude…”
Actually,
I’m expecting something biblical this week. But frankly, the expulsion if it actually goes through (I’m extremely skeptical) is biblical in itself – something about not listening to hashem and getting thrown out of Israel, all of it.
There are halachic authorities that say leaving Gaza is permissible in order to bring peace. Rav Moshe Lichtenstien said recently in an interview with this website that if his West Bank residency stood in the way of peace with Palestine, it would be with a heavy heart, but he would in fact move.
However, using the Torah to make decisions on national security is always going to be a flawed process. That’s why we have this wonderful thing called democracy.
Aharon Lichtenstein
it was moshe lichtenstein who made those remarks to me, not in an interview, but in a study session @ gush etizon; his father, however, has made similar remarks.
Isaiah “the future” and Genesis ” the past” both are the truth.
peace to all.
ittay,
I don’t think that you’ll find too many ‘thinking’ Israelis who actually believe that retreating from Gush Katif is for peace. We all know that it is plain retreating, that the Palestinians aren’t giving us anything back (unilateral, d’uh), but, you know, ‘something must be done’. Whatever.
Harav Ovadia Yosef said the same thing, but peace through segregation is not simply stupid.
gotta love gush
let me know if I’m wrong, but I think that what the post is trying to say is that when people use Tanach to justify opposition to/ disbelief in withdrawal, there are counterarguments from Tanach itself.
Neither, of course, are really authoritative. Yitzchak’s story can be read as saying that it’s ok to withdraw at times, but it doesn’t tell us that this is or isn’t one of these times. That needs to be judged based on the moral and tactical issues of this particular situation.
And Yeshaya’s prophecy is in God’s hands, how can anyone be certain that it’s talking about today?
I don’t understand why people are so certain that Mashiach is not only right around the corner, but that there is nothing besides giving up territory that could hold him back. They should read some good tochecha from Yeshayahu– it’s behavior, not borders that gets God really mad.
Hmm. R. Stephen Wald said one of the settlers’ problems is they read too much bible and not enough halacha. How close are we, truly, to meriting the land? I agree with Rivka – we have to deserve it.
Abimelech will have his various agendas at various times. The tricky thing is to do the right thing while at the same time giving Abimelech the opportunity to participate in the right thing. Torah is all about trying to get this right and is frequently about imperfect or failed understandings. I think this withdrawl from Gaza has some merit and see it as a good opportunity for Torah thinking.
If we do this right, i see no reason why withdrawl can not be a step towards the time when “before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” “For what great nation is there that hath G-d so so nigh unto them?” Personally and simply politically, i believe any so called “occupied territory” is Israel’s to give or deny when or where we see fit, as this land was gained in a defensive war, the causes for which seem even more stridently adhered to by the aggressor party(ies).
Today, even though Abimelech seems far from the insincere (let alone the sincere) “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you,” we give the Palastinians a chance to get sincere. It’s obvious they don’t want to live with us or (possibly) not even beside us. Our “behaviour” and their “behaviour” will demonstrate who really hopes to “deserve” the land.