The Land: Beginning and End

… and underneath are the everlasting arms and He thrust out the  enemy before you

                                                 Deuteronomy 33:27

          Meshech Ḥochma quotes Targum Onkelos (the first century translation of the Torah into Aramaic):

Through His word was the world brought into being and He chased your enemy from before you.

          Meshech Ḥochma notes that, in terms of content, our verse conveys the same message as the comment of Rabbi Yitzḥak, brought by Rashi on the opening verse of the Torah:

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: the Torah should have begun with “This month shall be for you the beginning of months” [Exodus 12:2] (the first mitzva given to the People of Israel). The reason for beginning with Creation is to justify giving the Holy Land to Israel. Since God is the Creator of the world, He can assign any part of it to whomever He chooses.

          Meshech Ḥochma’s insight shows us that the Torah both begins and ends with pointing out the God given right of the Children of Israel to the Land of Israel.

          Given that the Torah is the source of our right to the Land, it should not be surprising that this point is made both in opening and in closing the Torah.