Isreality

And he (Abram) said: “Lord God, how do I know that I will inherit it?"                                       Genesis 15:8

Kli Yakar asks why Abram requested a sign of the fulfillment of the Divine promise of the Land specifically at this juncture, and not upon hearing God’s promise: “to your seed will I give the Land.” [Genesis 12:7]

My father offered a homiletic answer: with the current promise, God compared Abraham’s descendants to the stars of heaven, leading Abraham to fear that they will focus exclusively on heavenly matters, ignoring the need for an earthly national life, centered upon their own homeland.

Israel must fulfill its charge as a nation, to stress spiritual aspects, within the framework of mundane reality.

Further, it is possible to understand Abram’s question thus: how will I know that my descendants will understand and appreciate that Israel in not simply a land like any other, but a place which demands sanctity and conveys sanctity to its rightful inhabitants.