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And Jacob took a vow, saying: if
God will be with me, and keep me on this path that I go, and will give me
bread to eat and clothes to wear. And I return in peace to my father’s home,
then shall the Lord be my God. Genesis 28:20-21
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My
father noted that Jacob referred to God’s guarding him, feeding and clothing
him, yet to his return to his father’s home. Jacob does not say “if God
returns me to my father’s home.” In his careful choice of wording, Jacob
expresses his understanding that an Israelite must make active efforts to
return to the Land of our Fathers. Since there is a mitzva to live in
the Land of Israel a Jew should not simply wait for
God to return him to his Land, but must attempt endeavor to reach the Land as
quickly as possible.
Further,
Jacob expressed his wish that he may return from his exile voluntarily. Jacob
prayed that the travails of exile will not force him to leave his diaspora, and
equally, that even if he prospered in exile, he will choose to return to his
own Land.
Additionally,
my father noted that Jacob’s statement that when he returns to the Land “then
shall the Lord be my God” corresponds to our Sages’ teaching:
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All who live outside the Holy Land
are considered as not having a God.
Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot
110b
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