The Land of the Fathers' Sojournings

And Jacob dwelt in the Land of his father's sojournings, in the Land of Canaan. Genesis 37:1

                The verse presents two appellations for the place where Jacob dwelt: “the Land of his father's sojournings” and “the Land of Canaan.”

                Don Yitzḥak Abravanel explains that Jacob’s dwelling place was doubly suitable for worshipping God. Firstly, the Land itself is uniquely appropriate for Divine service, by virtue of being the Holy Land, chosen by God Himself.” The fact that the Land was the place of his father and grandfather’s sojournings added a second dimension of sanctity. That is, Jacob’s fathers had already begun the process of realizing the sanctity of the Land in practice.

                Indeed, Panim Yafot [Genesis 48:21] writes: through dwelling in the Land of Israel, the forefathers, as it were, sifted the sanctity of the Land which was hidden when the Amorites occupied the Land.

                Netziv notes an additional dimension: because it was “the Land of his father's sojournings,” the Land of Canaan had already been endowed with an extra level of sanctity through the practice therein of Torah and mitzvot. Netziv comments that even though wherever Jacob and his family lived, their lives were governed by Torah, nonetheless, there is an advantage in being in a place in which Torah and mitzvot have already been firmly rooted.

                Rabbi J.B. Soloveichik commented that the words” in the Land of his father's sojournings, in the Land of Canaan” connote not merely a geographical location, but a love for the Land that was both his father’s and grandfather’s home.