They will know that I, the Lord, am their God, Who brought them out of
the land of Egypt in order that I may dwell in their midst; I am the Lord,
their God.
Exodus 29:46
Among our classical
commentators, Naḥmanides, and following him, Rabbeinu Beḥayye, note that the
implication of the verse is that having the Shechina manifest within the
Nation of Israel serves not only the nation’s need, but that of God as well!
One of the verses which Naḥmanides
cites in support of his contention, contains the words of Joshua in the
aftermath of the failed attempt to capture Ai:
When the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the Land hear about this,
they will surround us and wipe out and cut off our name from the earth; and
what will You do for Your great Name?
Joshua 7:9
Indeed, the connection among the
Nation of Israel, its Land and the Creator is so strong that the very presence
of Israel outside its Land constitutes a desecration of God’s name. Ezekiel
delivered God’s words:
But then when they entered the other nations, they defiled My holy name
because it was said of them, "These are the Lord’s people, yet they left
his Land."
36:20
While the
simple meaning of the verse seems to be that it was the Israelites’ behavior in
the diaspora which defiled God’s name, according to Midrash Eicha Rabba,
the nations asked in astonishment “If you are indeed the Lord’s people, why
have you left His Land?” It is possible to understand this comment to mean that
God’s name was defiled by the very fact that His nation is to be found outside
the Land.
This
being the case, the corollary is that Israel’s return to its Land rectifies the
desecration of God’s name caused by their having left the Land. Indeed, Rabbi
J. B. Soloveitchik wrote “You have no idea how the Name of the Almighty was
glorified and extolled, and His kingdom reestablished, by the establishment of
the State of Israel.”
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