Jewish Scholars Say the Land Promise To Israel Is Conditional

[illinoisguy]

Since the question has been raised on our forum of whether the land promise to Abraham and his descendants is conditional or unconditional, I hereby present the teachings of Jewish scholars on that issue:

Avraham Burg, former Speaker of the Knesset: "We're not the Chosen People just by virtue of our forefathers; Leviticus warns the land will vomit us out, too, if we continue to be stiff-necked and evil. . . . There is no eternal guarantee to this holy land. . . . Our presence in the land is intimately connected with our moral behavior (our treatment of the stranger, widow and orphan) as a nation. . . . When life is not lived morally, there's no difference between Jews and Amorites, between Israelis and Canaanites, Romans or Crusaders."

Behukotai: No automatic promise of land

We’re not the Chosen People just by virtue of our forefathers; Leviticus warns the land will vomit us out, too, if we continue to be stiff-necked and evil

www.ynetnews.com

Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions: "Here [Deuteronomy 11:31-32] is clearly spelled out the formula for successful conquest and possession of Eretz Israel. In order that we should succeed in inheriting and dwelling in the Land, the Torah tells us we must observe all of Hashem's laws. It was therefore necessary to dramatically communicate a public declaration of blessings and curses upon entry in the Land, to drive home the message that possession of the Land was conditional on observance of the commandments."

Rabbi Amnon Bazak, in "Toras Aish." "And it is followed by the verse, 'And it will happen, when your God brings you to the land He vowed to give to your ancestors, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov . . .' [Deuteronomy 6:10]. As is well known the second paragraph, 'Vehaya,' makes the continued dwelling in the land conditional on observing the mitzvot of loving God and serving Him."

Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut, in Kolel, the Adult Center for Liberal Jewish Learning: "The text [Exodus 19:5] makes clear that this special status [Chosen People] is conditional: Israel must uphold their end of the deal and maintain the terms of the covenant. As the text states, 'IF you will obey Me faithfully and keep my covenant, THEN you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples.' It is not Israel as a people who are special, but rather it is their behaviour, their commitment to and adherence to the laws of the covenant, which sets them apart from all other people."

 

[illinoisguy]

TORAH! TORAH! TORAH! More citations from Jewish scholars who teach that God's land covenant with Israel was conditional:

Prof. Aviezer Ravitsky, “The Redemption and the Covenant,” in Oz Veshalom – Netivot Shalom.“The covenant, by definition, is not rooted upon a guarantee given by the Redeemer of Israel to the People of Israel, but rather on a relationship of mutuality or reciprocity – mutual obligations to fulfill the demands of the covenant: a promise, yes, but a conditional one. The covenant, by its very nature, stands as the total contra to a pre-determined future, whether it be for bad or for good. It accentuates the option of possibility, of uncertainty, and of human freedom. Our obligations precede the Redemption, and the latter is dependent on our fulfillment of them. Although the prophetic promise concerning the future is absolute and definite, its fulfillment in a given generation or in a given society or a certain State is dependent on the ways and behavior of that generation and society. The attempt to lend to the events of our generation the stamp of the absolute and final destiny, to blur the borders between history and the meta-historical, may be understood to be a forfeiture of the covenant.”

TORAH FOR THE NATIONS: EIKEV

Jonathan Rosenbloom, in Jerusalem Post: "'Judah was sent into Exile because it prized Land and soil as the bulwark of its freedom and belittled the Torah,' writes Rabbi Hirsch. 'The Exile cannot therefore end with the same delusion.' Possession of the Land, Hirsch reminds us, is conditional on the performance of specific duties."

“Does Israel Belong to the Jews?,” Joel Miller in WorldNetDaily.“‘Before the Almighty gave us the Holy Land 3260 years ago, He made these conditions: If we abide by the Torah, it is ours, if not, we will be expelled,’ explains Orthodox Rabbi E. Schwartz of Neturei Karta. We know from Scripture that God’s gift of the land to Abraham and his decedents was not unconditional.”

Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum, in “Universal Torah.”“This Midrash expresses the conditional nature of G-d’s Covenant with Israel, a central theme in EKEV and one that appears with increasing emphasis as we advance through Deuteronomy. . . . Long-term possession of the Land of Israel and enjoyment of its blessings are strictly contingent upon proper observance of the Covenant on our part. This is clearly stated at the climax of the parshah (Deuteronomy 11:13-21).”