On one of my first days in the Old City of Jerusalem, nearly two months ago, we were getting a general tour of the area. The pale Jerusalem stone made everything look bright and beautiful. Then we came towards the end of the street. I looked ahead and saw that everything suddenly went dark. Black awnings stretched across and gave the area a very eerie feeling. The madricha [counselor] turned to us and said, “You can go all over this area, but don’t go near there.”
A scene from the Lion King flashed through my mind where Mufasa is standing with his son Simba on Pride Rock. He tells his son that all the land the sun touches will be his one day. Simba asks about a valley covered in shadows in the distance. Mufasa immediately tells Simba that it is forbidden to go there. This place is the elephant graveyard where the evil hyenas lurk. I had the same sort of view where I was as Simba did from Pride Rock, but what I saw was no elephant graveyard. It’s the entrance to the Arab shuk [marketplace]. This entrance to the shuk is my constant reminder that as beautiful and holy as the Old City looks and feels, a harsh reality lies around the corner. A soldier stands guard there to warn Jews walking that way of the danger they might face.
Mufasa accepts that the elephant graveyard will remain out of his empire. Jews, however, know that the “land in the shadows” is ours. In Parashat Lech Lecha, we, Avraham’s descendents, receive the promise of this land. In Bereishit 13:14-15, Hashem tells Avraham to look north, south, east and west. All the land that Avraham sees is promised to him and his descendents. Avraham saw where I stood that day in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City just as well as he saw the Arab shuk up ahead. Avraham, and everything he hears from Hashem in this parashah, is the source of our connection with Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel]. Hashem chooses to promise the land to the Jewish people.
After Avraham looks all around and sees the land, he walks the entire length of it. In Masechet Bava Batra, it says that walking the perimeter of land is an essential part of acquiring it. Avraham does this right away to show how much he wants and appreciates the gift of Eretz Yisrael.
In a speech about Israel, Rav Soloveitchik, zt”l [May the memory of the righteous be blessed] said, “To acquire the land of Israel, one has to perform an additional possessive act, that pertains not only to the soil of the country, but also in regard to the Lord of the land.” Every time a Jew walks four amot in Israel it is a mitzva, but just walking the land is not sufficient. Each individual must find their own personal way to connect to both Hashem and the land. Avraham did this by building an altar after receiving the promise. Only by having this strong link between Hashem, Eretz Yisrael, and ourselves can we truly appreciate the promise Hashem made to Avraham. When this happens we will b’ezrat Hashem [with the help of God] flood the shadows with the light of Am Yisrael [the nation of Israel].
