Thought of the Week: Shemot - 5774

NO DENIAL IN ISRAEL

In Parshat Shemot, Moshe is instructed by Hashem to inform the Children of Israel that they are going to leave Egypt, and make their way to the Land of Israel.

Eretz Yisrael is described to Moshe as a land that is Tova U'rechava - good and broad.  We all know that Israel is a good land.  Yet the broadness of Israel needs some clarification.

Some commentators note that Hashem was impressing upon Moshe the greatness of the Land of Israel vis-a-vis Egypt.

The source of water -and thus life -in Egypt was the Nile.  At that time all of its population was centered near the Nile.  Thus the country was no more than a very narrow strip.

Eretz Yisrael on the other hand gets its rain from above.  One can live in a variety of climates and regions within the land.  Thus it is a land that is not confined geographically but rather good and broad.

We must thank Hashem for the gift of a land that is "blessed with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills!"

Shabbat Shalom