Q&A: The Land of Israel
The Land of Israel
Question
How do we know that the Land of Israel today is the Land of Israel of the Torah, and that present-day Egypt is the Egypt of the Torah, and Jericho, the Sinai Desert, the Dead Sea, and so on? Maybe everything happened somewhere else—how do we know? There is no tradition, because people were in exile, and how many already remained in the land? Very few. It is not like the holy tongue, for example, which was transmitted by tradition through millions who heard from millions. Now, if you tell me that they find a match between many, many geographical details in the Hebrew Bible that fit this land or Egypt, then that proves it—but since when do we rely in Jewish law on archaeology, Heaven forbid? After all, they do not change the measure of an egg or an olive, and they also do not determine the size of a cubit based on measurements on the Temple Mount, as some say Professor Goren did. So are the commandments dependent on the Land today only by virtue of doubt? And maybe I thought of a possibility: just as if someone in the desert does not know when the Sabbath is, he counts seven days and keeps Sabbath, so too we do not know where the Land of Israel is (maybe it is in present-day Brazil?), so the people decided on a place and fine—they make it into the Land, like Sabbath in the desert. Is that a possible idea? Please do not delete this; it sounds like a stupid question, but I am looking for a sharp and clear answer.
Answer
You need to ask those who do not accept the results of scientific research, not me. I assume that they too will tell you that there is a tradition. A tradition need not come from millions in order to be a tradition; all the more so since the tradition about this was transmitted not only among those living in the land but among Jews throughout the world.
And do you know that Napoleon existed only from the people now living in France? Or that Columbus discovered America only from the people now living in America?
And how do you know that the Talmud in our hands is the Talmud that was edited in Babylonia 1,500 years ago?
In Jewish law and in the Talmud it is accepted that in order to raise a doubt, you need a reason. There are things that are established, and only if there is a serious challenge to them do we abandon them and reexamine them. A child grows up with two parents. Maybe he is a mamzer or a non-Jewish foundling? The presumption that determines his status is what the world takes him to be: their son.