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This week, Jews all over the world will be renewing the cycle of the weekly
Torah portion starting with the very first book in the Hebrew Bible: Genesis.
Our rabbis ask an important question: if the Bible is essentially a book of law,
as evidenced by the plethora of commandments, why does it begin with the stories
of creation? Would it not make more sense to skip the stories and start with the
legal sections of the Torah? Rashi, a famed medieval commentator, explains that
one day the nations of the world will accuse the Jewish People of stealing the
Land of Israel. In response, the Jews will point to the Bible which begins by
telling us that God created the heaven and the earth. Since God
is the Creator of the world, He may give it to whomever He wishes. With this
realization, it is understood that the Land of Israel is God’s to give to
Abraham and his descendants.
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