This Land is My Land

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'In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earthÓ (Genesis 1:1).
Why does the Torah begin with the story of Creation? For if the nations say to you, 'You are thieves, you stole our Land,Ó tell them that God created the entire world and it belongs to Him. To whomever He wishes, He will give it. He gave you [the nations] the Land. But then He took it from you and gave it to us (Rashi, loc. cit.).

Reb Noson of Breslov asks, 'And if I say this to the nations they'll accept it?Ó

To put this in contemporary terms, imagine we are sitting in the General Assembly of the United Nations. Yasir Arafat steps up to the podium and demands the area he calls Palestine, saying it belongs to the Palestinian people. The ambassadors of the Arab and Moslem countries: Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Algeria, Sudan Afghanistan, Iran, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen and all the other peace loving countries of the Middle East stand up and second the motion.

It is now the turn of the Israeli ambassador, the representative of the Jewish nation, to answer this claim. He stands up and says, 'My dear friends! Honored ambassadors and representatives! The Bible says that the Land, at one time, could have been yours. But now, it is ours. God took it from you and gave it to us. And if you don't believe me–look! Rashi says so!Ó

Can anyone imagine how big that reply would go over in the UN General Assembly? 'Nu,Ó asks Reb Noson, 'so what is Rashi telling us?Ó

Reb Noson answers that Rashi is not addressing the nations. He is talking to us, the Jewish nation. He is telling us that if we are being battered, slandered and attacked from all sides, then the answer to every question is our faith. Do we believe that God created the world and it is all His? Then if we do, that is our answer–to ourselves. We need only answer to ourselves the constant barrage of attack. For if we truly believe it, then the nations will see our steadfast faith and understand the answer by themselves, that it is God Who gave us the Land and their claim is worthless (Likutey Halakhot, Shomer Sakhar 4:1)