[Avodah] To Sojourn in the Land[1]

[Prof. Levine]

 From 
<http://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2020/rtwe_sojourn.html>http://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2020/rtwe_sojourn.html 
This article was written by Rabbi Meyer Twersky

"'He sojourned there' - this teaches us that our 
patriarch Ya'akov intended only to sojourn, not 
settle, [in Egypt]." I.e., this teaches for all 
generations how Jews must conduct themselves in 
each and every exile, that they should know that 
they have not descended to the diaspora to 
settle, rather to sojourn until the redemption 
(literally, end of days), and they should view 
themselves as non-citizens. (Meshech Chochmah, Vayikra 26:44)

Civic loyalty to and responsibility for our 
country of residence notwithstanding, we 
recognize that the land outside of Eretz Yisrael 
is not ours. Our existential mindset and 
consciousness are that of an uprooted, displaced 
refugee whose real and rightful place is in the land of Israel.

We must also be constantly, acutely aware of the 
dangerous reality of anti-semitism, both latent 
and active. While the world is blessed with the 
devout of the nations (çñéãé àåîåú äòåìí), it is 
also plagued by the scourge of anti-semites. We 
must not be ignorantly lulled into a naive, false 
sense of security based upon our own very 
limited, mostly congenial, personal experience 
(for which we are very grateful to the United 
States). Instead we must be wisely, cautiously 
realistic, based upon our extensive, bloody, 
national-historical experience. Anti-semitism is 
very real, and easily ignited or excited.

[As an aside, our generation, at times, lacks 
adequate historical consciousness. But that is a subject for another time.]

II

How did all this translate this year in terms of politicking?

See the above URL for more.

Mayer E. Twersky is an Orthodox rabbi and one of 
the roshei yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan 
Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. He 
holds the Leib Merkin Distinguished Professorial 
Chair in Talmud and Jewish Philosophy. 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayer_Twersky>Wikipedia. 
He is a grandson of Rabby J B. Soloveichik.

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