For the week ending 20 October 2007 / 8 Heshvan 5768
The Ultimate Promise
When was "Israel Forever" mentioned in the Torah?
Listen carefully during the Torah reading this Shabbat and you will hear the promise given by G-d to the Patriarch Avraham (Bereishet 17.8) "I will give to you and to your offspring the Land in which you dwell, all of the Land of Canaan, as a possession forever."
In his commentary, Ramban points out that this was the fourth time that the Land was promised to Avraham, each promise an increment on its predecessors. This promise as a reward for his performing circumcision was not only an assurance that all of the and would belong to his posterity but that even if they were exiled from the Land it would remain their possession to which they would return.