"When G-d will bring you to the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your forefathers, and he will have given it to you, then you shall set apart every firstborn to G-d." (Shmot 13:11)

This command mentioned in this week's Torah portion is seen by some of our Sages as a promise and a condition. Our ancestors were told that if they fulfill this command even while they are in the wilderness en route to Eretz Yisrael, they would gain the merit of fulfilling it when they entered their promised land.

This relationship between promise and condition is something worth learning from in regard to our own generation's privilege of living in Eretz Yisrael. The promise of the Promised Land has a condition of fulfilling G-d's commands and thus insuring the security of Israel forever.

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