For the week ending 21 February 2009 / 27 Shevat 5769
Imported Influence
When our ancestors were promised a "Greater Eretz Yisrael" which this week's Torah portion describes as stretching "from the Sea of Reeds to the Sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean), and from the Wilderness until the River (the Euphrates), they were warned against being influenced by those nations they allowed to remain in their land "lest they cause you to sin against Me."
In our own day this influence is not limited to those dwelling among us. Modern technology has created a "global village" in which foreign cultures invade the minds and hearts of Jews living in their own land.
This threat to the Jewishness of the Jewish state can only be overcome by a return to the Torah values which have always distinguished us as a holy people worthy of enjoying Israel forever.
