Halakhah do Rodzaju 23:32

The claim of the community of Israel to the Land of Israel in its entirety as its historic homeland is predicated upon God's covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:7-21). However, with regard to three specific geographic areas—the Cave of Machpelah, the Temple Mount and Shechem—title to the land is based upon more conventional grounds. These particular sites are described in Scripture as having become the property of our ancestors by right of purchase long before they acquired title to the rest of the Land of Canaan. The uniqueness of these areas is underscored by the sages of the Midrash.¹Bereshit Rabbah 79:7. Why, impliedly queries the Midrash, is the narrative concerning Abraham's purchase of the sepulchre in the field of Machpelah spelled out in such minute detail (Genesis 23:3-17)? Why does the Bible so carefully identify the individual from whom David purchased the Temple Mount (II Samuel 24:18-25)? Why does the Torah relate that Jacob pitched his tent in Shechem and that he purchased the plot of land upon which he pitched his tent for the sum of 100 kesita (Genesis 33:19)? Answers the Midrash: "So that the nations of the world will not be able to taunt Israel saying, 'These [lands] are in your possession by virtue of theft.' " These historical facts are recorded for a specific purpose, viz., so that for all of posterity the gentile nations will never be in the position of being able to taunt the community of Israel with the claim that Israel lacks clear title to those historic sites.

Scripture records the dialogue between Abraham and the inhabitants of Hebron which preceded purchase of the Cave of Machpelah. Abraham describes his status by declaring, "ger ve-toshav anokhi imakhem—I am a stranger and a resident among you" (Gen. 23:4). The biblical commentaries almost without exception struggle with the obvious contradiction inherent in this terminology. If one is a toshav, one is not a ger. If one is a ger, one is not a toshav If a person is a stranger, he is not a permanent resident; if a person enjoys rights of residency, he is not an alien. One may be either a citizen or a foreigner, a national or a stranger, but a person cannot be both at one and the same time.

Moreover, establishing a sort of Orthodox subculture is absolutely essential for cultural survival. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik⁷In an essay entitled Confrontation. argues that we must follow the example of Avraham Avinu, who presented himself to his non-Jewish neighbors as a “stranger and a resident” (Bereishit 23:4). We believe that while on one hand we must be “residents” and integrate into the economic, scientific, and certain aspects of the cultural life in our country of residence, we also must be “strangers” and form our own “subculture” in order to survive in a country that is hospitable and inviting. Along with the creation of Orthodox shuls, schools, camps, and youth groups, the world of Jewish music has made an enormous contribution to the creation of this Orthodox subculture.

In a number of places, the Torah presents us with the mission of serving as a role model for other nations.¹⁴See Shemot 19:6, Seforno’s comments ad. loc., and Devarim 4:6. Indeed, part of every Jew’s role is to emulate the kiddush Hashem created by Avraham Avinu, who is referred to by his Hittite neighbors as “a prince of God amongst us” (Bereishit 23:6). Chazal regard a chillul Hashem as such a major infraction (see, for example, Yoma 86a) because setting a positive example for others is at the core of the mission of the Jewish people.

If he gave her a Prutah and said to her “Be betrothed to me with this on the condition that I will give you a maneh.”¹¹²Originally the shekel was a unit of weight for means of payment in gold and silver. In the third millenium BCE one finds this unit of weight in Babylonia. Sixty Babylonian shekels were a maneh. When this system of coinage was introduced into Israel the maneh generally consisted of only 50 shekels. The shekel as a unit of weight for gold is first mentioned in Jewish sources in Genesis 24:22 and Joshua 7:21. In Genesis 23:16 one finds mention of the shekel as a unit of weight for silver. When the condition is fulfilled the betrothal will take effect retroactively even if he did not say “from now.” For anyone who says al menath it is as if he had said “from now.” Yet if she accepts betrothal from another before the conditions are fulfilled and afterwards the conditions were fulfilled, the betrothal of the second man is void. But if he said to her “on the condition that I will give to you a maneh within 30 days,” if he gave it to her within the thirty days behold it is a betrothal retroactively; if he did not give it within thirty days she is not betrothed, and if she accepts betrothal from another man during the thirty days she is betrothed but she is not betrothed¹¹³i.e., this is a pending situation. until thirty days. When the thirty days are completed if the conditions of the first man are not fulfilled the betrothal of the first man is cancelled and the betrothal of the latter is complete and she does not require a bill of divorce from the former. If the former fulfills his condition she does not require a bill of divorce from the latter.