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This week, Jews all over the world will be renewing the cycle of the weekly Torah portion starting with the very first book in the Hebrew Bible: Genesis. Our rabbis ask an important question: if the Bible is essentially a book of law, as evidenced by the plethora of commandments, why does it begin with the stories of creation? Would it not make more sense to skip the stories and start with the legal sections of the Torah? Rashi, a famed medieval commentator, explains that one day the nations of the world will accuse the Jewish People of stealing the Land of Israel. In response, the Jews will point to the Bible which begins by telling us that God created the heaven and the earth. Since God is the Creator of the world, He may give it to whomever He wishes. With this realization, it is understood that the Land of Israel is God’s to give to Abraham and his descendants.
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