There is a lease agreement on this land. The Torah portion "Eikev," which we read this Shabbat, opens with a clear declaration: ”And it shall be, because (eikev) you hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep for you the covenant and the kindness which He swore to your forefathers.”
Afterward come more wonderful promises — of security and peace, of strength and prosperity, of peaks in both the spiritual and material realms. But all of it will happen only if we listen and keep [the commandments].
Welcome to the Land of Israel — please behave accordingly. There are rules of conduct in this place. There is Torah and mitzvot.
In fact, the entire Book of Deuteronomy, which is really one long testament of Moshe Rabbenu, is essentially this kind of plea: I won't merit entering the land, he tells us. But you will merit it — so don't forget everything I've taught you. The Exodus from Egypt, the giving of the Torah, the fact that you are not merely receiving physical shelter, but a place in which to implement all these values I have taught you.
So yes, we're on summer vacation, but the portion still gives us quite a bit of homework...
And it's moving to see how, in recent years, we've been returning to this "lease agreement" more and more.
We talk a lot about "our right to the land." But the portion reminds us — it is also our obligation toward the land.
May we merit it. Shabbat Shalom.
