Dear Friends,
As Israel prepares to go to the polls, the debate centers on who should lead the country. This week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, invites us to consider an even more fundamental question: What is the country here for? Long before political parties, international resolutions or modern Zionism, G‑d told Avraham to journey to the land He would show him. There, G‑d made a promise: “To your seed I will give this land.” Here is the original case for Israel. A Divine promise. An inheritance. And a mission. In his recent United Nations address, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared: “We are going to win because we have no choice.” Those words express courage and determination. But “we have no choice” describes what circumstances force us to do. It leaves unspoken what G‑d has entrusted us to accomplish. That distinction matters, because so much of our hasbara—our explanation of Israel to the world—rests on victimhood. We were persecuted. We were stateless. Six million of our people were murdered. We needed a homeland where we could finally protect ourselves. Our suffering is real. The need for security is unquestionable. But making suffering the foundation of our claim leaves us trapped in a competition over victimhood. Someone else can always claim to suffer more. The conversation becomes a contest of images, casualty figures and accusations, with the charge of “genocide” in Gaza deployed to turn Jewish self-defense into an indictment of Jewish sovereignty. Our right to Israel cannot depend on winning that contest. It predates the Holocaust. It predates the United Nations. It rests on G‑d’s covenant with Avraham. Significantly, the Torah does not frame Avraham’s journey as an escape from persecution. G‑d calls him toward a purpose. Alongside the promise of nationhood comes a universal vision: through Avraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed. The land would be the base from which that blessing could reach the world. Here, Avraham’s descendants would fulfill their calling as G‑d’s ambassadors: building a society shaped by holiness, justice, compassion and responsibility, and bringing awareness of the Creator into everyday life. This must be the foundation of our message. We belong in Israel because G‑d gave us this land. We have a responsibility to defend it and a responsibility to fulfill its purpose. The Divine gift and the Divine mandate belong together. As Israelis choose their leaders, Lech Lecha calls all of us back to the conviction that must guide our future. “We have no choice” expresses the determination to survive. “We have a calling” expresses the reason we are here. The promise gives us our claim. The mission gives us our direction. Good Shabbos and Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Ruvi New 
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