What Kind of Land is this? By Rabbi Mori Lidar

This piece was offered as a kavanah (intention) during HUC in the Berkshires Shabbat on August 1, 2025.

Before we offer the prayer for “Acheynu kol beit Israel” I would like to propose a kavana about the land of Israel. A few weeks ago we read in Parashat Shalach Lechs two descriptions given to the land of Israel by the spies that returned from touring it.

One stated that the land is land of milk and honey, and the other that it’s a land that devours its inhabitants.

How can both be true?

I would like to suggest the following:

a land that devours its inhabitants is a literal description of a grave. and when does a land become a grave? When the land, just like the grave, sits above mankind-- when it is more important than mankind-- is holier then man kind.

On the other hand a land of milk and honey is a land cultivated by mankind. A cultivation made truly possible only when the people who live on the land are more important then the land itself. Holier then the land itself. And it is to this land, this region and this Israel that I invite us to pray and hope and fight for. A place where human life - all human life no matter your gender, faith , or nationality - matter more and are holier than any religion geography or ideology. A land of peace, equality and justice. A true land of milk and honey.

- Rabbi Mori Lidar