26 Oct LEAVING ERETZ YISROEL

The avos were
commanded to live
in Eretz Yisroel.
Today we also
have this mitzvah,
and therefore one may only
leave Eretz Yisroel when the
conditions there are unreasonable. If one simply can not
make a living in Eretz Yisroel, and will have to live off of
charity, and in chutz la’aretz he
will be able to make a living,
there is no mitzvah of yishuv
Eretz Yisroel, because that is
an unreasonable situation.
Likewise the Talmud says that
one who wants to learn Torah
in a specific yeshiva in chutz
la’aretz, and will not be happy
at any of the yeshivas in Eretz
Yisroel, or one who fell in love
with a girl from chutz la’aretz
and will be broken hearted if
we insist that he may not leave
Eretz Yisroel, may leave for
the sake of lilmod Torah or lisa
isha, because the alternative is
simply unreasonable.
In this week’s parsha we read
that Avraham Avinu sent Eliezer
to chuta la’aretz to arrange a
shidduch for Yitzchok. Avraham emphasized to Eliezer that
under no circumstances may he
allow Yitzchok to leave Eretz
Yisroel. Why couldn’t Yitzchok leave Eretz Yisroel? Isn’t
it the case that for the purpose
of a shidduch one is permitted
to leave Eretz Yisroel?
The explanation for this is given by Rashi in next week’s sedra. Yitzchok always followed
in the footsteps of his father
Avraham – maintaining the masorah. The Torah tells us that he
dug the exact same wells that
Avraham had dug and called
them by exactly the same
names that Avraham had. So its
no surprise that when there was
a famine during the lifetime
of Yitzchok, he
prepared himself to go down
to Egypt – just
as his father
Avraham had
done years earlier. On his way
to Egypt, Hashem appears to
him in Gerar
and tells him
he may not go to Egypt. On the
occasion of akeidas Yitzchok,
Yitzchok was consecrated as a
korban, and if a korban is taken
outside of its “designated location” it becomes pasul. During
the times of the Beis Hamikdash, the designated location
for kodshei kodoshim was the
azara, while the designated location for kodshim kalim was
all of Yerushlayim. In the days
of the avos, the azara and
Yerushalayim had not been
consecrated, so the designated location for all korbaos
was Eretz Yisroel. Although
at the time of a famine Avraham Aivnu was permitted
to leave Eretz Yisroel, Yizchok, a consecrated korban,
was not.
It is interesting to note that
this halacha (that a korban
will become pasul if it’s removed from its designated
location) only takes affect
after shechita, which constitutes the first avodah done to
the sacrifice. On the occasion of the akeida, no avodos were actually done to
Yitzchok. But nonetheless,
since the ram which was offered in place of Yitzchok
was slaughtered, that shechita was considered as if it had
been done to Yitzchok himself. Yitzchok Avinu had the
halachic status of a korban
on which avodos were done.
Even the avodah of haktara
which was performed on the
ram was considered as if it
had been done to Yitzchok.
Towards the end of the tochacha in parshas Behar the Torah
states that Hashem will remember the covenant that He entered into with Yaakov; as well
as His covenant with Yitzchok;
and He will also remember His
covenant with Avraham. Rashi
on that pasuk quotes from the
tana’im in the Sifra that the
verb “to remember” only appears in connection with Yaakov and Avraham, but not in
connection with Yitzchok. The
reason for this is that one only
has to use his memory to recall
someone (or something) who
is not in front of him. The avodas hahaktara that was done to
the limbs of the ram was considered as having been done to
Yitzchok, and Yitzchok’s ashes
are piled up on the mizbeach
right before Hashem. Therefore
there is no need to remember
him.
Avraham Avinu did not misunderstand his instructions regarding the akeida. He was to
consecrate his son Yitzchok as
a korban olah. Under normal
circumstances the avodos of
any olah must be done to that
particular korban, and here the
malach indicated to Avraham
that the avodos done to the ram
will be considered as if they
had been done to Yitzchok.
Yitzchok was not only considered as a korban upon whom
the first avodah (of shechita)
had already been performed,
but even the final avodah (of
haktara) done to the ram was
also halachically carried over
to Yitzchok.