JLI: The Land and The Spirit - The Promised Land

Lesson Details

Lesson 1

The Promised Land

In the book of Genesis, G-d promises Abraham that if he transmits his legacy of ethical monotheism to his household, his children will inherit the Land of Israel. Why was the land promised even before the nation existed? In what way is the Land of Israel integral to the Jewish mission?

This interactive class was created by The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute and is part of the six-week course The Land and the Spirit: Why We All Care About Israel. You are welcome to attend the whole course or just the single class. 

The course is free but donations are welcome.

Course Overview

Many people love their homes and their countries, but once they relocate, they form new allegiances. They cannot trace the ancestral homeland that their families claimed two millennia ago, nor do they continue to long for those places. Yet no matter where they have lived, Jews have continued to dream about the land of Israel.

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Because Israel is different. It is a land that has pulsed with energy and mystery since the dawn of time, a land that has captured the imagination throughout history, a land that breathes with the glory of our past and the dreams of our future.

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And so Israel retains its hold upon our spirit. There is a deep connection that continues to tug at us, a magnetic pull that has not waned even though many have found safe haven elsewhere. Whether Israel makes us feel pride or disappointment, hope or concern, we care about its fate and its future. Whatever our political or religious bent, we know that Israel matters.