I'm writing my piece for a writing job that I do that's a week in advance, and I of course came across this פסוק from next week's parshah. The Torah’s assertion that the Land of Israel is “a land which the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” raises challenging questions. Doesn’t God watch every land? Doesn’t He care for all people? Rashi, (on verse 12) raising this question explains that “it is [only stated] as if God only watches over Israel.” Of course God spreads His grace over the nations of the world – but the verse teaches us that this divine providence shine through the lens of the Land. Through the interests, needs and concerns of the Land, God watches the other lands as well.
It's a well-known Rashi, and a beautiful expression of the role of כלל ישראל and ארץ ישראל in a metaphysical sense. But for me, this פסוק and Rashi's explanation take on much greater meaning when I read it this year, as I finally read it from the inside, and not the outside. This year, I hope that I'll benefit from God's watchful eye all year long.
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