Blood-soaked earth. Shattered families. A nation in mourning. It’s now been over 1.5 years since Hamas’ horrific attack on October 7 and the slaughter of 1200 innocent Israelis on that day. We’ve been immersed in fighting the war – it’s been all hands on deck. Every resource, every prayer, every moment has been dedicated to Israel’s survival and victory. But beyond the immediate military response, we must also reflect, as a nation, on the deeper meaning of these events.
What lessons are we meant to learn from October 7 and this long and painful war that has followed since that attack?
The Torah records a dispute between Abraham and his nephew Lot that holds remarkable parallels to our current situation.
This wasn’t a minor disagreement. Abraham and Lot both possessed significant property and considerable wealth. Both believed in the God of Abraham and wanted to settle in the same territory. Abraham faced a choice: pursue justice through strict judgment or charity through compromise.
Abraham, whose natural inclination leaned toward loving-kindness, chose charity and said to Lot:
Abraham believed that by dividing the land, he could prevent conflict. He took the western part of the Land of Israel, the Land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the plain east of the Jordan: “And Lot journeyed east… and pitched his tent toward Sodom.” (Genesis 13:12)
But here Abraham made a critical error. Who gave him permission to divide the land? God had already promised: “Unto your seed will I give this land.” (Genesis 12:7)
After Abraham’s agreement with Lot, God immediately responded:
God’s message couldn’t be clearer. “All the land” – including the eastern portion Abraham gave to Lot – belongs exclusively to Abraham and his descendants forever. Abraham had no authority to give away any part of the divinely promised inheritance.
Immediately following this divine rebuke, war erupts in the region – the war of the four kings against the five. During this conflict, Lot is captured, forcing Abraham to take up arms:
This is the direct consequence of Abraham’s misguided territorial compromise. Had Abraham stood firm and told Lot that the entire land – including the territory east of the Jordan – belonged to him and his descendants by divine decree, Lot would never have settled in the eastern lands and become entangled in war. Instead, Abraham’s attempt to avoid conflict through land division ultimately forced him into battle (Rabbi Ouri Cherki, A Clear Thought: World and Man in Rav Kookās Teachings, 163).
The divine lesson couldn’t be clearer. When Abraham tried to give away land that God had designated for his descendants, God engineered circumstances that forced Abraham to fight for and reclaim that very land.
The lesson for our time is unmistakable. Gaza is unquestionably part of biblical Israel, and Israel had no right to abandon it in the Gaza Disengagement of 2005. When Israel violated God’s will by giving away this sacred land, God brought about the war of October 7 which would force Israel to reconquer Gaza – just as He forced Abraham to reconquer the land he had wrongfully ceded.
God’s declaration to Abraham is clear and eternal: this land will belong to Abraham and his descendants forever. Neither the nations of the world nor Israel itself has the authority to surrender what God has decreed. The painful events since October 7 are not merely a military conflict but a divine correction, compelling Israel to reclaim what should never have been relinquished.
The Two-State solution and any plan that requires Israel to relinquish sovereignty over the Holy Land will inevitably lead to war. History has proven this repeatedly. When we attempt to divide what God has made whole, conflict follows. Gaza is the latest example of this unchanging principle. God’s will for the Land of Israel cannot be denied, negotiated, or compromised. The land promised to Abraham’s descendants is indivisible and eternal.
