The line at Newark airport was long, giving me plenty of time to talk with a secular Israeli woman who was also waiting to check in. In the wake of October 7th, she had made the painful decision to leave Israel for America. Her reasoning? The brutal Hamas attack proved that living in Israel was simply too dangerous. “Hamas is more evil than the Nazis were,” she insistedāa statement I couldn’t dispute. Yet her conclusionāthat the logical response was abandonment of the Holy Landāstruck me as fundamentally misguided. She failed to understand the nature of Israel’s relationship with the land and God’s command to live there.
In Genesis 26:3, God commands Isaac during a time of famine:
The Hebrew word used here is “gur” – to sojourn or wander – which raises an intriguing question: If God is commanding Isaac to remain in the land of Israel during a famine, why tell him to “sojourn” (gur) instead of “dwell” (dar)?
To understand the significance of this verse’s wording, we must examine its context: A severe famine gripped the landāexactly the kind of crisis that would naturally drive people to seek refuge elsewhere. Isaac, following his father Abraham’s example, contemplated journeying to Egypt where food was plentiful. Yet God intervenes with this command: gurāsojourn, wander throughout Israel in search of food if you must, but do not abandon this land.
This divine command leaves no room for misinterpretation. God doesn’t say “settle comfortably” or “prosper without challenge.” Instead, He acknowledges the difficulty but demands presence despite hardship. The instruction is unmistakable: Even when you must wander within the land seeking sustenance, even when comfort proves elusive, you must remain in Israel.
Why? Because Israel isn’t merely another parcel of earth. The land itself is bound up with Jewish destinyāfor to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands. Isaac’s presence, even as a wanderer, would establish a pattern for all future generations. The covenant required physical presence, not comfort. The verse doesn’t mean that Jews will always suffer in the land of Israel. But it does mean that God wants us to be there, even when we must “gur,” wander, in the Land. The commitment to remain transcends temporary hardship.
God did not command us to live in Israel so that our lives would be easy. Israel sits at the crossroads of Asia and Africa, in perhaps the most dangerous region of the Middle East. This wasn’t a mistake in divine geography. Rather, God commands us to be in Israel precisely because through these hardships we become the nation we are meant to be. The difficulties aren’t incidental to our callingāthey are essential to it. The struggles forge our national character and spiritual resilience in ways comfort never could.
Social media activist Hillel Fuld recently addressed American Jews who cite safety concerns as a reason to avoid moving to Israel: “Sure, Israel is in a war, but in Israel, we know who our enemy is, we can defend ourselves, and how we retaliate is in our hands. In Israel, the IDF has a mission to protect you. That mission failed on 10/7 and there’s no sugarcoating it. But there still is a mission. When your kids grow up and hear that you abandoned your brothers and sisters in the middle of an existential war… They won’t thank you for it. They’ll feel disgusted that you didn’t join your family in Israel when they needed you most.”
Today, when missiles fall and enemies threaten Israel’s existence, the command to gur takes on renewed urgency. The woman at Newark airport sought safety by fleeing the land, but God’s word demands faithful presence. The path of covenant has never been the path of comfort.
The command to “sojourn in this land” speaks to all who place their faith in the Bible. What God told Isaac applies equally today: Come to Israel! Gur! Especially during these challenging times. Through Israel365 Tours, you can walk where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob once stood, while connecting not just with the land but with the people of Israel. Our tours focus on meaningful encounters with local communities, allowing you to strengthen the nation in tangible ways when your presence matters most. When you visit Israel during difficult times, you join a tradition that began with Isaac during famine. You become a modern fulfillment of God’s command to gur. This isn’t about convenience or safetyāit’s about covenant. When you stand in Israel today, you declare with your feet what God declared to Isaac thousands of years ago: This land matters. These people matter. And in the face of enemies who seek their destruction, your presence becomes an act of defiance against evil and a testament to the God who keeps His promises forever.
