The following is the front page of Torah Tidbits #394
produced by Phil Chernofsky, associate director, OU/NCSY Israel Center
philch@virtual.co.il
www.ou.org/torah/tt

SHABBAT PARSHAT VAYISHLACH
18 KISLEV 5760  -  26,27 November '99

Ma'aseh Avot...
I write these words while en route to Israel, 38000 
feet above the ground. (It's about 50 degrees below 
zero outside the plane, but that is, fortunately, 
irrelevant to us.) It does not escape my notice that I 
left Eretz Yisrael during the week of Vayeitzei, (it 
would have been extra-significant had I davened Ma'ariv 
atthe airport), and that I am returning home during the 
week of Vayishlach. The analogy to Yaakov's sojourn 
does not hold all the way through - one week is not 20 
years, nor is my cousin at all like Lavan - but there 
are some thoughts that pop into one's head that I'd 
like to share.
Today's Padan Arams (or is it Padans Aram?) are filled 
with Yaakovs who are where they are for various and 
sundry reasons. Yaakov Avinu had the three "main 
excuses" at one time or another - Torah learning (this 
was not in Padan Aram, but it was away from Yitzchak, 
so I'm including it in the analogy), finding a wife 
andearning a livelihood. The problem with each of these 
"excuses" is inertia. An object in motion tends to stay 
in motion; an object at rest tends to stay at rest 
(unless acted upon by an outside force). A Jew in Galut 
tends to stay in Galut, unless acted upon by an outside 
force. Sometimes the force is negative, e.g. anti-
Semitism.Sometimes it's positive, e.g. living near a 
child, parent, etc. Even better would be the motivation 
of the mitzva of living in Eretz Yisrael itself.
A person might have a valid justification for being 
outside of Eretz Yisrael temporarily, but he must 
constantly evaluate his situation and motives so that 
he is not caught up in inertia.
There are differences between one who lives in Israel 
and chooses to move to another country, and one who was 
born and raised in the other country in the first 
place. But we need not be too exact in suggesting that 
an episode of the AVOT has a practical relevance to us.
Avraham Avinu, according to some commentaries, was 
punished, so to speak, because he left the Land - his 
children were destined to go down to Egypt and suffer 
there.
Yaakov was held accountable for at least part of the 
time he was away from his father.
THE message keeps coming up throughout the Torah - G-d 
wants us to live our Torah-lives as Jews here in Eretz 
Yisrael. May our fellow Jews who live in Chutz LaAretz 
come to the Yaakov-realization that it is time to 
return to their real homeland.