RAV KOOK ON VaYishlach Part 3: Ancient Agronomists
Inhabitants of the Land
The Torah reading of VaYishlach concludes with a record of Esau’s descendants and chieftains. Since Esau married into the Canaanite family of Seir, and settled in his hill country in the south, the Torah lists the sons of Seir, “the inhabitants of the land” (Gen. 36:20).
What does this phrase, “the inhabitants of the land,” mean? As the Talmud humorously asks: Did everyone else live in the sky, and only Seir’s clan lived in the land?
The simple explanation is that Seir and his family were the original residents of that region, before Esau arrived. The Talmud, however, chose a different interpretation. According to Rabbi Yochanan, these Canaanites were true inhabitants of the land, as they were unparalleled experts in farming the land. They had an amazing sense of which crops were best suited for which fields.
“They would say: Plant olive trees in this area, plant grapevines in this one, and plant fig trees in this one.
They were called ‘Chorites’ because they could smell (merichim) out the land [to assess its suitability for different crops], and ‘Chivites’ since they would taste the land like a snake (chivya).” (Shabbat 85a)
Why does the Torah mention the agricultural expertise of the Canaanites? In general, why did God place these idolatrous and immoral nations in the Land of Israel? Would it not have been simpler if the Jewish people could have gained possession of Eretz Yisrael without needing to conquer it from the Canaanite nations?
Inhabitants of the Land
The Torah reading of VaYishlach concludes with a record of Esau’s descendants and chieftains. Since Esau married into the Canaanite family of Seir, and settled in his hill country in the south, the Torah lists the sons of Seir, “the inhabitants of the land” (Gen. 36:20).
What does this phrase, “the inhabitants of the land,” mean? As the Talmud humorously asks: Did everyone else live in the sky, and only Seir’s clan lived in the land?
The simple explanation is that Seir and his family were the original residents of that region, before Esau arrived. The Talmud, however, chose a different interpretation. According to Rabbi Yochanan, these Canaanites were true inhabitants of the land, as they were unparalleled experts in farming the land. They had an amazing sense of which crops were best suited for which fields.
“They would say: Plant olive trees in this area, plant grapevines in this one, and plant fig trees in this one.
They were called ‘Chorites’ because they could smell (merichim) out the land [to assess its suitability for different crops], and ‘Chivites’ since they would taste the land like a snake (chivya).” (Shabbat 85a)
Why does the Torah mention the agricultural expertise of the Canaanites? In general, why did God place these idolatrous and immoral nations in the Land of Israel? Would it not have been simpler if the Jewish people could have gained possession of Eretz Yisrael without needing to conquer it from the Canaanite nations?
No comments:
Post a Comment