This is an idea I was thinking about over Shabbos and felt the need to write down and share.
Yaakov splits his family into two machanos. On paper, nothing changes: same people, same number. So what actually shifted?
My local Rav, Rav Jeff Wohlgelernter, explained that this became the template for Jewish history.
Klal Yisrael is one people living in at least two camps. Some in Eretz Yisrael, some in chutz la’aretz. When one camp is in danger, the other carries the story. We are never stuck in one place; Hashem always leaves another door, another camp, open.
This is where it gets uncomfortable:
Recently there has been a toxic obsession with guilting people into moving to Eretz Yisrael, whether because of antisemitism, or ruchnius, or whatever the slogan of the week is. Yaakov’s two machanos remind us that Klal Yisrael has always existed in more than one place, and that this is part of the design, not a failure of faith.
Living in Eretz Yisrael is a tremendous zechus, but it is not for every…
