Let bygones be bygones. If it didn't happen to me, why should I study about it?

Is it really true that those who don't learn from the past are condemned to repeat it? Maybe so when discussing recent history: if the politicians had learnt the follies of appeasement from Chamberlain '39 and Sinai '79 perhaps we wouldn't now be staring down at the wreckage of the Oslo disaster of '91-'06. Ancient history, however, seemingly has no such similar insights to impart. When you study Genesis (the first book of the Torah —opens this week in a synagogue near you) what life-lessons will you walk away with? Do you really think that you'll be called on anytime soon to create a universe from scratch?

If the Torah is an operating manual to building a Jewish life, what is the creation story—advertising filler till we get to the practical bits?

Only the Jews have the chutzpah to maintain that the land belongs to us even when NOT in our physical control... Rashi (the greatest of biblical commentators) posits this question (though in a slightly less irreverent style) and answers that without the preamble we'd have no response to the never-ending accusations of the anti-Semites of history. When dragged before the U.N of the day and indicted for the crime of occupation, having dispossessed the peaceful prior inhabitants of the Land of Israel, we can defend ourselves (as indeed David Ben-Gurion did in '47) by flourishing a Bible and opening to Act 1, Scene 1 (or at least Chapter 1, Verse 1):

"We didn't create the world, G‑d did. We didn't draw the borders, G‑d did. We didn't decide who lives where, He did that too, and He created Israel for the Jews, decided the borders and picked the time when the Canaanites were to leave and the Jews to arrive."

End of case (exit stage left).

My real question is, why is the world so worked up? What exactly is their complaint? Rightly or wrongly, as violent invaders or benevolent liberators, countries change rulers all the time. (England: the Picts, the Romans, the Saxons, and the Normans just to name a few. America: the Red Indians, the Spanish, the French, the English, Hollywood [in order of cultural degeneration]. France: ... everyone in turn has conquered France.)

Why is this fight different from all other conquests?

The answer is in the attitude. Everyone accepts and expects countries to change hands. You ruled it today; we'll beat you up tomorrow and take adverse possession. Only the Jews have the chutzpah to maintain that the land belongs to us even when NOT in our physical control. Our ties to Eretz Yisrael are permanent. It was gifted to us by G‑d, and by our creeds and deeds since then, we have changed the physical and spiritual fabric of the territory, forged a constant connection and rendered it ours eternally.

Whatever we come in contact with — if we imbue spirituality into the encounter, we'll have effected permanent change On the micro level we can achieve the same. Whatever we take possession of, whomever we come in contact with — if we imbue spirituality into the encounter, we'll have effected permanent change. The transformation wrought will live and flourish beyond us, even after we've moved on, and be a constant substantiation of our existence.

The Land of Israel is ours, indivisible, and eternally, by virtue of G‑d's desire and our actions. We too can affect our surroundings permanently, rendering them holy, by bringing G‑dliness into the mundane fabric of our earthly, everyday existence.