This week brought the much-welcome news that over half a dozen horrible people were killed and will never again have the opportunity to kill and maim thousands and instill terror in millions. The traditional expression reserved for such monsters is “may their names be erased forever.” But chopping off some of the snake’s head (there are more to go) certainly “raised the temperature” in the region and many are worried about what Israel’s enemies will do in retaliation. In such times we must increase our prayers and mitzvot, and most importantly strengthen our faith and trust in G-d that our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world will be safe. Which brings us to an interesting topic in this week’s parsha. As the Israelites prepare to enter the Promised Land the Torah identifies its borders with specific landmarks and roads on the northern, southern, and eastern fronts, with the Mediterranean Sea as the western border. If the Jews were poised to conquer the land, why was it necessary for the Torah to limit its borders? Why not wait until the war ended and determine the homeland based on its outcome? If Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) is simply a homeland for our nation, conquest could be a reasonable way to mark its borders. However, G-d promised this land to the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov because it is the “Holy Land,” and holiness is defined by the Torah, not through battle. Before the Jews entered Israel, no area on earth was inherently holy. Even when they constructed the Mishkan (the mobile sanctuary) in the desert - with the chamber called the Holy of Holies which housed the Holy Ark, the manifestation of the Divine presence in this world - the ground on which it stood remained a regular piece of land once they moved away from it. When they settled into Israel, it became holy ground forever, where the ground itself is associated with numerous mitzvot. Although sometimes control of more territory is necessary for security purposes, the inherent holiness of the ground remains limited to the borders delineated in the Torah. Israel’s holiness is not only expressed in the Mitzvot done with the produce of the earth within its borders, the space itself contains a certain sanctity conducive to Divine service and spiritual growth. That’s why Jews throughout the ages yearned to immigrate there in order to advance their spiritual journeys. In the mid-1800s a pious student of the third Lubavticher Rebbe requested his blessing for a successful move to Eretz Yisrael. The Rebbe replied, “Why must you go there for spiritual growth? Make Eretz Yisrael here!” Those four words express everything we need to know about our identity as Jews and our connection with the Holy Land. As G-d’s ambassadors to the world we have the mandate to permeate every person we encounter, every thing we do, and every space we are in with divine awareness and purpose. While the Jewish legal ramifications of Israel’s holiness are limited to its biblical borders, its metaphoric message transcends all limitations of time and space. We all can and should make our immediate environment a holy space as well. So as the eyes of the world are upon Israel (as always) let us remember it is our homeland because it is the Holy Land. And through nurturing and developing the holiness of our immediate surroundings, by learning more Torah and doing more Mitzvot, we strengthen the sacredness of Israel and hasten the advent of the era of Moshiach when war will cease and peace and tranquility will reign for all.