We read in Parashat Toledot of the drought that ravaged Canaan during Yitzchak’s time, forcing him to relocate. God appeared to him and instructed him to settle in the Philistine region of Gerar, in the southern part of Eretz Yisrael, commanding, “Gur ba-aretz ha-zot” (“Dwell in this land” – 26:3). The Midrash (Bereishit Rabba 64) explains this command to mean, “Establish residence in the Land of Israel – plant, sow, and set in the ground.”
Why did God find it necessary to instruct Yitzchak to till the earth in Gerar? In an agrarian society, how else could he have expected to survive? And what exactly does God mean when He commands, “Establish residence in the Land of Israel”?
Rav Yehuda Leib Ginsburg, in his Yalkut Yehuda, explains that God impressed upon Yitzchak the need to “establish residence” even under the difficult and transitory conditions of exile. Yitzchak, figuring that his settlement in Gerar would be temporary, may have assumed that he should live “out of the suitcase” and not settle down during this transient period. Purchasing or leasing agricultural lands, and cultivating them, is a process generally reserved for conditions that are anticipated to endure over the long-term. Yitzchak had perhaps planned to avoid establishing any kind of permanence, such as through the purchase and cultivation of land. God therefore instructed, “Gur ba-aretz ha-zot,” admonishing the patriarch to establish himself in Gerar, even though his stay there was temporary and borne out of necessity.
Rav Ginsburg added a further insight into this Midrashic passage based upon the Ramban’s famous comment (26:1) that the exiles of Avraham and Yitzchak serve as precursors to the exiles that their descendants would endure. Avraham’s relocation in Egypt (chapter 13) alluded to Benei Yisrael’s subjugation in that country, and Yitzchak’s settlement in Gerar foretold the Babylonian exile that followed the destruction of the First Temple. Rav Ginsburg notes that after the first stage of the Babylonian exile (“galut Yehoyakhin”), the prophet Yirmiyahu delivered a prophetic message to the communities brought to Babylonia, urging them to purchase property, till the land, marry off their children and propagate (Yirmiyahu 29:4-6). In this respect, too, Yitzchak’s experiences serve as a model and precursor for the plight of his descendants in Babylonia. Just as he was bidden to “settle down” despite the temporary nature of his stay in Gerar, similarly, the Judean exiles in Babylonia were urged to establish themselves in Babylonia, even as they anticipated the redemption seventy years later.
God’s message to Yitzchak, as explained by the Midrash, emphasizes the need to make the most of less-than-ideal conditions. Essentially, God was telling Yitzchak that he must not put his life on hold during his temporary stay in Gerar, but should instead live as complete a life as he could under the circumstances. And this was also Yirmiyahu’s message to the Jews in Babylonia: life, and certainly Jewish life, should not stop in exile. In our personal lives, too, we often find ourselves in situations that we would prefer to avoid, conditions that turn life into something different than we would ideally wish for. During these “exiles,” we must heed the Almighty’s command of “Gur ba-aretz ha-zot,” to make the most of the difficult conditions. Life cannot wait for all our problems to sort themselves out. Just as Yitzchak was to proceed with his work of developing the land even under the harsh conditions of drought and exile, similarly, we must continue pursuing our goals and ambitions even during the frequent twists and turns of life, when things aren’t quite they way we want them to be.