It is not uncommon that the times in which we live breathe new life, depth, and clarity into the pesukim of Torah and nevi'im. This week there is such a pasuk.
You shall observe all My chukim and all My mishpatim, and the land to which I bring you to settle in will not spew you out. You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. For they did all these things and I despised them, and I said to you: You shall inherit their land, for I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I, Hashem, am your God who has set you apart from other peoples. Vayikra 20:22-24
The Ohr Hachayim, the 18th century commentator about whom the Chidah said that his holiness was that of an angel, questions the seeming redundancy and the awkward sequence of ideas, as follows:
After G-d had already said, "in order for you to inherit it", why does the Torah have to add the words, "and I will give it to you"? And why does the Torah mention again the productivity of the land [altogether] when referencing that the land is our inheritance? It seems that in addition to [returning us to] our inheritance, He will make the land more productive than before. The converse [is taught] as well, that the land will not produce when we do not have it as an inheritance and the Temple is destroyed, as those who know the land well at this time tell us, due to our sins.
In similar fashion, following the teachings of the Ramban, Rabbeinu Bechaya and Chizkuni explain that here the Torah points out the uniqueness of the Land of Israel. Unlike any other land, the agricultural viability and vitality of Eretz Yisroel come to adequate expression only when Jews work it and come to full expression only when those Jews adhere to Hashem's will. This difference with the natural agricultural life of any other land clearly articulates another dimension of our land, i.e. that it has only one legitimate people, discipline, and culture. The land is responsive to us and our conduct, all the while affirming Hashem's ever-present providence over the land.
Whereas all of this was unfortunately well-understood for centuries, we now see the blessing hidden therein come true in a way that our great grandparents could not envision. As one of my rebbeim, Harav Sholom Gold zt"l, rav in Toronto, West Hempstead, and Har Nof, never tired of reminding us, that we can never become accustomed to living the prophecy of Yechezkel (36:8), "You mountains of Israel, shall yield your produce and bear your fruit for My people Israel, for their return is near."
Yet still more striking is that our generation, unlike any other before, sees the prophecy that is embedded in the very sequence of the pesukim of our parsha. This is how a millennial should read the pasuk: First, You shall inherit their land, and then I will give it to you to possess, and I will show you that it is yours as it becomes a land flowing with milk and honey. And you will further come to understand that I, Hashem, am your God who has set you apart from other peoples as is there any other people, land and spirituality linked so inextricably together.
This moment of reflection, afforded to us by this careful read, can embolden our faith, deepen our appreciation of the privilege to live in redemptive times, and reinforce our gratitude to Hashem for these moments of hisboninus.