Where Will We Put Everybody?

                                                                                    בס"ד
The controversy about the land of Israel begs a very definite question. Where are all the people going to fit when the Jews return along with the ten lost tribes? How many people could we be talking – additional tens of millions or are we possibly up around 100 million or more, all in a country the size of New Jersey? When we are told in scriptures that 1/3rd of the world population will survive the upcoming war and acts of Hashem, are we talking the righteous that will live in this small country? After all, now we are talking 1/3rd of 7.3 billion people or approximately 2.4 billion people living where?

Enough questions. Let’s look for answers. Yesterday, I showed you the map of the land promised to Moses when the Israelites went to Eretz Canaan. That is what Hashem told Moses when they were in the desert as described in the Torah, Bamidbar 34. The problem with this description is that Hashem was talking about places that we are not completely sure today of the location. That is why Artscroll even shows two possibilities. But then we come to a new description in Parashat Eikev that we just read this past Shabbos. It says:

Chapter 11
22  For if you keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, to love the L-rd, your  G-d, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him,

23  then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will possess nations greater and stronger than you.

24  Every place upon which the soles of your feet will tread will be yours: from the desert and the Lebanon, from the river, the Euphrates River, and until the western sea, will be your boundary.

25  No man will stand up before you; the L-rd your G-d will cast the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land upon which you tread, as He spoke to you.

These verses are obviously delineating a much larger area for the future Land of Israel. From verse 24 and this picture:

We get a view of the possible boundaries that greatly increase the land. Add Lebanon, Syria and possibly parts of Jordan and Iraq and we are talking an area that could easily hold all the Jews and the lost tribes.

We can also see in Isaiah 40:4 (which we just read as the Haftorah last week) that Israel will be stretched:

4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the rugged shall be made level, and the rough places a plain;

If you look at much of Israel now, you will see a very hilly area that if it were stretched out as the verse says, the area would see quite an increase in size.

One additional observation that is happening today. Much of the area surrounding Israel that seems to be future additions to the land is at war. The population is being thinned out due to a massive amount of killing and fleeing. The population has been so greatly reduced in Syria, parts of Iraq, Southern Lebanon and who knows where else that will be Israel.

Is Hashem getting everything ready for the end of the exile and the welcoming of return of the people?

I have also been asked where are all the jobs that will be needed to give livelihood to the many, many new citizens of the land. There are two answers. If we go by the RAMBAM who said that things will be “business as usual,” meaning that even though the world will no longer be with evil, B”H, we might still have to produce all our basic needs, in other words, work for a living. Israel today is the most self-sufficient country in the world. We have an abundance that we actually export so much to the world. How is that possible? Hashem made Jews extremely intelligent. If we all of a sudden had a great increase in population, we would also have a great increase in production, manufacturing, which means many, many more jobs created to take care of the population. The new land also would produce as the desert did after the Jews returned. Simple.

But let us look at the more miraculous and more probable path of the future. When we were in the desert after the first Geula, we were in need of nothing. Hashem provided Manna from Heaven, portable wells to follow us, climate control, our clothes did not wear out or need cleaning for 40 years and what we ate and drink was completely absorbed, so we did not need porta-potties (I am trying to stay polite about the subject). All our needs were met miraculously. We are told in the future the miracles will be more numerous for the final Geula than our time in the desert. Will we have to work? Will we have to make our own livelihood or as it is brought down, Hashem will provide everything.

We are talking about a life on Earth that is beyond our comprehension. It is not the life of testing and tribulations that we now experience. It will be so wonderful, that if we could experience a few seconds of what is coming up, including Hashem not being allusive to us anymore, we would never sin again and completely be serving Hashem every second of the day. We would say: “I want that for me and my loved ones, sign me up.” Well, we are already signed up. We are in the outer chamber waiting to go into the lavish banquet hall (as it says in Pirkei Avos). All we need to do is completely turn to Hashem now for everything, do His commandments, live the Torah (The Absolute Truth), and we are good to go for eternity.