This week in navi we learned about the empires that surrounded Israel in the 5th to 8th centuries B.C.E. The main empires were the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian. (Egypt joined the mix later) I want to talk about whether Israel was in a good location or bad during the rule of all these empires. Economically it mught have been good, but politically and safty wise it was very
bad.
Israel is right alOng the mediterranean sea which make then a main trading port in the middle east. Anyone who wanted to trade to Europe had to go through Israel. The land of Israel is very fertile which makes farming great. They had all the resources and the place. To trade but their position is bad politically.
For egypt to get through to Persia they had to go right through Israel. This put Israel in a very unsafe place. They were very vulnerable because of the position hashem put them in.y question is then, why would hashem put them in that land of it was going to cause safety issues? Doesn't he want his his people to be safe. Perhaps he wanted then to work for their independence. Wasn't a punishment for Salome of the sins they committed in conquering the land or maybe farther back in the desert? These are all question I would lik to explore further.
I think He might have specifically placed them there as a punishment and to show the other nations that no matter what Hashem will always protect Bnei Yisrael. This isn't always the case, as we see a lot, but that is because Bnei Yisrael didn't listen and strayed from Hashem. I think Hashem was trying to show us that He had given us that land specifically to show us and the outsiders around us that if we can follow in the ways of Hashem, He will make sure that we can attain and preserve our land.
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