Over the past few weeks, I have been going to the Jordan Valley to take part in protective presence activities. As part of this work, I sit in shepherds’ tents and accompany Palestinian shepherds as they take their flocks out to graze. We go out together because of the fear that they will encounter people who restrict their movements and prevent them from grazing their flocks, and who, in many cases, will damage or even confiscate their property. In other cases, they simply encounter people who come to harass and intimidate them in an effort to drive them away.
These visits bring me back to the Book of Genesis, which contains several disputes between shepherds. The first appears in this week’s Torah portion. According to the text, a conflict arises between the shepherds of Abraham and those of his nephew Lot. In response, Abraham proposes that they divide the land between them, even offering Lot the first choice. He does so in these words:“Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my herders and yours, for we are, after all, kin. Is not the whole land before you? Let us separate: if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.” (Genesis 13:8–9)
In other words, Abraham opposes conflict and reminds Lot of their kinship. He also seems to recognize that there is room in the land for both Lot and his shepherds and for himself.
Interestingly, it is precisely after they separate that Abraham receives the promise of the land. The Torah emphasizes the connection between these events by explicitly linking God’s promise to the separation: “And GOD said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west,for I give all the land that you see to you and your offspring forever.”(Genesis 13:14–15)
It is as though God is saying to Abraham: Only if you know how to share the land with everyone who lives in it will it truly be yours.
The midrash in Genesis Rabbah (41) takes the dispute between the shepherds in a different direction. According to the midrash, this was not merely a technical disagreement over grazing land, but a conflict over how a shepherd ought to behave. The midrash explains that Abraham’s shepherds took care to muzzle their animals so that they would not eat grain that did not belong to them. Lot’s shepherds, by contrast, refrained from doing so, arguing that the land had been promised to Abraham as an inheritance and would eventually pass to Lot as well.
Therefore, they reasoned, the entire land belonged to them, and their animals were entitled to eat its produce: “Abraham’s animals would go out muzzled, but Lot’s animals would not go out muzzled. Abraham’s herdsmen would say to them: ‘Has theft now been permitted?’ Lot’s herdsmen would say to them: ‘The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: “To your descendants I will give this land”… We are not consuming their property, we are consuming our own property.’” (Bereshit Rabbah 41:5)
The midrash regards this behavior as wrongful and as a desecration of God’s name. It explains that Abraham’s shepherds refused to participate in it, and that this was what led to the separation. The midrash also notes that Lot’s shepherds’ conduct prevented Abraham from receiving divine revelation; only after the separation did God speak to him again.
Sforno sharpens this point even further. He explains that God did not appear to Abraham while Lot was still with him, out of concern that Lot and his shepherds would use the divine revelation to justify their theft:
“He did not say this while Lot was with him, lest Lot and his shepherds boast and grow arrogant on account of [God’s] honor, and become emboldened to steal.” (Sforno on Genesis 13:14)
Rabbi Joseph Bekhor Shor, meanwhile, interprets God’s revelation to Abraham and the promise of the land—“GOD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him… For I give all the land…” (Genesis 13:14–15)- as a reward for Abraham’s willingness to relinquish exclusive ownership: “Like someone who says: ‘It is not mine; I am merely retaining the place where I live, and nothing more, from you.’ Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be God, said to him: ‘Behold, the entire land is before you… the whole land needs you.’” (Bekhor Shor on Genesis 13)
Bekhor Shor is essentially establishing that the condition for inheriting the land is the ability to make room within it for others. Inheriting the land is not about acquiring property for oneself, but about giving of what is one’s own for the benefit of the land itself: the whole land needs you.
Put together, the midrash and these commentators offer a message that resonates powerfully with our present reality: We must make room for others and refrain from theft. No divine promise can justify the use of force, the seizure of land, or the abusive appropriation of other people’s crops and property.
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Rabbi Avi Novis-Deutsch is a lecturer, educator, and independent consultant specializing in program development and community work. He currently teaches at the Schechter Institute, facilitates programs at pre-military academies, and leads the “We Learn Mishnah in Their Memory” project. He previously served as Dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary, Deputy CEO of Tivon’s community center network, and rabbi of two Masorti communities in Israel. He holds a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and is a graduate of the Mandel Institute and the Greenhouse for Social Cohesion. He also has eight years of yeshiva study. He lives in Hannaton.
These visits bring me back to the Book of Genesis, which contains several disputes between shepherds. The first appears in this week’s Torah portion. According to the text, a conflict arises between the shepherds of Abraham and those of his nephew Lot. In response, Abraham proposes that they divide the land between them, even offering Lot the first choice. He does so in these words:“Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my herders and yours, for we are, after all, kin. Is not the whole land before you? Let us separate: if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.” (Genesis 13:8–9)
In other words, Abraham opposes conflict and reminds Lot of their kinship. He also seems to recognize that there is room in the land for both Lot and his shepherds and for himself.
Interestingly, it is precisely after they separate that Abraham receives the promise of the land. The Torah emphasizes the connection between these events by explicitly linking God’s promise to the separation: “And GOD said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west,for I give all the land that you see to you and your offspring forever.”(Genesis 13:14–15)
It is as though God is saying to Abraham: Only if you know how to share the land with everyone who lives in it will it truly be yours.
The midrash in Genesis Rabbah (41) takes the dispute between the shepherds in a different direction. According to the midrash, this was not merely a technical disagreement over grazing land, but a conflict over how a shepherd ought to behave. The midrash explains that Abraham’s shepherds took care to muzzle their animals so that they would not eat grain that did not belong to them. Lot’s shepherds, by contrast, refrained from doing so, arguing that the land had been promised to Abraham as an inheritance and would eventually pass to Lot as well.
Therefore, they reasoned, the entire land belonged to them, and their animals were entitled to eat its produce: “Abraham’s animals would go out muzzled, but Lot’s animals would not go out muzzled. Abraham’s herdsmen would say to them: ‘Has theft now been permitted?’ Lot’s herdsmen would say to them: ‘The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: “To your descendants I will give this land”… We are not consuming their property, we are consuming our own property.’” (Bereshit Rabbah 41:5)
The midrash regards this behavior as wrongful and as a desecration of God’s name. It explains that Abraham’s shepherds refused to participate in it, and that this was what led to the separation. The midrash also notes that Lot’s shepherds’ conduct prevented Abraham from receiving divine revelation; only after the separation did God speak to him again.
Sforno sharpens this point even further. He explains that God did not appear to Abraham while Lot was still with him, out of concern that Lot and his shepherds would use the divine revelation to justify their theft:
“He did not say this while Lot was with him, lest Lot and his shepherds boast and grow arrogant on account of [God’s] honor, and become emboldened to steal.” (Sforno on Genesis 13:14)
Rabbi Joseph Bekhor Shor, meanwhile, interprets God’s revelation to Abraham and the promise of the land—“GOD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him… For I give all the land…” (Genesis 13:14–15)- as a reward for Abraham’s willingness to relinquish exclusive ownership: “Like someone who says: ‘It is not mine; I am merely retaining the place where I live, and nothing more, from you.’ Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be God, said to him: ‘Behold, the entire land is before you… the whole land needs you.’” (Bekhor Shor on Genesis 13)
Bekhor Shor is essentially establishing that the condition for inheriting the land is the ability to make room within it for others. Inheriting the land is not about acquiring property for oneself, but about giving of what is one’s own for the benefit of the land itself: the whole land needs you.
Put together, the midrash and these commentators offer a message that resonates powerfully with our present reality: We must make room for others and refrain from theft. No divine promise can justify the use of force, the seizure of land, or the abusive appropriation of other people’s crops and property.
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Rabbi Avi Novis-Deutsch is a lecturer, educator, and independent consultant specializing in program development and community work. He currently teaches at the Schechter Institute, facilitates programs at pre-military academies, and leads the “We Learn Mishnah in Their Memory” project. He previously served as Dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary, Deputy CEO of Tivon’s community center network, and rabbi of two Masorti communities in Israel. He holds a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and is a graduate of the Mandel Institute and the Greenhouse for Social Cohesion. He also has eight years of yeshiva study. He lives in Hannaton.