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In these studies a number of prominent writers give their interpretations and views. They include Professor Moshe Kaveh, President of the University; Dr Aharon Arend; Professor Nathan Aviezer; Professor Elazar Touitou; Professor Jacob Klein; Professor Hannah Kosher; Dr Zohar Amar; Professor Dov Schwartz, Rabbi Yaakov Charlap; Rabbi Dr Pinchas Hyman; Dr Avraham Elqayam; Dr Penina Meizlish; Dr Meir Bar-Ilan; Dr Dvorah Ushpizai; Dr Meir Gruzman; Rabbi Yehezkel Lichtenstein; Professor Ephraim Chazan; Dr David Elgavish; Yona Bar-Maoz; Dr David Eglavish; Hillel Neuman; Dr Zvi Betzer; Professor Eric Zimmer; Dr Leb Moskovitz; Naftali Stern.
Naim Dangoor writes: In Parashat Lekh-Lekha, G-d's command to Abraham to "Get thee out from thy land, thy birthplace and thy father's home", is usually interpreted as in this study as demonstrating the painful decision that Abraham had to make in leaving his homeland, so that G-d had to sweeten His command by promising Abraham to make him a great nation.
But I have a deeper, more subtle and more meaningful interpretation of his historical phrase. G-d's emphasis that the land of the rivers is Abraham's land and the house of his fathers is to remind him that the Jews must always regard Mesopotamia as their rightful homeland and any forgetting of this fact would result in disaster after disaster as has happened in our history - exile to Babylon, the destruction of the second Temple and finally Saddam's missiles on Ramat Gan.
Israel cannot hope to survive in peace unless she attempts to passify Iraq and consider the whole Middle East as one country.
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