“The Place G-d Will Choose: A Journey of Faith in Uncertain Times – lessons from Parshat Re’eh and a father’s legacy of unwavering trust in G-d.
A Time of Uncertainty and Concern
In recent months, and especially in recent weeks, many people are deeply concerned about the situation in Israel. No one knows what tomorrow will bring—whether Gaza will be conquered or not, whether Israel will succeed in freeing the hostages, and whether this war will ever end.
The reason everyone is worried is, first and foremost, because every Jew cares deeply about what is happening to our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land. Additionally, the situation in Israel affects the entire Jewish world. Unfortunately, we see from the news coming out of Gaza that the global antisemitism index is rising.
The Rebbe always taught us that the answers to the burning questions of the week—especially those that are critical to every Jew—should be sought in the weekly Torah portion.
The Mystery of “The Place G-d Will Choose”
This week we read Parshat Re’eh. Moses tells the Jewish people that when they enter the Land of Israel, they must not behave like the idol worshippers who build altars and offer sacrifices wherever they happen to be:
“You shall not do so to the Lord your G-d. Rather, only to the place that the Lord your G-d will choose to establish His name there… There you shall bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices… and you shall eat there before the Lord your G-d” (Re’eh 12:5–7).
They are to offer sacrifices only in the place that G-d chooses. But when we try to determine where this “place that G-d will choose” is, the Torah does not say explicitly. The phrase “the place that G-d will choose” appears many times in Parshat Re’eh, but the identity of the place is not revealed.
This raises a question: Why doesn’t the Torah simply say “Jerusalem”? The name Jerusalem does not appear even once in the Five Books of Moses. It appears 669 times in the Prophets and Writings—but not in the Torah.
There are several explanations for this. Maimonides, in Guide for the Perplexed (Part III, Chapter 45), writes that one reason is so that the nations of the world would not know that this is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and would not try to fight for it or take it from Israel. Therefore, it is better to conceal the matter and not write it explicitly.
Another explanation is “so that no tribe would demand that it be located in its territory… and there would be disputes and quarrels.” If the Israelites had known in advance that Jerusalem was the holiest place, each tribe would have insisted that it be within its portion, and many arguments would have arisen. Everyone would have blamed Moses: “Why didn’t you give me Jerusalem? It’s because you don’t like me!”—even to the point of accusations of favoritism. So it was better to leave the matter vague and simply say “the place that G-d will choose.”
Faith Over Certainty: A Journey Guided by Trust
But perhaps there is something deeper here. Already in the Book of Genesis, in the story of the Binding of Isaac, when G-d tells Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, He says:
“Take your son… and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you” (Vayeira 22:2).
Again, the same question arises: Why not tell him in advance which mountain? Surely G-d could have pointed it out—the taller one or the shorter one, the one with green grass or the dry one. Yet Abraham walks for three days, and only then:
“He saw the place from afar.”
Even at the beginning of Abraham’s journey, we encounter something similar: His first command was:
“Go forth from your land and from your birthplace… to the land that I will show you.”
Again, the same question—why not tell him explicitly to go to the land of Canaan?
What emerges here is a guiding principle: G-d commands us to go, and expects us to trust that He will lead us to the right place. This was also true during the Israelites’ journey in the desert—they knew they were heading to the Promised Land, but didn’t always know where to turn at each stage. Everything depended on the cloud. And in our portion, regarding Jerusalem, the Torah says “the place that G-d will choose”—G-d expects us to have trust and faith in Him, that He will lead us to a place of safety.
A Personal Legacy of Trust in G-d
I want to share a personal story about my father, Rabbi Moshe Greenberg, of blessed memory. Many times, as a child, I would ask him: “Aren’t you worried about how you’ll manage?” And he always had one answer: “Why should I worry? Let G-d worry.” And when he saw I didn’t understand, he would say: “Let me tell you where I come from.”
My father was born in Romania. When he was 12, World War II broke out. The Nazis gathered the Jews of the city into the synagogue, forced them to undress, locked the doors from the outside, and planned to burn the building with everyone inside the next day. That night, a gypsy who hated the Nazis came and opened the door. The Jews escaped, shivering from the cold, ran toward the train station, got lost, retraced their steps—and eventually found a train that took them deep into Russia. Along the way, my grandmother fell ill and passed away, and they continued without her until they reached the city of Tashkent in Kazakhstan.
There, my grandfather searched for Jewish education for his children. The only ones operating were Chabad Chassidim, who ran underground schools at great personal risk. After the war ended when my father was 18, he tried to escape Russia so he could live as a Jew. He was caught, returned to the Russians, and sentenced to 25 years of hard labor in Siberia.
By a great miracle—after five and a half years, Stalin died, and all the political prisoners were released. He told me: “Someone sentenced to 25 years in Siberia doesn’t come out alive. It’s a miracle I survived.” But even after his release, life wasn’t easy: as a former prisoner, he was considered a traitor and couldn’t find work especially since he refused to work on Shabbat. He was fired repeatedly. Yet he built a large family and remained faithful to his path.
Eventually, by another miracle, my parents received permission to leave Russia. They arrived in Israel with nothing—no job, no profession, no money. Just as they began to settle, the Six-Day War broke out. In bomb shelters, under fire, people asked my mother: “Is this why you came to Israel?” Everyone feared it might be the end of Israel. But in the end, G-d helped, and Israel emerged stronger. My father built a beautiful family and married off his children.
He always repeated: “Why should I worry? Let G-d worry. He saved me from every trouble—so I should worry? That’s not my job. I trust Him.”
My friends, this is exactly the message of our Torah portion. “The place that G-d will choose” is not a precise address on a map—it’s a journey of faith and trust. Just like Abraham, who was told “Go forth” without knowing where, we too walk step by step—not because we know everything, but because we trust the One who leads us.
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