Eretz Avoteinu – Land of Our Fathers
In the original version of the national anthem of the Zionist Movement and the State of Israel there appeared a phrase about “hatikvah” – the hope – of Jews to “return to the Land of our fathers.”
The origin of this phrase is in the Torah and it twice appears in connection with the Patriarch Yaakov. The first is when he receives a Divine command “to return to the Land of your fathers” (Bereishit 31:3), and the second is when Yaakov blessed his grandchildren and informed their father Yosef of the gift his tribe would receive when God would “return you to the Land of your fathers” (ibid. 48:21).
