The term “homeland” is certainly not a title exclusive to Eretz Yisrael. Every nation expresses its patriotism by referring to its Land as its “moledet.”

We do find, however, a Torah source for its application to the Jewish homeland. When the Patriarch Yaakov, in the home of his uncle Lavan in Padan Aram, was told by God to leave, the instructions were “to return to...your homeland and I shall be with you” (Bereishit 31:3).

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