The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 6:5) teaches that three things were presented as gifts to the world – the Torah, the Heavenly luminaries, and rain. Rabbi Tanchuma added Eretz Yisrael to this list, as it is written, “He gave them the lands of the nations” (Tehillim 105:44).

There are some elements in the world which are indispensable to human existence and which would be unattainable through any human effort or expense. But they have all been made available to mankind without charge, as a Heavenly gift. The addition of Eretz Yisrael to this list stresses the idea that it was not through military prowess that Israel acquired its homeland, but through the miracles which constituted a Heavenly gift.

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