July 4, 1776—the day the United States declared its independence and emerged as a new nation.
Strikingly, the Parshas Hashavua of that week was Parshas Pinchas.
Parshas Pinchas contains what we can see as symbolic for a new nation. It says לאלה תחלק הארץ, to these the land shall be divided.
On July 4, 1776, a fledgling nation stood up and declared its independence, beginning the process of defining itself as a sovereign state with its own land, governance, and national destiny. The words לאלה תחלק הארץ capture the essence of nationhood: a people receiving, organizing, and inhabiting their land. Here we see how the Torah’s description of a nation forming around its land resonates with the moment when America itself began its journey as an independent country.
Interestingly, in the Jewish calendar, July 4th of that year was Shiva Asar B’Tammuz.
Bamidbar 26:53. There it discusses the division of Eretz Yisrael and the establishment of the tribes in their own territories. The full pasuk is לאלה תחלק הארץ בנחלה ב מספר שמות. The simple meaning is, “To these the land shall be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names.”
