There used to be a bumper sticker that perfectly expressed our society’s obsession with material possessions—“The one who dies with the most toys wins.” In this week’s double-portion we read the counter argument to materialism, “But the land must not be sold beyond redemption, the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me.” The idea that we own anything is an illusion. There is a Hasidic story about two men fighting over a piece of property. They can’t resolve their conflict so they go to their rabbi. The rabbi listens to each of them and still can’t resolve the issue, so he asks them to take him to the land. He lies down and puts his ear to the ground. After a few minutes he stands back up. “What did the land say?” the two men ask. The rabbi responds, “The land spoke to me and said, ‘Why are these two arguing about who owns me? Some day I will own both of them.’” The message of this week’s portion is that we are just temporary residents, with a short-term lease on the Earth. Torah teaches that what we own isn’t important; what we do with our lives is.