Taamei Hamitzvos - Eretz Yisrael
by Rabbi Shmuel Kraines
“Study improves the quality of the act and completes it, and a mitzvah is more beautiful when it emerges from someone who understands its significance.” (Meiri, Bava Kama 17a)
PREFACE
The three-week period between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av, when we mourn over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash and our exile from Eretz Yisrael, is an appropriate time to contemplate the greatness we lost and hope to regain soon. We will explore the topic of living in Eretz Yisrael, which is a major focus in the Torah. Halachic authorities dispute whether it is a full-fledged Mitzvah or only a means to perform the Mitzvos that are applicable to Eretz Yisrael, such as tithing produce, but all agree about its foremost importance. This needs to be understood. Why is this land better than all the other lands, and why is it virtuous to live there? Why were our Patriarchs rewarded for all their loyalty to Hashem with this land, and why were all the tragedies of Tisha B’av decreed when our ancestors in the Wilderness rejected this land (Taanis 29a)? The coming article will scratch the surface of this vast topic.
THE LAND OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai expounded: Hashem examined all the lands and did not find a land that was fitting to give to the Jewish people other than Eretz Yisrael (Vayikra Rabbah 13:2). Midrash Tanchuma (Masei §4) similarly compares Eretz Yisrael to clothing that is a perfect fit for the Jewish people. In light of this, it appears that it is important to live in Eretz Yisrael because it suits us and completes us.
To elaborate, Eretz Yisrael is not an ordinary inanimate land; it is spiritually alive. Indeed, Eretz Yisrael is called “the Living Land” (Yechezkel 26:20). Just as the Jewish people have a higher spiritual quality than gentiles, Eretz Yisrael has a higher spiritual quality than other lands. Only when we live in Eretz Yisrael is our spiritual quality complete (see Sacred Soil).
For example, Hashem watches over the Jewish people with special providence (Derech Hashem 2:4 §8), and He watches over Eretz Yisrael with special providence (Devarim 11:12). Thus, only when we live in Eretz Yisrael is the way He watches over us complete. Whereas, when a Jew lives outside Eretz Yisrael, he is missing a degree of connection with Hashem. About this, the Sages made an astounding comment: “Whoever lives outside Eretz Yisrael is considered as if he does not have a God.” As the commentators explain, Eretz Yisrael is the main resting place of the Divine Presence (Tashbetz §565) and Hashem watches over its inhabitants with special Divine providence (Rif to Ein Yaakov). Whoever lives outside Eretz Yisrael is missing this connection with Hashem.
The combination of qualities when we live in our land is not merely one plus one equals two. Just as clothing is an extension of a person, Eretz Yisrael is an extension of us. When we live there, our spiritual qualities expand to include a whole new dimension. This has ramifications on everything we do. A Mitzvah that is performed in Eretz Yisrael is much greater than a Mitzvah that is performed outside it. One of the leading Torah scholars of this generation once advised someone who flew to Eretz Yisrael and put on tefillin when he davened on the plane that he should ideally put them on again the same day when arriving in Eretz Yisrael. He explained that although we are only obligated to put on tefillin a minimum of once a day, doing a Mitzvah in Eretz Yisrael is not just a greater fulfillment of the same Mitzvah; it is a different Mitzvah, on a whole new dimension.
Kol Bochim goes so far as to suggest that Eretz Yisrael is not just like clothing to our body but like a body to our soul (cited in Eretz Yisrael §85, in commentary Ben Yisrael). In other words, it is an extension of us and connected to us, and without it, we cannot accomplish our purpose in this world. Perhaps according to this, “Eretz Yisrael” does not just mean “the land that belongs to the Jewish people,” but also “the land that is the Jewish people.”
Kol Bochim illustrates this concept by citing the teaching of the Sages that tzaraas, a spiritual disease that results from sin, only affects homes in Eretz Yisrael. [This was discussed in an earlier article about tzaraas.] If someone were to commit the exact same sin outside Eretz Yisrael, his home would not be stricken with tzaraas (see Vayikra 14:34). What is the difference? It is because only the land of Eretz Yisrael connects with the Jewish people who live there, feels the impurity of their sins, and reacts with tzaraas. In contrast, the land outside Eretz Yisrael is like dead flesh that does not feel nor react.
The Torah similarly states that if people commit abominable sins within Eretz Yisrael, it “vomits” them out (Vayikra 18:28). This is because Eretz Yisrael is alive with spirituality and therefore reacts to anything that does not agree with its holy nature. While it is sensitive to all that occurs upon it, it is especially sensitive to the nation of which it is part, the Jewish people.
On the other hand, when the Jewish people act virtuously in Eretz Yisrael, it feels and reacts positively. It becomes the bountiful and blessed land that was promised to our patriarchs as the greatest possible reward in this world, in which Hashem’s Presence rests upon His people and shines forth throughout the world.
