The Holy Land: Only One Home for the Jewish People

In the previous article we spoke about the material wealth and richness of Israel, its exceptional agriculture and climate, as well as its unique landscapes. Now, we focus on the spiritual connection between the Jewish people and their land.

Hashem has created a dependency between the spiritual level of the Jewish people and the wealth they derive from the Land of Israel. We live in the only land where the climate and agriculture depend openly on Divine grace, not on usual and observable nature. The deeds of the Jewish people and their adherence to the holy Torah determine their level of success and enjoyment of the land. Thus, it reminds us of our purpose and mission.

In the ideal state of the land, rains would fall when needed at the most convenient times:

"I will give the rain of your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain" (Deuteronomy 11:14), Rashi explains: "In its time - at nights, so as not to inconvenience you. Another explanation, in its time, on Friday nights (Sifri 42), when everyone is at home. The early rain - the first rain after planting, which softens the land and the seeds (Taanit 6a). And the latter rain - the rain that falls close to harvest, to fill the grain in its stalks (ibid), and the term 'latter rain' refers to something late... which falls on the ears and the stalks".

And what is "I will give grass in your fields for your cattle" (verse 15)? Rashi explains: "so that you should not have to lead them into the deserts".

The Torah speaks of the uniqueness of the Land of Israel above all lands, where Hashem examines it beyond the ways of nature to give it rains exactly according to its needs, as long as the condition is the observance of the sacred Torah:

"A land that Hashem your God cares for; the eyes of Hashem your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. And it shall be, if you carefully listen to my commandments which I command you this day, to love Hashem your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give rain in your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, and you shall gather your grain, your wine, and your oil. And I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be satisfied".

Rashi explains: "Always the eyes of Hashem your God are upon it - to see what it needs and to renew decrees on it, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad, as it is said in Rosh Hashanah (17b)".

It is said that the Land of Israel is not subject to the laws of nature - to the destinies and fates like other lands, moreover, from Israel descends the abundance to the entire world, as the eyes of Hashem are initially upon it, as it is said: "A land that Hashem your God cares for;" and the Sifri says: "as if He only cares for it, and as a reward for His care - He cares for all the lands with it".

A Land Whose Entire Existence is Sacred

The spiritual aspect is the most important. Of all the lands in the world - this land alone has been designated as the home for the practice of Torah and mitzvot.

This is the land promised to our patriarch Abraham and to his descendants after him; this is the land divided among the tribes of Israel; this is the land chosen by Hashem to erect His Temple, and this is the land where Hashem desired His Torah to be studied and His commandments to be observed - for them He created the world: "Were it not for my covenant of day and night, I would not have set the ordinances of heaven and earth" (Jeremiah 33:25).

It is the most holy in the world because this is the only land whose goodness is dependent on the observance of mitzvot: "And now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to do, so that you may live and come and inherit the land which Hashem the God of your fathers is giving you" (Deuteronomy 4).

As such, it demands from us spiritual wholeness, otherwise: "When you beget children... and do evil in the eyes of Hashem... you will swiftly perish from off the land where you are crossing the Jordan to possess it" (Deuteronomy 4:25).

Many commandments depend on the land, and do not apply outside Israel. The purpose of the Land of Israel is religious, because it is designated by Hashem to be an object of commandments, like tefillin and mezuzah.

This is the only land that aids its people to grow wise in Torah and to be strengthened in it: "The air of the Land of Israel makes one wise" (Bava Batra 158b).

This was also explained by the "Pnei Yehoshua" regarding the famous Gemara (Ketubot 111b):

"Anyone who lives in the Land of Israel is as if they have no sin - it seems that this is only for those who live there for the purpose of fulfilling the commandment of dwelling in the Land of Israel, which is a place of holiness so that the merit of the Land of Israel protects them from sin, and then, even if sometimes they sin or even with intentional sin because their evil inclination overtakes them, nonetheless the merit of dwelling in the Land of Israel presumably prevents them from retaining a sin, for after they sin and find themselves standing in a holy place, they surely regret the past and return and heal, unlike those who live there incidentally or because it is their birthplace or because of the praise of its fruits and the like, and certainly not for those who scorn it and demean the holiness of the land to follow the evil inclination - the Torah does not speak of the dead. On the contrary, about them it is said: "And you came and defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination". Therefore we find that when the sins of our ancestors increased we were exiled from our land and the place of our holiness was desolate..."

This is the land Hashem chose for His people even before the world was created, and as such, it is the world's center. More than any other place in the world - Jerusalem is the location closest to the Divine Presence: "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8). For it is the place designated for the Holy of Holies, from which Hashem radiates light and holiness to the people of Israel and to all the nations of the world.

Thus to this day the city of Jerusalem is the most famous and discussed city in the religious-political sphere and overall - because it is the center of matters. When the Messiah arrives to bring redemption to Israel and the world, he will build the third Temple in the holy Jerusalem, and all nations will come to it with offerings of thanks.

Even other nations refer to our land with names like "The Holy Land", "The Promised Land"; in Latin "Terra Sancta - the Holy Land"; in Arabic "Al-Diyar Al-Muqaddasa".

In our language, it is called "The Land", for we see it as the only land to live in, so that every other land in our language is called "outside the land"!

The Land of the Jewish People - Waiting for Them and Heralding Their Redemption:

There is an unbreakable bond between the Holy Land and the chosen people destined to keep the Torah of Hashem in it.

Since the Land of Israel is small and close to large desert lands, it could have been a perpetual desert (see the map of Saudi Arabia's size, and to the left is North Africa), and so it was for thousands of years.

Mark Twain visited the Land of Israel in 1867 and wrote in his book "Innocents Abroad":

"A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds—a silent mournful expanse. A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action. We never saw a human being on the whole route... Hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."

This is a historic fact; when the Jewish people finished their exile of 2000 years, the land remained faithful to them; despite the repeated conquests by various nations - no other nation succeeded in revitalizing the desert and resettling it.

When Jewish settlers arrived in the land a hundred years ago, they found deserts, swamps, and diseases like malaria - a land seemingly unfit for agriculture. In short, desolation. Yet when the Jewish people returned to their land, they were granted its blessings. What makes the Land of Israel unnatural - a home that knows who its occupants are, and is deeply connected to the Jewish people.

Thus, the holy Torah promised us 3300 years ago, in prophecy about the state of the land during our exile: "And your enemies who dwell therein shall be desolate" (Leviticus 26:32), and Ramban explains: "Since we left it, no nation could settle it, and they all tried to settle it but to no avail".

In Ezekiel, a prophecy for the future says: "And you, mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come" (Chapter 36:8), and our sages say this is a clear sign of the end times: "there is no more revealed end than this" (Sanhedrin 98a), Rashi explains: "Revealed end - when the Land of Israel gives its fruit bountifully, then the end will be near, and there is no clearer end".

No other land has such an intriguing history as the Land of Israel, with such a strong connection with its people for 3300 years. Even during the exile, the love and longing for it did not fade but only grew stronger, as if it were a beloved taken captive and now returning to her husband's embrace. Not for nothing do we eagerly await the complete redemption, when our Temple will be rebuilt, and the Shechinah and holiness will return to the Land of Israel as in days of yore; then the land will be seen in its glory.

The Cultural Position of the Land of Israel:

Another idea that many overlook: The position of the Land of Israel is historically situated between two giant cultures fighting for ideological dominance in the world: Edom and Ishmael.

Above the Land of Israel are all the democratic Western cultures of the European countries and Russia, while below the Land of Israel lie all the Muslim Arab cultures. Israel is at the heart of the struggle, not just ideologically but physically. Its position separates and distinguishes between two different worlds!

(Photo: shutterstock)

We Jews are between the hammer and the anvil, like a sheep among seventy wolves, and it is no coincidence. In no other country on earth would we find ourselves in the delicate situation we're living in today. Our location serves as an arrow in the struggle between Christianity and Islam, between Western culture and Eastern culture. We are the wall and also the bridge. When the Messiah comes and the redemption arrives, the Land of Israel will serve as the new heart of the world, completing and connecting these two contrasting cultures through the light of the holy Torah:

"You will arise and have mercy on Zion for it is time to be gracious to her; the appointed time has come... and the nations will fear the name of Hashem and all the kings of the earth Your glory, for Hashem has built Zion, He has appeared in His glory... This shall be written for the last generation and a newly created people shall praise God... To tell in Zion the name of Hashem and His praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples are gathered together and the kingdoms to serve Hashem" (Psalms 102).

Thus it is said about the end of days:

"And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of Hashem's house shall be established at the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it, and many people shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Hashem, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2:2-4)

Our place in the world testifies to our purpose; this is the place from which redemption will come to the world and elevate us to a new era of faith and peace.

There is Only One Home for the Jewish People

Ultimately, most Jews traveling the world feel an intense need to return to the Land of Israel - not just for family and friends, but because they feel that the Land of Israel is connected to their soul, that it is their true home, and they remain strangers among strangers everywhere else.

I've heard of Jews born and raised all their lives in a foreign country until they visited the Land of Israel for the first time, and from that moment they were unable to leave. They felt a spiritual connection in the land they couldn't describe in words and suddenly understood how foreign they were everywhere else. It is like the story of a child who leaves home searching for another 'mother', but finds none like her anywhere else, until he returns to his only and true mother.

There is an unbreakable bond between the people of Israel and their land - a connection that began 3800 years ago with our first patriarch, Abraham the Hebrew, to whom the land was promised. Thus it is said in the covenant between the parts: "On that day Hashem made a covenant with Abram, saying: To your descendants have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates" (Genesis 15:18).

As such, our land is our only home, the place where the Jewish people were born even before they were born - it was our womb, and it is what nourishes us with milk. Therefore, this is the only place where we can breathe the air of Torah freely and feel at home.

The true feeling of "home" cannot be described in words. It's not a feeling of patriotism or ideological connection, it's not a feeling of military or national security, it's not a feeling of family or nostalgia, it's something different, something only a Jewish heart can feel.