The Virtue of the Land

The Sages said: “Dwelling in the Land of Israel is equal to all the mitzvot in the Torah” (Tosefta Avoda Zara 4:3; Sifrei, Re’eh 53). And in the Torah it is stated (Devarim 11:12): “A land which the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” And the Sages said (Ketubot 110b): “Whoever lives in the Land of Israel is like one who has a God, and whoever lives outside the Land is like one who has no God.” They further said (ibid.): “Whoever lives outside the Land is as if he worships idols.”

We must understand why the physical land occupies such an important place in the Torah. What is its great importance for a life of faith, to the point that the Sages said that whoever lives outside the Land is as if he worships idols?

The answer is that the basic sin of idolatry is that it divides and separates the world into different domains. From observing the various forces in the world, people came to the view that the roots of these forces are also separate, and therefore there are different gods, each of which rules over its own particular domain. The greatest division in the world, and consequently in the idolatrous outlook, is the division between spirituality and materiality, which is sometimes regarded as a division between good and evil. And this is the reality outside the Land: there, a Jew can reveal holiness only in spirituality, while being alienated from nature, because anything he adds to the development of science and the economy may help kingdoms and governments to do evil. Thus it turned out that the Jews who helped Germany develop its economy, science, and society, and lay its railroad tracks, helped them initiate World War II and carry out the greatest mass murder – the Holocaust. This is the gravest historical example, but to a certain extent this was the case in all the exiles. In any event, from this situation it appears as if the word of God can be revealed only in the realms of the spirit, and not within concrete, earthly reality. And there is no deeper blow to the faith of Israel than to say that He, may He be blessed, can be revealed only in spiritual aspects, as if the entire physical realm exists without Him and even in opposition to Him. Therefore, one who lives outside the Land, in a place where faith is revealed only in spiritual life, is considered like one who worships idols and has no God, for the Lord our God is One, and one who lives outside the Land does not connect with the One God who gives life to the heavens and the earth.

In contrast, the unique quality of the Land of Israel is that it is the Holy Land. Although it is a physical land, it is holy, and the word of God can be revealed even in its physicality. It was for this purpose that the Holy One, blessed be He, created it. Therefore there is a mitzva to settle the Land, to build houses in it and to plant trees. And therefore its fruits are also holy: in the Shemita year we were commanded to declare them ownerless for all, and in the other years we were commanded to separate terumot and ma’asrot from them.

It follows, then, that in the Land of Israel the unifying faith is revealed, which is the essence and foundation of the faith of Israel, as we say every day, morning and evening: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One” (Devarim 6:4). The Holy One, blessed be He, created the entire world – the heavens, the earth, and all that is in them, the spiritual and the physical. And our task is to cleave to God in all areas of life. As the Sages said (Berakhot 63a): “‘In all your ways know Him’ (Mishlei 3:6) – this is a short passage upon which all the essentials of the Torah depend.”