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Chapter 5, part 2: Advantages of Being in Israel
Translation and commentary by Rabbi David Slavin
Behold, he who doesn't live in Eretz Yisrael is called
by the sages as, "One who is as if he has no G-d" (Ketubot 111). The reason for
this is simple. Every Jew's soul emanates from a holy place, and therefore the
kelipot really have no real power to rule over him. That is derived from
the verse, "For G-d's portion is His nation" (Deut. 32:9). They are G-d's
portion, not the portion of the angels. Therefore the ministering angel of his
country has no real power over him, yet the Shechina is not resting
directly upon him either. This is because he is engulfed by the depths of the
sea of the kelipot that is in the contaminated airspace of his foreign
country. Therefore he is considered to be without G-d.  | | " Torah and mitzvot...are enclothed by the forces of that contaminated airspace of Chutz LaAretz" | | |
It is certain that his Neshama, Ruach,
Nefesh, and Body are totally enclothed within that contaminated airspace.
Therefore all his Torah and mitzvot aren't totally pure, for they too are
enclothed by the forces of that contaminated airspace of Chutz LaAretz.
If that is not enough, even when he dies and his soul leaves his body, his
Neshama can't rise up in absolute purity, for it in enclothed by that
kelipa. Aside from that, the soul must go through a rolling process until it
finally reaches the airspace of Eretz Yisrael. Only from there can the
Neshama ascend to the Garden of Eden. This we know from the sages' statement
that "the entrance to the Garden of Eden is through the Cave of Machpela [in the
holy Israeli city of Hebron]" ( Zohar Chadash Rut). From the earthly Garden of
Eden the Neshama ascends to the heavenly Garden of Eden.
When we contemplate upon the advantage of Eretz
Yisrael over other lands we should make three categories. Yet we must also keep
in mind that within each category lies many more sub-divisions and aspects:
1) The performance of mitzvot in purity and
cleanliness his entire life.
2) The separation of the Neshama from the
body upon death.
3) The resurrection of the deceased of the future.
These three categories are going to vary greatly
dependent upon many factors. For he who was born in Eretz Yisrael and remained
there all his life, his soul descended to his body in purity and was never
contaminated by the air of foreign countries. That level is a tremendous boon to
his service of G-d. This level applies to a certain degree even to those who
enter Eretz Yisrael before their Bar/Bat Mitzva. For according to the
teachings of the sages (Zohar Mishpatim), the element of soul called the
Good Inclination and full Neshama (sometimes even the Ruach and or
Nefesh) only enters his being at Bar Mitzvah. Therefore all
mitzvot that he does from then on, are in complete purity. He was raised in
a good name and passed on with a good name.
Yet he who ascends to Eretz Yisrael in an advanced age
can not attain that level. Rather he only merits the other two categories, the
separation of soul and the resurrection in the future. Lastly, he who arrives in
Eretz Yisrael only subsequent to dying, of course, only merits the resurrection.
Which contains within it the advantage of the souls returning to the body, as in
"And your bones I shall strengthen"(Isaiah 58:11). That is since he was interred
in purity in Eretz Yisrael. | | " A Jew who resides in Chutz LaAretz and performs...mitzvot with as much purity as he can, nonetheless... will send spiritual power to the ministering angel of that country" | | |
Now when we come to expound upon the advantages of the
first category we find them numerous:
The Neshama has never been tainted nor
contaminated by the air of Chutz LaAretz.
His mitzvot were performed in absolute
purity. The very spirituality generated by those Torah and mitzvot
never was tainted by that kelipa.
The divine influence that is drawn down by means
of his Torah and mitzvot gives no nourishment or strength to the
foreign angels. For a Jew who resides in Chutz LaAretz and performs
Torah and mitzvot with as much purity as he can, nonetheless the
spirituality generated therein will send spiritual power to the ministering
angel of that country.
The above was certainly true when the Shechina
was residing openly in Eretz Yisrael. The fact that the foreign powers receive
influence can be seen from the verse of King David, "For they have driven me
away this day from attaching myself to the heritage of G-d saying, 'go serve the
god of others'" (Samuel I 26:19). Literally serve and channel
influence to those foreign gods who are the kelipot as mentioned
previously. The meaning of this is that he who lives in Eretz Yisrael even in
its state of ruin, is as if he has attachment to G-d. Yet if Eretz
Yisrael is built up (i.e. with the Holy Temple and the Shechina) then
they literally are attached to G-d. Whilst always in Chutz LaAretz its as
if he has no G-d. That is why David, who is our anointed one [the soul of
Mashiach], said, "they have driven me away this day from attaching myself to the
heritage of G-d", for he experience a real exile. Furthermore, Eretz Yisrael in
his time wasn't built up, there was no Holy Temple; even the Tabernacle had been
laid useless (like a public altar) by the removal of the Holy Ark. Even
regarding Our Teacher Moses, we see the Torah writes, "With me as well (Gam
bi in Hebrew) G-d got angry" (Deut. 1:37). Gam bi has the four
letters (GMBI) that start the words from the verse of King David, "They have
driven me away this day from attaching myself to the heritage of G-d
(Gershuni Mehestapayach Benachlas Hashem"
(Samuel I 26:19).
[Note: the text continues enumerating further
advantages of being in the Land.]
There are other extra mitzvot for the land
that are only capable of being fulfilled while living in the land. There is
no doubt that the benefits, advantages and qualities there are so great that
one is precluded from performing them in Chutz LaAretz. This is
because the power of that level of holiness is not befitting to supply
influence to Chutz LaAretz, as was said by our sages that you
shouldn't bring challah (the dough offering from Chutz LaAretz,
and if it was brought then you should burn it like chometz (leavened
bread) on Pesach Eve. The same applies to teruma (donations to the
Cohen), bikurim (first fruit offerings) and other similar mitzvot.
The reason for that is because of the awesome greatness of those mitzvot
in relation to the land.
| | " All the borders of Eretz Yisrael are bodies of water...for before anyone can enter her holy airspace they must first... purify themselves by immersion" | | |
The prayers in Eretz Yisrael are most desired and
accepted by G-d. This is true because in Eretz Yisrael there are not so many
prosecuting forces intercepting our prayers. The reason for that is that the
letters that we pronounce in our prayers are not engulfed by the impure air.
This is why the prayers of the land transform into a crown befitting the
Creator of the world. This is hinted to in the verse, "Behold, the cries of
the children of Israel (Hinay Za'akas Bnei
Yisrael in Hebrew) has come to Me"(Ex. 3:9). The first letters
spell, HaTzvi (meaning "deer" or "loveliness") referring to the Land
of Israel. In other words in the Land of the Tzvi, G-d Himself
immediately accepts our cries and prayers, without any angel as an
intermediary. That is not the case outside the Land. For there the prayers
are enveloped within the contaminated air, and there are a few of the
External Forces that prosecute against the acceptance of those prayers. Once
those prayers reach Eretz Yisrael they need to be purified and cleansed
before being able to ascend before the heavenly throne. This is what is
meant by Rav Cordovero (in his book Or Yakar): "This is why all the borders
of Eretz Yisrael are bodies of water; East is the Jordan River, West is the
Mediterranean, South is the Egypt River, and North is the Euphrates. For
before anyone can enter her holy airspace they must first traverse a body of
water and purify themselves by immersion. For only then (after purification)
can that person receive his addition to his Neshama."
The second category of qualities has much
sub-division as well. For example:
Death in Eretz Yisrael is not carried out by the
Angel of Death, rather it is done by means of a holy angel. This angel,
although stemming from the aspect of chesed, gets enclothed in
gevura in order to remove the soul from the person. This is likened to
an animal being ritually slaughtered (i.e. in a kosher manner) with a
perfectly smooth blade rendering the person "pure". This is opposed to death
in Chutz LaAretz, where death is meted out by Sama'el with a
blemished and defective blade rendering the person invalid.
For one who dies in Chutz LaAretz, his
soul, at the time of its departure from the body, is enclothed by the forces
of Chutz LaAretz, thus being contaminated. The soul must exert
tremendous effort just to reach the gates of heaven. There it is purified
from its contamination in order that it should be allowed to ascend.
The body of those buried in Chutz LaAretz must
roll underground from the place of burial until Eretz Yisrael, in order to arise
at the time of the Resurrection of the Dead. With each border he must pass, he
is harassed and tormented by the forces of each country. Upon this, the sages
write, "there is no comparison to one who is absorbed into Eretz Yisrael while
alive as opposed to after death (Ketubot 111 a).
Again, to expound upon the third category of
qualities of Eretz Yisrael, there are many distinctions to be made. A few are:
The actual differences and specifics each soul
will experience during that rolling from Chutz LaAretz.
The fact that the resurrection of the dead in
Eretz Yisrael will precede that of those buried in Chutz LaAretz.
The souls return to visit their bodies on Shabbat
and New Moons, as mentioned in the Zohar (I 81 a and b). For those buried
outside Eretz Yisrael, the Neshama must pass through the contaminated
air space of Chutz LaAretz to reach its body. This causes much
distress to both body and soul.
The above advantages are all attained by one who was
born in Eretz Yisrael and never left. He who ascended to Eretz Yisrael in his
youth has nearly all of them; a reduction of those advantages exists only
because he was born into foreign soil. Yet one who grew up outside the land and
then came doesn't even receive those benefits. That is true even if he was able
to perform some of the mitzvot of the land. He who enters the land at an
advanced age, and passes on, will basically benefit from the last two
categories. One whose bones are interred from his grave abroad and brought to
Eretz Yisrael benefits only from the third category, namely the resurrection and
the ease of visitation of the Neshama. | | " The soil of the Land is likened to the soil of the Altar, for man was created from the place of his atonement" | | |
Lastly, he who is brought as a corpse to Eretz Yisrael
has an additional advantage. For the soil of the Land is likened to the soil of
the Altar, for man was created from the place of his atonement. For us Jews, who
were definitely created from this soil, it is befitting to return to the holy
place from where we were hewn.
Yet the Zohar (parashat Acharei Mot 72)
says something quite different. "Rav Yehuda says, 'Anyone who did not merit to
dwell in his chamber in the Holy Land, and when he dies, only then does he
arrive, upon him it is written, 'the place of My heritage you have made an
abomination' (Jeremiah 2:7). For his soul remains under the authority of the
foreign land while only his body comes into the authority of the Holy Land. It
is as if he has made the holy profane and the profane holy!" From the above
Zohar it seems that one would be prohibited from bringing his corpse to Eretz
Yisrael for burial. | | " Soil from Chutz LaAretz that is brought into Eretz Yisrael ...is the mystery of converts" | | |
Yet further, the Zohar (Teruma 141 b) states,
"G-d made a healing for the land, for when that body (brought from Chutz
LaAretz) has decomposed, G-d blows a wind to extricate from the Land that
contaminated spirit, for He has mercy on His land. [This basically prevents the
contaminated spirit from entering the land; in other words, the body gets
purified by G-d's mercy for the purity of the land]
The law is known that if the soil of Eretz Yisrael is
taken out of its boundaries the legal status of that soil is "foreign soil".
Soil from Chutz LaAretz that is brought into Eretz Yisrael is considered
the soil of Eretz Yisrael. That is the mystery of converts. Therefore one who
arrives in Eretz Yisrael whilst not yet decomposed, his benefits are great. Yet,
if one leaves Eretz Yisrael after death it is inversely related. That was the
reason for Our Father Jacob commanding that he be brought back to Eretz Yisrael
immediately after his death.
To return to the previous article in this series on the Land of Israel,
Relating to Israel, click here
To continue on to the next article in this series on the Land of Israel,
Viewing the Land from Afar, click here
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