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Chapter Six, part 2: The Problem of Sins in Israel
Translation and commentary by Rabbi David Slavin
[Regarding whether the Land of Israel really has the
power to atone for one's transgressions] the following should bother us:
1) The verse in Job 15:15, "Behold, Even His holy ones
He doesn't have faith in". Implying there is no guarantee of remaining free of
sin.
2) The statement of the Mishna (Avot 2:4), "A man
shall not have faith in himself until the time of his death", implying, again,
that there is no guarantee of remaining free of sin.
The perspective we must have is as follows: The above
passages make it quite clear that there are no guarantees of never sinning. Yet
the merit of residing in Eretz Yisrael will cause you to have your [prior] sins
removed as in, "the burden of sin is lifted off", as well as being protected
from sins being availed to you as in, "No iniquities shall befall a tzadik
(righteous one)" (Proverbs 12:21). This is also what is meant by, "He who walks
four cubits in Eretz Yisrael is guaranteed entrance to the world to come", that
is because G-d is protecting you from sin. (This doesn't preclude the situation
of one who lusts after sins, for he will find it. This only offers us protection
from sins approaching us, and possibly gives us extra power to survive tests of
loyalty.) That is what is meant by the verse, "A righteous person through his
faith shall live (in Hebrew Tzadik b'emunaso yechye)"
(Habakkuk 2:4). The first letters of those words spell "tzvi" meaning
"deer", for another name of Eretz Yisrael is "Eretz HaTzvi" -- "The land
of the deer". Someone who is a tzadik in his actions is guaranteed that
he will live through his faith and not sin. This is also hinted to by the verse,
"G-d the righteous one is within it (in Hebrew, YKVK tzadik
b'kirba) He commits no corruption" (Zephaniah 3:5); again, the first
letters spell tzvi, implying that he who lives in Eretz Yisrael is
protected from corruption.
Whereas, in Chutz LaAretz, the verse, "There is
no tzadik in the land that shall do good and not sin"(Ecclesiastes 7:2)
applies. In other words, it is not sufficient for him to avoid sin, for he will
not gain forgiveness until he repents and does teshuva. Even when he is
"doing good", in that very act of goodness, he sins (sin here doesn't mean
transgression, rather it means being off target). This is as the sages have
stated, "He who dwells in Chutz LaAretz worships idolatry in purity" ( Avoda
Zara 8a). For the greater his (a tzadik outside Eretz Yisrael's)
righteousness is, then the greater amount of divine influence is granted to the
ministering angel in charge of his (the tzadik's) country. That is
considered idol worship --serving a foreign power in purity. Eventually he will
have to experience suffering in order to rectify that.  | | " Anyone who lives in Eretz Yisrael is considered a tzadik even if it doesn't seem to be so..." | | |
Rav Moshe Cordovero writes the following, "Anyone who
lives in Eretz Yisrael is considered a tzadik even if it doesn't seem to
be so. For if he weren't a tzadik, then the land would spit him out, as
is written, 'And the land shall spit out its inhabitants' (Lev. 18:25).
Therefore, regarding even those who act as evildoers, if they aren't spat
out of the land then G-d calls him a tzadik. (This is a title as opposed
to a description of his true spiritual standing)
This is what is meant by the verse, "This is the gate
to G-d, the righteous shall enter it" (Psalms 118:20). The "gate" of G-d, refers
to Eretz Yisrael, as we see Our Father Jacob calling it "the gate of heaven"
(Gen. 28:17). Also the end of the verse in Psalms "...the righteous will enter it
(in Hebrew tzadikim yavo'u vo", has the first
letters spelling tzvi, implying that Eretz HaTzvi is the gate to
G-d and that all those that enter it are called righteous, for once they enter
they don't leave.
This is the opposite to those that arrive in Eretz
Yisrael and don't pay attention to the fact that they are living in the palace
of the King. They who are rebellious, transgressing, and abound in their
drunkenness and feasts of vanity, frivolity, emptiness and hedonism, are
described by the following verse, "But you came and contaminated My land, and
made My heritage into an abomination" (Jeremiah 2:7). The verse, "When you come
up to appear before Me, who sought this from your hands to trample in My
courtyards"(Isaiah 1:12) also applies to them. These people shouldn't deceive themselves thinking that
they will remain in the Holy Land after their deaths. Rather even in their death
they shall be cast out of the land like dogs. As is stated in the Pirkei
D'Rebbi Eliezer chapter 33:
"All evildoers who die in Eretz Yisrael, their souls
are cast out to Chutz LaAretz as is written in the verse, 'And He shall
cast out the soul of your enemy as a stone is shot out of a slingshot' (Samuel I
25:29). For in the future G-d will grasp the corners of the land, and will shake
off all contamination to Chutz LaAretz, as is written, 'To grasp the
edges of the earth, and shake the wicked from it' (Job 38:13)." | | " Any person coming to Eretz Yisrael should...constantly be cognizant of his dwelling in the King's palace" | | |
Therefore, any person coming to Eretz Yisrael should
tremble upon his arrival to the Land, and should resolve himself to be doubly
fearful of heaven than how he was in Chutz LaAretz, and constantly be
cognizant of his dwelling in the King's palace.
Rav Cordovero wrote further, "For if an inhabitant of
Eretz Yisrael was to leave to dwell in Egypt, that very sin will cause the
(female) demon Rahav to rule over him. Yet, if he resolves himself never to go
down to live in Egypt, he is considered as being cautious his entire life, as if
unifying the unity of G-d upon himself. As was said before, "A righteous person
through his faith shall live (in Hebrew, tzadik b'emunato yechye"
(Habakkuk 2:4). The first letters of those words spell tzvi. That implies
that by means of his living in the Eretz HaTzvi, he lives his entire life
with "holy faithfulness" which is the unity of the malchut, which is
called "the Land" together with tiferet, which is called Yisrael.
(End of Chapter Six.) To return to the previous article in this series on the Land of Israel,
The Land's Power to Atone, click here
To continue on to the next article in this series on the Land of Israel,
Leaving the Land, click here
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