After two years of living in Eretz Yisrael, a man came back to his Rebbe, who asked him about his experience living there. The man started by describing how beautiful and amazing it was, and then continued by saying how there was only one thing: the Arabs and how horrible they are, how they torture the Jews. The Rebbe stopped the chasid and announced that he didn’t want to hear any more. The Rebbe described how this was the very speech of the meraglim (Spies); they also came back to Am Yisrael and reported how the land was great...but the people were terrible. “Don’t criticize Eretz Yisrael at all, ever!” said the Rebbe.
On a bright Tuesday morning, not too long ago, I heard this story repeated in a shiur in the Rova (the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem) from Rebbetzin Malka Twerski Friedman, the Hornisteipol Rebbetzin. A surprising story, many of us in the audience thought. Isn’t that too extreme? How can one not speak out against the Arab terrorists in Eretz Yisrael?! Rebbetzin Friedman went on to explain that if the conversation fits under constructive speech: as a warning to someone, for instance, or to relieve an emotional burden, or to update others of the news so they can daven for the safety of Jews living in Israel, then it’s permissible. However, simply to chatter negatively about any facet of Eretz Yisrael is forbidden. “Eretz Yisrael has such kedusha (holiness),” Rebbetzin Friedman explained, “it has such a direct line to Hashem. He has such a special Eye on this Land. It’s not like chutz la’aretz (outside of Israel), where there are all kinds of mediaries that come between Hashem and the shefa (bounty) of the land. This is ‘Einei Hashem Elokecha Ba,’ the Eyes of Hashem are focused on it...total concentration, on Eretz Yisrael.”
So often, we read the latest news about Eretz Yisrael – whether political, social, or religious – or perhaps we are listening to someone share about a trip in Israel, and of course there are wonderful things to say. But then the conversation begins to shift and negative episodes surface, said either jokingly or critically, even when describing the weather. We are so used to freely speaking and sharing our experiences that we have to muster the ability to pause and swing into full gear when speaking about Eretz Yisrael, and remember to mention only its beauty. And that’s what I call, the real deal about Eretz Yisrael.”
As the Chofetz Chaim teaches in his sefer on guarding one’s tongue, what is really emet, truth? It is speaking in a way that creates peace, fostering shalom in our surroundings and our world at large. No matter what the news blares or people say, we must build within our consciousness that, when it comes to our Holy Land, we recall only Her beauty. That is the secret of our national connection to her that no one can take away from us.
This concept serves as a bridge between Shavuot, the time of Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah), which we celebrated not long ago, and the time period that is approaching, the bein Hamitzarim, the Three Weeks when we mourn the Beit Hamikdash. The very first Rashi in the Chumash explains that the Torah begins with Creation to teach us Hashem’s all-powerful acts. He is the One who created the universe, and He was determined to give Eretz Yisrael to the Jewish Nation.
In a sefer called Lights on Orot, students of Rav Avraham Yitzchok HaCohen Kook explain Rav Kook’s teachings: “...Our connection to Eretz Yisrael is not dependant on history….The brit between Avraham and the land was Divine. Only in the Holy Land can the national life of the Chosen People be totally uplifted to G-d.” (page 9) Hashem gave us the Torah at Har Sinai so that we may fulfill all its mitzvot properly and in their entirety in Eretz Yisrael. On our night of weeping, Tishah B’Av, we mourn our galut from Eretz Yisrael and the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, whose roots stem from the tragedy of the slander that the Spies cast upon Eretz Yisrael in the wilderness. As we enter this period, it is incumbent upon us to show our appreciation to Hashem for Eretz Yisrael and share its holy highlights.
Actually, every part of Eretz Yisrael, both big and small, is incredibly great! Recently, I went on a vacation to Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea. I have to say that my highlight was a walking tour on Shabbat afternoon to an ancient synagogue in Ein Gedi. The whole Shabbat was a huge and pleasant surprise. I had booked a reservation at a motel-style place for a friend and me. We planned to make Shabbat ourselves. We brought along a crock-pot, grape juice, challah, and everything we would need. Just before we arrived at our accommodations after a relaxing day at the Dead Sea, I started to wonder what kind of Shabbat it would in fact be. I started to doubt if we could even carry outside if there was no eruv.
Well, as we pulled up to our accommodations, which overlooked the radiant, glistening sea, my doubts floated away. The fence that completely surrounded the campus provided an eruv for us to carry things inside the motel area. At the registration desk, we received the davening schedule of a religious Yemenite group staying there for Shabbat and a group of high schoolers on a trip to Israel who were staying there as well. Singing and playing music, the young people did a great job creating a welcoming Shabbat atmosphere.
What fun I had attending the minyanim of the Yemenite group, although their tefilot (prayers) and pronunciations, and even their Torah readings, are different than any customs I was familiar with – but, of course, at the end of the day, tefilot are tefilot! As I said, my highlight was the walking tour that my friend and I received permission to join. Just being with this group felt so good. They were slightly older couples from Karnei Shomron who were doing a shul Shabbaton together. Their friendliness and interest in my friend and I were really heartwarming. They marveled at how we made aliyah ourselves and pumped us with curious questions.
We stopped a few times along the walk, and the madrich (tour guide) spoke about Ein Gedi and the interesting things along the way. I found it fascinating to learn that this was where Dovid Hamelech ran when escaping from Shaul and where he composed so many of the tehilim.
One point of interest was the madrich’s explanation of the palm tree, which is unique in that the entire tree is useable. As we know, it produces fruit, the date, one of the shiva minim, the seven special fruits of Eretz Yisrael. Its fronds are used for the lulav on Sukkot. But did you know that its leaves can be used to create baskets and fences or can be recycled to be used as mulch? Or that its resilient and malleable wood can be used as a building material or pressed for oil to be used in food and soap production?
For me, this uniqueness of the palm tree is a symbol of the gift of Eretz Yisrael that Hashem gave to us as a nation. Every part of Eretz Yisrael is precious and contains unfathomable dimensions. The more we learn about the treasures and holiness in the entire Land, the more we connect ourselves to our Land and the more we will be worthy to reap her blessings. As it says in Lights in Orot (pg 12), “The midrash tells us that the goodness that G-d grants to the Jewish Nation emanates from Zion: All the blessings and consolations, all the good which the Holy One, Blessed Be He, brings to the Jewish People, all of them come from Zion.”
