THE SECRET OF THE LAND
On numerous occasions, we have cited the words of Rabbeinu Moshe ben Nachman, better known as the Ramban. In fact, his outlook on the Land of Israel is largely the basis for our positive attitude towards the Holy Land. Of all of his comments on the Chumash, however, this week’s parashah contains the most fundamental and thorough treatment of the topic. In fact, often when he talks about the unique qualities of Eretz Yisrael, he refers us to his commentary on VaYikra 18:25, calling it “The Secret of the Land.” Although we have quoted various sections and ideas from this piece throughout the book, we feel it is important to present it in context and in its entirety (besides minor omissions), in order to help the reader understand its message better.
After enumerating the forbidden sexual relationships, the Torah states: Do not defile yourselves through any of these [acts], for through all of these [acts] the nations that I cast out before you defiled themselves. So the Land became defiled, and I visited its iniquity upon it; and the Land vomited out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and not commit any of these abominations… For the inhabitants of the Land who are before you committed all of these abominations, and the Land became defiled. Let not the Land vomit you out when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you (18:24-28). The Ramban writes:
The Torah was strict about sexual misconduct on account of the Land, which becomes defiled through it and vomits out those who do [these acts]. Now, the forbidden relationships are personal prohibitions having nothing to do with the Land, [so why should the Land be defiled through them]? The secret of the matter is found in the verse: When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of man, He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the Children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is His people… (Devarim 32:8-9). This means [as follows]: The Glorious Lord created everything and placed the dominion of the lower beings in the hands of the higher beings, placing a known star or constellation over each nation in their land, as is known through astronomy. This explains the verse, [The sun, moon, and stars…] which the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations (ibid. 4:19), for He allotted them all heavenly constellations; and above them, He placed exalted angels to serve as lords over them. Accordingly, it says, The prince of the Persian kingdom stood against me (Daniel 10:13), and it says, Behold, the prince of Greece shall come (ibid. 10:20). [These angelic princes] are also called kings, as it says, I was left there beside the king of Persia (ibid. 10:13).
Now, the Glorious Lord is the God of gods and Master of masters throughout the world. However, Eretz Yisrael, which is the center of the inhabited earth, is HaShem’s portion and is designated to His Name. Therefore, He appointed no angel to serve as a chief, officer, or ruler over it, seeing that He bestowed it to His people who declare His oneness, the offspring of His beloved ones [Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov]. This is the meaning of: You shall be a treasure to Me from among all the nations, for the entire earth is Mine (Shemot 19:5). It also says, You will be for Me a nation, and I will be for you a God (Yirmiyah 11:4), [meaning] you will not be subject to any other “gods” [i.e. powers] whatsoever.
Now, God sanctified the people that dwell in His Land with the sanctity of [refraining from] sexual misconduct, and with an abundance of [other] commandments, so that they [His people] may be [consecrated] to His Name. Therefore it says, You shall guard all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, so that the Land will not vomit you out (VaYikra 20:22). It also says, So I said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to inherit it… I am the Lord your God Who has separated you from the nations” (ibid. 20:24). This means that He set us apart from all the nations over which He appointed [heavenly] officers and other “gods” [i.e. powers], by giving us the Land [of Israel], so that He may be our God and we may be special to Him. And behold, the Land which is the inheritance of the Glorious Lord, will vomit out anyone who defiles it and will not tolerate idolaters or the sexually immoral…
Behold, outside the Land [of Israel], even though everything is for the sake of HaShem’s glorious name, the [degree of] purity there is not complete, because of the [angelic] ministers that rule there. Indeed, the nations stray after their “officers” and worship them, as well. Therefore, the verse says [about God], He shall be called the God of the entire world (Yeshayah 54:5), for He is the God of gods, Who rules over all. And in the end, He will deal with the hosts of heaven in heaven (ibid. 24:21), to remove the dominion of the celestial beings and destroy the order of the ministers. Afterwards, He will deal with the kings of the earth on earth (ibid.)…
Now, the Glorious Lord, blessed be He, is the God of gods throughout the world and the God of Eretz Yisrael, which is His inheritance. This is the meaning of They will stray after the foreign gods of the Land (Devarim 31:16), for [other] gods are foreign to HaShem’s Land and inheritance. This also explains the verse: They [the Cutheans] do not know the law of the God of the Land, so He has sent lions among them; and they are killing them because they do not know the law of the God of the Land (II Melachim 17:26). Now, [God] did not punish the Cutheans, by inciting lions against them, when they worshipped their gods in their [native] land. When they entered God’s Land, however, and continued behaving as before, He sent among them lions, which killed them.
The Rabbis also taught this in the Sifra (Kedoshim 11:14): “Let not the Land vomit you out… (VaYikra 18:28) – the Land of Israel is not like other lands; it does not retain sinners.” The Sifrei (Ha’azinu 315) states, “There is no foreign god with Him (Devarim 32:12) – [i.e.] none of the [angelic] princes of the nations will have permission to come and rule over you, as it says, When I depart, behold, the prince of Greece shall come (Daniel 10:20).” This also explains Chazal’s statement: “Anyone who lives outside the Land is like one who has no God, as it says, To give you the Land of Canaan, to be for you a God (VaYikra 25:38). It also says, For they have driven me [King David] out this day from cleaving to the inheritance of the Lord, saying, ‘Go serve other gods’ (I Shmuel 26:19)” (Ketuvot 110b). The Rabbis further state in the Tosefta of Tractate Avodah Zarah (5:2): “Behold, it says, And I will return in peace to my fathers home, and the Lord will be my God (BeReishit 28:21). It also says, To give you the Land of Canaan, [to be for you a God] (VaYikra 25:38). [These verses indicate that] as long as you are in the Land of Canaan, I am your God, [but if] you are not in the Land of Canaan, I am not your God (as if to say). Similarly, it says, About forty thousand soldiers passed before the Lord for the battle (Yehoshua 4:13); and it also says, The Land has been conquered before the Lord and before His people (I Divrei HaYamim 22:18). Could it really enter one’s mind that Israel conquers the Land before the Omnipresent? Rather, when the Jews are in the Land, it is as if it is conquered; implying that when they are not there, it is not conquered.”
Based on this concept, our Sages state in the Sifrei (Eikev 7): “You will quickly perish [from the good Land] (Devarim 11:17): Even though I [God] exile you from the Land to Chutz LaAretz, be distinguishable through the mitzvot, so that they will not be new to you when you return. This can be compared to a nobleman who became angry with his wife and sent her back to her father’s house. He said to her, ‘Continue to adorn yourself with jewelry, so that they will not be new to you when you return.’ Yirmiyahu similarly said, Set markers for yourself (31:20), this refers to the mitzvot which make the Jews distinguishable.” Now, the verse that states, You will quickly perish… and place these words of Mine… (Devarim 11:17-18) obligates [us to fulfill] in the Diaspora only [those mitzvot] which are incumbent upon our bodies, such as tefillin and mezuzot [which are mentioned in the following verses]. Nonetheless, our Rabbis explained [that we fulfill] them so that they will not be new to us when we return to the Land, for the main fulfillment of all the mitzvot is for those who dwell in God’s Land. Therefore, our Sages state in the Sifrei (Re’eh 28): “You shall take possession of [the Land] and dwell therein; and you shall be careful to do all the statutes… (Devarim 11:31-32). [This implies that] dwelling in the Land of Israel is equal to all the mitzvot of the Torah.” The same is found in the Tosefta of Tractate Avodah Zarah (5:2).
This is also what the wicked Jews of Yechezkel’s [generation] thought when they said to him, “Our mentor, Yechezkel, if a master sells his slave, does he have anything over him? As it says, That which enters your minds shall not be, for you say, ‘We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, to worship wood and stone’ (Yechezkel 20:32)” (Sanhedrin 105a).
This is also why Ya’akov Avinu commanded his household and all who were with him when they entered the Land, Remove the foreign gods that are in your midst and cleanse yourselves (BeReishit 35:2). And HaShem alone caused it to happen that Rachel died on the way when they first entered the Land; for in her merit, she did not die in Chutz LaAretz, and in [Ya’akov’s] merit, he did not live in the Land with two sisters. [But why did she have to die and not Leah?] She was the one married in violation of the prohibition against marrying two sisters, [for he married Leah first]. Apparently, Rachel became pregnant with Binyamin before they arrived in Shechem, and Ya’akov did not touch her in Eretz Yisrael at all, for the reason we mentioned.
Furthermore, the prophet says, First, I will recompense their double iniquity and sin, for they have desecrated My Land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable things and their abominations (Yirmiyah 1618). This concept [that Eretz Yisrael is God’s “Palace” and does not tolerate sinners] is found in many places throughout Scriptures, and you will see it clearly after I have opened your eyes to it…
Now, the Torah mentions that the people of the Land of Canaan were punished because of illicit sexual acts, and our Rabbis have said that they [the Canaanites] were warned about these acts from the time of creation, [when these laws were given] to Adam and Noach, for [HaShem] does not punish unless He admonishes first. However, the Torah does not mention the warning, saying only that the Land will vomit them out, because the Land detests all of these abominations. Now, the Canaanites were not the only ones included in this admonition. In fact, this section [specifically] mentions, Like the deed of the land of Egypt […do not do] (18:3), [indicating] that they, too, performed all of these abominations. Nevertheless, the Land of Egypt did not vomit them out, nor did the lands of any other nation [vomit out] their people. Clearly, then, this entire matter demonstrates the virtues and holiness of the Land…
Reprinted from Eretz Yisrael in the Parashah by R’ Moshe D. Lichtman