Eretz Yisrael: The Divine Connection

There is a divine relationship between The Creator and the nation who received His Torah. The Nation of Israel has a divine connection which specifically involves Eretz Yisrael (ארץ ישראל) – The Land of Israel. This is the land that the divine House of G-d (holy temple) was was destined to be in. The majority of Jewish people have a general awareness that there’s something special about ארץ ישראל and not the State of Israel itself.

The Religious Nationalist movement wanted the State of Israel to be in ארץ ישראל specifically because this was the spiritual, native homeland of Yisrael which was promised to his descendants. However, this wasn’t true for the Tzionist movement. Tzionism was founded by a small number of secular Jews who were against the Torah. Many of them did not believe in the spiritual significance of ארץ ישראל. In fact, the agenda of Tzionism is to create a secular Jewish identity as a replacement for the spiritual Jewish identity.

Some people might have ideological reasons why they don’t live in Israel, but no one can deny that this is indeed Eretz Ha-Kedushah (ארץ הקדושה) – The Holy Land.

Jewish people have a divine connection with ארץ הקדושה. This might be the reason why the suggestion of creating an authentic Jewish state beyond the land of Israel (בחוץ לארץ) has been met with little to no recognition. It’s because Jewish people to not truly desire land that is not ארץ הקדושה. Because of this divine connection, any attempt to disconnect the people of Israel from the land of Israel will be futile.

Now, should someone consider living בחוץ לארץ? Well, according to the end of the Tractate of Ketubot, it’s better to dwell בארץ ישראל to get even if it’s inhabitants are mostly Akum (idolaters). Thus, our sages understand the significance of the Jewish people living in the land of forefathers.