Bnei Yisrael Sanctifying The Land

במדרש כי אתם באים כו' זאת הארץ אשר תפול כו' וכי הארץ נופלת אלא כו' הפיל שרן כו'

The Midrash teaches on the verse "When you come... this is the land that shall fall (to you as an inheritance)" (Bamidbar 34:2): Does the land actually fall? Rather, (it means that when Bnei Yisrael entered the land, the Holy One, Blessed is He,) cast down its heavenly minister, etc.

The Midrash on "the land that shall fall" asks how a land can fall, and answers that what fell was the land's heavenly angelic minister when Bnei Yisrael entered.

עוד שם צדק לבשתי וילבשני ע"ש

Further there (the Midrash brings the verse) "I clothed myself in righteousness and it clothed me" (Iyov 29:14); look it up there.

The Midrash adds the verse from Iyov about righteousness being a two-way garment — clothing that one puts on and that in turn clothes the wearer.

והענין הוא כי ארץ ישראל מוכן להשראת השכינה אבל הוא באמצעיות בנ"י

The matter is this: Eretz Yisrael is prepared to be a resting place for the Shechinah, but this comes about through the agency of Bnei Yisrael.

Eretz Yisrael is fit to host the Shechinah, but that potential is only realized through Bnei Yisrael living there.

ובנ"י צריכין לארץ ישראל וא"י צריכה לבנ"י

Bnei Yisrael need Eretz Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael needs Bnei Yisrael.

There is a mutual dependence: the people need the land, and the land needs the people to fulfill its purpose.

לכן כשבאו בנ"י לא"י נגמר צורת א"י

Therefore, when Bnei Yisrael came to Eretz Yisrael, the very form of Eretz Yisrael was completed.

Only when Bnei Yisrael arrived did Eretz Yisrael attain its complete identity.

וכמ"ש ביעקב אבינו ויחן את פני העיר כי כשהצדיק בעיר הוא הודה זיוה הדרה

This is as it is said regarding Yaakov Avinu, "And he encamped before the face of the city" (Bereishis 33:18) — for when a tzaddik is in the city, he is its glory, its radiance, and its splendor.

The proof is Yaakov, of whom the verse says a tzaddik's presence becomes the very glory and beauty of a place.

כמו כן בבוא בנ"י לשם נתחברה א"י שלמטה בשורשה למעלה

So too, when Bnei Yisrael came there, the lower Eretz Yisrael was joined to its root above.

Likewise, Bnei Yisrael's arrival reconnected the physical land below to its spiritual source above.

וב' הפי' אמת כי ירדה צורת הקדושה לא"י וממילא הלך לו השר שלמטה

Both explanations are true: for the form of kedushah descended into Eretz Yisrael, and as a matter of course the lower (heavenly) minister departed.

Both readings of the Midrash hold together: when kedushah came down into the land, the opposing heavenly minister automatically left.

וכמו שמצינו ביעקב אע"ה שברח ללבן

Just as we find regarding Yaakov Avinu, who fled to Lavan,

Yaakov's life is the model — he first fled into exile to Lavan.

ולבסוף נתישב בארץ כנען וכתיב בעשו וילך כו' אל ארץ כו' כי הצדיקים תחילתן יסורים וסופן שלוה ומתחילין בפרודא וסיים בחיבורא וכמו כן הי' כל הטלטול במדבר הכנה לבוא אל המנוחה זו א"י כמ"ש כי לא באתם עד עתה אל המנוחה ואל הנחלה

and in the end settled in the land of Canaan; and it is written regarding Esav, "And he went... to the land (of Seir)" (Bereishis 36:6) — for the tzaddikim, their beginning is suffering and their end is tranquility, and they begin in separation and conclude in union. So too, all the wandering in the wilderness was a preparation to arrive at this rest, which is Eretz Yisrael, as it is written, "For you have not yet come to the rest and to the inheritance" (Devarim 12:9).

Yaakov only later settled in Canaan, while Esav left; this shows the tzaddik's pattern of beginning in hardship and separation but ending in peace and union, which is exactly why the wilderness wandering was preparation for the rest of Eretz Yisrael.

וכשנכנסו לא"י ונעשה נחלת ה' נפל פחד ואימה ובושה על השרים שלמטה וברחו כל כחות הסט"א משם

And when they entered Eretz Yisrael and it became the inheritance of Hashem, dread and terror and shame fell upon the lower (heavenly) ministers, and all the forces of the sitra achra fled from there.

Once the land became Hashem's inheritance, the hostile spiritual ministers were seized with terror and shame, and the forces of impurity fled.

וכ' ועמך כולם צדיקים לעולם יירשו ארץ

And it is written, "And your people are all tzaddikim; forever shall they inherit the land" (Yeshayahu 60:21).

The verse from Yeshayahu testifies that Bnei Yisrael, as tzaddikim, are the eternal inheritors of the land.

פי' כשבנ"י באים לא"י נתחבר אל השורש וז"ש נצר מטעי שזה עדות שבני ישראל יש להם חיבור ושורש למעלה [וזה שרמזו חז"ל בפסוק זה כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא]. ולכן בכחם לחבר התחתונים אל העליונים וזהו מעשה ידי להתפאר שזהו עדות על בני ישראל

This means: when Bnei Yisrael come to Eretz Yisrael, it becomes joined to its root. This is the meaning of "the shoot of My planting" (Yeshayahu 60:21) — for this is testimony that Bnei Yisrael have a connection and a root above. [And this is what Chazal hinted at in this verse: "All of Yisrael have a portion in Olam Haba" (Sanhedrin 90a).] Therefore it is within their power to join the lower realms to the upper realms, and this is "the work of My hands in which to take pride" (Yeshayahu 60:21) — for this is testimony concerning Bnei Yisrael.

Coming to Eretz Yisrael reconnects Bnei Yisrael to their root above; phrases like "shoot of My planting" and "work of My hands" are evidence of this rootedness, empowering them to bind the lower world to the upper, which is why Chazal tie this verse to every Jew's share in Olam Haba.

כענין דאיתא בש"ק שבנ"י מעידין על השבת והשבת מעיד על בנ"י

This is similar to what is brought regarding the holy Shabbos, that Bnei Yisrael bear witness about Shabbos, and Shabbos bears witness about Bnei Yisrael.

This parallels Shabbos, where there is a mutual testimony between Bnei Yisrael and Shabbos.

פי' ע"י שבכח קבלת השבת בבנ"י יורד הקדושה ונשמה יתירה א"כ הוא עדות על בנ"י

The explanation is: since through the power of Bnei Yisrael's acceptance of Shabbos, kedushah and the neshamah yeseirah (the additional soul) descend, it follows that this is testimony concerning Bnei Yisrael.

Because accepting Shabbos draws down kedushah and the neshamah yeseirah, the very arrival of that extra holiness testifies to the spiritual capacity of Bnei Yisrael.

כמו כן בא"י שעל ידי בנ"י השכין הקב"ה שכינתו בארץ ישראל כמ"ש במד' פ' חיי בפסוק צדיקים יירשו ארץ וישכנו כו' וכי הרשעים פורחים באויר רק הצדיקים משכינין השכינה בארץ

So too with Eretz Yisrael, that through Bnei Yisrael the Holy One, Blessed is He, rested His Shechinah in Eretz Yisrael — as it is brought in the Midrash on Parshas Chayei (Sarah) on the verse "the tzaddikim shall inherit the land and dwell (upon it forever)" (Tehillim 37:29): Do the resha'im then float in the air? Rather, it is the tzaddikim who cause the Shechinah to rest in the land.

The same dynamic applies to the land: the Midrash on Tehillim teaches that it is specifically the tzaddikim who cause the Shechinah to rest in Eretz Yisrael.

דכתיב בבנ"י וזרעתי' לי בארץ

For it is written concerning Bnei Yisrael, "And I will sow her for Myself in the land" (Hoshea 2:25).

A verse in Hoshea expresses that Hashem 'sows' Bnei Yisrael into the land as His own planting.

וכ"כ כרם ה' כו' בית ישראל

And so it is written, "For the vineyard of Hashem (of hosts is) the house of Yisrael" (Yeshayahu 5:7).

Another verse identifies the house of Yisrael itself as Hashem's vineyard.

כרם הי' לידידי בקרן בן שמן

"My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hilltop" (Yeshayahu 5:1).

The Sfas Emes cites the opening image of that same passage — a beloved's vineyard set on rich, fertile ground.

כמ"ש בתפלה ותטענו בגבולנו

As we say in the tefillah, "and plant us within our borders."

He links this to our daily request that Hashem plant us securely within our borders.

שבנ"י בא"י עשו תולדות, וכאשר גלינו משם כ' ויצא מבת ציון כו' הדרה כמ"ש פנה הודה זיוה כו':

For Bnei Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael brought forth fruits, and when we were exiled from there it is written, "And there has gone forth from the daughter of Tzion (all) her splendor" (Eichah 1:6) — as it is said, "her glory, her radiance, and her splendor have departed."

In the land Bnei Yisrael flourished and bore fruit, but in galus the splendor departed from Tzion, just as the radiance and glory left when they were exiled.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that Eretz Yisrael and Bnei Yisrael are bound to each other in a mutual dependence: the land is prepared to host the Shechinah, but only the presence of Bnei Yisrael actualizes that potential and completes the land's true form. When they entered the land, the physical land below was rejoined to its spiritual root above, kedushah descended, and the opposing heavenly ministers and forces of the sitra achra fled in terror — exactly as the tzaddik becomes the glory of any place he dwells. He draws a parallel to Shabbos, where the descent of kedushah and the neshamah yeseirah through Bnei Yisrael's acceptance constitutes a mutual testimony between them; so too the resting of the Shechinah upon Eretz Yisrael is testimony to the spiritual power of Bnei Yisrael, who alone bind the lower realms to the upper. Thus the pattern of the tzaddik — beginning in suffering and separation, ending in tranquility and union — describes both Yaakov Avinu and the wandering in the wilderness that prepared Bnei Yisrael for the rest of the land. In galus, conversely, that radiance departs from Tzion, for it was the presence of Bnei Yisrael that brought the land its glory.