Hidden Holiness Of Eretz Yisrael
בפסוק כי אתם באים כו' זאת הארץ אשר תפול כו' בנחלה כו' לגבולותי' כו'
On the pasuk, "When you come into the land... this is the land that shall fall to you... as an inheritance... according to its borders" (Bamidbar 34:2).
The Sfas Emes opens with the pasuk describing the dividing of Eretz Yisrael among Bnei Yisrael as an inheritance with fixed borders.
ובמד' הדור אתם ראו כו' ארץ מאפלי' כו' ע"ש
And in the Midrash: "O generation, see the word of Hashem; have I been a wilderness (land of darkness) to Bnei Yisrael?" (Yirmiyahu 2:31) — see there.
He cites the Midrash on Yirmiyahu, where Hashem asks whether He had ever been a barren wilderness or land of darkness to His people.
וכבר בארנו במ"א כי כשנכנסו בנ"י לא"י אז נתגלה בארץ ישראל הקדושה המוכנת לה ולא לחנם נתחבטו האבות ומשה רבינו ע"ה לארץ ישראל
We have already explained elsewhere that when Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael, the holiness prepared for the land was then revealed in Eretz Yisrael; and it was not for nothing that the Avos and Moshe Rabbeinu, alav hashalom, longed and toiled so for Eretz Yisrael.
He recalls his earlier teaching that entering the land revealed a hidden holiness prepared within it, which is why the Avos and Moshe yearned so deeply for it.
וכתיב אשר אראך כו' שא"י היא סתים וגליא
And it is written, "To the land that I will show you" (Bereishis 12:1), for Eretz Yisrael is both concealed and revealed.
The phrase "the land that I will show you" shows that Eretz Yisrael has a double nature — hidden until it is shown, then revealed.
וכשבנ"י נכנסו לתוכה נתגלה הקדושה
And when Bnei Yisrael entered into it, the holiness was revealed.
The very entry of Bnei Yisrael into the land is what brought its latent kedushah into the open.
לכן היתה צריכה גבולים שלא תתפשט הקדושה לחוץ
Therefore it required borders, so that the holiness should not spread out beyond it.
Because that kedushah was now revealed and concentrated, the land needed defined borders to contain it rather than let it dissipate outward.
וכן איתא ביעקב אע"ה ויחן כו' פני העיר פרשנו שבבוא הצדיק נגלה זיוה והדרה של א"י ולכן רמזו חז"ל שקבע תחומין
And so we find regarding Yaakov Avinu, alav hashalom, "And he encamped... before the city" (Bereishis 33:18) — we explained that when the tzaddik comes, the radiance and splendor of Eretz Yisrael is revealed, and therefore Chazal hinted that he established the techumin (Shabbos boundaries).
Yaakov's encamping before the city is read as the tzaddik drawing out the land's radiance, which Chazal connect to his establishing the techumin of Shabbos.
וזהו עצמו הענין בש"ק שיורד בו נשמה והארה יתירה לכן יש תחום שבת
And this is the very same matter regarding the holy Shabbos, on which an extra neshamah and an additional illumination descends; therefore there is a techum Shabbos (the Shabbos boundary).
Shabbos works the same way: an extra neshamah and illumination descend, and so Shabbos too has a boundary, a techum, to contain its kedushah.
כי הבדלה תליא בדעת כמ"ש חז"ל אם אין דעת הבדלה מנין וכ"כ וירא כו' האור כי טוב ויבדל כו'
For separation depends on understanding, as Chazal said, "If there is no understanding, whence is separation?" — and so it is written, "And Hashem saw the light, that it was good, and Hashem separated" (Bereishis 1:4).
Drawing borders and making distinctions requires daas, as Chazal teach about havdalah, and as the Torah pairs Hashem's "seeing" the light with His "separating" it.
ובמד' צדק לבשתי וילבשני כו' הארץ אשר תפול לכם לכם היא ראוי' כו' ע"ש
And in the Midrash: "I clothed myself in righteousness, and it clothed me" (Iyov 29:14) — "the land that shall fall to you," it is fitting for you — see there.
A second Midrash reads the land "falling to you" as the land being inherently fitting and suited specifically to Bnei Yisrael.
והפי' כי בנ"י וא"י הם דביקות וחיבור א' וכשבנ"י נכנסו לא"י קבלו הם נשמה יתירה והארץ קיבלה תוספות קדושה דכתיב גוי אחד בארץ
And the explanation is that Bnei Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael are a single bond and union, and when Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael, they received an extra neshamah and the land received an addition of holiness, as it is written, "one nation in the land" (Shmuel II 7:23).
He explains that Bnei Yisrael and the land form one bond: their entry gave them an extra neshamah and gave the land added kedushah, making them "one nation in the land."
וכמו שיש זמנים מיוחדים שבתות ויו"ט שמוכנים לנשמה והארה יתירה כך במקומות מוכנים שיתגלה בהם הנשמה וכ"כ נותן נשמה לעם עלי'
And just as there are special times — Shabbosos and Yamim Tovim — that are prepared for an extra neshamah and additional illumination, so too there are prepared places in which the neshamah is revealed, and so it is written, "who gives a neshamah to the people upon it" (Yeshayahu 42:5).
Just as certain times are vessels for extra neshamah, so certain places are prepared to reveal the neshamah, as the pasuk speaks of giving a neshamah to the people upon the land.
לכן כשנכנסו לארץ ישראל קבלו נשמה יתירה
Therefore, when they entered Eretz Yisrael, they received an extra neshamah.
This is why entering Eretz Yisrael itself conferred an extra neshamah upon them.
ובאמת הנשמה יתירה מתגלה כפי האחדות וכמ"ש בש"ק דמתאחדת ברזא דאחד כמו כן כתיב גוי אחד בארץ
And in truth, the extra neshamah is revealed according to the unity, and as it is said regarding the holy Shabbos that it is unified in the secret of the One — likewise it is written, "one nation in the land."
The measure of this extra neshamah tracks the measure of unity, just as Shabbos is bound in the secret of Oneness, paralleling "one nation in the land."
וכמו כן תקון הארץ תליא כפי הכנת בנ"י
And likewise the rectification of the land depends on the preparedness of Bnei Yisrael.
Correspondingly, the spiritual rectification of the land rises and falls with the spiritual readiness of Bnei Yisrael.
לכן כשחטאנו כתיב ויצא מבת ציון כו' הדרה
Therefore, when we sinned, it is written, "And there went out from the daughter of Tzion... her splendor" (Eichah 1:6).
Hence when Bnei Yisrael sinned, the land's splendor departed, as Eichah describes the glory leaving the daughter of Tzion.
וז"ש אם ארץ מאפליה
And this is what is meant by "a land of darkness."
This departure of splendor is precisely what the navi's image of "a land of darkness" refers to.
כי הקב"ה לא הסתיר מהם דבר וגילה להם כל הפנימיות ורב טוב הצפון בא"י כמ"ש זאת הארץ אשר תפול כו'
For the Holy One, Blessed is He, hid nothing from them, and revealed to them all the inner depth and the abundant good stored away in Eretz Yisrael, as it is written, "this is the land that shall fall to you."
Originally Hashem concealed nothing, revealing all the inner depth and stored good of the land, as the pasuk of "the land that shall fall to you" indicates.
אבל אחר החטא נחשכו המאורות ולא החזירו בנ"י הארץ כמו שניתנה להם
But after the sin the luminaries were darkened, and Bnei Yisrael did not return the land as it had been given to them.
But after the sin the spiritual lights dimmed, and Bnei Yisrael failed to return the land in the elevated state in which they had received it.
וז"ש להם הנביא אם ארץ מאפלי'
And this is what the navi said to them, "Have I been a land of darkness?" (Yirmiyahu 2:31).
The navi's rhetorical question "Have I been a land of darkness?" is addressed to this failure.
רמז להם שנחשך האור בחטאם
He hinted to them that the light had become darkened through their sin.
The point is that the darkness was not from Hashem but came about through the people's own sin.
ואמת כי א"י שהי' מקודם ארץ כנעני
And it is true that Eretz Yisrael, which was previously the land of Canaan,
He adds the historical truth that Eretz Yisrael had earlier been the land of Canaan.
הי' מקודם מקום מקולקל ביותר כדאיתא בתו"כ פ' אחרי אבל לבנ"י נתגלה האור והוסר החשיכה והאופל
Was beforehand a most corrupted place, as is brought in the Toras Kohanim, Parashas Acharei; but for Bnei Yisrael the light was revealed and the darkness and gloom were removed.
Per the Toras Kohanim, that land had been exceedingly corrupt, yet for Bnei Yisrael its light was revealed and its gloom removed — showing the darkness was never intrinsic.
וז"ש ארץ מאפלי':
And this is the meaning of "a land of darkness."
Thus "a land of darkness" describes only the condition brought on by sin, not the true nature of the land Hashem gave.
Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that Eretz Yisrael is "concealed and revealed": a holiness lies prepared within it that became manifest only when Bnei Yisrael entered, which is why the Avos and Moshe Rabbeinu yearned so for it and why the land needs fixed borders to contain its revealed kedushah, much as Shabbos has its own techum to hold its extra neshamah. Bnei Yisrael and the land form a single bond, so their entry granted them an added neshamah while the land received added holiness, making them "one nation in the land," and this revelation rises and falls with the unity and readiness of the people. When they sinned, the splendor departed and the luminaries dimmed, for they did not return the land in the elevated state in which it was given. Yet the navi's question "Have I been a land of darkness?" makes clear that the darkness came from the people's own sin, not from Hashem. Though the land had once been the corrupt land of Canaan, for Bnei Yisrael its light was revealed and its gloom removed, proving that any darkness was never the land's true nature.