Rooted Only In Eretz Yisrael
במדרש כי אתם באים כו' תפול לכם לכם היא ראוי' כו' חבלים נפלו לי כו' דכ' עמד וימודד ארץ מדד הקב"ה כל המקומות ומצא א"י מקום לבנ"י כו' דכ' גפן ממצרים תסיע כו' לפניה ותשרש כו'
In the Midrash on the verse "When you come (into the land)... it shall fall to you (as an inheritance)" (Bamidbar 34:2) — "to you" means it is fitting precisely for you, as the verse says, "The portions have fallen to me in pleasant places" (Tehillim 16:6). For it is written, "He stood and measured the earth" (Chavakuk 3:6) — the Holy One, Blessed is He, measured out all the places and found that Eretz Yisrael was the place suited for Bnei Yisrael, as the verse says, "You uprooted a vine from Mitzrayim... You cleared a place before it, and it took root" (Tehillim 80:9-10).
The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrash that reads "it shall fall to you" as meaning the land is uniquely fitting for Bnei Yisrael; Hashem surveyed all the lands of the world and determined that Eretz Yisrael alone is the proper home for them.
גפן אינו מקבל מין אחר
A grapevine does not accept being grafted with any other species.
He brings the nature of a grapevine, which cannot be grafted together with any other type of plant, as a model for the point he is about to make.
ובנ"י מוכנים הם רק לארץ ישראל ושם הם נשרשים ועושין פירות ואינם יכולין להתדבק במקום אחר וגרים אנחנו בכל אלה המקומות
And so too Bnei Yisrael are prepared only for Eretz Yisrael, and it is there that they take root and bring forth fruit, and they cannot cling and attach themselves to any other place; in all these other places we are but strangers and sojourners.
Just as the vine accepts no foreign species, Bnei Yisrael are suited to take root and flourish only in Eretz Yisrael, and everywhere else in galus they remain mere strangers without true attachment.
וע"ז מבקשים שתעלנו לארצנו ותטענו בגבולנו
It is concerning this that we plead that Hashem bring us up to our land and plant us within our borders.
This is why we daven that Hashem return us to our land and plant us firmly within our own borders.
וכן א"י אינה מקבלת אומה אחרת אעפ"י שאחרים הם שם אין להם דביקות בא"י
And likewise Eretz Yisrael does not accept any other nation — for even though others may dwell there, they have no real attachment and clinging to Eretz Yisrael.
The bond runs both ways: Eretz Yisrael itself will not truly absorb any other nation, so even when foreigners settle there they form no genuine attachment to the land.
תפול לכם דייקא
"It shall fall to you" — precisely to you and to no other.
The word "to you" in the verse is deliberately precise, teaching that the land belongs as an inheritance to Bnei Yisrael alone.
וזה הכח קיבלו בנ"י ביצ"מ שלא יהי' להם דביקות ונטיעה רק בארץ ישראל ז"ש גפן ממצרים תסיע וכ' נצר מטעי כו':
And this power Bnei Yisrael received at the time of yetzias Mitzrayim — that they should have no attachment and rootedness except in Eretz Yisrael; and this is the meaning of "You uprooted a vine from Mitzrayim," and it is written, "the branch that I planted" (Yeshayahu 60:21).
This unique rootedness in Eretz Yisrael was implanted in Bnei Yisrael already at yetzias Mitzrayim, alluded to by the verse describing them as a vine uprooted from Mitzrayim and replanted as Hashem's own branch.
Summary: The Sfas Emes explains the Midrash that Eretz Yisrael was specifically measured out and prepared by the Holy One, Blessed is He, as the one place fitting for Bnei Yisrael. He likens Bnei Yisrael to a grapevine, which cannot be grafted with any foreign species: they can take root and bear fruit only in Eretz Yisrael, while in all the lands of galus they remain strangers with no true attachment. This bond is mutual, for Eretz Yisrael itself accepts no other nation, granting genuine clinging to the land to Bnei Yisrael alone. This very power of being rooted nowhere but in Eretz Yisrael was implanted in Bnei Yisrael at yetzias Mitzrayim, as in the verse "You uprooted a vine from Mitzrayim." It is therefore that we plead with Hashem to bring us up and plant us within our own borders.