Eretz Yisrael as hidden treasure to be sought

בס' זאת זכרון פי' ויתורו את ארץ כנען מלשון התרת הקשר שארץ כנען עוד הי' מקושר תחת שבעה עממין והי' צריכין המרגלים בהליכתם להתיר זה הקשר.

In the Sefer "Zos Zikaron" he explains "and they shall scout the land of Canaan" from the expression of untying a knot — for the land of Canaan was still bound under the seven nations, and the spies in their going needed to untie this knot.

The word "vayasuru" (scout) is read as "loosening" a knot: Eretz Yisrael was still tied up under the seven Canaanite nations, and the meraglim's mission was to begin untying that bond.

וכן אמרו חז"ל כי ארץ ישראל תליא בבנ"י כמ"ש פשטא לה גמדא לה והיא כפולה ומכופלת.

And so Chazal said that Eretz Yisrael depends upon Bnei Yisrael, as they said: "it stretched out for them, it contracted for them," and it is folded and doubly folded.

The Land responds to Bnei Yisrael — expanding or shrinking according to them — and it holds hidden, "folded" depths that unfold only for those worthy.

וכשבנ"י דורשין אותה היא נדרשת להם כמ"ש חז"ל ציון דורש אין לה מכלל דבעיא דרישה.

And when Bnei Yisrael seek it out, it yields itself to them, as Chazal said: "Zion — there is none who seeks her," from which it is implied that she requires seeking.

The Land gives of itself in proportion to how much Bnei Yisrael seek and yearn for it; the reproach that "none seeks Zion" shows that the Land must be actively sought.

וע"ז כתיב מה רב טובך אשר צפנת כו' ובודאי היא חמדה גנוזה שלא לחנם שלח הקב"ה ראשי בנ"י להיות מבינים למצוא מתנה גנוזה זו שהאבות הקדושים השתוקקו לה כמ"ש הקב"ה לאברהם אע"ה אשר אראך.

And on this it is written, "How great is Your goodness that You have hidden away," etc.; and surely it is a hidden treasure, for not for naught did Hashem send the heads of Bnei Yisrael to be able to discern and find this hidden gift, which the holy Avos longed for, as Hashem said to Avraham our father, "[to the land] that I will show you."

Eretz Yisrael is a concealed treasure of Hashem's stored-up goodness; the leaders were sent to perceive it, the very gift the Avos yearned for and that Hashem promised to "show" Avraham.

ובאמת הקב"ה מסר לנו מצות התלויות בארץ אשר בכח מצות אלו נוכל להוציא מכח אל הפועל אותה חמדה גנוזה ולכן ניחם הקב"ה אותם במצות נסכים וחלה שלא יפול לבבם כאשר אותן הגדולים חפשו ולא מצאו כי ע"י אלו המצות ימצאו מתנת א"י.

And in truth Hashem handed us the mitzvos that are dependent on the land, through whose power we can bring that hidden treasure from potential into actuality; therefore Hashem comforted them with the mitzvos of nesachim (libations) and challah, so that their hearts would not fall when those great ones searched and did not find — for through these mitzvos they would find the gift of Eretz Yisrael.

The mitzvos hateluyos ba'aretz are the tools that actualize the Land's hidden treasure; Hashem gave the mitzvos of libations and challah as reassurance after the meraglim's failure, since these very mitzvos unlock the Land's gift.

וכן אמר מו"ז ז"ל עפ"י מאמרם ז"ל הנותן בור לחבירו צריך לתת לו דרך כי נותן בעין יפה נותן.

And so my grandfather, of blessed memory, said, based on their teaching: one who gives a cistern to his fellow must give him a path to it, for one who gives, gives with a generous eye.

The Chiddushei HaRim cited the halachic principle that a giver, being generous, includes access to the gift — a path to the cistern he grants.

כמו כן המתנות שנתן לנו הקב"ה נתן לנו גם הדרכים שנוכל לקבל המתנה.

So too the gifts that Hashem gave us — He also gave us the paths by which we are able to receive the gift.

Hashem, the most generous Giver, supplied along with the gift of the Land the very means (the mitzvos) to receive and draw it out.

וזה ג"כ נכלל במ"ש אוכלת יושבי' היא כי בנ"י צריכין לעשותה ולתקנה ודו"ק:

And this too is included in what is said, "it is a land that consumes its inhabitants" — for Bnei Yisrael are required to work it and to rectify it; understand this well.

Even the spies' slander that the Land "consumes its inhabitants" hints at a truth: the Land demands that Bnei Yisrael actively cultivate and rectify it through its mitzvos in order to receive its hidden gift.

Summary: Eretz Yisrael is a hidden treasure of Hashem's stored-up goodness, still "knotted" under the Canaanite nations, that yields itself only to Bnei Yisrael who seek it. The meraglim were sent to discern this gift the Avos longed for, but failed; so Hashem comforted the nation with the mitzvos hateluyos ba'aretz — the very "path" a generous Giver provides along with His gift — through which Bnei Yisrael actualize the Land's concealed treasure by working and rectifying it.