Holiness of the Land and its trials

איתא בת"כ מנין שישיבת בנ"י גרם להם דכתיב אשר אני מביא אתכם שמה.

It is taught in the Toras Kohanim: From where do we know that the very settling of Bnei Yisrael in the Land was what caused it to them? As it is written, "to which I am bringing you there."

The Sifra derives from the wording of the verse that the land's special suitability for Bnei Yisrael is itself bound up with the spiritual challenges they faced there — the place that was "brought" to them was uniquely theirs.

נראה הטעם כי בנ"י היו מוכנים לא"י דכתיב עמד וימודד ארץ כו'.

It appears the reason is that Bnei Yisrael were prepared and fitted for Eretz Yisrael, as it is written, "He stood and measured the earth" (Chavakuk 3:6).

Hashem "measured out" the land and apportioned each place to the souls suited to it; Eretz Yisrael was measured specifically for Bnei Yisrael.

שכל מקום יש לו נפשות מיוחדים.

For every place has its own particular souls.

Each land in the world is matched to specific souls that belong to it, and Eretz Yisrael belongs to the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

כמ"ש חן מקום על יושביו.

As Chazal said: "A place casts its charm (chein) upon its inhabitants."

There is a deep affinity between a place and the people who dwell in it — the land draws out and reflects the inner nature of its proper inhabitants.

והנה א"י הוא מקום קדוש דבוק בשורש העליון וא"י לסבול רק אנשים הדבקים בקונם.

Now Eretz Yisrael is a holy place, attached to the supernal root, and it cannot bear any but people who cleave to their Maker.

Because the Land is bound to its lofty kedushah, it can tolerate only those who are themselves devoted to Hashem; it rejects those who are not.

כמ"ש תביאמו ותטעמו כו'.

As it is written, "You shall bring them and plant them..." (Shemos 15:17).

Bnei Yisrael are meant to be "planted" in the Land like something rooted in its native soil, joined to it organically.

וכמו שנמצא בגמ' הגדול מחבירו יצרו גדול ממנו.

And just as we find in the Gemara, "One who is greater than his fellow — his yetzer hara is greater than his."

The Gemara teaches that the greater a person's spiritual stature, the more powerful the yetzer hara arrayed against him.

כמו כן יש במקומות כפי רוב הקדושה מסובב שם כמה קליפות והסתרות ויצה"ר.

So too with places: the greater the kedushah of a place, the more kelipos (husks of impurity), concealments, and yetzer hara surround it.

The same principle applies to places, not only people: a holier place attracts a correspondingly greater concentration of impurity, hiddenness, and temptation that gather around it.

לכן ע"י שהיה המקום מוכן לבנ"י.

Therefore, precisely because the place was so suited to Bnei Yisrael —

It was the very holiness and fittingness of the Land for Bnei Yisrael that brought with it the intensity of the surrounding challenge.

הי' שם נסיונות גדולות.

— there were great nisyonos (tests) there.

Because of its great kedushah, the Land was a place of correspondingly great trials and temptations.

ולכן זה גרם להם שיחטאו.

And therefore this is what caused them to sin.

This is the meaning of the Toras Kohanim: the land's own holiness, with its attendant trials, was what led them to stumble.

וקאה הארץ אותם ע"י שפשטו ידם במה שאינו שלהם:

And the Land vomited them out, because they stretched out their hand to take what was not theirs.

When they failed the test and reached for what did not belong to them, the holy Land — unable to bear those who do not cleave to Hashem — cast them out.

Summary: Eretz Yisrael is bound to its supernal root and can hold only those who cleave to Hashem. Just as a greater person faces a greater yetzer hara, so a holier place is ringed by greater concealment and trial. The very fittingness of the Land for Bnei Yisrael brought intense nisyonos, and when they failed and grasped what was not theirs, the Land cast them out.