Planting every thing back into its root

במד' וכ"ת כו' ונטעתם כו' עץ חיים היא למחזיקים כו'.

In the Midrash: and it is written, "and you shall plant…" (Vayikra 19:23) — "it is a tree of life to those who grasp it." (Mishlei 3:18)

The Sefas Emes links the mitzvah of planting trees upon entering Eretz Yisrael with the verse describing the Torah as an "eitz chaim," a tree of life.

פי' כח הנטיעה ניתן לבנ"י שיכולין לנטוע ולדבק כ"ד לשורשו בכח התורה.

The meaning is that the power of planting was given to Bnei Yisrael — that they are able to plant and to attach every thing to its root through the power of the Torah.

"Planting" is understood spiritually: Bnei Yisrael are empowered to take any object or matter and root it back into its source above, by means of the Torah.

וז"ש וחיי עולם נטע בתוכינו.

And this is the meaning of "and eternal life He planted within us." (from Birkas HaTorah)

The Torah we received is the "eternal life planted within us" — the very power of planting and rootedness that the blessing refers to.

ונטעתם כל עץ מאכל לראות לבטל כל דבר לשורשו והיא עיקר בחי' ארץ ישראל וע"ז מבקשין ותטענו בגבולנו.

"And you shall plant every tree of food" — to seek to be mevatel (nullify) every thing to its root; and this is the essential quality of Eretz Yisrael, and concerning this we pray, "and plant us within our borders."

The avodah of "planting" is to bring every thing to bittul, returning it to its source. This is the inner nature of Eretz Yisrael — a land where everything can be reconnected to its root — and this is what we ask for when we daven that Hashem "plant us" within our land.

שמקודם צריכין לנטוע נפשותינו בשורש כי האדם עץ השדה כו':

For first we must plant our own souls in the root, for "man is a tree of the field." (Devarim 20:19)

Before one can root other things in their source, he must first plant his own neshamah firmly in its root — since a person himself is likened to a tree, and his task begins with rooting his own self in Hashem.

בקיצור כי שכחתי

In brief, for I have forgotten.

The Sefas Emes notes candidly that he recorded this piece only in abbreviated form because he had forgotten the fuller version.

Summary: The mitzvah "and you shall plant" reveals the special power given to Bnei Yisrael through the Torah — the "tree of life" — to take every thing and root it back into its source by way of bittul. This is the inner essence of Eretz Yisrael, the place where all can be reconnected to its root, which we request in "plant us within our borders." But the work begins with each person planting his own soul in its root, for "man is a tree of the field."