Rav Shlomo Aviner heads the Ateret Yerushalayim Yeshiva.
Lech Lecha begins with Hashem commanding Avraham to leave his home and move to the Land of Israel. That in itself is enough to distinguish Eretz Yisrael from all other places in the world. More than once I have been asked, “Why is Eretz Yisrael the only thing which interests Religious Zionists? You people are fixated on it! Certainly it’s important, but there are other important things such as Torah study and mitzvah observance, education and our country’s social problems.
There are two answers to this mistaken claim.
First, why be inaccurate? Why mislead and confuse people? The claim isn’t true. We are involved in the settlement of Eretz Yisrael, but also in Torah learning and mitzvah observance and public education and social issues. “Everything G-d said, we will do and obey" (Shemot 24:27). And precisely because the battleground is so broad, we have to work on ourselves in every one of these spheres, all of us, and G-d will come to our aid.
Second of all, are we properly devoted to Eretz Yisrael? It should only be so! Surely you can’t suspect Moshe of not being devoted to Torah and mitzvot, education and society, yet he still begged to enter Eretz Yisrael: “I beseeched G-d at that time saying, ‘Let me pass through and see the good land…’" (Devarim 3:23-25). G-d finally said to him, “You’ve said enough!" (verse 26). Don’t ask anymore. “Let people not say, ‘How unfair the Master! How stubborn and incalcitrant the disciple!" (Rashi).
This shows how vociferously Moshe begged to enter the Land of Israel. “Here is one of three places where Moshe told G-d, ‘I won’t relent until You tell me if You’re going to fulfill my request or not" (Rashi, verse 23).
Yet surely Moshe had a reason for being so persistent. Eretz Yisrael has profound importance, perhaps the most profound importance of all. For it is only in Eretz Yisrael that the Jewish People can live as a sovereign nation with a land of their own. And it is the only place where the Torah can be observed in all of its fullness. And it is the only place on Earth where the Presence of Hashem (the Shechinah) can appear in its upmost glory sending blessing to the entire world. It was for these profound matters that Moshe begged G-d with such fervor.
In addition, Eretz Yisrael involves not only these exalted qualities, but 252 vital foundations for the Children of Israel. HaRav Natan Shapiro, the Chief Rabbi of Cracow, born in 1591, was one of the greatest mekubalim [mystics] of Poland in his day. His entire book “Megaleh Amukot" is devoted to the same 252 arguments used by Moshe to explain why he craved to enter the Land. Rabbi Shapiro did not invent them all. Rather, they are taken from the works of Rabbi Menachem Racanati, the “Rokeach," and from the Arizal, and from Rabbi Menachem Azariah of Pano, from Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, and from Rambam’s Guide to the Perplexed. (see the work, “Kol HaNevu’a" by Rabbi David HaKohen, “the Nazir", page 269).
For example, foundation number four is: “If someone possesses the merit from Eretz Yisrael, he can rid the world of its craving for idolatry." Also, Eretz Yisrael is a key to “attaining the secret of wisdom… because the air of Eretz Yisrael makes one wise." Certainly Moshe was full of Divine Wisdom, yet he still craved to enter Eretz Yisrael to increase his understanding even more.
Principle 170 is: Eretz Yisrael is the key to fulfilling “The humble shall inherit the Land" (Tehillim 37:11), for the culmination of all character traits is humility. Certainly Moshe was the most humble man on earth. Even so, he longed to enter the Land to become more so, for the Divine Exaltedness of the Land endows those who love it with a sense of great humility.
Principle 187: “Eretz Yisrael is the key to bringing all nations under the wings of the Divine Presence. That’s why Moshe beseeched Hashem to permit him to enter. He was acting for the sake of Heaven, with the intent of helping all mankind to serve G-d."
Indeed, Eretz Yisrael is a very profound matter. May we merit to become more closely attached to it and to delve more deeply into the secrets of its wisdom and life-given blessing to the individual and to our nation as a whole.