Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Behar
The only "national meeting" with Hashem in history was the revelation at Sinai. The Torah was given in the desert, and most of its mitzvot apply in all places and times, but some mitzvot only apply in Eretz Yisrael, and it is also the ideal place for fulfilling all the mitzvot. Thus, there is an eternal link between Har Sinai and the Holy Land.
The mitzvot of Shemitta (7-year cycle) and Yovel (50-year cycle), which strictly regulate the working of agriculture and commerce, give expression to the Land’s sanctity. Even the mundane in Eretz Yisrael is holy, and agriculture here is a sacred undertaking. It is as the Chatam Sofer (to Sukka 36a) said: "Included in the mitzva of settling Eretz Yisrael is to extract its holy fruit, about which the Torah commanded, ‘You shall harvest your grain’ … it is as if to say ‘I will not put on tefillin because I am learning Torah,’ so too one should not say, ‘I will not harvest my grain because of my involvement in Torah.’" This Torah giant continues, that the same is true for any profession that develops society.
This teaches us a critical lesson. Any involvement that engenders development of the community of Eretz Yisrael, from a scientific, economic, manufacturing, or technological perspective, as well as a perspective of transportation or ecology, is connected to this mitzva. The Chatam Sofer hinted at the connection between this and the strong sign of the process of liberation: "Oh mountains of Israel: You will develop branches, which will bear fruit for my nation Israel, for they are about to come" (Yechezkel 36:8, see Sanhedrin 98a). This sign applies to all development, not just agricultural. In our times, we are blessed with agricultural and especially technological success.
For the mitzva of yovel, which is connected to Shemitta, there is another element. The assumption behind this mitzva is that public economic life is handled according to Torah laws. Such an agrarian reform can only be accomplished with an independent Jewish state, which can regulate such activity, and specifically in Eretz Yisrael.
The gemara (Sanhedrin 20b) lists the three mitzvot that became operative when Bnei Yisrael entered the Land: 1. Appointing a king; 2. Wiping out the offspring of Amalek; 3. Building a Temple. The gemara derives that the above is the necessary order of fulfillment. In conceptual and practical terms, creating a state is equivalent to appointing a king. Without stable governance, one cannot build and operate an army and it is needed for a major project like building a Temple. Only when David was well established was he able to start the process of building the Beit Hamikdash (see Shmuel II, 6-7).
Yom Yerushalayim is a critical part of the holidays of national reemergence. Hashem arranged matters so that the modern national days fall out between Pesach and Shavuot. Lag Ba’omer too is related to Rabbi Akiva’s and Rabbi Shimon’s support of the Jewish army. This is a good introductory period before Shavuot.
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