The Land: Body and Soul

The Ḥafetz Ḥayyim comments that the relation between Torah and the Land of Israel is that of soul and body, which require each other in order to survive. A soul, a spiritual entity, must reside within a body. A body without a soul is inert, nothing more than a clump of dirt, dust of the earth.

Torah is the soul of Israel, the Land its body. Since a soul cannot exist without a body, there are many mitzvot which are dependent upon the Land. (In the opinion of Naḥmanides and others, all mitzvot are obligatory only within the Land of Israel, and are fulfilled in the Diaspora only to be prepared for performing them when Israel returns to its land.) Equally, however, the Land of Israel without Torah lacks the power of independent existence. Without Torah, the Land is merely a piece of real estate, a body without a soul. Only when body and soul are joined together does each have the ability to survive. It is only the blending of Torah and the Land which allows each to achieve its realization. 

Our challenge is to help the state realize its potential in combining the Land and Torah.