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And when you shall
come into the Land and plant all manner of
trees for food ...
Leviticus 19:23
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Our Sages understood the verse to refer not only to
physical trees, but to spiritual ones as well, quoting the verse (Proverbs
3:18) “She (Torah) is a tree of life to those who take hold of her”.
Sefat Emet connects this Midrash to another
comment of our Sages (Avot 2:2): “An excellent thing is the study
of Torah combined with worldly occupation (derech eretz), for labor in
the two of them makes sin forgotten”. Sefat Emet then explains
that the intention of both Rabbinic comments is to express the greatness of
connecting the physical and the spiritual, of endowing physical acts with
sanctity. It is the spiritual aspect which constitutes the internal
vitality of everything. Everything was endowed by the Creator with an element
of vitality of the Torah, as our Sages teach: “it was through Torah that God
created the world”. It is the task of the People of Israel to reveal the
element of vitality.
Entering the Land of Israel, in a sense, was a more
difficult situation for the People of Israel than wandering through the desert.
Israel’s life in the desert was spiritual, with God miraculously providing all
of their needs. It was a life of Torah, net. Entering the Land required Torah and worldly
occupation. While the life facing Israel in its Land was more difficult, it is
this type of life, combining the physical and the spiritual, and thereby
brining the inner vitality to fruition, which is the essential role of the
People of Israel.
The essence of Eretz Yisrael is
connecting everything to its spiritual roots through the strength of Torah.
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