Joy and the Land; Awe and the Diaspora

            Zohar reconciles the apparent contradiction between the verses “serve God in joy” [Psalm 100:2] and “serve God in awe” [Psalm 2:11] by explaining that the first refers to the Land of Israel, the second to the Diaspora.

Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe notes that despite the tendency to approach the Temple in fear and trepidation, the Torah [Deuteronomy 12:7; 12 ff] connects joy with coming to the Temple because true joy consists of spiritual enlightenment. Just as the Temple was conducive to experiencing this lofty level of spiritual enlightenment, so too are the air and the atmosphere of the Land, for, unlike the Temple, they were not destroyed. Thus, the Land is especially suited for serving God in joy.

The Gaon of Vilna commented that there are two mitzvot which one fulfils with his entire body: sitting in a sukka and dwelling in the Land of Israel.

In the liturgy, the holiday of Sukkot is referred to as “the time of our joy.” The above comments clearly show that complete realization of the “time of joy” is possible only within the Land.