In several of his essays in the book “Orot” Rabbi Kook explains that Torah is not natural in the Diaspora. According to the Divine Plan of Creation, holiness finds its ideal expression in the Holy Land. Forms of holiness which exist outside the Land of Israel appear against the spiritual laws of Nature which Hashem has decreed for the world. The Holy One Blessed Be He, in His mercy, allows this shrunken form of holiness to exist in the Diaspora in synagogues and yeshivot in order to protect the Jewish People during our captivity in exile, but it is a far cry from the exalted holiness found in Eretz Yisrael.
This phenomenon is wonderfully manifest during the holiday of Sukkot in Israel during which in whatever direction you look, chances are you will see a Sukkah booth. On front lawns, in driveways, in parking lots, on restaurant sidewalks, on the terraces of buildings and rooftops.
In the Diaspora, the opposite is true. Unless you happen to be in one of the 5 or 6 haredi neighborhoods scattered around the globe, chances are you won’t see a Sukkah at all. Take a walk from one end of Manhattan to the other and there won’t be a Sukkah in sight. In Paris and London, you would never know that there is a Jewish Festival about to begin. Diaspora Sukkahs, if they exist, are hidden away on back lawns, or in back alleyways, so that Jew-haters won’t shoot flaming arrows at them and set them ablaze. In the villas of wealthy Jews, you might discover a Sukkah inside the house under a pull-back roof, so that the neighbors don’t have to know that Orthodox Jews live inside. That’s the sad state of affairs when you are a Jew living amongst non-Jews in a place where holiness exists in an unnatural fashion.
Yes, we have problems in Israel, but we don’t have to be secret Jews. We do not have to hide our Sukkot in the back of our homes. We can proudly construct them in our driveways and front lawns without worrying about vandals or burglars or the LA police force. In the Diaspora, a front lawn Sukkah sticks out like the gaudy statues that Beverly Hills Arabs like to put on their lawns. In Israel, no one takes a second look. Sukkahs are natural in Israel. They are a part of the landscape. People can dine in them in peace, and sleep comfortably in them all night without the slightest disturbance.
In the same light, an Etrog tree doesn’t grow in Brooklyn. Nor will you find groves of Etrog trees in South Florida. Here and there a tree may have been planted but it grows against the laws of Nature. The Etrog tree doesn’t belong in America. The climate isn’t right for it. It’s the same with the lulav, hadasim, and aravot. The Four Species which we are commanded to take for ourselves on the Festival of Sukkot are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael, just as the Torah is indigenous to Eretz Yisrael and the Jewish People are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael.
We belong in Eretz Yisrael. All of the holidays are intrinsically connected to Eretz Yisrael. The Torah was designed and fashioned by the Almighty to be observed in the Holy Land. The festive pilgrimage to the Jerusalem Temple and the joyous “Simchat Beit HaShoevah” can only be performed in Eretz Yisrael.
An Etrog Tree Doesn’t Grow in Brooklyn. If it did it chances are that it would die. Just the way the Diaspora is destined to die. How wonderful to be in the Land of Israel where you hear hammers pounding away the week before the Sukkot holiday, and you see sukkah booths wherever you look! How wonderful to be in the Land of Israel where you don’t have to be embarrassed or afraid to sit in your Sukkah out on the street! Where apartment buildings are built with terraces especially designed for the Sukkot holiday! Where the Kotel and the place of the Temple are a short walk or car ride away! Where there are Sukkah booths outside of every restaurant! Where Sukkot is a national holiday with school vacation, and not some weird, mumbo-jumbo practice of the Jews.
How wonderful to be in the Holy Land – in the place Hashem created for the Jews.
Hag Sukkot Samaoch!