Sodom was destroyed because of the wickedness of the people who lived there. The destruction was so total that Sodom became a symbol of destruction throughout history. There is no question that the inhabitants of Sodom were corrupt to the core, but there were other places as well where corruption and evil abounded – why weren’t they overturned and wiped off the map like Sodom?
The Ramban answers this question, stating: “Know that the judgment of Sodom was due to the superiority of the Land of Israel since Sodom is part of the inheritance of the Eternal and this (Divine Land) does not suffer men who champion abominations. And just as the Land later vomited out a whole nation on account of their abominations, so it transpired now when it was seen that this entire people behaved worse than all nations towards Heaven and mankind… The awesome destruction came about because of the exalted holiness of Erezt Yisrael which is the palace of the King (Ramban on the Torah, Bereshit 19:5).
Thus the extreme punishment of the people of Sodom came about not only because of their wicked deeds, but also because of the exalted location where they sinned. The Land of Israel is the palace of the King. From the beginning of time, Hashem determined that this was the place where His Name would be revealed. Here he established the seat for His earthy Kingdom. “For the L-rd has chosen Zion. He has desired it for His habitation. This is My resting place forever and ever; for I have desired it” (Tehillim, 132: 13). From this we can understand that transgressions in the Land of Israel are looked upon with greater severity than the wrongdoing in other places.
Obviously an ugly deed committed in the street possesses less gravity than if the same deed took place in the palace of the King. While criminal acts or breeches of modesty don’t belong in the street, they are even more repulsive when committed in the presence of the King. Such behavior is not to be pardoned! It could very well be that there were other evil kingdoms in the time of Avraham but Sodom received a higher measure of punishment because of its being in Eretz Yisrael.
The observation of the Ramban coincides with his general emphasis on the unparalleled value and profound meaning of Eretz Yisrael. Because the Land of Israel is the palace of the King, Hashem governs over it in a different fashion than His rule over the rest of the world. The Torah lists the various forbidden illicit relations and cites the punishment of a society where these corruptions abound: “Defile not yourselves in any of these things, for in all of these things the nations were defiled which I cast out before you, and the Land was defiled, therefore do I punish its iniquity upon it and the Land vomits out its inhabitants” (Vayikra, 18: 24-25). We learn from this verse that the severity of illicit relations stems from their being committed in Eretz Yisrael because these transgressions pollute the Land. As a result the Land vomits out these sinners.
Here again we can wonder – the illicit relations cited are forbidden all over the world – why does the Torah connect them to Eretz Yisrael? The Ramban explains:
“The secret of the matter is in the verse which states, ‘When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the borders of the people, etc. For the portion of the Eternal is His people …’ (Devarim 4:19). The meaning thereof is as follows: The Glorious Name created everything and He placed the authority over the lower creatures in the jurisdiction of the higher beings, setting over each and every nation in their lands some known star or constellation… for He allotted to all nations constellations in the heavens, and higher above them are the angels of the Supreme One whom He placed as lords over them.”
The Holy One governs all nations via constellations and angels which He created for this purpose. Nonetheless, in regard to Eretz Yisrael which is His personal palace, he governs over it Himself without any intervening celestial agent.
The Ramban continues: “However. the Land of Israel, which is in the middle of the inhabited earth, is the inheritance of the Eternal designated to His Name. He has placed none of the angels as governor, supervisor, or ruler over it, since He gave it as a heritage to His people who declare the Unity of His Name, to the seed of His beloved ones (the Patriarchs).”
Hashem’s unique direct governing over the Land, the palace of the King, is the reason that sinful behavior is much more devastating here than in other places.
“Thus the Land which is the inheritance of the Glorious Name, will vomit out all those who defile it and will not tolerate worshippers of idols, nor those who practice immorality…” (Ramban, cited).
The special nature of Eretz Yisrael finds expression in a Mishna which states: “Every commandment which depends of the Land of Israel is only observed in the Land of Israel. And those not dependent on the Land of Israel are observed both in the Land and outside of the Land” (Kiddushin 1:9).
The commandments which depend on the Land are commandments which are performed on the soil of Eretz Yisrael like Trumah and Tithes. Commandments not dependent on the Land are commandments which apply to the body of a person (haguf), such as Tefillin and Shabbat. The prohibitions of illicit relations obviously concern the body of a person and not with the fields and agriculture of Eretz Yisrael. Since this is the case, why does the Torah connect the physical behavior of transgressors with making the Land of Israel impure, leading to their expulsion from the country?
The Ramban explains that while the majority of Torah commandments are to be performed throughout the world, the main place of their performance is specifically in Eretz Yisrael because all of the Torah is primarily concerned only with Hashem’s Chosen Land. He writes:
“This is the meaning of the saying of the Rabbis: ‘Whoever lives outside the Land, is as if he had no G-d,’ for it is said, ‘I am the Eternal your G-d, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your G-d,’ and David said, ‘For they have driven me out (of the Land) this day that I should not cleave unto the inheritance of the Eternal, saying: ‘Go, serve other gods.’” And in the Tosephta of Tractate Abodah Zarah the Rabbis have said: ‘Now it is said, And I (Yaakov) will come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Eternal be my G-d,’ and it is further said, ‘to give you the land of Canaan, to be your G-d. When you are in the land of Canaan I am your G-d. When you are not in the land of Canaan, I am not your G-d.’
“Also, it is on the basis of this matter that the Rabbis have said in the Sifre: ‘And ye perish quickly from off the good Land. Although I banish you from the Land to outside the Land, make yourselves distinctive by the commandments, so that when you return they shall not be novelties to you. This can be compared to a master who was angry with his wife, and sent her back to her father’s house and told her, ‘Adorn yourself with precious things, so that when you come back they will not be novelties to you.’ And so did the prophet Jeremiah say (to the people in exile in Babylon), ‘Set thee up waymarks.’ These are the commandments by which Israel is made distinctive’” (Yirmyahu, 31:20).
The Torah warns the Jewish People to observe the mitzvot even after they are exiled from the Land. We could understand this if the Torah was referring to commandments dependent of the Land. Since they are not kept outside of the Land we could interpret this to mean that we should keep them in Chutz L’Aretz so we don’t forget how to do them when we return to Israel. But the Torah is talking about personal commandments which we keep in Chutz L’Aretz as is. Thus there is no danger of forgetting how to do them.
We learn from this that the obligation to perform the commandments in the Diaspora is not an essential obligation. It is merely a means to keep them well-rehearsed so we don’t forget how to do them in our return to the Land. Thus the Ramban explains:
Now the verses which state, and ye perish quickly … and ye shall lay up these My words…’ only make the observance of the commandments obligatory in the exile which are related to affecting personal conduct, such as Tefillin and Mezuzot. The Rabbis (in the above text of the Sifre) explained that we must observe them so that they shall not be novelties to us when we return to the Land, for the main fulfillment of the commandments is when dwelling in the Land of G-d. Therefore the Rabbis have said in the Sifre: ‘And ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes…’ for dwelling in the Land of Israel is of equal importance to all the commandments of the Torah’” (Ramban, Vayikra 18:25).
Eretz Yisrael is equal in weight to all of the mitzvot in the Torah because only here can the Torah be fulfilled in all of its wholeness. The fact that the principle observance of the Torah is in Eretz Yisrael, this does not come to negate the importance of mitzvah practice in the Diaspora. By keeping them there we show our loyalty and love for the King and how sincerely we long to return to His palace in our own Jewish Homeland where the Torah is meant to be performed.