The Three Weeks is a period of mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash characterized by some prohibitions designed to lessen pleasures and enjoyments permitted throughout the year. However, there is also an aspect of adding to our normal behavior and feelings in the imperative to increase our yearning for Redemption.
Redemption from what? From the Exile. With the destruction of Jerusalem our national format was destroyed and we were exiled from our Land to wander around the globe as scattered individuals, minorities in foreign places without any national Jewish sovereignty of our own. In a healthy situation, a person cast out from his home longs to return. So too, the Jewish People are supposed to yearn to return home to Zion and not to waste away (and assimilate) as strangers in alien lands.
Where do we learn that a Jew is to yearn for Redemption? The Talmud states:
“Raba said, ‘When a man is led in for judgment (in the World to Come), he is asked, “Did you conduct your business endeavors honestly? Did you fix times for Torah learning? Did you engage in the mitzvah of procreation? Did you yearn for salvation? Did you engage in the exploration of wisdom? Did you have new insights in Torah, understanding one thing from another?” (Shabbat 31A).
Rashi explains the yearning for salvation as the fulfillment of the words of the Prophets regarding the Redemption of Israel. In his commentary, the Ran says this means an active yearning by taking part in the process of Redemption in the same manner that a person actively fulfills the commandments of Tefillin or Shabbat.
Therefore, if a Jew who lives in France, or England, or America, or Australia, isn’t longing for Redemption from the Exile and isn’t yearning to return to dwell in the Land of Israel, than his or her understanding of Torah is incomplete.
In the very first chapter of his book, “Orot,” Rabbi Kook explains that this disconnection from Eretz Yisrael, and the lack of yearning to return, stem from a superficial comprehension of Torah. When the deepest levels of Torah wisdom are neglected and Judaism becomes the mere practice of individual mitzvot like Kashrut and Shabbat, then the Diaspora Jew longs not for the national essence of the Torah. He or she becomes content with the practice of ritual mitzvot in a foreign Gentile land, not missing being a part of his own Israelite Nation with a Jewish homeland, Jewish army, Hebrew language, national Jewish calendar, agriculture, etc. These all seem like side matters not integral to his life.
In contrast, when a Jew in the Diaspora feels an inner alienation from his Gentile surroundings in a Gentile land, this inner awareness sets off a spiritual explosion which affects all of the Jewish People. Rabbi Kook writes:
“The strangeness that one feels outside of the Land of Israel causes a greater bond with the inner spiritual desire for Eretz Yisrael and its Kedusha (holiness). The yearning to see the Land increases, and the vision of the concrete, holy image of the Land which the eyes of G-d are always upon from the beginning of the year until the end becomes deeper and deeper.
"And the depth of the holy yearning of the love of Zion, of remembering the Land to which all the good things of life are bound - when this valorously increases in the soul, even in one individual - behold, it acts like an overflowing spring to all of the Clal (the entire Community of Israel), to the myriads of souls which are bound up with him, and the voice of the shofar of the ingathering of the outcasts awakens; and great mercy increases; and the hope of life for Israel sparkles; and the planting of G-d develops and blooms; and the light of Salvation spreads out and increases like the dawn which stretches over the mountains” (Orot, 1:6).
The need to play an actual part in the Redemption of Israel, and not to merely think about it, is one of the major themes of the universally-accepted classics of Jewish Faith, “The Kuzari” written by Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi. Throughout the book, a non-Jewish king questions a Rabbi about the tenets of Judaism. In the course of their discussions, the Rabbis extols the virtues of living in Israel. Toward the conclusion of the book, the Rabbi declares that he has decided to leave the land of the Kuzars and make Aliyah. The king endeavors to dissuade him, pointing out the fact that the Rabbi himself stated that the Divine Presence no longer actively shines in the Land of Israel ever since the time of the Destruction, and that a Jew can serve Hashem wherever he lives.
The Rabbi explains that the king’s statement is true only when a Jew is forced against his will to live somewhere else. But if the opportunity and means are present to move to the Land of Israel then the devout person who seeks to serve Hashem to the fullest is obligated to set forth for the Holy Land. These are his words:
King: “Hashem knows what is in a person’s mind…” (ie. thinking about Redemption is enough).
Rabbi: “This is true when action is impossible. Man is then free from further endeavor. But he deserves blame who does not look for visible reward for visible work… Only if you bring intention and action together can you expect reward. Actions must be perfect to deserve favor. For example, the ideas of our prayers must be pronounced in the most perfect way to be considered prayer and supplication. The ideas must be spoken. If the action is minus the intention, or the intention is minus the action, the expectation for reward is lost, except when the matter is impossible [like when travel to Eretz Yisrael was impossible]…
"As is written, ‘Thou shall arise and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favor her, yes, the set time is come. For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones and embrace the dust thereof” (Tehillim, 102:14). This means that Jerusalem can only be rebuilt when Israel yearns for it to such an extent that they embrace her stones and dust.”
When a person reaches the gates of Heaven he is asked, “Did you yearn for Redemption?” A response like, “Yeah, I thought about Aliyah,” won’t be enough.
With hope for a complete and speedy salvation from the Exile. Amen.