Rav Shmuel Eliyahu is Chief Rabbi of Tzfat
Throughout the entire Torah, the Land of Israel is mentioned in many places, but in the Book of Devarim, the commandment to inherit and dwell in the Land is mentioned time and again. Alongside it is the commandment to love God and to cling to Him.
Our Sages taught that we must pay attention to the juxtaposition of verses in Devarim. The Talmud says that even someone who does not interpret adjacent verses throughout the rest of the Torah understands that the proximity of verses in Devarim has significance (Berakhot 21a).
The Land of Israel - A Land of Loving God
Therefore, we too should take note that in the Book of Devarim, alongside the command regarding the Land of Israel and its virtues, the virtue of loving God is mentioned 17 times. This commandment is unique to Devarim. In the other four books of the Torah, the mitzvah to love God — or that God loves us — is not mentioned. Also unique to Devarim is the command to cling to Him. The proximity of the verses teaches us that loving and clinging to God are tied to the inheritance of the Land:
“To love the Lord your God, to listen to His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, to dwell upon the Land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them” (Dev. 30:20).
Although it might seem that one can love God and cling to Him even outside the Land, the Torah teaches that the Land of Israel is the Land which facilitates and magnifies God's love.
The Land of Israel and Fear of Heaven
The Land of Israel is also a land of yirat shamayim - the fear and awe of Heaven. The commandment of fearing God is mentioned 19 times in Devarim:
“You shall fear the Lord your God, serve Him, cling to Him, and swear by His name” (Dev. 10:20).
The Torah tells us that the entire purpose of the Sinai Revelation was to instill in us the fear of Heaven. After all, God could have delivered the Ten Commandments through Moses, without the entire Sinai experience. The purpose of that exalted event was so that the People of Israel would acquire the trait of fearing God:
“The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth and that they may teach their children’” (Dev. 4:10).
Similarly, the mitzvah of pilgrimage to Jerusalem is for the sake of fear of Heaven:
“And you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place He will choose to cause His Name to dwell there the tithe of your grain, your wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always” (Dev. 14:23).
The Land of Israel - A Land of Courage
The commandment not to fear the Gentiles is found in the words of Joshua and Caleb during the Sin of the Spies:
“Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the Land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them” (Bamidbar 14:9).
But the main commandments to be strong and not to fear are found in Devarim:
“Do not fear them, for the Lord your God is the one who fights for you” (Deut. 3:22). This is stated at least ten times.
There is no doubt that courage and valor are tied to inheriting the Land:
“See, the Lord your God has placed the Land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed” (Dev. 1:21).
This strength stems from yirat shamayim. If God is with you, you have nothing to fear. As the Gemara says:
“A certain student was walking after Rabbi Yishmael son of Rabbi Yose in the marketplace of Zion. Rabbi Yishmael saw he was afraid and said to him: You are a sinner, as it is written, ‘Sinners in Zion are afraid’ (Isaiah 33). The student replied: But it is also written, ‘Happy is the man who is always fearful’ (Proverbs 28). Rabbi Yishmael answered: That verse refers to fear in matters of Torah” (Berachot 60a). We draw courage from the Land - unlike our always precarious and defenseless situation in lands not our own.
In the Land, We Instill Fear Upon the Nations
Devarim is also the book that teaches us more than any other how to project awe upon the nations:
“This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples under the whole heaven who will hear the report of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you” (Dev. 2:25).
“Then all the peoples of the earth will see that the Name of the Lord is called upon you, and they will fear you” (Dev. 28:10).
In contrast, Exile is described as follows:
“Those of you who survive I will bring faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight... They shall stumble over one another as before the sword, though no one pursues them... You will not be able to stand before your enemies” (Vayikra 26:36-37).
How fortunate we are to see these commandments being fulfilled in our days in the merit of our living in the Land of Israel.