1) In Eretz Yisrael, this Shabbos was no longer Shevuois, and millions of Jews went to shul to hear the Baal Koreh lein Parshas Naso.
But last week we read Parshas Bamidbar and the parsha opens with 45 pesukim detailing the count of those drafted for military service. The Ribbono Shel Olam chose to devote significant space to recording how many from each shevet served. That emphasis speaks for itself.
It’s hard not to notice the contrast with those in our community who passionately insist “נמות ולא נתגייס.” One wonders how they relate to these pesukim, which clearly do not align with that stance.
2) In this week’s parsha Naso we encounter Birchas HaKohanim.
In Eretz Yisrael, the Kohanim duchan every single day. In Chutz La’Aretz, however, it is done only on Yom Tov — and even then, only at Mussaf. Why?
The Rama in Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 128:44) explains the reason. A Kohein must be in a state of simcha in order to bless the people. But in Chutz La’Aretz, where parnassah is often uncertain and financial pressures weigh heavily, the Kohein is not naturally in that elevated emotional state. Even on Yom Tov, the worries of daily life linger.
By the time Mussaf arrives, though, the Kohein is already anticipating the Yom Tov seudah — and that anticipation itself brings him to a genuine feeling of simcha. Only then is he considered emotionally ready to stand before the tzibbur and deliver the blessing of Birchas HaKohanim.
A remarkable insight: the halachah recognizes not only the spiritual requirements of the mitzvah, but also the emotional reality of the people performing it.
What emerges from all this?
In Eretz Yisrael, even a Kohein who may have real parnassah concerns is nevertheless in a state of simcha. Why?
The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh at the beginning of Parshas Ki Savo (Devarim 26:1) writes a remarkable principle:
אין שמחה אלא בישיבת הארץ
True simcha exists only through dwelling in Eretz Yisrael.
According to the Ohr HaChaim, the very fact of living in the Land infuses a Jew with a deeper, more essential joy — a simcha that is not dependent on circumstances, income, or external comforts. It is a simcha rooted in the neshama’s connection to the place where the Shechinah resides.
He then links this to the famous pasuk in Tehillim 126:
אז ימלא שחוק פינו
Then our mouths will be filled with laughter.
The joy of geulah, the joy of being in Hashem’s Land, is a joy that expresses itself naturally, almost effortlessly. It is not manufactured; it is inherent.
So the Rama’s halachic observation becomes illuminated by the Ohr HaChaim’s spiritual insight:
In Chutz La’Aretz, simcha must be “created” — the Kohein needs the uplift of Yom Tov, and even then only by Mussaf, when the seudah is approaching.
In Eretz Yisrael, simcha is “built in” — the very air of the Land generates it. Even with life’s pressures, the Kohein stands ready to bless daily, because the simcha of Eretz Yisrael flows through him.
A halachic detail becomes a window into the soul of the Land.
3) Rav Moshe Chagiz (1671-1750) in his Sefer שפת אמת writes:
"Whoever lives in Eretz Yisrael is fulfilling the will of his Father in Heaven and is called a צדיק and the RBS"O loves him.... and it is superfluous to note that anyone who speaks ill of the Land or of its residents is like the meraglim."
A person who speaks negatively about Zionists living in Eretz Yisrael, who belittles their mesirus nefesh or mocks their commitment to building the Land, is echoing the attitude of the meraglim. The meraglim’s sin was not merely refusing to enter the Land — it was speaking lashon hara about those who did want to go forward, and about the Land itself.
4) Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld noted — based on the words of the Shlah HaKadosh — that even great tzaddikim fall into the same pattern of thinking as the meraglim, allowing fear, habit, or preconceived notions to override the clear ratzon Hashem regarding Eretz Yisrael.
Rav Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal Hy”d writes in Eim HaBanim Semeichah with heartbreaking honesty and prophetic clarity. After witnessing the horrors of Europe, he re‑evaluated the anti‑Zionist attitudes he once shared. His conclusion is blunt:
Those who oppose aliyah and the rebuilding and resettlement of Eretz Yisrael are, in essence, following the path of the meraglim —
while those who choose aliyah and support the return to the Land stand with the camp of Yehoshua and Kalev.
This is not a political statement. It is a spiritual diagnosis.
At first, the meraglim were not resha’im. They were in fact leaders, scholars, righteous men — yet they failed to align themselves with the Divine call to enter the Land. Rav Teichtal warns that the same mistake can repeat in every generation, even among the most sincere.
And the opposite is also true:
Those who embrace the mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisrael, who support its rebuilding, who see the Land as the center of Jewish destiny — they are walking in the footsteps of Yehoshua and Kalev, the two who said:עלה נעלה — we can and must ascend.
Those who embrace Eretz Yisrael tap into a simcha that is deeper than circumstance — the simcha of Yehoshua and Kalev.
Those who resist it, risk echoing the fear-driven stance of the meraglim.
A halachic detail, a mystical insight, and a historical tragedy all converge to teach one message:
The Land itself generates simcha, clarity, and spiritual courage — and those who attach themselves to it stand with the camp of geulah.
