Ki Tavo: Gratitude for the Land of Israel

by Rav Moshe Tzuriel, yeshiva.co, translated by Hillel Fendel

This week's Torah portion of Ki Tavo begins with the words of appreciation that one must say when he brings his First Fruits to the Holy Temple: "I say today that I have come to the Land that G-d vowed to our Forefathers to give to us…" (D'varim 26,3).

Rashi explains that the purpose of this statement is to show that we are not ungrateful. Ungrateful for what? The Maharal of Prague, in his commentary on Rashi entitled Gur Aryeh, explains: 

"Why is it necessary to say, 'I have come to the Land' – obviously he is in the Land! Rather, by saying this we show that we recognize the value of this gift of the Land. We say, 'I thank You for the fact that I have come to this Land and that You have given it to us.'"

In other words, when one is happy at having merited a good spouse, and cute children, and good health, and abundant sustenance – he must express this in words. If he does not say it with his mouth, it can be surmised that neither in his heart is he aware of what he has received. 

Only someone who has experienced a difficult period of lack and deficiency, of sorrow and paucity, can really appreciate his good fortune afterwards. One who searched far and wide for a wife until he found her; a couple that prayed for years for children and underwent extended medical procedures until they were blessed; one who was ill and became healthy, or had debts and no job and then found himself with financial resources – these are people who can whole-heartedly rejoice in their good fortune. This idea is brought in the Zohar (Part II, p. 184), which states that the service of G-d is recognized amid the darkness, and goodness is recognized from within hardships.

Do We Appreciate our Land?

Some of our political leaders seek ways to divest us of parts of our Land. It seems to be not enough that the Sinai Peninsula - an intrinsic part of the Holy Land, according to our Torah sources - was taken from us in 1982, and it seems to be not enough that we were detached in 2005 from Gush Katif, which was handed over to our terrible enemies who seek to destroy us. Rather, some leaders here and around the world are seeking ways to give additional parts, from Judea and Samaria, to those who wish to control the entire land! This of course causes terrible sadness to those who are loyal to the entire Land. "What will be with us?" we moan. Could this country-wide punishment be coming upon us because we are insufficiently thankful, or even slightly unthankful, for the beautiful Divine gift of Eretz Yisrael that we have been given? 

We must be constantly conscious and aware that Hashem gave us this Land, and that it is He Who has wrought one miracle after another for us, beginning with the War of Independence and until today. Yes, we rejoiced when we returned to our homeland – but perhaps we did not define clearly enough for ourselves Who it is that gives us this land? Perhaps we did not make a strong enough connection between the gift and the giver?

When to Thank?

Is there a specific time that we should thank G-d for the Land? We no longer bring First Fruits to the Temple, and lack that opportunity to express our appreciation. Therefore, Rav Yonah Emanuel has proposed that the second blessing of the Grace after Meals, known as Nodeh, the "Blessing of the Land," is the best time to do so, when we say, "We thank You for having given our Forefathers a precious Land, good and broad." 

After all, Yehoshua bin Nun instituted this blessing on the day he led us across the Jordan River into the Promised Land (see for instance B'rachot 48b).  This means that when we eat our fill and carry out the mitzvah to then "bless Hashem your G-d for the good land that He gave you" (D'varim 8,10), we are actually thanking Him not only for the food, as we would imagine – but also for the gift of the Land of Israel that He bestowed upon us. This is remarkable! Even a Jew in Los Angeles, London, or South America who has never visited Israel is obligated to thank G-d for having given us our Land.

Furthermore, if one does not do so, he has not even fulfilled his Birkat HaMazon obligation to thank G-d for his food! How so? We have an obligation to recite, in Nodeh, the concepts of Eretz Yisrael, Brit Milah, and Torah. What is the law if one omitted these? Maimonides states (Laws of B'rachot 2,3), "Whoever did not mention [the Land] in Nodeh, or King David's dynasty in the blessing for the Rebuilding of Jerusalem [in Birkat HaMazon], did not fulfill his obligations. And one must mention in the 2^nd blessing Brit, and afterwards Torah." 

A careful reading of his words shows us that the only omission that requires a repetition of the Grace is that of the Land. Quite remarkably, if he forgot to say such important ideas as Torah and Brit Milah, he need not repeat the Grace – but if he left out the Land of Israel, his entire Grace after Meals - all four blessings thereof - were recited in vain, and he must repeat Birkat HaMazon. 

This is quite amazing! The Maharal (in Netivot Olam II, p. 141) explains that this is because it was via the giving of the Land that we merited Brit Milah and Torah in the first place. [Other decisors rule, unlike the Rambam, that one must repeat the Grace if he forgot Brit and Torah; however, Rav Kapach provides a Talmudic source for the Rambam's ruling.]

Still furthermore: The renowned Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach of Jerusalem was known on occasion to say the first paragraph of the Nodeh blessing twice. When asked why, he said, "I fear that I didn't sufficiently concentrate on what I was saying the first time – and the obligation to thank is not only with words, but also in one's heart." 

That is why we, who feel the pain of our land and see the relentless efforts to snatch it from our hands, must try to determine what part we share, even indirectly, in this terrible betrayal. Might we not have acknowledged the goodness of G-d in giving us the Land? Could it be that though we recite the Grace after Meals every day, we do not get excited enough when we mention the gift of the Land?

That Special Aliyah Moment

Those of us who were not born here but actually made Aliyah, and especially if it was a difficult process, certainly remember how thrilled and excited we were the day we set foot in the holy land. This same excitement must remain with us every day that we continue to be here. This is why we recite in the above prayer, "I say today that I have come to the Land…" What is the purpose of the word "today?" After all, it is obvious that he is speaking "today." Rather, "today" must be read with the words that follow it: "I have come to the Land." That is, even a Jew who was born in the Land, say 200 years after Yehoshua bin Nun, must also feel that he has come to the Land – because he must always remember the lack of the Land, as if he had once been in the darkness of the Diaspora, so that he can feel as if "today I have come to the Land." 

Let us take upon ourselves to recite Birkat HaMazon with special "beauty" – and  especially when we reach the words "this precious land, good and expansive," we should express them with the excitement of true thankfulness. And with this, we will provide a contra to those who are willing to cut off parts of our Land; we will continue to insist that it is a "good and expansive land."