This Shabbat in Parshat Eikev the Torah goes into great detail describing the beauty and the unbelievable glory of the land of Israeli, the beautiful fruits and the seven species and the beautiful waterfalls coming out from the mountains.
The Torah also describes Hashem’s special love of the land of Israel.
Though God created the entire world, and His glory fills entire world, the verse tells us:
עיני ה’ אלהיך בה מרשית השנה עד אחרית שנה
God’s eyes are constantly gazing upon the land. And Hashem can’t take his eyes off the land of Israel.
Rav Shlomo Carlebach would teach when you love someone very much, or you love something very much, what connected you to that person, that individual, that item, one must always be gazing upon it. One must always been looking at it and always keeping his eyes upon that item.
And know that Hashem is so in love with the land of Israeli, He can’t take his eyes off of the land. He’s looking with great love and admiration and tremendous infatuation over the land of Israel.
When the great Tzadikim would come to the Land of Israeli, they would land at the port of Acco or Haifa and when they would arrive in the Holy Land, it was a tremendous thing, they always were looking at the landscaping, at the beautiful trees and flowers and the vineyards and olives, and they would watch the sunrise and the sunset like a tourist.
And the Hasidim asked them, how come you’re not learning or davening? Why are you so into sightseeing? They would explain if Hashem is so in love with the land of Israel, that He can’t keep his eyes off of it, how do you expect me not to look and to stare and to gaze at the holiness of the land of Israel?
We should feel this Beit Hazmanim, in this period of time when so many of us are taking tiulyim and traveling to Israeli, we should keep our eyes on the land and see Eretz Yisrael the same way Hashem showed it to Avraham, the same way Hashem is looking at it, with love and admiration.
We should be able to feel Hashem watching over all of his children here in the land of Israel.
Shabbat Shalom.
