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God chose the Land of Israel, and the Divine Presence continues to be felt there. As it says, “For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His seat” (Psalms 132:13), and “It is a land which the Lord your God looks after, on which the Lord your God always keep His eye, from year’s beginning to year’s end” (Deuteronomy 11:12). This means the Holy Land is the ideal place to live a religious Jewish life and to increase blessing in the world. This is why all three of the patriarchs had prophetic revelations in which God promised He would give the Land of Israel to their descendants (1:6 above).
When God redeemed the Israelites from Egypt, it was to bring them to the Land of Israel, as He made clear: “I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). This is why the sin of the spies was so serious (Numbers ch. 13-14). How could the Jews have been afraid to fight for the Land, and how could they have refused to enter it? As a result of this sin, God decreed that the generation that had left Egypt would die in the desert. Only forty years later were their children able to conquer and settle the Land.
The history of the Jewish people in their Land demonstrates the revelation of faith in the world. This is seen throughout the Bible – when the Jews are faithful and observe the mitzvot, they are blessed; when they sin, they are punished. And if they do not repent, exile – the harshest of all punishments – befalls them. Multiple verses warn about this. For example: “You will soon perish from the good land that the Lord is assigning to you” (Deuteronomy 11:17); “You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall consume you” (Leviticus 26:38); and “The Lord uprooted them from their soil in anger, fury, and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as is still the case” (Deuteronomy 29:27).
On the other hand, part of God’s covenant with His people is His promise that He will never abandon them, even during their suffering in exile. Rather, the Divine Presence discreetly dwells among them; He watches over them and ensures they are not destroyed (Leviticus 26:44). Ultimately, each exile ends. God redeems the Jews and returns them to their Land, as it says, “Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and take you back in love. He will bring you together again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers” (Deuteronomy 30:3-5).
At that point, it becomes clear the exile too has served a purpose. Being forced to deal with the challenges of exile and of exposure to different cultures has made it possible for us to clarify the Torah's spiritual and moral ideas. This helps us merit a return to the Land, which gives us the opportunity to put these values into practice as they are meant to be.
