Devarim-Chazon 5786 | Rabbi Zvi Davidson

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── Shiur Outline ──
(0:08) Rav Dessler's Journey and Deeper Torah in Eretz Yisrael
(1:41) Other Gedolim Report Similar Deepening in the Land
(2:44) Moshe Repeats Torah to Harness the Land's Special Siyata

AI-Generated Summary (AI can be inaccurate. Check important information):

The shiur explores the transformative spiritual influence of the Land of Israel on one's intellectual and internal grasp of Torah. Drawing on the personal testimony of Rav Dessler and other Gedolim, it explains that the principle of Avira D’Eretz Yisrael Machkim provides a unique level of divine assistance and wisdom that is unattainable elsewhere. The Panim Yafot applies this concept to Sefer Devarim, suggesting that Moshe Rabbeinu repeated the Torah at the borders of Israel specifically because the Land’s sanctity allowed Bnei Yisrael to internalize the commandments with a newfound depth and clarity.

1. Transformative power of Eretz Yisrael — Learning Torah in the Land of Israel provides a unique Siyata D'shmaya that deepens one's connection and understanding beyond what is possible elsewhere.
2. Personal testimony of Rav Dessler — In his work Michtav Me'eliyahu, the Rav describes how moving to Eretz Yisrael fundamentally changed his experience of Mussar and intellectual study.
3. The air makes one wise — The principle of Avira D'Eretz Yisrael Machkim is not merely theoretical; it represents a tangible increase in wisdom and clarity granted by HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
4. Superiority of Israeli Torah — Great figures like Rav Nachman of Breslov and the Chazon Ish considered the Torah they produced in Israel to be their primary and most essential work.
5. Sanctity of Arvot Moav — The Panim Yafot explains that the place where Moshe Rabbeinu began Sefer Devarim already possessed the Kedushah of the Land due to the promise made to Avraham Avinu.
6. Purpose of Sefer Devarim — The repetition of the Torah in Sefer Devarim was necessary because the arrival at the borders of the Land allowed for a deeper, more Pnimiyus level of absorption.

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In the ספר מכתב מאליהו,

in חלק ג׳,

the third volume of מכתב מאליהו,

Rav Dessler starts describing his own personal journey,

moving to ארץ ישראל and starting to learning and teaching תורה in ארץ ישראל.

And he writes there,

it's in חלק ג׳

page 194.

And he writes there that he experienced when he came to Israel something that

he wouldn't have expected to happen.

He'd always learned מוסר.

He learned מוסר in Kelm,

he learned מוסר in England.

He said,

but when he started learning מוסר in ארץ ישראל,

he writes that the arousing of his heart,

the connection to the מוסר that he felt,

and the effect the תורה had on him,

he felt affected him in a deeper way than he'd ever experienced before.

And he says that not only the מוסר,

but even the regular learning of his learning of תורה,

he felt a special סיעתא דשמיא.

And he's trying to understand where did it come from?

And he said,

okay,

I know the sources.

I know what חז״ל say in the ספרי where they say אין תורה כתורת

ארץ ישראל.

And he said,

I know what the גמרא says in בבא בתרא where it says that אוירא

דארץ ישראל מחכים.

I know those sources,

but I didn't know what they meant.

And he writes that but when he came to ארץ ישראל,

he understood what it meant.

That ארץ ישראל is the land of השם.

And being the land of השם,

there's a special סיעתא דשמיא.

It's almost as if הקדוש ברוך הוא was with you and He's guiding you

and He's helping you.

So your mind is able to comprehend and understand at a certain level.

And maybe in ארץ ישראל you can comprehend and understand the same level,

there's a deeper connection to הקדוש ברוך הוא that comes when you're in ארץ

ישראל.

It makes you wiser,

it feels close to הקדוש ברוך הוא.

Rav Dessler writes about himself that he found that.

And I've heard stories of many גדולים on different sides of the spectrum:

on the one hand Rav Nachman of Breslov,

and on the other hand the חזון איש,

very different worldviews.

Both of them write that the תורה that they wrote in ארץ ישראל reached

a deeper level of depth to the point where they regarded their תורה of

ארץ ישראל to be their real תורה,

and the תורה they'd previously learned and taught to be secondary תורה based on

the תורה they'd learned after they'd made their way to ארץ ישראל.

That's what Rav Dessler tells the story in חלק ג׳.

And it connects a lot to something that the פנים יפות in the בעל

הפלאה writes in this week's פרשה.

In this week's פרשה,

right at the beginning of the פרשה,

when it's describing משה רבינו teaching תורה,

it says בעבר הירדן בארץ מואב הואיל משה באר את התורה הזאת לאמר.

And the פנים יפות asks like,

why was this so important?

Why did משה רבינו need,

as they arrived at the עבר הירדן,

for משה to begin describing and reiterating the many,

many things that were already taught and teach the whole תורה again?

So he brings the מדרש that says that ערבות מואב,

in this place where משה רבינו begins his speech teaching the תורה to עם

ישראל,

it was actually considered like ארץ ישראל because when הקדוש ברוך הוא promised to

אברהם אבינו that He was going to give him the land of ten nations,

one of those lands included ערבות מואב.

So it already had קדושת ארץ ישראל.

Now,

it's true they still had to conquer and they had to go into that

and conquer,

but as far as the הבטחה was concerned,

as far as the promise was concerned,

they'd already arrived in ארץ ישראל.

So in the same way as Rav Dessler,

he experienced that when he came to ארץ ישראל that there was a certain

opening of the heart,

a closeness to השם,

and the תורה that he learned affected him in a deeper way,

the פנים יפות,

who was obviously preceding Rav Dessler,

but writes on the same idea,

he says that that's what happened to משה רבינו as well.

משה רבינו arrived in ערבות מואב.

The תורה actually finished last week as far as הקדוש ברוך הוא was concerned.

ספר דברים is משה רבינו׳ס תורה.

But now entering ארץ ישראל,

it's almost as if there was a new opportunity of giving of תורה that

hadn't had the opportunity before.

The land of ארץ ישראל causes a person to become wise and gives a

person deeper insights in תורה that had never existed.

So משה רבינו,

upon arriving at ארץ ישראל,

the promised ארץ ישראל,

he was able to absorb and he felt the Jewish people would be able

to absorb and understand the תורה on much deeper and clearer level than they'd

had the opportunity beforehand.

And therefore משה רבינו had to repeat the entire תורה,

and that's what ספר דברים is,

says the פנים יפות,

in order they would be able to absorb תורה on a deeper and more

פנימיות way in a place where there's a special סיעתא דשמיא of absorbing the

תורה and feeling close to השם.

Have a wonderful שבת.