Question:
There is a joke that the prayers of Jews in the Diaspora are like long-distance phone calls while prayers in the Land of Israel are local calls. Can you explain the underlying reason for this?
Answer:
The Kabbalist, Rabbi Mordechai Atiyah, addressed this question in his treatise “Lech Lecha,” translated and published in English by Rabbi Hillel Fendel and Rabbi Yishai Fleisher. The full treatise can be found at: https://www.kumah.org/LechLecha/Lech_Lecha.html. The following is based on Chapter Ten:
Prayers in the Land of Israel have a special value in that they bring about Unification in the Upper Worlds. So writes the Holy Shelah:
“In the early days of Israel, G-d strongly desired the prayers of Israel. This is why the Patriarchs and Matriarchs were barren, in order that they would pray. This occurred in the Holy Land, because it is there that Hashem wants His righteous ones to pray. This is because, as is clear to those who understand Kabbalah, prayer arouses and causes Unification of Hashem’s Name in the Worlds Above, and becomes an ‘adornment’ for Hashem.. This exalted union is unique to Eretz Yisrael because the Land is afforded Hashem’s special attention and providence, and it is part of Him. But this Divine Unification does not apply outside the Land, in the lands of the foreign nations which are under the dominion of celestial ministers and not Hashem directly (see Ramban on the Torah, Achrei Mot, Ch.18). Why would Hashem want the prayers (from impure lands) to link up with the World Above? For this would mean allowing an outsider – the external angel under whose dominion the worshipper in the Exile dwells – to enter (the Palace of the King).”
The Kabbalistic treatise, Shaarei Orah (31b) writes on this secret matter as well:
“When Israel is outside the Land, they are under the purview of the celestial ministers of the nations, and their prayers have no way of ascending, because the Heavenly gates exist only in the Land of Israel. This is what Yaakov Avinu said: ‘How awesome is this place! It can be nothing but the House of G-d, and this is the Gate to Heaven!’ (Bereshit, 28:17). This comes to teach that outside the Land, the ways to Heaven are blocked.
“Furthermore, those ministers of the nations do not help Israel at all, as is written in the book of Daniel (10:21), ‘No one stand fast with Me… except for your guardian angel Michael.’ How much more so is this true for Samael, the ministering angel for Edom, who stands and constantly testifies about Israel’s faults and tries to cause them to lose their merits. And all those who criticize Israel in the lands of the Gentiles, they all stand between earth and sky as a wall separating Israel from its Father in Heaven; they are considered a blocking cloud, as is written, ‘You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that prayer should not pass through’” (Eicha, 3:44).
These words emanating from the mouths of such holy men are the decisive answer to those who ask why the prayers of all those pious and righteous men (during the Holocaust) were not answered when that evil man rose up against them. Many of those pious souls were killed enwrapped in tallit and tefillin. There are those who therefore ask: “This is their reward for observing the Torah?!”
But those who understand the above teachings of the Shelah and the Shaarei Orah, all of whose holy words correspond with the Wisdom of Truth (the Kabbalah), comprehend that this occurred because of the sin of dwelling outside the Land against G-d’s will. As the Zimrat HaAretz writes: “Torah and good deeds that are practiced outside the Land are stolen and abused by the impure ministers.”
This is why the pious men were not answered in their tribulations – and were certainly unable to bring about holy Unification. This point was stipulated clearly by the Arizal, of holy blessed memory, as follows:
“The Upper Unification was not yet actually accomplished until Avraham went to the Land of Israel; he brought about the Upper Unification when G-d told him, ‘Lech Lecha, Get thee out of your land’” (Shar Hapasukin, Lech Lecha).
The Arizal also wrote there, “While Avraham was outside the Land, the Upper Unification of ze’ir d’nukba (a Kabbalistic concept referring to the Unification of G-d and the Shechinah, enabling the revelation of G-d’s complete dominion over the world) was not possible, as written above, and therefore the impure shell adhered to the holiness and drew from it… But when Avraham went to the Land of Israel, which awakened the Upper Unification of ze’ir d’nukba called the Land of Israel, this depleted the abundance of the impure shell and the kings mentioned [in this Torah portion), and that is why they fought one another” (see there at length).
Based on these teachings of the Arizal, it is clear that the reason for the passivity of those religious Jews who continue to remain outside the Land – and especially those who actively write against coming here – is all because of the Evil Inclination. It seduces them merely for its own benefit, in order to benefit from their Torah and good deeds. As the Sages teach: The greater a man is, the greater is his Evil Inclination. The Evil Inclination places stumbling blocks and makes all sorts of claims in order that the people should remain outside the Land, and they in turn cause others to remain there – and this is the very joy of the evil angels Samael and Plonit.
The issue is that every righteous person is essentially attached to the spiritual channel Yesod (foundation), and every country has an element of Malchut (kingdom): The Land of Israel is a “kingdom of holiness,” while the other lands are the “kingdom of impurity (the kleipot).” As we saw in the words of the Shelah above, G-d does not want prayers from outside the Land, because they merely help outside and impure forces to gain a foothold in the Heavens.
The upshot is that the righteous person living outside the Land is totally involved in and surrounded by impurity. Above him is the celestial minister of the impure land, and below him is the impure land itself. How then can he expect his prayers to ascend to Heaven? But he who is privileged to immigrate to the Land of Israel – just as here on earth he is connected with the “kingdom of holiness,” so too he causes Yesod and Malchut to be connected in the upper worlds which brings about Unification of the Name above, as the Rakanati wrote (in the beginning of Parashat Emor): “Just as is done below, so it is brought about Above.”
