Awaiting Mashiach: What Happens to One Who Leaves the Land of Israel

Awaiting Mashiach: What Happens to One Who Leaves the Land of Israel

Know that one who leaves the Land of Israel and travels abroad, provided that he intends to return soon (leaving his wife and children in Israel), does not lose his soul from the World of Yetzirah. However, it becomes clothed in a nefesh—the lower level of the soul—from the World of Asiyah. Therefore, such a person must observe the [Jewish] festivals outside the Land of Israel just as he does in the Land of Israel. [This is] because he intends to return home. And this (receiving the lower part of the soul from the World of Asiyah) is for his own benefit. For if it were not concealed within the soul from the World of Asiyah, the klipot (forces of darkness) would try to cling to his soul from the World of Yetzirah, and it would become impure [because of them]. So what does G-d, who is merciful and compassionate, do? He clothes the soul from the World of Yetzirah in the soul from the World of Asiyah, so that the klipot will not defile it. In addition, all the klipot attach themselves [to us] according to the [level of impurity] of each particular place. All this applies [only] to one who was born in the Land of Israel. However, one who was born outside the Land of Israel and comes to live permanently in the Holy Land—immediately, as he approaches the {ladder}, the klipot withdraw from him, and he enters the Holy Land only with a soul from the World of Asiyah. Then the soul from the World of Yetzirah enters the soul from the World of Asiyah, like a knife entering its sheath. When such a person later returns to live outside the Land of Israel, his new soul from the World of Yetzirah remains in Israel, and only his old soul from the World of Asiyah accompanies him and becomes trapped among the klipot (forces of darkness). Know that when a person enters the Land of Israel only temporarily, immediately, as soon as he approaches the {ladder}, the klipot withdraw from him, and his soul from the World of Asiyah enters the Land of Israel. However, such a person does not receive a soul from the World of Yetzirah, because he does not intend to remain in the Land of Israel permanently. Therefore, such a person must observe the [Jewish] festivals as he does outside the Land of Israel.   The Secret of One Who Lives in the Land of Israel During the Coming of Mashiach Know that we have a universally accepted tradition that on the day Mashiach comes with the exiles gathered into the Land of Israel, 7,000 sons of Israel will be found in the Land. On that very day, those who died in the Land of Israel will be revived. On that same day, the walls of Jerusalem will be demolished and walls made of precious stones and pearls will be built. At that time, the dead of the Land of Israel will be revived and will become new spiritual creations. Moreover, the 7,000 people who remain alive at that time will also become new creations, all of them with spiritual bodies resembling the body of Adam before his sin, and the bodies of Enoch, Moshe Rabbeinu, and Eliyahu. They will all float through the air and soar like eagles. This will be shown to all the people gathered from the exile. When they—their brothers, the new creations who soar through the air—settle in the (lower) Gan Eden to study Torah from the Mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, all the children of the exiles gathered there will cry out to King Mashiach with anguish in their hearts and pain in their souls. They will ask: “We too are sons of the people of Israel, like them. Why do they deserve to be spiritual beings in body and soul, while we do not? How are we inferior?” Then Mashiach will answer them: “The nature of the Holy One, blessed be He, is already known: He repays each person measure for measure. They too lived outside the Land of Israel and, after great effort, succeeded in coming to the Holy Land in order to merit a purified soul. They did not concern themselves with their physical or material well-being. They came by sea and by land, and were not frightened by the dangers that lay ahead at sea or by the possibility of robbery along the way. They suffered under cruel regimes, all for the sake of preserving their spirit and soul. That is why they became perfect spiritual beings, measure for measure. “However, all of you who had the opportunity to come to the Land of Israel, as they did, but were concerned with your finances, worried about your physical safety and your money—you made these the central concerns of your lives, rather than your spirit and soul. Therefore, you remained physical beings.” The Torah and the Land of Israel share a single connection (that is, they come from one source). Similarly, the Jewish people share a single connection with the Holy Land because of the [holy] connection of their souls. (Rabbi Avraham Azulai—an excerpt from Sefer Chesed le-Avraham, Maayan 3, Nahar 7)