מִצִּיּוֹן מִכְלַל יֹפִי, אֱ-לֹהים הוֹפִיעַ. (תהילים נ:ב)
From Zion — the perfection of beauty! — God has shone forth. (Psalm 50:2)
What is this beautiful radiance that shines forth from Zion?
Rav Kook explained that it refers to the distinctive quality of Torah in the Land of Israel. Scholars who live in Israel are able to connect with the Torah on a level that is impossible to attain outside of Israel.
The unique quality of Torat Eretz Yisrael is illustrated in the following story, as recorded in Shabbat 53a.
Rabbi Zeira Arrives in Israel
Despite his teacher’s opposition, Rabbi Zeira fulfilled his dream and ascended from Babylon to the Land of Israel.
When Rabbi Zeira arrived in Israel, he encountered Rabbi Benjamin bar Yefet, a disciple of the famed scholar Rabbi Yochanan. Rabbi Benjamin was teaching the laws regarding the care of domestic animals on the Sabbath. One is allowed to cover one’s donkey with a saddle-blanket to keep the animal warm, but one may not place a fodder-bag around its neck.
Upon hearing this ruling, Rabbi Zeira exclaimed, “Well said! And that is how a king in Babylon translated it.” The ‘king’ to whom Rabbi Zeira referred was Samuel, a master jurist and leading halakhic authority in third-century Babylon.
Why was Rabbi Zeira so excited when he heard this ruling? And why did he say that Samuel ‘translated’ this law in Babylon?
Animal Care on the Sabbath
We should first reflect on Rabbi Benjamin’s ruling, which seeks to navigate a path between two important values. On the one hand, we are responsible for the welfare of our animals. We have a moral obligation to care for them and relieve them of any pain (tza’ar ba’alei chaim). But if we were to spend our entire Sabbath tending to the needs of chickens and donkeys, what would remain of the special holiness of Shabbat? Excessive involvement in animal husbandry would greatly diminish the holiness of a day meant for spiritual pursuits.
For this reason, the Sages distinguished between a saddle-blanket and a fodder-bag. The blanket is permitted as it protects the donkey from the cold. The fodder-bag, on the other hand, is only a convenience for the donkey, making it easier for the animal to eat. Here the rabbis drew the line, safeguarding the sanctity of the Sabbath day.
Straight from the Source
Rabbi Zeira had heard this ruling before when he lived in Babylon. Nonetheless, hearing it in the Land of Israel was an entirely different experience. Rabbi Zeira felt a surge of energy in this teaching that he had not experienced before.
“Yishar!” he shouted. The word yishar literally means ‘straight.’ The scholar felt an inner connection to this ruling, straight from its vibrant source. What happened?
When the song of holiness pulsates in the heart, we can sense the spiritual and ethical source for each specific law. Even when dealing with what would appear to be dry, prosaic rules, the soul is overwhelmed by the beauty of its sublime poetry.
Our sensitivity to this inner song is a function of our physical and spiritual state. When the soul is exiled to foreign lands, the inner content of the Torah is relegated to a shadow of its true self. Torah laws become detached from their living source. Learning Torah outside the Land of Israel is like reading a poem that was translated into a foreign language. Something of the vitality and lyric beauty of the original is lost.
When Rabbi Zeira achieved his life’s goal and ascended to the Land of Israel, he underwent a profound transformation. His entire world was elevated. He could now perceive with greater clarity the inner essence of every law.
Yishar! he cried out. Now he could feel the inner vitality, the holy life-source residing within this law. Wonder filled his heart, as he perceived how the Torah’s lofty ideals penetrated even the most mundane aspects of everyday life.
Torah Outside the Land
Samuel, the great Babylonian scholar, had given a similar ruling. But there, outside of Israel, it was only a translation. It lacked the vitality of the original. “And that is how a king in Babylon translated it.”
With his great legal acumen, Samuel could distinguish between covering a donkey with a blanket and hanging a fodder-bag over its neck. But to truly feel this fine distinction — when involvement in mundane life warranted and when it is detrimental — can only be experienced at the Torah’s source, in the Land of Israel. In Babylon, this could only be grasped intellectually.
When Rabbi Zeira heard Rabbi Benjamin teaching this law, he was struck by the contrast between Torah law studied in exile and the brilliant light of Torah heard in its natural setting.
Thus wrote King David, “From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God [Elokim] has shone forth.” The verse specifically uses the Divine name Elokim. For in the Land of Israel, even the Divine attribute of middat hadin — the legal realm of Halakhah — shines with a special light, as its original beauty is revealed.
(Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. IV, pp. 15-16)