The Gemara (Menachos 53a) notes that Shlomo Hamelech, who is referenced as a yedid, a beloved, is the one who built the yedid, another name for the Beis Hamikdash, in the territory of the tribe of Binyamin, who is referred by the name yedid.
Not coincidentally, yedid, beloved, is spelled yud-daled-yud-daled, which yields the words yad-yad (hand-hand), and refers to two hands joined together.
On the other hand, quite literally, Yerushalayim was destroyed because of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza (Gittin 55b). Chibur, connection, can become churban, destruction, when one closes his hand—cognate to the names, Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, whose actions wrought the Churban of the Beis Hamikdash. The place of yedidus becomes a churban when our hands are closed.
But there’s more.
Although chaver can become chareiv, a friend can become desolate, when our hands are closed, Eretz Yisrael is meant to be more than that. Rearranging the same root letters of chaver and chareiv, we arrive at rachav, expansiveness. And strikingly, the key to entering Eretz Yisrael in the days of Yehoshua was through Rachav, an innkeeper. Rachav means “broad” or “wide.”
Eretz Yisrael is described as an “Eretz chemda tova u'rechava,” a land of desire, goodness, and breadth. Avraham Avinu is moreover told, "Kum hishalech ba’aretz l’archah u’l’rachvah—Walk its length and breadth.” The Bnei Yaakov describe Eretz Yisrael as, “Rechavas yadayim,” literally, a land with open hands. It is a land of expansiveness. There is a place and space for every Jew. It is not a place for tzar ayin, for narrow vision or stinginess of spirit. Eretz Yisrael is called Eretz HaTzvi (Yirmiyahu 3:17; Gittin 57a), a land that expands for its children who inhabit it. Every Jew has a place in Eretz Yisrael, because it is an eretz chemda tova u’rechava.
The Gemara (Taanis 5b) takes it a step further and states that someone who says “Rachav, Rachav,” can be stirred to intimate feelings. A person could have an intimate connection with Rachav, even without physical proximity. This is only, however, qualifies the Gemara, if the person knew Rachav.
And so too with Eretz Yisrael.
Eretz Yisrael is so expansive that the Gemara (Kesubos 75a), based on a Pasuk (Tehillim 87:5), teaches: “One who is born in Israel and one who longs to see it are both considered as being there.” Even someone who yearns for Eretz Yisrael, who longs to be there, is considered as if they are already there. Because it is rachav, broad enough to include all of Am Yisrael, even those who don’t have the zechus to be there physically right now.
As the Land of Israel faces threats from all sides, it is time for us to come together. It’s not a place for narrowness. It must come from rechavus, from chaverim, from the nation called Yisrael.
That’s what brings the Geulah. That is what can undo the hold of sin’as chinam, baseless hatred.
Our enemies seek to destroy us, especially when they sense we are weak and divided. If there is one message we can take from the Three Weeks, from this period of mourning, this reliving of destruction born from division within Klal Yisrael, it is this: Eretz Yisrael, Eretz Chemda Tova U’rechava, is a space for every Jew. It is not a land of closed hands or narrowed hearts.
Right now, Eretz Yisrael needs us to feel that. It needs Am Yisrael to come together. To unite as one. Whether you are privileged to be there physically, or you deeply want to be, this is the time to dig deep and ask: what can I do to bring the Geulah? Through our ahavas Yisrael, we can begin to repair the wounds of sin’as chinam.
