That’s why when there was a Beis Hamikdash it was a mitzvah to be oleh regel three times a year. הָנָּׁ ַּ̆ב יםƒמָﬠּ¿פ ׁ ֹ̆לוָׁ ̆ – Three times a year, ך¿רּכו¿ז לָכ ה∆‡ָר≈יָיך∆ ֹ̃ל¡‡ ם≈ּׁ ַ̆ה י≈נּ¿פ ̇∆‡ – you should show yourself before Hashem your G-d (Devarim 16:16 ). In ancient times nobody went to Florida for Pesach, to glatt kosher Pesach hotels. Nobody would dare cheapen Pesach with such commercialism. Where did they go? Only to Yerushalayim. And they didn’t travel on airplanes either! No; they all walked to Yerushalayim!
Oh, you’re walking up towards Hashem? You’re not just sitting in your house and thinking about Hashem? You’re walking to His house; you’re using your feet to come close to Him. It’s a tremendous thing!
That’s what it says יוָנָפ¿לּו‡ֹבּו הָח¿נƒמּו‡ׂ¿ ̆ – Raise up a gift, a korban, and come before Hashem (Divrei Hayomim I, 16:29). It means you shouldn’t just send a korban. You know, you could do that too; you could appoint a shaliach to bring a korban for you. After all, why should you make such a long trip to bring a korban? You might think that there are better ways to spend your time in His service. “I have to waste all that time traveling? I’ll send it with a messenger service and I’ll sit in my house all day long meditating about the chasdei Hashem.”
So Hashem says, “No, that’s not enough. ו‡ֹבּו יוָנָפ¿ל – Bring your bodies to Me.” It's not enough that they should make minyanim in their kibbutzim and their farms wherever they live. No. They have to forsake their homesteads and they have to travel to Yerushalayim. That’s the importance of coming physically close to Hashem.
