The fruits of Eretz Yisrael possess an inherent kedushah. When we partake of the fruits of Eretz Yisrael, we are tasting the kedushah of the Shechinah that is embedded within the fruits themselves, and from this kedushah we derive our sustenance. As the Bach writes (Orach Chaim 208): “The kedushah of Eretz Yisrael, which is influenced by the kedushah of the Heavenly Land, is also infused into its fruits, which draw their sustenance from the kedushah of the Shechinah that dwells within Eretz Yisrael… For by eating its fruits, we are nourished by the kedushah of the Shechinah and by its purity, and we are sated by its goodness.”
The Kedushah Generated Within
The fruits draw their sustenance from the kedushah of Eretz Yisrael, where the Shechinah resides; this process both affects and generates kedushah in the fruit itself and in the person who consumes it—in an inherent way. As the Chasam Sofer wrote (Chullin 110): “For they generate kedushah in the soul of one who eats them, and increase love and cleaving to Hashem.”
Indeed, when the Beis HaMikdash stood, kedushah was palpably present in the world, and it was possible to taste and tangibly sense the inner kedushah embedded in the fruits of Eretz Yisrael. But now, “since the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, the taste of fruits was taken away” (Sotah 9b, and in the Rambam’s commentary). We find it difficult to discern the inner kedushah that resides in the fruits; we are left, as it were, with only the external, physical taste. Therefore, we plead in the berachah of Me’ein Shalosh: “And rebuild Yerushalayim, the holy city, speedily in our days, and bring us up into it, that we may eat of its fruit and be satisfied with its goodness.”
Kedushah That Endures Despite Galus
Nevertheless, even in our own era, an inherent kedushah exists in the fruits of Eretz Yisrael. Although it is certainly difficult to perceive this kedushah amid the galus and the concealment, it still endures and remains imprinted in the fruit itself. This is because anything that draws from kedushah possesses inherent kedushah.
Even if the fruits of Eretz Yisrael are transported outside Eretz Yisrael, they retain their kedushah, because an inherent kedushah resides within them, stemming from their drawing sustenance from a holy source. This kedushah may indeed become hidden and obscured, but it always remains present in the inner essence of the fruit—and a person who contemplates with care will be able to discern it.
“Man is a tree of the field” (Devarim 20:19). Just as with a fruit, a person’s inner being is built from the power of the source from which he draws. And just as the fruits’ drawing sustenance from a holy source generates inherent kedushah in the fruit, so too does a person who draws and lives from a holy source have kedushah built into him—a kedushah that can reveal itself and burst forth during his lifetime, a kedushah capable of elevating him beyond superficial perceptions of life.
Drawing From Our Inner Wellspring
The kedushah that a person possesses by drawing from our holy Torah is built into him and accompanies him in every situation, even when he finds himself in galus and concealment. Even if he is exiled from Eretz Yisrael, he can still be a “ben Eretz Yisrael,” in the words of Rav Yerucham in his writings (Da’as Torah, Parshas Chayei Sarah). And even in situations that appear so distant from a life of kedushah, even there the kedushah can well up, burst forth, and elevate him.
When we reflect upon this, we discern that even our redemption and yetzi’as Mitzrayim—with which we are occupied during this period—were made possible in the merit of that same inherent kedushah. For despite the terrible galus and the immersion in the narrow straits of Egyptian impurity, there still remained within us an inner, inherent kedushah—a kedushah that believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant, a kedushah that pulsed within us from the power of our holy forefathers, and in whose merit we were redeemed.
When a person succeeds in standing firm and identifying the wellspring of kedushah pulsing within him, he can establish boundaries for himself and know how to conduct himself even in matters and places that are more concealed, where no explicit and clearly delineated halachah applies. And, as it were, “from within himself he learned Torah” (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayigash 11), for one possesses an inner wellspring of kedushah through which he can see and navigate his life in a more elevated and sublime manner.
B’avonoseinu, we tend to recognize only our basic stature, composed of drives and inclinations, and we struggle to discern the stature of kedushah that is imprinted within us. But particularly in these days, we are called upon to identify the wellspring of kedushah within us, so that we may leave the subjugation and narrow straits of our yetzer. To accomplish this, we must rise somewhat above our animalistic yetzer and contemplate our lives carefully—where do we feel a sense of belonging that propels us forward? When we succeed in understanding our inner world on our own, we will have touched the inherent wellspring of kedushah within us.