In this week’s portion, Moshe sends forth spies to search out the land of Israel.  This is the first step leading to the conquest of the land.

Maimonides points out that the holiness of that conquest continued for as long as we remain sovereign in the land.  Once Israel was destroyed by the Babylonians, the holiness ceased.  (Yad, Hilkhot Beit ha-Bekhirah 6:16)

Interestingly, Maimonides states that when we re-entered the land with the permission of King Cyrus of Persia seventy years later, the holiness became eternal, continuing even after Israel was destroyed by the Romans. 

Why was the first holiness finite and the second eternal?

Maimonides suggests that the distinction lies in the methodology of taking the land.  Conquering the land through military means lasts for as long as we are the conquerors.  Once we are conquered, the holiness comes to an end.  Peacefully settling the land as we did in the time of King Cyrus is more powerful, and has the capacity to continue on, even after destruction.

Rav Soloveitchik offers another distinction.  In Joshua’s conquest, Jerusalem was the last city to be liberated.  In the time of Cyrus, it was the first. The holiness of Jerusalem comes from God.  Being the final area to be liberated in the period of Joshua, Jerusalem had little impact on the rest of the land.  In the time of Cyrus, Jerusalem impacts powerfully on the rest of the land for it was the first city to be conquered.  Indeed, just as the holiness of Jerusalem comes from God and is, therefore, eternal, similarly the holiness of all of the land of Israel lasts forever when impacted by Jerusalem. 

One final suggestion: Perhaps the difference lies in understanding the contrast between an event which occurs for the first time, and an event which is repeated.  The first time something happens, the happening is as powerful as when it occurred.  But once something is lost and still despite that loss, is restarted, the power of beginning again is so unusual that it is everlasting.  It shows that one’s involvement is not the function of the enthusiasm of a “first” decision.  It is rather a thoughtful constant, ongoing involvement.  In Jerusalem’s case, it is eternal.

Some think that the most beautiful, the most lasting of experiences, of relationships, is the first.  Yet often that is not the case.  The real test of one’s fortitude is what happens after one has failed.  If even then, one can restart.  That second start is considered so noble that it has the power to be even stronger than the first and often has the strength to last forever.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Avi Weiss