RAV KOOK ON Behar Part 2: The Intrinsic Sanctity of the Land of Israel The Objection of the Ridbaz

The Objection of the Ridbaz Rabbi Yaakov David Willowski (1845-1913) of Safed, known as the ‘Ridbaz,’ was one of the most vociferous opponents to the hetter mechirah — the temporary sale of land in Israel to a non-Jew in order to avoid the restrictions of working the land during the Sabbatical year. More interesting than his Halachic objections to the sale, however, is the philosophical argument that the rabbi of Safed raised. The stated purpose of the hetter, the Ridbaz wrote, is to uphold the mitzvah of Yishuv Ha’aretz, settling the Land, by allowing the fledgling agricultural settlements in the Land of Israel to grow and prosper. But if the legal sale is indeed effective, then the Land would lose its sanctity and the special agricultural mitzvot — tithes, the Sabbatical year, and so on — would no longer apply. And if the Land is not holy, there is no longer a mitzvah to settle the Land. Thus the hetter in effect undermines the very goal it was designed to support!