Ekev- Torah and Eretz Yisrael are intertwined
By Rav Yehoshua Weitzman
"And you will eat, and you will be satiated, and you will bless your G-d for the good land he gave you" [Devarim 8:10].
According to our tradition, this verse is a positive mitzva to bless G-d after eating a satisfying amount of food. The verse also teaches us that it is necessary to recite a special blessing to G-d for giving Eretz Yisrael to our ancestors. The sages have included in this blessing several matters related to the land, such as circumcision, Torah, and the life itself.
The Talmud Yerushalmi, in Berachot, gives a source for the special link between the Torah and the land, as follows:
"One who does not mention the Torah with the land is required to return (that is, to repeat the blessing). Why is this so? It is written, 'He gave them lands of the Gentiles, and they inherited the labors of the other nations' [Tehillim 105:44]. For what reason? 'Because they will observe His laws and guard His Torah' [105:45]."
Since the Almighty gave us lands from other nations, we must ask ourselves, "Why?" That is, why do we deserve the land and they do not? And we should not accept any other answer than that we "will observe His laws and guard His Torah." And at a time when parts of Eretz Yisrael appear in negotiations about whether to give them to a foreign power (what is sometimes called "to return" the land), G-d forbid, the words of our sages echo in our ears: One who does not mention the Torah with the land is required to return ... And that is why "Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, If you see cities torn from their place in Eretz Yisrael, know that they did not pay the salaries of the scribes and the teachers. As is written, 'Why was the land lost? ... And G-d replied, because they abandoned my Torah' [Yirmiyahu 9:11-12]." [Eicha Rabba, Petichta]. And this helps to explain the verse, "He declared to His nation the power of His actions by giving them the heritage of the nations" [Tehillim 111:6]. If G-d had given us a new land, there would be no need to understand the reason for our privilege. However, since we were given "the heritage of the nations," we must understand why we have more rights than they do. The answer is that "He declared to His nation the power of His actions," by giving us His Torah. And just as Eretz Yisrael is linked to the Torah, so the Torah is linked to the land.
"And if Bnei Yisrael are exiled from the land, there is no greater desecration of the name of G-d possible, as is written, 'Her king and her ministers are among the nations - there is no Torah' [Eicha 2:9]."
Outside the land, the life of the nation is not considered life and the Torah is not a living Torah. The conclusion is correct from both points of view: The blessing of the land is not valid without Torah, and the Torah cannot be fulfilled without the land.