Today I was zoche to meet with the Rimanover Rebbe shlita of Borough Park. It was an interesting visit. I wanted to ask the rebbe about something I heard from him in regards to encouraging people to move to Eretz Yisroel. He told me that this was directed towards people who knew for certain that they would have parnossoh there and be able to continue their existence. Anyhow, the most interesting part of the meeting was discussing a shtikl Torah from R’ Yonasan Eybeschutz zy’a, that discusses the era before Moshiach comes.
R’ Eybeschutz puts forth that the Shechinah will first leave Chutz La’Aretz (everywhere outside of Eretz Yisroel), then the Jews will go back, in order to provide for us when we arrive there when Moshiach comes. It is known from the Zohar HaKodosh, with history as a physical proof, that everywhere Jews live there is prosperity and blessing, due to the fact that there is השראת השכינה (dwelling of the Shechinah) there through the virtue of Yidden who keep the Torah and mitzvos. In the Zohar it says this is the only reason there is prosperity outside of Eretz Yisroel. However we see that for many years Eretz Yisroel was a veritable desert with nothing growing there, practically speaking. Now there are vineyards, fruit orchards of various kinds, and various forms of agriculture.
It says in the Gemoro in Sanhedrin that one of the signs of עקבתא דמשיחא (lit. footsteps of Moshiach) is that Eretz Yisroel will be full of fruit. The question we could ask is why should Eretz Yisroel have so much fruit? Rashi answers that it’s in order that everyone in Klal Yisroel after they arrive should be able to have what to eat. The Riminover Rebbe shlita confirmed my understanding of this gemoro as a remez (hint) to what R’ Yonoson Eybeschutz stated, that the Shechinah must first return to Eretz Yisroel in order to prepare the land for the Yidden in preparation for Moshiach to come. The downside is that life in Chutz La’Aretz will progressively become more difficult as general society loses the benefit of the Shechinah blessing everywhere we live. The key way to deal with this is to increase in Gemilus Chasodim (Kind acts) as much as possible, because tzedakah brings various beneficent forces to us and the world in general, along with adding more material and time in learning Torah. Through these things we should have the merit to get through all hard times and greet the Moshiach swiftly without delay.
Yismach Lev 