In a popular frum publication someone wrote in a letter to the editor that girls coming to EY to study is a "mishegos".
I was looking for a source for that and the only one I could think of is ... the Meraglim. They also thought that going to EY was a mishegos. Better the delicious vegetables and five star accomodations of Mitzrayim....
I was personally offended - for Hashem. He gave us a gift and people who keep his Torah and believe in Him call accepting the gift a "mishegos".
A more detailed response from a shiur:
Eretz Yisrael is not just real estate. It’s not just a location.
Dovid HaMelech says in Tehillim (116:9): "Eshalech lifnei Hashem b'Artzos HaChaim" (I will walk before Hashem in the Lands of the Living). Rashi HaKadosh brings it down regarding Eretz Yisrael. Why "Lands of the Living"? Because, strictly speaking, outside of the Land—in Chutz La’Aretz—we are not fully alive.
The Navi Yechezkel (37:12) calls the Galus "Kivroseichem" (Your graves). Rachmana Litzlan. You can have intellect in Galus, you can have emotion, you can even finish Shas—but the Atzmius (essence), the Neshama of the nation, is locked away. It is buried.
The connection between Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael is a "Kesher Chayim im HaUma" (a bond of life with the Nation). It’s not like a fish in water. A fish needs water as a tnai (condition) for survival, but they are separate entities. The Land is "Chavuka b'segulos pnimiyos im metziusa" (embraced in inner virtues with its very existence).
We breathe together with the Land. Look at the metzius (reality)! For 2,000 years we were in Galus, and the Land was barren. She wouldn't give her fruit to strangers. We returned, and suddenly she blooms. We are one chativa (entity). Like us is the land and like the land is us!
Now, let’s look at a heavy Gemara.
The Gemara in Ketubot (110b) says: "Kol Ha’dar bechutz la’aretz domeh kemi she’ein lo Eloha" (Anyone who lives outside the Land is like one who has no God).
Gevald, Rabbosai! What is the Pshat? Is he an apikores? Does he not believe?
The answer lies in the diyuk (precision) of the Torah. At Har Sinai, Hashem says "Anochi Hashem Elokecha" (I am the Lord Your God). Not just Elokim—God of the world, Creator of nature—but Elokecha. Yours. Personal. "Yedidus" (Intimacy).
When you are in Eretz HaKodesh, the flow of Shechina is direct. It’s a relationship of father and son. Outside the Land, there is a hester panim (hiding of the Face). That is why Dovid HaMelech cries out in Shmuel Aleph (26:19) when he is driven out: "Lech avod elohim acherim" (Go serve other gods). Because to be disconnected from the Land is to be disconnected from that intimate Hashra'as HaShechina.
We must have the da'as to understand that our return to Zion is the restoration of "Elokecha"—the revelation of Hashem's Kingship in the world. May we be zoche to see the honor of EY and Am Yisrael restored to its proper place!
