When the Lord Cuts Down, Etc. Look to the Lord and Keep to His Way

"When the LORD cuts off..." (Deuteronomy 12:29). This is what Scripture says: "Wait for the LORD and keep His way" (Psalms 37:34), for they thought they would enter the land at once. He said to them: You think you will inherit their land? Keep the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "Wait for the LORD and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it" (Psalms 37:34). This is what Moses said, "When the LORD your God cuts off." What is "when the LORD cuts off"? It is conditional: that if they keep the Torah, they will enter the land. And every place where you find "when" (ki), it is conditional. "When (ki) you come upon a bird's nest before you on the way... you shall surely let go" (Deuteronomy 22:6-7). "When (ki) you take a census of the children of Israel... then each shall give a ransom" (Exodus 30:12). "When (ki) you build a new house, you shall make a parapet" (Deuteronomy 22:8). Here too the Holy One, blessed be He, made a condition with them that He would not cut off the nations except on the condition that they keep the Torah. Beloved is the Land of Israel, which the Holy One, blessed be He, chose. You find that when He created the world, He apportioned the lands to the princes of the nations and chose the Land of Israel. From where? For thus Moses said, "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance..." (Deuteronomy 32:8), and He chose Israel as His portion, as it is said, "For the LORD's portion is His people, Jacob the lot of His inheritance" (Deuteronomy 32:9). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let Israel, who have come into My portion, come and inherit the land that has come into My portion. Therefore it is written, "When the LORD cuts off." The prophet Jeremiah cried out and said, "And I thought how I would set you among the children and give you a pleasant land" (Jeremiah 3:19) -- a land that the fathers of the world desired. Abraham longed for it, for thus he says, "And he said, O Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?" (Genesis 15:8). Isaac longed for it, as it was said to him, "Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your seed I will give all these lands" (Genesis 26:3). Jacob longed for it, as it is said, "If God will be with me... and I return in peace to my father's house" (Genesis 28:20-21). Rabbi Yehudah said: Moses too longed for it, as it is said, "And I pleaded with the LORD... Let me pass over, I pray, and see..." (Deuteronomy 3:23-25). And David too longed for it, as it is said, "I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of the LORD" (Psalms 84:11). What is "stand at the threshold" (histofef)? Rabbi Tanchum son of Rabbi Chanilai and Rav. One said: David said before the Holy One, blessed be He, Master of the universe, even if I have advocates and a great hall outside the Land, and I have nothing but the threshold (saf) in the Land of Israel, "I would rather stand at the threshold." And one said: Even if I have nothing to eat in the Land of Israel but the eating (sippuf) of carobs, "I would rather stand at the threshold." Hence, "And I will give you a pleasant land," a land that the fathers desired. "An inheritance of a gazelle (tzevi)" (cf. Jeremiah 3:19). Just as a gazelle is swift in its running, so too the Land of Israel speeds its fruits, for it ripens them first. Another interpretation: Just as the gazelle, its skin cannot hold its flesh, so when Israel are meritorious, the Land of Israel cannot hold its fruits. "Hosts (tzivot) of nations" (Jeremiah 3:19): for the desirable things (tzivyonot) of the nations are in it. It is written, "The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Beth-el, one" (Joshua 12:9). There are only three between this one and that one, yet it says, "The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai... one." Rabbi Parnakh said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: Every king who was outside the Land, if he did not acquire one city in the Land of Israel, was not called a king. See what is written concerning Achan: "And I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle of Shinar" (Joshua 7:21) -- a Babylonian purple robe. And from where was there a Babylonian purple robe in Jericho? Rather, the king of Babylon was there and acquired a city in the Land of Israel. Hence, a land in which are the desirable things of the nations of the world, and He gave it as an inheritance to Israel. Therefore it is written, "When the LORD your God cuts off..."