A Short Tribute

It is so publicly known a fact that the notion of settling the Land of Israel is a great and honorable matter that the idea needs no reinforcement or evidence. Nor is this notion a new one, coming as it does from the camp of the Hebrews, having begun ages ago to throb in the hearts of the nation's great personalities and Torah titans. It has become like a flying banner - to liberate the earth, return to the Land, rebuild its ruins and plant its trees; this began even while our brethren, the People of Israel, still rested quietly in the lands where they were dispersed. It will lead to our wellbeing, and we shall be like all the nations on this earth. Nevertheless, the great Torah scholars and ministers of the nation, who could look ahead in time, sensed the future and set their sights to the land of our forefathers, Eretz HaTzvi, the Land of Israel. They could not, for various reasons, carry out their positive thoughts to action at the time. The Negev desert winds (a reference to the pogroms of 1881-1882) blew into the dry bones, making the spark of settling the Land of Israel glow and spread, until it became a divine flame. For the heavenly winds blew on outstanding people, who gathered their strength and powers to unite, shoulder to shoulder, and heal our hearts on this holy matter, calling out in a great voice: Brothers! Be strong and be strengthened for the sake of our nation and so as to settle the Land, and let us all be steadfast and helpful towards each other.