Hey Yoeli, what’s that in your hand?”
“It’s dirt, Yos, what does it look like?”
“Well it looks like dirt… but not just any dirt – it’s the dirt of Eretz Yisrael!”
“What’s so special about the dirt of Eretz Yisrael Yos?”
“Well the past few weeks, we’ve been explaining that really the whole world comes from the earth of Eretz Yisrael! This week is Asara B’Teves, the first of the “Churban fasts” each year. The Gemara in Megilla says (29a) that when the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, Yidden took stones of Eretz Yisrael with them, and built their shuls with them.
“Yos you reminded me of a great story! There was once a chassid of Reb Nochum of Chernobyl who lived in Tzfas. He wanted to get to Chernobyl for Rosh Hashana, but it took very long to get down the mountain of Tzfas. Sooo… he rolled down the hill!
“Sounds like fun!”
‘His clothes were full of mud – good thing he took off his bekeshe first or he would have been covered head to toe! He ran to the dock and made it in time. When he went into the Rebbe, he realized he had not brought anything with him for the Rebbe! Embarrassed, he put his hands in his pockets under his bekeshe… and dirt spilled all over the floor! Reb Nochum leapt out his seat, “Dirt from Eretz Yisrael?! This is the greatest gift I’ve ever gotten!
“Nothing here is simple, huh? Even the dirt of Eretz Yisrael has special kedushah!
“Well that’s all for now… we’ll see you next week!”
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 20.