Reb Nachman of Bratzlav
Getting to the Land of Israel

Nachman of Bratzlav, the progenitor of the Bratzlaver sect of Hasidism, was the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov.

"At the age of twenty-seven Reb Nachman visited the Holy Land, and when he returned he stated, 'My place is in the Land of Israel. If I travel anywhere, I shall travel there. The air I breathe and my very being and whatever holiness I possess come from the Holy Land.' Throughout his live re relived every detail of his journey...Not since Judah HaLevi had Zion such a lover as Reb Nachman of Bratzlav." Encyclopedia of Hasidism, M.H. Rabinowicz

From: Israel, An Echo Of Eternity

Until recent times the journey to the Holy Land was fraught with hardship and danger. Travelers would spend many years journeying in rickety carts, on ill-paved roads, and in unseaworthy sailing craft. Many people would leave their homes and property, their families and friends, to wander from country to county in an attempt to reach the Holy Land. They were often exposed to persecution and mockery, an easy prey to robbers and cutthroats. Yet they willingly risked all these privations to accomplish their desire, and for the many who perished on the way the Holy Land was their dying thought. Those who were fortunate enough to reach their destination arrived, for the most part, utterly destitute. They lived in great poverty and frequently in fear of their very lives, for conditions in the land were most insecure. It was only because of their great love for the county, because of their conviction that "the merit of living in the land of Israel equals the merit of observing all the commandments of the torah" and hastens the redemption of the land and the people, that they were able to hold out. They accepted the tribulations bound up with life in Palestine in those days with love; and it was they who paved the way for the pioneers of the national revival in modern times.

What arriving and dwelling in the land meant to Jewish tradition is reflected in the following sobers words of the Code of Maimonides. "The greatest of our sages used to kiss(the rocks)on the borders of Israel. They used to kiss the stones off the land and roll themselves in its dust, as it is written: for thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and love her dust(Psalm 102:15)"

PAGES 71-73, Jewish Lights Classic Reprint, copyright 1995, Sylvia Heschel