How Do Charedim Express Their Love and Yearning for Eretz Yisrael Outside the Political Framework?
Ask a Charedi Jew if they love Eretz Yisrael, and you won’t get a campaign slogan. You’ll get a tear. A tefillah. A deep sigh that says, “We’ve waited so long to come home.”
That love isn’t loud, but it runs deep. It’s not about flags and parades—it’s about Tehillim and Torah, about longing and loyalty, about a connection that runs back to Avraham Avinu and looks forward to Moshiach.
And perhaps most beautifully, this love is untethered from politics. It’s not about who’s in office or what party is in power. It’s about the eternal bond between the Jewish people and the Land promised to them by Hashem.
So how do Charedim express that love?
Let’s take a look—not on a map, but in the heart.
1. In Tefillah: Words That Cry for the Land
Charedi davening is soaked in yearning for Eretz Yisrael.
- “ותחזינה עינינו בשובך לציון ברחמים” – “May our eyes behold Your return to Zion with mercy” (Shemoneh Esrei)
- “ולירושלים עירך ברחמים תשוב...” – “And to Yerushalayim, Your city, return with mercy...”
- In every weekday davening. In every Shabbos Musaf. In every Ne’ilah.
These aren’t political declarations. They are spiritual cries—asking Hashem to rebuild Yerushalayim, to restore the Beis HaMikdash, to bring us all home with His presence leading the way.
And let’s not forget bentching, where three times a day we ask:
“רחם נא ה’ אלקינו על ישראל עמך ועל ירושלים עירך ועל ציון משכן כבודך...” “Have mercy, Hashem our G-d, on Israel Your people, on Jerusalem Your city, on Zion the resting place of Your glory…”
It’s baked into the rhythm of daily life. A Jew can’t eat, pray, or mourn without thinking of Eretz Yisrael.
2. In Torah Learning: Halacha That Keeps the Land in Focus
Charedim express their love for Eretz Yisrael by learning about it.
The halachos of Shemitah, Terumos, Maasros, Aliyah l’Regel, the Beis HaMikdash, and the Avodah are all learned in yeshivos—even in chutz la’aretz. Why? Because the Land is still central. Even when far away, the heart remains tethered to Tzion.
In yeshivos like Brisk, Mir, Ponevezh, and thousands more across Eretz Yisrael, boys are learning sugyos that only apply in the Land. That is love. That is yearning.
Even learning Seder Zeraim, much of which focuses on agricultural mitzvos unique to Eretz Yisrael, is an expression of longing for the full return of mitzvos ha’teluyos ba’aretz.
3. In Niggun and Story: Soulful Expressions of Connection
The Charedi world is full of niggunim about Eretz Yisrael—soft, yearning melodies that speak not of politics, but of longing. Songs about Yerushalayim. About the Beis HaMikdash. About the dust that gives off kedushah.
And in stories—ah, the stories!—of tzaddikim who kissed the ground of Eretz Yisrael when they arrived. Who picked up pebbles and cried. Who said that one moment of Torah here is worth a lifetime elsewhere.
The Chofetz Chaim, though he never merited to come, kept a packed suitcase under his bed in case the call to return came suddenly.
That’s not nationalism. That’s love.
4. In Building Torah Institutions Across the Land
Walk through Eretz Yisrael today and what do you see?
Bnei Brak. Beitar Illit. Modi’in Illit. Elad. Neighborhoods in Yerushalayim—Sanhedria, Ramat Shlomo, Geulah—built not around politics, but around yeshivos, kollelim, mikva’os, and batei medrash.
Charedim express their love for the Land by filling it with Torah. By building generations of avreichim and families that live lives of purity, modesty, and avodas Hashem on this holy soil.
They don’t fight for seats in the Knesset—they fight for seats in the beis medrash.
And in doing so, they are anchoring kedushah in the Land—bringing light, not slogans.
5. In Quiet Mesirus Nefesh
Sometimes love is loud. Sometimes it’s quiet.
Many Charedi families live in modest apartments, tight quarters, financial strain, just to be in Eretz Yisrael. They could live more comfortably in the West, but they choose to stay here—not for luxury, not for honor, but for holiness.
You won't see them on the news.
But if you listen closely, you’ll hear their tefillos echoing in the early mornings and late nights—asking Hashem to let them raise children in kedushah, to be zocheh to the Geulah, to fulfill the mitzvah of living in His Land with humility and joy.
Conclusion: A Love Without Politics
So yes—Charedim love Eretz Yisrael deeply, passionately, and spiritually.
Their love is not about voting. It’s not about nationalism. It’s not about waving flags.
It’s about a bond with the Shechinah, with the Torah, with the future.
It’s about living in the shadow of the Mikdash, even when the Mikdash isn’t there yet.
It’s about believing that this Land is our heart—even when others claim to speak in its name.
And most of all, it’s about longing for the day when all Jews will return—not to a state, but to a kingdom of Hashem, where Torah reigns, Moshiach leads, and the love for Eretz Yisrael is no longer in exile, but fully revealed for what it always was:
A love story between a nation and their G-d.
Sources & Footnotes
- Shemoneh Esrei, daily prayers—blessings for the return to Yerushalayim and the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash
- Birchas HaMazon, third blessing—“Rachem Na…” (See Berachos 48b)
- Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas Re’eh—Eretz Yisrael is uniquely sustained by Hashem Himself
- Chofetz Chaim, stories recorded in Chofetz Chaim al HaTorah and oral traditions of talmidim
- Mishnah, Sota 9:15—“Torah will return to Eretz Yisrael” (see commentaries on Seder Zeraim)