Kesubos - Daf 112
- למה ארץ ישראל נמשלה לצבי
Rav Chisda said: What is the meaning of that which is written: "ואתן לך ארץ חמדה נחלת צבי" – I gave you a cherished land, the inheritance of a deer? למה ארץ ישראל נמשלה לצבי – Why is Eretz Yisroel compared to a deer? To tell you, מה צבי זה אין עורו מחזיק בשרו אף ישראל אינה מחזקת פירותיה – Just as with a deer, its skin cannot contain its own flesh after it is skinned, so too with Eretz Yisrael, its borders cannot contain the abundance of its produce. Another explanation is: מה צבי קל מכל החיות אף ארץ ישראל קלה מכל הארצות לבשל את פירותיה – Just as the deer is the fastest of all the animals, so too Eretz Yisrael is the fastest of all the lands in causing its fruit to ripen. Since one might think that just as the deer is swift and its meat is not fatty, so too Eretz Yisrael causes its fruit to ripen but its fruit is not rich, therefore the Torah teaches us that Eretz Yisroel is "זבת חלב ודבש" – flowing with milk and honey, which means that its fruits are שמנים מחלב ומתוקים מדבש – richer than milk and sweeter than honey.
- How different Amoraim expressed their love for Eretz Yisrael
When Rebbe Zeira was going up to Israel, he could not find a ferry to cross the river, so he held onto a rope that was strung across the river and walked across on a narrow piece of wood. A certain Tzaduki watched him and said: עמא פזיזא דקדמיתו פומייכו לאודנייכו – O impetuous people, who put your mouth before your eyes. Rashi explains that he was remarking that the Jewish people rush ahead without thinking, like when we said נעשה ונשמע at Har Sinai, committing to keeping the Torah before knowing what was in it. Here too, Rebbe Zeira is being rash in trying to cross the river before waiting for a boat. When he asked Rebbe Zeira why he could not wait, Rebbe Zeira answered: A place that Moshe and Aharon were not zocheh to enter, who says I will be zocheh to enter it if I do not do it now? The Gemara relates that Rebbe Abba מנשק כיפי דעכו – kissed the stones of Akko when he arrived in the land, and Rebbe Chanina used to remove obstacles from the road. Rashi explains that he loved the land so much that he went out of his way to make sure that people would not speak poorly of its roads. Rebbe Ami and Rebbe Assi used to get up in the middle of learning and move from the sunlight to the shade in the summer, and from the shade to the sunlight in the winter. Rashi explains they did this so they would not come to complain about the land.
- In the future, all the barren trees in Eretz Yisroel will bear fruit
The masechta concludes on the following positive note. Rav Chiya bar Ashi said in the name of Rav: עתידין כל אילני סרק שבארץ ישראל שיטענו פרות – In the future, all the barren trees that are in Eretz Yisrael are destined to bear fruit, as it says in the passuk: "כי עץ נשא פריו תאנה וגפן נתנו חילם" – for the tree has borne its fruit; the fig tree and grapevine have yielded their wealth.”
