מגילת העצמאות
בְּאֶרֶץ-יִשְׂרָאֵל קָם הָעָם הַיְּהוּדִי, בָּהּ עֻצְּבָה דְּמוּתוֹ הָרוּחָנִית, הַדָּתִית וְהַמְּדִינִית, בָּהּ חַי חַיֵּי קוֹמְמִיּוּת מַמְלַכְתִּית, בָּהּ יָצַר נִכְסֵי תַּרְבּוּת לְאֻמִּיִּים וּכְלָל-אֱנוֹשִׁיִּים וְהוֹרִישׁ לָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ אֶת סֵפֶר הַסְּפָרִים הַנִּצְחִי.
THE DECLARATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
ERETZ-ISRAEL was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.
(ט) "במדבר" קבל את התורה, ועל ידה, בלי ארץ, בלי אחוזת נחלה — במדבר וישימון נהיה לעם. - "גוי" אשר נשמתו היא "התורה"; על ידה הנהו "ממלכת כהנים", כמו "הכהן" בין העם, כן הוא "עם" בין המין האנושי, אשר תורת אלהיו עמו ושומר הוא מצותיו. "גוי קדוש" מבלי התערב בגוים וללמוד מעשיהם, לשמור בחייו קדושת האנושית. "התורה", מלאת רצון ה', היתה לו אחוזת נחלה ומטרה בחיים - לכן לאומיותו איננה נקשרה בדבר העובר והחלוף, איננה עומדת ביחס ותנאי עם כל הדברים המקריים; רק נצח, תעמוד לעד כרוח ודבר ה'.
(9) In the wilderness it received the Torah, and thus in the wilderness, without land or soil, it became a nation. It became a body, whose soul was the Torah, and, therefore, could be truthfully called "ממלכת כהנים" "a kingdom of priests," for as the priest in the midst of a single people was this nation to be in the midst of universal mankind, preserving the law of God, and practicing and fulfilling its holy precepts. "גוי קדוש," "Holy nation," was also to be its appellation, for, through the fulfilment of the Divine law, it was to become holy, not participating in the worldly doings of other nations, but preaching the sacredness of humanity by the example of its life. The Torah, the fulfilment of the Divine will, was to be its soil and country, and aim; its national existence, therefore, was neither dependent upon, nor conditioned by transitory things, but eternal as the spirit, the soul and the word of the Eternal One.
"Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store."
We must fight with all our strength against any hatred of our holy land—which has begun to affect some of us. With a mighty arm of the spirit and with the eternal holiness of the beloved land, we must destroy the contamination of the spies, a contamination which began to spread at the very point of the possible redemption.
“The word of our God will stand forever.”
The holiness of the land and its loveliness has never changed and will never change. All the bitter circumstances, physical and spiritual, which have affected the Holy Land will not overcome it.
Just as no physical destruction can destroy our love for the beloved land, so can no spiritual desolation reduce our holy and profound love of that land of life.
The deep connection between the soul of the Jew and Zion, with all that takes place there, stands firm forever. And the light of that love will increase seven-fold.
It will enflame every heart and exalt every spirit, sanctifying and encouraging everyone.
Rav Kook, Moadei Harayah, pp. 419-20