The Land That Vomits Out Its Inhabitants

Honorable Rabbi Yosef Edery
Sep 17
4 min read

Baruch Hashem

Shalom, sons and daughters of Jacob, and all who dwell in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Torah teaches us a principle that resounds through history: the Land of Israel is not like other lands. It is holy.

It is the dwelling place of the Shechinah.

And it will not tolerate transgression forever.

Hashem Himself warns:

“Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for in all these ways the nations that I am casting out before you became defiled. And the land became defiled, and I visited its sin upon it, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.”— Vayikra (Leviticus) 18:24–25

This is not just a threat. This is the reality of the land for thousands of years.

The Land is alive with holiness, and like a body that rejects poison, it expels those who rebel against the Torah.

The Pattern of Exile and Destruction

History cries out with testimony.

In the days of the First Temple, prophets like Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) stood in the gates of the city and cried:

“If you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor; if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your hurt—then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”— Yirmiyahu 7:5–7

But the people would not listen.

They worshiped idols in the very Temple courts, they spilled innocent blood, and they desecrated Shabbat.

The result: Babylon came, the Temple was burned, and the people were led in chains.

Centuries later, in the days of the Second Temple, our sages tell us the destruction came not for idolatry, but for sinat chinam—baseless hatred among brothers (Talmud, Yoma 9b). Again, the holy city was burned, its walls torn down, its name erased. Rome renamed it “Aelia Capitolina,” and the people were scattered to the four corners of the earth.

Hashem does not change.

His word does not fade.

The Torah warns:

“If you will not observe to do all the words of this Torah… then Hashem will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other.”— Devarim (Deuteronomy) 28:58, 64

A Delusion in Our Days

And now, in our generation, many live in a dangerous delusion:

that we can live in Eretz Yisrael, sin openly, transgress the Torah, and still be safe.

That we can call ourselves Jews by identity while rejecting the yoke of Heaven.

The prophet Yechezkel declares:

“When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die in it… and when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way… his blood I will require at your hand.”— Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 3:20, 18

This is why the shofar must be sounded.

To stay silent is to carry blood on our hands.

To soothe transgressors with lies—“It is fine, you are still safe, nothing will happen”—is to betray both them and Hashem.

The Land Will Decide

Make no mistake:

Israel is not a place to live casually, like France, America, or Spain.

It is the throne-room of the King of the universe.

If you live here, you are standing in His court, under His eyes, on His covenant soil.

To dwell here while trampling the Torah is to provoke the same judgment that fell on our fathers.
To live here without repentance is to invite the Land itself to vomit us out once again.

Hashem is not mocked. The Torah is not broken.

“You shall therefore keep My statutes and My ordinances, and shall not commit any of these abominations… that the land not vomit you out when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.”— Vayikra (Leviticus) 18:26, 28

The Call Today

So hear this well: whether Jew or gentile, if you set your foot upon this Land, you are stepping into covenant ground.

You are called to humility, to repentance, to obedience.

If you are here only to chase pleasure, wealth, or arrogance—you will not last.

If you are here to build yourself and not the Kingdom of Heaven—you will be spit out.

But if you will bow to Hashem, cling to His Torah, and live in awe of the King of the universe—then you will find safety, blessing, and inheritance forever.

The words of Yehoshua ring as true today as they did when Israel first entered the Land: