What are the implications of "Lo ke'Eretz Egypt Hi"?
Rashi: It implies that Eretz Yisrael is not like Eretz Egypt but intrinsically better than it 1 - even than Eretz Goshen and Ra'amses. 2
Ramban and Rashbam: It implies that Eretz Yisrael is not like Egypt, which is governed by the laws of nature, 3 but better than it - if we keep the Mitzvos, and worse than it - if we don't (because, unlike Egypt, 4 it relies on rain for its water-supply all year round, and if we fail to keep the Mitzvos, Hashem will withhold rain and nothing will grow - Ramban). 5
Da'as Zekenim, Hadar Zekenim and Rosh #1: Egypt is flat, so one can make [channels for] water to flow to one's fields, like one does for a vegetable garden seeded by a river. Eretz Yisrael, on the other hand, which is full of mountains and valleys is not subject to irrigation, and needs Hashem's rain. Be careful therefore with His Mitzvos, to ensure that He sends down rain for you in its time!
Rosh #2: Eretz Yisrael drinks water directly from the clouds, which receive the higher water, whereas the rest of the world drinks 'Mei Tamtzis' (what drips from Eretz Yisrael). Hashem waters Eretz Yisrael Himself, but the rest of the world, through a Shali'ach. 6
Refer to Bamidbar, 13:22:2:1* & 13:22:2:1***.
Rashbam: Where a successful harvest depends on whether one irrigates the land or not.
Ramban: With its water-canals and pools.
Ramban: As the Torah explains - in Pesukim 13-17 - that if you obey the Mitzvos Hashem will send rain in its time, but if you don't, He will shut down the Heavens and there will be no rain, and you will perish quickly from the good land, because one cannot live there without rain. Refer also to 11:11:2:2*.
Rosh: As the Pasuk writes in Iyov, 5:10 "ha'Nosen Matar Al P'nei Aretz ve'Shole'ach Mayim Al P'nei Chutzos."
With reference to answer #3 on the previous question, what difference does it make if Eretz Yisrael is mountainous Even if it wasn't, Hashem would have no difficulty is drying up the water supply in the event that we sin?
Ramban: Because Hashem runs the world according to the laws of nature, and it is far more natural to withhold rain than to dry up water that is already there. 1
Refer to 11:10:1:3.
Ramban: As the Gemara explains in Shabbos, 32a, 'A sick person requires more merits and Tefilah for Hashem to heal him, than a healthy person needs not to become sick'. And the same distinction applies to poverty and riches.
From where do we know that Eretz Yisrael is intrinsically better than Eretz Egypt?
Rashi: From the fact that when the Torah writes (in Sh'lach-L'cha Bamidbar, 13:22 "ve'Chevron Sheva Shanim Nivnesah lifnei Tzo'an Egypt", 1 it means that it was seven times nicer than Tzo'an of Egypt 2 - despite the fact that Tzo'an housed the throne of kings and Chevron was designaed for burial-sites.
Rashi: It cannot be taken literally because Chevron was the youngest son of Cana'an, and one does not build a residence for a younger son before building one for an older son.
Refer to Bamidbar, 13:22:2:1* & 13:22:2:1***. See also Sifsei Chachamim.
Why does the Torah add the words "Asher Yetzasem mi'Sham"?
Rashi: To teach us that Eretz Yisrael is even more beautiful than Eretz Ra'amses, 1 the area in Egypt where Yisrael lived, which the Torah describes (in Vayigash Bereishis, 47:11) as "Meitav ha'Aretz".
The Torah also writes that Yisrael lived in Eretz Goshen, of which Ra'amses is part - Rashi in Vay'chi Bereishis, 47:6.
What are the connotations of "Vehishkisa be'Ragl'cha"?
Rashi: In Egypt, one needed to fetch water from the Nile on foot and to water the land required stealing from one's sleep, and much toil. Moreover, the initial watering covered only the lower ground; watering higher ground entailed carrying water up the hill. But in Eretz Yisrael, the land is watered by the rain from the heavens - one will sleep in one's bed, and Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu will water the land, both the lowland and the high ground, land that is open and land that is concealed (at one and the same time)!
Shabbos, 85a: The word "be'Ragl'cha" teaches that that to walk round the field to water it requires a strip of land one Tefch (the width of a foot) wide, and that consequently, one must leave a space of one Tefsach between two species of vegetables to avoind transgressing the La'av of Kil'ayim. 1
See Torah Temimah, citing Shabbos, Ibid., and note 2.
Why does the Torah add the words "Vehishkisa be'Ragl'cha ke'Gan ha'Yarak"?
Rashi: Because a vegetable garden cannot be watered by rain, only on foot, by carrying buckets of water on one's shoulders.
