Life on the Edge

When a person is involved in Torah study, he need not be cautioned to avoid unholy preoccupations, his Torah protects him – he is in the “Holy Land”. But when it comes to a Jew’s mundane affairs, he must know that Torah draws a line of distinction:

According to Jewish law, when one stands just within the border of the Land of Israel, the area has the full status of the Holy Land, and he is permeated with its sanctity. As soon as one crosses the border to the other side, he is fully and completely in the Diaspora, with all the spiritual ramifications of exile.

All that divides these two states of existence is a line the width of a hairsbreadth.