Kissing Sacred Soil

Ps. 102:14-14

When was the last time you kneeled and kissed the earth? 

When was the last time any of us gave the soil beneath our feet the same reverence and respect that we - ideally - reserve for people, pets or precious objects? 

Today’s psalm includes what many consider to be the basis for the still popular custom to kiss the earth. But not just any spot on earth: The Holy Land, upon arrival.

There are many reasons for the continued and cruel conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, from the political to the spiritual. One of the most tragic and traumatic reasons is related to the core concept that is shared by many of the people most implicated and who cling to the place they call home: the belief that the very soil is sacred.  

The holy land’s preciousness to Jews is already cited as such through the Hebrew Bible, which was what later lent the soil similar sacred status for Christians and Muslims. The land where Abraham and his family once roamed and claimed is the same land where Jesus and Muhammed performed miracles, and where pilgrims of all religions have been flocking to for generations. 

And when they arrive - whether as visitors or new immigrants - many of them drop down to their knees and kiss the sacred soil. 

I remember doing so myself, when I was a dramatic twelve years old, coming back to Israel after a year of living abroad. I was too embarrassed to kiss the airport tarmac as the more pious do -- but chose to wait and kiss the mezuza on our front door instead, with equal devotion. 

Forget politics for - for a minute - and focus with me on the act itself, its origins and meaning.

Why does one kiss the soil one feels as sacred?

Today’s psalm may have the answer  -- and it begins with scarcity, with what’s lost and longing to belong. 

Psalm 102 is composed of two parts, personal and communal. It begins with the prayer of poverty, the plea of one who has nothing, who is lonely and terrified, hungry and “alone like a bird on a roof.” 

But then the vision flips from the individual suffering to the sorrow of the nation, and the longing of the people to come home again, to be redeemed and lifted up from suffering and exile.  The psalm begs God to hear the people’s need, and in a phrase that hurts to read today -”to hear the groans of the captive.” 

The time to heal the holy land is now, the poem begs, with these two famous lines:

אַתָּ֣ה תָ֭קוּם תְּרַחֵ֣ם צִיּ֑וֹן כִּי־עֵ֥ת לְ֝חֶֽנְנָ֗הּ כִּי־בָ֥א מוֹעֵֽד׃ כִּי־רָצ֣וּ עֲ֭בָדֶיךָ אֶת־אֲבָנֶ֑יהָ וְֽאֶת־עֲפָרָ֥הּ יְחֹנֵֽנוּ׃

“You will surely arise and take pity on Zion,

for it is time to be gracious to her;

the appointed time has come.

Your servants take delight in her stones,

and cherish the soil.”

Ps. 102:14-14

It is this cherishing of sacred soil that many claim is the origin for the threshold ritual of kissing of the holy land. 

A Babylonian Talmudic citation, some 1,600 or so years old,  mentions this ​​verse as proof-text: 

“Rabbi Abba would kiss the rocks of Akko, Rabbi Ḥanina would repair its stumbling blocks, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Gamda would roll in the dust of the land, as it is stated: “For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and love her dust” (Psalms 102:15).”

The examples of these three sages demonstrate the preciousness of the land to its people. Akko is the port city - presumably the first solid ground Rabbi Abba encountered as soon as he got off a boat. Rabbi Hanina bothered to make sure each path was paved properly, and Rabbi Hiya presumably was the first to introduce the kiss- although it is not directly mentioned.  

By the 12th Century this tradition was already enshrined in the sacred literature. Nachmanides, born in Girona and died in Jerusalem, must have done so himself, because he cites this Talmudic quote and directly suggests that what one ought to do is kneel and kiss the ground upon arrival. 

It is a noble gesture and a moving move, for pilgrims and for immigrants, for all who long to call this land their home and who deserve to live in peace and with security, with sovereignty and independence. What would it take for all those who call this holy land their home to not just kiss the soil but look up to see all the other people and reserve the sacred act for them? What if upon arrival to the threshold of the land of so many names we’d kiss each other? 

The psalm that began with improvised pleas ends with a wish for this sort of comfort - for all: 

בְּנֵֽי־עֲבָדֶ֥יךָ יִשְׁכּ֑וֹנוּ וְ֝זַרְעָ֗ם לְפָנֶ֥יךָ יִכּֽוֹן׃ 

“May the children of Your servants dwell securely

and their offspring endure always in Your presence.”

Ps. 102:29

I’ll arrive back in Israel tomorrow morning for another visit. Perhaps this time I will find a spot to kiss the sacred soil. Or perhaps that obligation will be fulfilled when I’m reunited with my mother.

What sacred soil will you be kissing today, with reverence, perhaps in your own body, home, homeland or another sacred body and soul?

Tomorrow’s psalm will take this symbol further reminding us that it is holy people - not just sacred soil - that matters most.

May all who seek to come home and have a home in this holy land be able to do so, and may they all be able to be kissed and hugged and welcome as whole.

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