The Land of Israel is the Holy Land, the only land that is holy.
Jerusalem is more sanctified than all the Land of Israel, and beyond the sanctity of Jerusalem is the sanctity of the Temple Mount.
But above and beyond all this is the sanctity of the relationship between the Almighty and the Jewish people.
This silver cord, this life-line which links every Jew to his Creator, carries the sanctity from which all other sanctities derive.
When one keeps this life-line intact, when one enables this flow of life to continue – this is where G-d is. Beyond that, He cannot be revealed.
The task of returning what has been lost to its owner is a very dramatic one.
Sometimes one can only do a small part of it.
Sometimes a person may begin, but not get to see the end.
This is especially true because so many of the recipients are suspicious of the inheritance they are being offered.
At other times, the paupers may have become accustomed to their poverty; they may have decided they do not want to be entangled with a great legacy.
But whenever one has the privilege of returning that legacy, it is a powerful experience indeed.
There are still so many who need this, who cry out for this.
And all of us, each and every one of us, can do something in order to weave this silver cord anew, to once again extend this thread of life.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz