Once, when a certain chossid desired to move to the Land of Israel, his Rebbe, Rabbi Yisroel of Ruzhin, told him the following allegory:
The Land of Israel is akin to a down blanket. Initially, when a person covers himself with the blanket he is cold. Only after a few minutes does he begin to warm up. The reason is, because the blanket itself is not the source of the warmth. It merely insulates and retains the individual’s own warmth and makes him warmer from his own internal heat.
The same is with the Land of Israel. If a person arrives there warm, the land serves to add in his passion in holiness and service to G-d. However, if a person arrives there cold, he remains cold, just as he was before he arrived.
(Rabbi Yisroel, Vol. 1 Pg. 164)
