The Holy Land is lauded by verse as being "a land of mountains and hills"; the Holy City is similarly described as having hills surrounding it. When you think about it, it does seem strange that earth should point up to the sky as if aspiring to touch heaven. Indeed, in the beginning of Creation the earth did not protrude through the endless, shapeless expanse of primordial water.
The wicked are compared to water, for they drift aimlessly through life, flowing with the current, wherever their fancy leads them. The righteous do not let themselves be washed away, they take a moral stand against the waves of fashion that pass by them and elevate themselves high above those turbulent waters.
Yet Tzaddikim are not infallible, and many times they fall, and must get back up. Our Parsha describes three ways that they can be extricated from this mire of subjugation to their surroundings. The first and best, is when the Tzaddik gets himself out of it, buying himself back, so to speak, through renewed effort and vigor. Through pure aspiration to re-attain his original freedom he contrives ways of working extra hours that have not yet been enslaved to his evil inclination, and uses them to break his shackles. Another way is when a fellow servant of Hashem sees him in this pitiful state and bails him out. He must not say "my friend sinned and deserves this punishment". He must reach out a helping hand and rescue him from his pitiful plight. If all else fails, Hashem Himself will finally extricate him by opening his heart to all fifty levels of understanding, and his broken heart will cry out with the hoarseness of a Shofar in an appeal beyond words.
The final redemption will come mainly through the third way. Although till then we must continually struggle to stay afloat, that is not sufficient to elevate the whole Holy Nation to its true eternal stature. Only total understanding, such as that which Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and the Ariz"l taught, can open our collective heart to return to Hashem.
Adapted from Rabbi Vali's book on Vayikra. Questions and subscriptions can be mailed to: the Yeshiva