Halakhah su Salmi 105:78

6. Mekom Shmuel, no. 37, offers a most intriguing explanation. The Land of Israel was given to the people of Israel on the express condition that they observe the divine commandments. This stipulation is implicit in the words of the Psalmist, "And He gave them the lands of the nations and the labor of the people did they inherit. That they might keep His statutes and observe His laws" (Psalms 105:44-45). The first Temple was destroyed because this condition was not fulfilled. The Gemara, Yoma 9b, states definitively that the first Temple was destroyed because Israel was guilty of idolatry, sexual immorality and acts of murder. Idolatry, in particular, is tantamount to renunciation of the Torah in its entirety. Since the people of Israel failed to fulfill the condition imposed upon them, the gift of Erez Yisra'el was annulled and the sanctity of the land abrogated. The second Temple, however, was destroyed not because Jews failed to observe basic tenets of Judaism, but because baseless enmity (sin'at ḥinam) was rampant among them. Although this was a grave transgression, nevertheless, at that time, Jews basically did "observe His laws." Thus, Jews did not fail to observe the condition imposed upon them and hence did not lose title to Erez Yisra'el. Thus, in a sense, the Land of Israel was "unjustly" taken from the people of Israel. It is for this reason, argues Mekom Shmuel, that Jews still retain title to the Land of Israel and that, as a result, its intrinsic sanctity has not lapsed.