The Land of  Israel 

ארץ ישראל

The Land of Israel is the spiritual center of the world, and the Sages describe its virtues at length.  

The Land of Israel is the might of the world. 

Those standing outside the Land of Israel direct their hearts<footnote data-num="38"/> toward the Land of Israel and pray, as it is stated: “And they will pray via their land” (II Chronicles 6:38). Those standing in the Land of Israel direct their hearts toward Jerusalem and pray, as it is stated: “And they pray to You via this city that You have chosen” (II Chronicles 6:34). Those standing in Jerusalem direct their hearts toward the Temple, as it is stated: “And pray toward this House” (II Chronicles 6:32). Those standing in the Temple direct their hearts toward the Holy of Holies<footnote data-num="39"/> and pray, as it is stated: “They will pray toward this place” (I Kings 8:30). Consequently, all Israel pray toward one place.

The Sages taught: The Land of Israel was created first and the rest of the world was created thereafter…the Holy One, blessed be He, waters the Land of Israel Himself, and He waters the rest of the world through an intermediary…. The Land of Israel absorbs rainwater and the rest of the world absorbs from the residue of rainwater left in the clouds…. The Land of Israel absorbs first, and the rest of the world thereafter. 

Ten measures of wisdom descended to the world; the Land of Israel took nine and the rest of the world took one. Ten measures of beauty descended to the world; Jerusalem took nine and the rest of the world took one. 

The air of the Land of Israel makes one wise. 

This can be explained by means of a parable of a king who had concubines and many sons from them. He also had a son from a certain noblewoman, and he was inordinately fond of that son. The king gave fields and vineyards to all the sons of the concubines, and then he gave his favorite son a specific orchard from which the king’s entire stock was produced. The son sent a message and said to his father: You gave the sons of the concubines fields and vineyards, but you gave me only one orchard. His father said to him: I take an oath by your life! My entire stock is produced from this orchard, and because I am fonder of you than of all your brothers, that is why I gave it to you. Likewise…the Holy One, blessed be He, distributed fields and vineyards to the other nations of the world…and to Israel He gave the Land of Israel, which is the source of God’s stock: Offerings are from it, the showbread is from it, the first fruits are from it;<footnote data-num="40"/> all the goodness in the world is from it.

There is no Torah like the Torah of the Land of Israel, and no wisdom like the wisdom of the Land of Israel. 

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: The elders of the exile are beloved to Me, but a small faction of Torah scholars in the Land of Israel is more beloved to Me than the Great Sanhedrin when it is outside the Land of Israel. <source>(Sifrei Devarim, Va’ethanan 4; Tosefta Berakhot 3:15–16; Ta'anit 10a; Kiddushin 49b; Bava Batra 158b; Tanĥuma, Kedoshim; Bereshit Rabba 16; Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 6:8) </source>