It is a great merit to live in the Land of Israel, and likewise it is praiseworthy to traverse the land and build it.

Rabbi Meir would say: Concerning anyone who dwells in the Land of Israel, the Land of Israel atones for him, as it is stated: “The people who live in it are forgiven iniquity” (Isaiah 33:24)…and likewise, Rabbi Meir would say: Concerning anyone who resides in the Land of Israel and recites Shema in the morning and evening, and speaks in the holy tongue of Hebrew, he is destined for the World to Come.

Anyone who resides in the Land of Israel dwells without transgression, as it is stated: “The people who live in it are forgiven iniquity” (Isaiah 33:24).

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God” (Leviticus 25:38). From here the Sages said: Any Jew who resides in the Land of Israel thereby accepts upon himself the kingdom of Heaven, and concerning whoever leaves for a country outside the Land of Israel, it is as though he worships idols.

Rabbi Yohanan says: Why did Omri king of Israel merit to assume the monarchy? He added one city in the Land of Israel.

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba says: One who walks four cubits in the Land of Israel is assured of a place in the World to Come. (Sifrei Devarim, Ha’azinu 28; Ketubot 111a; Sifra, Behar 5; Sanhedrin 102b; Yalkut Shimoni 2:366)