xl. 4), 'Every
valley shall be raised and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth,'
then shall that land speak, as it were, for herself, and its extent
stand revealed."
_Devarim Rabbah_, chap. 4.
Blessed are they who dwell in the land of Israel, for they have no sin,
no iniquity, either in their lives or in their deaths.
_Midrash Shochar Tov on Ps. lxxxv._
"Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith" (Prov. xvii. 1). This,
saith Rabbi, means the land of Israel, for even if a man have nothing
but bread and salt to eat, yet if he dwells in the land of Israel he is
sure that he is a son of the world to come. "Than a house full of
sacrifices with strife." This means the outside of the land, which is
full of robbery and violence. Rabbi Y---- says, "He who walks but an
hour in the land of Israel, and then dies within it may feel assured
that he is a son of the world to come; for it is written (Deut. xxxii.
43), 'And his earth shall atone for his people.'"
_Midrash Mishle._
See also the Talmud, Kethuboth, fol. 111, col. 1. Dr. Benisch
renders "and make expiation for His ground and His people." The
Targums of Jonathan and the Yerushalmi have, "He will make
atonement for His land and for His people;" and Onkelos puts it
thus, "He will show mercy unto His land and His people.
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