Love of the Land - The Land of Return
  Selections from classical Torah sources which express the special relationship between the People of Israel and Eretz Yisrael THE LAND OF RETURN
When the Babylonian king Nevuchadnetzar sent his general, Nevuzradan, to take the Jews out of Eretz Yisrael, he instructed him to prevent them from praying so that they would not be able to repent and be re-accepted by Hashem. Only when they reached the Babylonian border did the general tell his soldiers that they could stop driving their Jewish captives, because it was less likely that their repentance would be so readily accepted outside their land. This Midrash on Eicha is cited as an explanation of the statement by Rabbi Elazar that
one who resides in Eretz Yisrael lives without sin. There certainly have been
sinners in Eretz Yisrael, but their repentance there is more readily accepted than
anywhere else.
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Written by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
HTML Production: Eli Ballon
HTML Design: Michael Treblow
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