PEOPLE OF THE LAND
Selections from classical Torah sources
which express the special relationship between
the People of Israel and Eretz Yisrael

BINYAMIN -
Born In Holiness

Binyamin is referred to as "the host of the Divine Presence" because the holiest part of the Beit Hamikdash was located in his tribe's portion of Eretz Yisrael (Yoma 12a).

Our Sages (Mechilta Yitro 4:18) attribute this merit to the fact that of all of Yaakov's sons the only one born in Eretz Yisrael was Binyamin.

This claim to fame was echoed by a descendant of his, Mordechai, when he was challenged by his fellow Jews as undermining their security by refusing to bow to Haman. It was below his dignity, he explained, to bow to any mortal, even one as politically powerful as Haman, because of the royal status Mordechai enjoyed as the descendant of Binyamin who was born in Eretz Yisrael.