The Magic Of The Land of Israel

The Land of Israel can change realities:

1) The Talmud (Megillah 27b) describes Rav Huna as a short man. The Rivan (Commentary to Ketubot, page 176) believes that Rav Huna would have become a tall person if he had lived in Israel.

2) The Chatam Sofer (Commentary to the Torah; Vayeitzei) wrote that when one prays for children in Israel it is more effective than anywhere else. He explains that the Talmud (Ta’anit 2a-b) teaches that the key to grant children is one of three in the hand of God, Whose relationship with the Land of Israel is direct.

3) The Chatam Sofer (Responsa; Yoreh Dei’ah #233) in a letter he wrote to his students studying in Israel, believed that all who study in the Land of Israel are blessed with a double portion of wisdom, perception and understanding. He was asked, if so, why the Babylonian Talmud has more authority than the Jerusalem Talmud. The great rabbi responded that the rabbis of Israel empowered the Babylonian Talmud. It was their blessing that granted such impact to the Babylonian Talmud.