How the sages love the land of Israel! TB Ketubot 112

To encourage Aliyah, our sages praised the land of Israel to the highest heavens on today’s daf TB Ketubot 112. For example, the least fertile land in Israel can out produce the most fertile land in Egypt.

“§ The Sages taught: In years of blessings of Eretz Yisrael, an area of land measuring one beit se’a produces five thousand kor. By way of comparison, when Zoan, a fertile region in Egypt, was settled, one beit se’a there would produce only seventy kor. As it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir said: I saw in the valley of Beit She’an that one beit se’a produced seventy kor, which teaches that the soil of a good-quality and irrigated stretch of land outside the borders of Eretz Yisrael will naturally yield this quantity of produce.

“And you have no more outstanding earth among all the lands other than the land of Egypt, as it is stated: “Like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt” (Genesis 13:10). And you have no more outstanding region in all of the land of Egypt than Zoan. The superior quality of Zoan is derived from the fact that they would raise kings there, as it is written: “For his princes are at Zoan” (Isaiah 30:4). And you have no rockier terrain in all of Eretz Yisrael than Hebron, as people would bury their dead there, e.g., the Patriarchs in the Cave of Machpelah, because the land was not arable.

“And even so, Hebron was more developed, i.e., more fertile, than Zoan by sevenfold, as it is written: “Now Hebron was built [nivneta] seven years before Zoan in Egypt” (Numbers 13:22). What is the meaning of the term: Nivneta, in this verse? If we say it means literally that Hebron was built before Zoan, would a person build a house for his younger son before building one for his older son? As it is stated: “And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan” (Genesis 10:6-btw: a verse from this week’s Torah reading), which indicates that Egypt, Mizraim, was older than Canaan, in whose territory Hebron was located.

“Rather, the meaning of the verse is that Hebron was more developed and more fertile than Zoan by sevenfold, which means that Hebron produced 490 kor, seven times more than the seventy kor of regular fertile land, as stated above. And this applies only to the rocky terrain of Eretz Yisrael, e.g., Hebron, whereas those parts of Eretz Yisrael that were not rocky produced even more, up to five hundred kor.

“And this applies only to a year when Eretz Yisrael is not blessed. However, with regard to a year when it was blessed, it is written: “And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundredfold” (Genesis 26:12). Isaac’s field produced one hundred times the normal yield, which according to the above calculations is five thousand kor, as stated in the baraita” (Sefaria.org translation)

I’m sure that you’ve seen or heard of the custom of kissing the ground upon arriving in Israel. Rabbi Abba was the one who started it. “Rabbi Abba would kiss the rocks of Akko, which was on the coast of Eretz Yisrael” (Sefaria.org translation) Rabbis tried their best to make sure that nobody would ever speak ill of the land of Israel. “Rabbi Ḥanina would repair its stumbling blocks, i.e., any potholes in the land, so that travelers would not fall and consequently speak ill of Eretz Yisrael. Rabbi Ammi and Rabbi Asi would stand and pass from a sunny spot to a shady one, and from a shady spot to a sunny one, so that they would always sit in comfort and never have cause to remark that they were uncomfortable in Eretz Yisrael. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Gamda would roll in the dust of the land, as it is stated: “For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, and love her dust” (Psalms 102:15).” (Sefraia.org translation)

At the conclusion of Yom Kippur and at the conclusion of the Passover Seder we say, “Next year in Jerusalem-לְשָנָה הַבָאָה בִירוּשָלָיִם” 5783/2023 Israel will be celebrating its 75^th anniversary since the founding of the Jewish state. Why not make plans to visit this year and see the miracle of the state of Israel?! This year in Jerusalem should be our motto.

With today’s daf, we have finished massekhet Ketubot! Tomorrow we begin massekhet Nedrim.