Dear Jewish Response Staff,

Someone told me that the Talmud says the Land of Israel is higher than all lands. Is this a true quote? If so, were the rabbis so ignorant of geography? Please reply. Thanks,

Sam D.

Dear Sam,

Rabbi Yehuda Loew (1525-1609, known as the Maharal) wrote a book called Beer Hagolah explaining the passages in the Talmud whose view of the natural world seems to conflict with science and human knowledge. One such passage reads: The Land of Israel is higher than all other lands (Kiddushin 69a). Of course, there are higher lands such as Tibet, Nepal, Switzerland and so on.

The Maharal explains that the Talmud means that the Land of Israel is the highest in holiness and spirituality. This seems like a forced answer  the Gemara definitely gives the impression that the Land of Israel is physically higher.

However, we can say as follows. The world is spherical, and thus any place could be considered the highest. It depends only on ones purpose. If ones purpose is to speak about sunlight, the place where the sun is shining more directly should be considered the top. If ones purpose is to speak about the earths axis, the north pole or the south pole is the top. For the Torah, what is important is where G-d is looking. Just as if a person holds a ball and looks down at a certain spot, that spot is the highest, so too the spot where G-d is looking, so to speak, is considered the highest spot.

Where is G-d looking? The Torah says that the Land of Israel is a land where the eyes of the L-rd your G-d are on it from the beginning of the year till the end of the year (Deut. 11:12). Therefore the Land of the Israel is considered the highest point on earth and this is the meaning of the Talmud. This is also what the Maharal meant when he said the Land is the highest in spirituality. It is highest in spirituality because G-d gives His attention to is, and that is why can be called the highest physically.