st the worms of the grave.

Jerusalem is the light of the world; as it is said, "And the Gentiles
shall come to Thy light" (Isa. lx. 3). And the light of Jerusalem is the
Holy One--blessed be He!--as it is written, but "the Lord shall be unto
thee an everlasting light" (Isa. Ix. 19).

_Bereshith Rabbah_, chap. 59.

Ten portions of wisdom, ten portions of the law, and ten portions of
hypocrisy are in the world; nine portions of each are in the land of
Israel and one outside of it.

_Midrash Rabbah Esther._

"And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from
one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith
the Lord" (Isa. lxvi. 23). But how is it possible that all flesh shall
come every new moon and Sabbath to Jerusalem? Rabbi Levi saith, "In the
future Jerusalem will be as the land of Israel, and the land of Israel
will be as the whole world." But how will they come from the end of the
world every new moon and Sabbath? "The clouds will come and carry them
and bring them to Jerusalem, where they will perform their morning
prayer, and will carry them back to their several homes; and this is the
meaning of the prophet's saying (Isa. Ix. 8), 'Who are these that fly as
a cloud (in the morning), and as the doves to their windows (in the
evening)?'"

_Pesikta._

"He stood and measured the earth" (Hab. iii. 6). Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai
expounded "He stood and measured" thus: "The Holy One--blessed be
He!--measured all the nations, and He found none worthy to receive the
law except the generation in the wilderness. He measured all the
mountains, and He found none on which to give the law except Mount
Sinai. He measured all cities, and found none in which to build the
Temple except Jerusalem. He measured all lands, and found none worthy to
be given unto Israel except the one now called the land of Israel. This
it is that is written, 'He stood up and measured the earth.'"

_Vayekra Rabbah_, chap. 13.

"I went down to the bottoms of the mountains" (Jonah ii. 6). From this
we learn that Jerusalem is situated on seven hills. The world's
"foundation-stone" sank to "the depths" under the Temple of the Lord,
and upon this the sons of Korah stand and pray. (They) pointed this out
to Jonah. The fish said unto him, "Jonah, behold thou art standing under
the Temple of the Lord; therefore pray, and thou shalt be answered."

_Pirke d'Rab. Eliezer_, chap. 10.

"And there went out fire fro