the Talmud , there was no pressure to resettle Israel , even when this might have been possible. The intellectual dominance of the great academies of Babylonia and, eventually, of their Talmud spoke to the dominance of the Diaspora community over Israel .
THE STATUS OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL
Many statements in the Mishnah and the Tosefta make clear the sacredness of the Land of Israel. A series of verses in Mishnah Kelim indicated that“[t]here are ten degrees of sacredness. The Land of Israel is holier than any other land” and then moved upward to the“Holy of Holies” in the Temple(1.6ff). Avodah Zarah in the Tosefta accompanied such thoughts with a demand for settlement in Israel :“One should preferably live in the Land of Israel, even in a town with a majority of Gentile inhabitants, rather than outside the Land, even in a town in which most inhabitants are Jews ....”(4.3ff; Ket. 10b). The Talmud rarely discussed this matter.’ The teachers of the Mishnah , who themselves lived in Israel , encouraged settlement, but only mildly. When faced with the economic problems of farmers, they decided that the various impositions such as tithes, first fruit, and the Sabbatical and the Jubilee Years were obligatory only in the Land of Israel.® Furthermore, they narrowed the boundaries of Israel to a minimum to avoid hardships, discussing the various border lands and declaring most areas exempt.” The Talmud continued these discussions.® Later, more abstract discussions would dwell on whether the holiness of the Land stemmed from the patriarchs, Joshua’s conquest, or Ezra’s later resettlement.” Only a single reference elevated“dwelling in the Land of Israel above all other mitzvot ”(Sifrei R’eh , Deut. 12:29). Otherwise, living in Israel was considered blessed, as was burial there(Ket. 111a).