מדרש אויף איוב 38:13

“Better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife” (Proverbs 17:1). Rabbi Yochanan said: This refers to Eretz Yisrael—for even if a person eats only bread and salt yet dwells within it, he is assured a place in the World to Come. “Than a house full of feasting with strife”—this refers to foreign lands, which are full of violence and robbery. Rabbi Yochanan said: Anyone who walks four cubits in Eretz Yisrael is assured a place in the World to Come. Rabbi Levi said: Anyone who dwells in Eretz Yisrael even for a single hour and dies within it, is assured a place in the World to Come. What is the scriptural basis? "And His land will atone for His people" (Deuteronomy 32:43). Rabbi Nehemiah said: Eretz Yisrael itself atones for the sins of its dead. Rabbi Zevida said: All the righteous who died outside of the Land, what do you do for them? Rather, one must say that Eretz Yisrael atones for its own dead, but as for the righteous who are outside of the Land, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will command the ministering angels in the future, and they will bring them through underground tunnels from outside of the Land to Eretz Yisrael, and there they will receive atonement, as it is said: "And I shall purify them upon their land, etc." Rabbi Abbahu said: Would you say that even the wicked within Eretz Yisrael receive atonement? Scripture states: "That the wicked might be shaken out of it" (Job 38:13). To where does He shake them? Rabbi Levi said: From the Land to outside of the Land. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He does not let them stand, so that they may know there is judgment and a Judge. And to where does He shake them? To Gehenna, as it is said: "The leech has two daughters: 'Give, give!'" (Proverbs 30:15) — Gehenna is destined to command in the future and say before the Holy One, Blessed be He: "Give me the wicked." There we have learned: The judgment of the wicked in Gehenna is twelve months. Rabbi Eliezer asked Rabbi Yehoshua, saying to him: What should a person do to be saved from the judgment of Gehenna? He said to him: Let him go and occupy himself with good deeds. He said to him: If so, even the nations of the world perform commandments and good deeds; can they also be exempted from the judgment of Gehenna? He said to him: My son, the Torah did not speak of the dead [the spiritually detached], but only of the living. Rabbi Eliezer said to him: I will tell you the reasoning based on what you yourself taught me. He said to him: Speak. He said to him: Once I heard you expounding in the House of Study, saying... (Continued in Chapter 19).

“It was a night of vigil for the Lord to take them out of the land of Egypt; it is a night for the Lord, a vigil for all the children of Israel throughout their generations” (Exodus 12:42).
What did He see that led Him to call it a night of vigil [shimurim]? It is a night during which He performs great deeds for the righteous, just as He performed [great deeds] for Israel in Egypt. On that [night] He rescued Hezekiah, and on it He rescued Ḥananya and his counterparts, and on it He rescued Daniel from the lions’ den, and on it Messiah and Elijah the prophet will be exalted, as it is stated: “The watchman said: The morning comes, and also the night” (Isaiah 21:12).
This is analogous to a woman who was awaiting her husband who had embarked to a country overseas. He said to her. ‘Let this sign be for you. When you see this sign, know that I am coming, and I am coming soon.’ So, Israel has been waiting from the time that Edom arose.²⁸Israel has been awaiting redemption since the time Edom, associated with Rome, arose and destroyed the Second Temple. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘This sign will be for you: On the day that I performed salvation for you, know that on that same night I will redeem you. If not, do not believe,²⁹If you see possible indications of the redemption but not on the aforementioned date, do not believe that they are real indications of redemption. as the time has not yet come,’ as it is stated: “I, the Lord, in its time, I will hasten it” (Isaiah 60:22), and it says: “Another one, it is in a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth…I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms…” (Haggai 2:6, 22). Just as I overthrew Egypt, so I will overthrow the idolaters, as it is stated: “The nations will be devastated” (Isaiah 60:12), and it says: “To take hold of the ends of the earth [and shake the wicked out of it]” (Job 38:13).

... Teach us o teacher: toward where should one who prays orient his heart? This is what our Rabbis taught: one should orient his heart toward the place of the Holy of Holies (Berachot 4:5). R’ Eliezer ben Yaakov says: if one is praying outside of the land, he should orient his heart to the land of Israel. If one is praying within the land of Israel, he should orient his heart to Jerusalem. If one is praying in Jerusalem, he should orient his heart to the Holy Temple. If one is praying in the Holy Temple, he should orient his heart to the Holy of Holies. R’ Avin the Levi said: “our neck is like the Tower of David, built as a model (talpiyot)…” (Song of Songs 4:4) What does talpiyot mean? The hill (tel) toward which all turns (peniyot) are directed. And after all this praise, it is written “Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire consume your cedars.” (Zechariah 11:1) And so too they said “He has hurled fire into my bones…” (Lamentations 1:13) Israel said to Him: Master of the World! How long will it be like this? Did You not write in Your Torah “…the one who ignited the fire shall surely pay” (Exodus 22:5)? And You are the one who ignited the fire, as it says “From above He has hurled fire into my bones…” (Lamentations 1:13) You need to rebuild it and to console us, not at the hands of an angel but You in Your glory. The Holy One said to them: by your life, so I will do! As it says “The Lord is the builder of Jerusalem; He will gather the outcasts of Israel.” (Psalms 147:2) And I am the one who consoles you. From where do we learn this? From that which they read in the prophets “I, yea I am He Who consoles you…” (Isaiah 51:12)