Why the Patriarchs Longed to Be Buried in the Land of Israel

(Genesis 47:30:) "AND I SHALL LIE WITH MY FATHERS, etc." Why do all the fathers seek and cherish burial in the Land of Israel? Said Rabbi Hananiah, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: There is substance in the matter, (as it is stated, Psalms 116:9:) "I SHALL WALK BEFORE THE LORD IN THE LANDS OF THE LIVING." Our masters said two things in the name of Rabbi Helbo: Why do the fathers cherish the Land of Israel for burial? Because the dead of the Land of Israel will live first in the days of the Messiah, and will consume the years of the Messiah. And Rabbi Hama bar Rabbi Hanina said: One who dies outside the Land and is buried there has two deaths in his hand. From where? As it is stated (Jeremiah 20:6): "AND YOU, PASHHUR, AND ALL THE DWELLERS OF YOUR HOUSE SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY; AND YOU SHALL COME TO BABYLON, AND THERE YOU SHALL DIE, AND THERE YOU SHALL BE BURIED, YOU AND ALL YOUR LOVED ONES, TO WHOM YOU PROPHESIED FALSELY." Said Rabbi Simon: If so, are the righteous who are outside the Land cut off if they are buried there? Rather, what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He bores out the land before them, and makes them like these wineskins, and they roll along and come, until they reach the Land of Israel; and once they reach the Land of Israel, He places in them a spirit of life, and they stand up. From where? As it is stated (Ezekiel 37:12): "BEHOLD, I AM OPENING YOUR GRAVES, etc." And afterward (ibid. v. 14): "AND I SHALL PUT MY SPIRIT IN YOU, AND YOU SHALL LIVE." Said Resh Lakish: It is an explicit verse: once they reach the Land of Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, places a soul in them, as it is stated (Isaiah 42:5): "WHO GIVES SOUL TO THE PEOPLE UPON IT."