And if we look into the ancient texts, we find some pretty amazing answers.
Let's dive into Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text that retells and expands upon biblical narratives. In chapter 18, we find a description of God's choices — the places He specifically chose and set aside as unique.
First, the heavens. The text tells us, "The Holy One, blessed be He, created seven firmaments..." Seven heavens! That's quite a cosmology. But from all of them, God selected only 'Araboth (עֲרָבוֹת). What is 'Araboth? It's described as the place of the throne of glory of His kingdom. It’s the ultimate VIP section of the cosmos, if you will. As it says in Psalm 68:5, "Cast up a highway for him that rideth on the 'Araboth, with Jah, his name." That verse paints such a vivid image, doesn’t it? God, riding through the highest heavens, on a highway built just for Him.
But the special selections don't stop there.
Next, the earth. “The Holy One, blessed be He, created seven lands, and He chose from all of them the land of Israel only…” It's a powerful statement about the unique relationship between God and this particular piece of land. Deuteronomy 11:12 reinforces this idea: "A land… the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year." That constant divine attention… it's a powerful image of care and connection. It's echoed too, in Isaiah 38:11, which states, "I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living."
And finally, the wilderness. "The Holy One, blessed be He, created seven deserts, and of them all He chose the desert of Sinai only to give therein the Torah..." Sinai. That stark, unforgiving landscape… chosen as the place for the most profound revelation in Jewish history. What an amazing contrast. A barren desert becomes the epicenter of spiritual law and guidance. Psalm 68:16 says, "The mountain which God hath desired for his abode."
So, what do we make of all this? Seven heavens, seven lands, seven deserts… and from each, a single, special choice. It speaks to the idea of divine selection, of imbuing certain places with unique significance. It suggests that within the vastness of creation, there are points of concentrated holiness, places where the connection between the earthly and the divine is particularly strong.
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What are the 'Araboths, the Israels, the Sinais in our own lives? Where are the places, literal or metaphorical, where we feel closest to something greater than ourselves? Maybe that's the real question Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer is inviting us to consider.