Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Musar for Bava Batra 150:6

ושמא תאמר יש צער לעלות תלמוד לומר (ישעיהו ס, ח) מי אלה כעב תעופינה וכיונים אל ארובותיהם אמר רב פפא ש"מ האי עיבא תלתא פרסי מידלי

[an area of] three parasangs'. And lest you should think the ascent will be painful, it is expressly stated: <i>Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their cotes</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Isa. LX, 8. ');"><sup>15</sup></span> R. Papa said: Hence it may be inferred that a cloud rises three parasangs.nbsp; R. Hanina b. papa said: The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to give to Jerusalem a [definite] size; for it is said: <i>Then said I 'Whither goest thou?' And he said unto me: 'To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof'</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Zech. II, 6. ');"><sup>16</sup></span>

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

This is what G–d meant when He said to Israel: והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים. "You will be precious to Me more than any of the other nations" This meant that any favours that the nations would experience, Israel would also experience. When G–d continued: ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, He announced that what Israel would receive as a part of the bounty G–d shares out to the Gentiles would not be considered as of value since Israel are a kingdom of priests. All Israelites are considered as princes, sons of kings. The word "kings" refers to the kingdom of Heaven. When the Torah says of Israel "you are a holy nation," the word "holy" is to be understood as similar to what the sages say about the angels paying their respects to the righteous in the world of the future by addressing them as קדוש, "holy."
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