Eretz Yisrael – The Foundation Stone of the World – Part I

THE FOUNDATION STONE OF THE WORLD

*As the ‘foundation stone’ of the world, Eretz Israel is the only stable land mass, and ‘fixed’ point on the whole planet. Everything else is on a floating, tectonic plate that can be very easily destroyed / reshaped by seismic activity.

The tip of the world’s ‘foundation stone’ is located on the Temple Mount, in what will [B”EH] soon be the rebuilt Third Temple. That foundation stone stretches out beneath the whole of Eretz Yisrael, and is the only ‘fixed’ land mass in the world. Every other land mass was created on a movable tectonic plate, and attached to Eretz Yisrael. That’s why Chazal say: Eretz Yisrael is the strong point of the world. 

(Sources: Yerushalmi Sanhedrin (10:2), 

Radak on Yeshaya (11:9), 

Tehillim 125:1, Devarim 33:27, 

Midrash Cohen) 

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* Note: Much of the [...] information […] is drawn from an amazing book called Mysteries of the Creation, By Rabbi Dovid Brown […]. The above article is from  Emunaroma entitled, "A Jewish view of climate change, astrological forces and Nibiru, and how it's all connected to Geula", (however, Nibiru was not discussed): [My Comment: I think there are a few tectonic plates, not “a floating, tectonic plate ….” Many of the other ideas presented are written and expressed eloquently in our Gemora, T”Nach, Midrashim, and Aggados.]

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The Even Shetiyah – Kubbat es-Sakhra

The Foundation Stone in known in Arabic es-Sakhra (and the Dome of the Rock, Kubbat es-Sakhra). On the western facade of the Dome of the Rock is the following Arabic inscription, The Rock of the Temple from the garden of Eden. The northern gate of the mosque facing the foundation stone is named the Gate of Paradise, Bab ej-Jinah. On the floor in front of this gate is a stone of green jasper about half a meter square called by the Arabs "the Stone of Eden."

From the Muslim Tradition

The Rock of the Temple is of the stones of the Garden of Eden. At resurrection day, the Kaaba Stone, which is in holy Mecca, will go to the Foundation Stone in holy Jerusalem, bringing with it the inhabitants of Mecca, and it shall become joined to the Foundation Stone, When the Foundation Stone shall see the Kaaba Stone approaching, it shall cry out, "Peace be to the great guest!"

Adam's footprint in stone is said by Muslim guides to still exist in the bedrock of the Macpelah in Hebron.

Even more interesting than the legends concerning the Foundation Stones are the stories about the Abyss which is supposed to lie beneath.

The Zohar Relates

"When the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to create world, He detached one precious stone from underneath His throne of glory and plunged it into the abyss; one end of it remained fastened therein, whilst the other end stood above...out of which the world started, spreading itself to the right and left and into all directions.”

Some of the Jewish sages say that this stone was called Shetiyah, which in Hebrew also means "drinking" because beneath it is hidden the source of all the springs and fountains from which the world drinks its water. An Arab tradition also states that all the fresh waters of the world have their origin under this rock.

In the floor of the small cave (measuring about 14 feet square with a six foot ceiling) under the great foundation stone in the Dome of the Rock is round marble slab closing a well shaft known as "the well of the souls" (Bir al Arwah). A Muslim tradition holds this is the entrance into the bottomless pit, the abyss. The souls of the dead awaiting judgment are said to be audible beneath. The Talmud claims that this is the abyss above the primeval waters of creation and of the Flood.